Why the Gloom Spawn is my FAVORITE enemy in Tears of the Kingdom 

Now I understand why they got rid of guardians in this game. Imagine trying to climb to get away from the gloom hands only to see a dot on your head seconds later…

My first encounter was actually at the cave under the one shrine. My brain went into absolute panic mode that I didn't even think of climbing the walls. I had like five hearts and I died pretty much right away. Holy shit though. That was true fear.

Interesting to hear how you explore with such caution by climbing everything

You're *SO lucky* to have come across them that way. My first one came up behind me on the Plateau and I had *NO idea what was going on!* Nor did I know about phase 2 for a WHILE cuz I RAN _EVERY TIME_ (until that one chasm you drop down, and it's just a small round room with only you, and them, so I fought). _And..._ The Gloom Hands are the new Guardians, for sure. I was bummed when I thought we wouldn't have that one enemy that could just _OWN you_ if you were unprepared and would give you nightmares at night... but *I was WRONG!* Nintendo *DELIVERED* with these things!!!

Encountered this thing first inside the Hebra maze. Absolutely terrified. Shot the eyes until I ran out of arrows, started desperately throwing Dazzlefruits until I eventually died.

If you have the sensor + feature unlocked on the Purah Pad, you can actually track the gloom hands by taking a picture of Phantom Ganon. It was awkward to see how many times I came extremely close to a spawn point for them and either had them spawn/despawn out of line of sight or just barely avoided triggering them.

I didn't know there were cool Dark Clump exclusive recipes! Only minor correction is that fusing things to Gloom Toll weapons does NOT remove the draining effects, it'll always take its toll whenever you hit something regardless of what you fuse to them, thats the tradeoff for having such good base power

Nothing is like finding Hestu and going into the cave near him and just minding your own business and being like "Was that puddle of gloom always- WHAT IS THAT!?" I'm so glad I wasn't spoiled on stuff like that! The one I'm talking about is even one of the example locations of where it WON'T despawn.

Love the deep analysis and the story of your first experience. By the way, there’s a third weapon that Phantom Ganon can have which is called the Gloom Club, it’s a two-handed weapon. Also, the Demon King’s Bow always checks the number of MAXIMUM hearts you have regardless of your actual health, so losing hearts doesn’t actually decrease its attack power.

I first saw one in the Great Plateau forest right in front of the shrine and I teleported out of there so quick

My first experience with the Gloom Spawn was in the first place I explored after I finished the beginning story beats and getting the Paraglider. Hyrule Castle Chasm. My experience from BotW carried me through most of the tougher enemies, especially the Lynel, and I didn’t know what to expect and had no frame of reference for any other caves or depths in the game, so nothing really seemed off to me until much deeper in. I saw a Silver Moblin across a not-to-deep pit, and decided it’d probably by wise to take it out with a bow from across the way. Then the ground under my feet gave way, ‘that’s pretty cool’, I thought. Then I saw the hands. And then they saw me. Fast forward a few deaths and I used the nearby devices to fire cannonballs at them to take them down, and as if it wasn’t adrenaline-inducing enough to see Phantom Ganon, he started engulfing the ENTIRE CAVE in Gloom starting from beneath his feet because I was out of his range. I engaged in one-on-one combat against him, and he really did a number on me, especially with only four hearts, but I still have my first Gloom Spear, a trophy of my first and best-feeling triumph in this new Hyrule, and an experience that sticks out in my mind far above anything I had in Breath of the Wild.

the weapons with the gloom toll effect still damage you if you fuse something to them, but they just don't damage you if you aren't hitting anything. If you're hitting monsters, ore deposits or zonai devices they will still inflict you with gloom hearts.

I too feel safer in the depths by climbing and staying off the ground as much as possible.

As a first time Zelda player playing this game, getting down from the sky was so scary at first in general as I have gotten so used to the peace that was in the sky. I was so confused when all the scary monsters were everywhere and gloom hands

My first encounter with them was by the lake with the mushroom looking growths. I was doing a side quest with my horse and had like 4 hearts (super early game) when the sky suddenly dark and music kicked in. The sky changing caught my attention so I looked up, and not even a moment later I was snatched by a hand and literally screamed. Tried running but I had low stamina and died. I was so terrified I did not return to that lake and just left my horse behind. Continued the game and eventually found them again in a cave. Luckily had high ground and spotted them first, and proceeded to unload all of my precious bomb flowers onto their heads. I felt a rush of adrenaline and immediately jumped down to collect my reward. I cannot express both how amazed and horrified I was to see Phantom Ganon, amazed because I loved the Wind Waker / OoT reference, and horrified because I knew I was going to die. No, I didn’t run, and yes, I did die, but I wanted that kill, so I came back and threw myself at him. Two, three, four deaths, slowly learning his attack patterns and getting used to the Flurry Rush timing to avoid its gloom puddle (that’s a thing btw). After a 5 minute fight, going through 5 of my 20 meals and being down to my literal last weapon, I beat him on my 5th attempt. Loved the Gloom Sword, loved the fight, loved the experience. Recently rematched Phantom Ganon in one of the mazes after 30 hours of gameplay. Still used my precious Bomb Flowers on the Gloom Hands (and sprinted away in fear when I spotted them) but wiped the floor with PG. Hope he gets scaled up eventually cause my 40DMG weapons made the fight way too easy. Also, I did go back for my horse. He was a good boy and waited patiently.

First time I saw them was on the southern road of death mountain. I saw the sky turning red and assumed it was a blood moon and then realised that it wasn’t near midnight. I then turned around and saw the hands rushing towards me. Luckily I was able to jump of the side of the mountain and paraglide away, however it was still a very frightening experience.

I first came across them in a random ass cave, frightened me to bits. I wanted to cross the cave though, so my 4 heart having butt cheesed them from a ledge, I was not ready. Not ready at all.

totk is my first ever open world game and my first encounter with the Gloom Hands was when i didnt really know what the game was about, i was just harrassing the local bird population when i saw a weird thing i didnt see before, i got closer and i quickly died to the Gloom Spawn, one of my favorite accidental encounters in this game so far, i still panic when encountering them even though i've killed them a couple times

My encounters with gloom spawns came in 2 parts and it made the second time infinitely more terrifying. *1st Encounter:* One of my favorite ways to enter Hyrule Castle is through the waterway in the back. So I go around back, look for chest and stuff, dodge the puddles of gloom, etc. But then I got curious about something. In BotW, the damage rate of malice puddles felt higher compared to what the gloom puddles were doing. Yeah, they did semi-permanent damage, but I could walk right over them since it was the surface and my hearts would heal. I swear I could not have chosen a WORSE puddle to test this with. I started walking right over the one between the two docks in the waterway. At first, it didn't seem too bad. Usual health drain. That's when a hand grabs me from behind the camera and jumpscares the hell out of me. I turn the camera around trying to see what it is and "WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT?!" So I break out and run fully to the other side of the bridge. Lucky for me, it seemed as though they were unable to move away from that puddle, so I was at least safe there. They would disappear and reappear a few times as I kept messing around in the area, but I found comfort in the fact they could only spawn and reach as far as the puddle would allow them. So as long as I stayed outside of grabbing range, I was fine. *2nd Encounter:* After that moment, I was mad suspicous of anything covered in gloom. I was convinced that that enemy could spawn from any pool large enough if you got close enough to it. (I went to the lightroot under the castle right after that first encounter and I cannot describe to you how hard I was eyeballing those gloom puddles) So anyways, a good 20 or so hours passes before I decide to check out the Great Plateau. I know its not the starting area anymore, but I doubt they would make it that much harder. And for the most part I was correct. Aside from a lot of black bokoblins and a boss, I wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary. I even managed to get the entire bargainer statue quest done without any problems. A detail I took notice of pretty early on was that lightroots were located directly below the locations of shrines. I found the shrine on the south side of the plateau with no problems and it didn't take me long to find the one on the west side either. I had somehow missed a shrine that was somewhere near the north chasm so I thought it'd be fine to cut through the forest to get there. I also was also wondering what enemy they would use to replace the talus since I doubted they would use it twice. From what I could see, there was an enemy camp off in the distance, but I didn't see a lynel or a gleeok or anything. At that point, I assumed they just replaced the talus with the camp and maybe hid a korok somewhere too. So I'm walking towards the forest, kinda near the edge of the plateau because I wanted to see the view of the colosseum. And thats the direction my camera was facing when the sky turns red and I hear creepy music start playing. I thought it was a blood moon so I didn't bother to adjust my view. Then the hands grabbed me again. I'm not quite sure you realize how many internal rules this encounter broke for me. First of all, WHY WERE THEY ON THE OLD STARTING AREA? Second, THE GLOOM POOL CAN MOVE? Third, ITS FASTER THAN YOU. And fourth and most important, THEY WERE ABLE TO SPAWN OUT OF NOWHERE. In game, I might have just gotten a game over, but mentally, I was traumatized. From that point onward, even up to now, I get mad paranoia about any large space with no enemies in it. That second gloom spawn pulled up and merked me like none of its business, and I was NOT gonna let it happen again. So yeah, that the story of my first too encounters with gloom spawns and an explanation for why I whip out a forst gleeok lightscale trident and every summon I have when entering mildly open spaces.

my first encounter with the hands was on the akala citadel, it despawned like you said. However, the fight that sticks with me was in the depths on my way under the lost woods, i had thought until this point that the hands was all there was, but then phantom ganon popped out and i straight up yelled the name out lol

I was one of the people who first met them in that one cave with a shrine nearby and they don't despawn. Jumped right out of my skin! It killed me right away, and on a second attempt I just ran for my life to the shrine and found they couldn't climb. Tried to wait it out and they wouldn't despawn. The music and the atmosphere were so intense I forgot about fast traveling for a good few minutes! Died a few times to it before remembering. Truly an experience that sticks with you!!

Your first encounter with Gloom Spawn (or Nightmare Fuel as I like to call them) was a blessing. When they spawned the first time on me, there was no verticality anywhere to use. Also, I didnt have any suitable weapons and i didnt think of teleporting away either. So naturally, I got utterly DESTROYED.

I didn't know fusing something to gloom weapons removed the gloom effect. I always assumed you had to fuse the gloom weapon itself to another weapon, so that Link's hands were no longer touching the gloom weapon. I never knew it worked either way. That is good to know.

My first encounter with the gloom spawn was under the Morok shrine while it was raining. I had about four hearts and one ring of stamina, I think you can guess the outcome

You can also flurry rush them. It’s hard, but you can kill them one by one with melee combat if you’re fast enough, and it feels so good to do.

Saw them show up in the middle of some trees and bolted. I already knew about them before playing, but I just thought they'd just always on the field like other enemies. Prior knowledge didn't make them any less scary (Especially with their spawn animation being so fast that it's basically being a jumpscare) and now they're the sole reason why I also started sticking to high places more

I always love hearing when other people talk about cautiously exploring in these games! I don’t really like fighting enemies and loved majoras mask in botw (too worried to fight the enemies in totk for it rn lol) but I’m always on alternate paths and climbing way out of the way to avoid fighting

Simultaneously my favorite and least favorite enemy in the game! Excellent video

the spawn of gloom hands and their location is soo extremely random so they feel terrifying

By the way i think you forgot to mention the Gloom Club, that stuff is rare and hits HARD, pair it with anything that can boost damage like a Royal claymore about to be broken or a zora sword wet and you got yourself something quite strong, also i paired a gloom spear+gloom club and you still get the gloom effect

My first encounter still haunts me, lol. Part of me wishes they could climb, though. Would make them even more terrifying 😅

The first time I came across one was when exploring the grounds around Hyrule Castle Village. I was savouring the feeling of safeness because there weren't anymore guardians around. Then this dark puddle opened up on the right, sky went red, and this music played, and was like "Oh shit! I hope this isn't worse than a Guardian Stalker!". I was ready to warp if I saw something that looked like a tracing laser or something. After I noticed the music stopping, I looked back and the hands just looking around and then disappearing. I didn't want to hang around and look at whatever the hell it was. I felt like I just escaped with my life. I continued to run away... right into a clump of trees that started to attack me (my first encounter with Evermeans). Okay, all of this wasn't nearly as bad as Guardian Stalkers, but two jump-scares in a row made me a lot more cautious.

I first encountered them when I was between the bridge and Mt. Lanayru where the lynel used to be. Scared the absolute hell out of me and I died (only had 6 hearts, tons of stamina though). Then I learned of the power of rocket shields and haven't been killed by then since 😂

I wish there was a video of everyone’s first encounter with gloom hands. Mine was definitely interesting

The genius of gloom hands is that it feels like a predator prey relationship, stalking around as your forced to hide or get consumed, it's a very primordial fear.

My four year old son first saw them at the equestrian range. He calmly pressed the menu button on the switch, placed the console on the couch next to him, and quietly walked upstairs.

Fantastic video. Absolutely loved it :) Honestly I’d be down for a podcast style re-telling of your play-through of TOTK

My first Gloom spawn encounter was in a cave (4 hearts). My first reaction was "Oh there Floors Masters." to the opening scene of 28 weeks later.

Looks fun with 22 hearts and 3 circles of stamina : ) I saw them in an early cave but they kept getting me when I was trying to explore south hyrule field below the plateau. I left my horse there and was trying to get it back. Took me an hour to get around this thing! Reminds me of playing Doom way back in the day where things would just jump out at you.

I love how the clumps have a heart beat lol

my experience with the first encounter of gloom hands was of sheer utter terror. I immediately booked it, ran for my life with disregard to my stamina or anything else in the world really. I just wanted to get away from it. I figured this was not the place for me to be at that moment, and could maybe come back and face it whenever I leveled up, obtained better weapons, unlocked all the abilities necessary and gathered the necessary courage to do so. lol

Gloom hands feel like a more intense, modern version of the Wallmaster from OoT. I was in 4th grade when that game came out and I remember that eerie feeling I'd get when it's shadow appeared over me and it made that "windy descent" sound effect as the Wallmaster came down and attempted to grab me. First encounter I had it took me by surprise and dragged me back to the dungeon entrance. Gloom hands operate in a similar fashion (both being "hand" enemies that grapple you) but they just straight up murder you. They are an awesome enemy and they give me bigger chills than Wallmasters ever did.

I really love this video! The mix of personal experience and info makes for the perfect video!

i was thinking the same thing!!! i cannot forget the first time I saw them theyre so interesting and scary! I learned something new too from watching your video thank you, i didn't know that the clumps would still be so full of energy that they pulsate, its insane

When I first encountered the gloom hands I was basically just out of the tutorial, taking my new horse to Lookout Landing. The hands started chasing me while a blood moon was rising and I was creeped out. It was only a scare but it gave me a false sense of security thinking they only appeared during blood moons. And then there was that time in the Lockup by Hyrule Castle... I dropped in from above and killed the two phases. Then as I was trying to figure out how to open the door and leave a blood moon came and the hands were right behind me. Cue the Eric Andre going "Let me in! LET ME IIIIN!!!"

My first encounter was when I was climbing a random wall, I hear a horrible screech and the sky went red and the music got intense. I never saw the hands themselves and it went away a few seconds later, but it left me confused and a little scared. My first real encounter was in the same play session in the orodac quarry outside the spring of power. They just kinda appeared in front of me. I saw the. They saw me. They screeched at me. Sky goes red. Music gets intense. The feeling I go was a mix of “ohhhhh that’s what that was” and “WTFWTFWTFWTFWTFWTF”. I ran to a high ground, but apparently it wasn’t steep enough, so they ran up it and they just murdered me. Absolutely terrifying.

Fusing things to gloom weapons doesn’t stop them from damaging you but fusing gloom weapons to other weapons does

Imagine meeting these when its raining💀 also if you look closely they look exactly like links hand, which give the impression that they are phantoms of his hand

This is the first video of you I saw and I have to tell you that I really enjoyed listening to you. Moreover, you really describe well what I felt, when I first met the gloom hands. When I had to fight them in the Deku tree, I avoided any contact and used two canons to terminate them and Ganon.

I first encountered them in the forgotten foundation that leads to ganondorf. I thought they were the game's version of wall masters/floor masters/whatever those disembodied hands from older games are called. I tried to fight them, but was too scared and confused so I ran past them. I ultimately left the area as I wanted to experience the rest of the game before the final boss, and my next encounter with them was on the great plateau. I was terrified because I immediately recognized them and thought I was safe from them outside dungeons. I died to them and left them alone after that. I encountered them a few more times until being ambushed by them atop the akkala citadel. This time I was determined to kill them, and after figuring out that they couldn't reach me from the ground I shot them with arrows until they were all dead. Then phantom ganon appeared and killed me in one hit. I did eventually kill it, but man the mystery of the hands until that defeat was great.

My favorite and least favorite part of the Gloon Hands is _PTSD._ Back when playing _Wind Waker,_ I was honestly kind of terrified of the Earth Temple in that game. The reason? _Floor Masters._ the Gloom Hands in this just reminded me a tad more than I was comfortable with of those Wind Waker enemies and my encounter completely shut off any rational thinking, replacing it with just "Run! Leave! Get out of here!" My second encounter I cowered on the ledge above throwing down bombs just to get them to go away. The Phantom Ganon that spawned afterwards was pretty fun and didn't prompt any kind of traumatic memories.

Guardians in Botw: Time to run Gloom Spawn in Totk: Time to *pray*

I saw them initially very early on on the great plateau. They showed up near some of the depth entrance. And yes, I did go " nope" at least a dozen times and then died to it because I was very underlevelled at that point.

You can't always run from gloom hands, but you can always warp from any enemy, even main quest bosses.

Great video! Thanks for the tip with the lizalfos tails!

I first ran into it after landing on a platform in the Crenel Hills, was totally safe, but it was still intimidating

I was in the same area, but I didn't see them until after they saw me. I actually thought that they were floormasters like the ones in Wind Waker and that they were going to pull me underground into the depths.

My first encounter was outside a shrine on the Great Plateau (there was a boko camp there in Breath of the Wild, and a bunch of dry grass you could ignite). It was night time. Just strolling around, picking some fruit off a bush…and I see the red puddle, then the hands, and then come the screams. I just about lost my sanity, it was an amazing jump scare. I remember exploring the Taobab Grassland are looking for a Lynel, since there’s one in BotW…and then having to face down the Hands. Such an amazing inclusion, especially the first time you take out all the hands…

The best way to describe the gloom hands' idle sounds are like some kind of warped/taunting chuckle or giggling, it actually sounds like it is laughing, whether that's at you or it's laughing at its ideas as to what it's going to do to you with its diabolical hands is what is really worth debating.

Haha this is superb and captivating narration, wow. Bravo.

My first encounter was actually in Castle Town. There's this lady investigating a shrine there, and she mentioned that there was something moving in within the ruins. Intrigued, I opted to investigate. I'm looking around, and that's when see what looks like a moving gloom puddle... with huge hands attached to it. And so, like all sane people, I panicked and ran, with my camera facing towards the creature, which led to me bumping into walls and getting caught. Then somehow... it despawned. And all that was left were the dark clumps. And that single experience put the fear of the guardians right back into me.

So you literally climb to high places, soar everywhere and perch on trees. You are a bird.

My first encounter played out like a creepypasta. It was in the crenel hills with all the giant tree stump hollows and there were some aerocuda flying around them when suddenly they just disappeared. No noise, nothing, they just vanished out of existence. There weren’t any other enemies either, there was nothing except for the wind ambience. I looked in the stump and that’s where they were, immediately screeching and reaching for me. I didn’t die cuz I ran away but I still got to feel the fear of them.

This yter is very underrated Was entertaining to listen to your opinions :D

Thank you for the tips! You have a strategy that I am going to adapt! Those Lizalfos tails are quite handy!

I remember when I first encountered the gloom hands. I was exploring a cave and heard the battle music and when I saw them out of instinct I shot the eye on the hand. Then got freaked out when nothing really happened then it destroyed me entirely lol

I was glad to see the floormasters come back in some form

You're peacefully walking through Hyrule, without a care in the world, when... *SCREEE!* Pure terror.

I also found them in the grasslands, I was looking for Ganons horse since it didn’t spawn into my game via my botw save file (found it in the beach behind hateno lab) then these snakes spawned in.

Kind of reminds me of an enemy from ocarina that you fight as a child in the will and then again in the shadow temple as a kid. Gave me flashbacks of re 1.

If your first experience wasn't the gloom hands zooming straight to you and grabbing you while you're taking damage then you are blessed

Besides the labrynth (where it couldn’t reach me) the first time I found one of these guys was in the shrine you mentioned. And oh boy the panic was real. I ended up sniping the thing with bomb arrows after it de-agrro’d me

They are really interesting enemies, I believe I first encountered some while I was looking for durians in Faron. My personal weapon of choice is a boomerang, hits all the hands and comes back.

My first time encountering them was in one of the mazes on my second day and phantom gannon absolutely destroyed me.

Just when I thought I was bored with the gloom spawn, I almost shit when I was descending to ganondorf and the floor gave way to the pit with gloom spawn. I tried to recall but clever designers made sure the rock tumbled after it hit the ground making it difficult to get back up, and with no sages to bail me out and the music having eroded my confidence, I tossed a few bombs and scrambled to climb my way back up. The deeper into the castle chasm the more unprepared I thought I was, what fantastic atmosphere.

My first encounter with them was on Lanayru mountain! I knew about them already and was already higher up, so I just stared at them for a while before continuing to my goal (Also, I tend to explore similarly! I also prefer to be somewhere up high so I can look around)

I first encountered gloom hands on Lanayru Mountain, after shield-surfing from the skyview tower. When I saw the spawn, I was curious at first, but that quickly turned to dread as I heard the screeching and music. Immediately tp'd away. After that I became paranoid to flat, plain areas. Now, I know where they spawn and I can usually defeat them

I met them in a cave that drops down. There was a little patch of bomb flowers so i went and then i saw a patch of gloom and then these spawned. Drained my energy and then teleported out

I first found it in the Lockup from outside. I heard the screech, but I couldn’t enter the room to go fight it. Absolutely terrifying since I expected to find a Stalnox.

I'll always remember when I encountered the Gloom Hands (better name than Gloom Spawns 😅). I was just minding my business after doing a Shrine that's on top of floating ruins with roots but not in the Sky, I guess the ruins fell to the land. I flew low, found a Korok nearby and then the sky turned scarlet red. I thought it was weird because I had just gotten a Blood Moon recently, and sure enough I checked the time and realized it was the afternoon still. As I was wondering what was going on, I turn the camera around and see these hands trying to reach me I instinctively jump and glide opposite to them as far away as I could, until they despawn after being at a long distance. I am glad they exist, everyone has their own first experience with them. The 2nd time I saw them was in a cave that had a shrine near the tower of the first Geoglyph, it took me many tries ( and much food) to beat them. I finally did... And then Phantom Ganon appears. Incredible. I beat it first try but had to be incredibly careful, I also already had good equipment and clothes like Midna's Helmet which gives you Gloom Resistance. I still keep the picture I took for the Compendium for my first encounter against Phantom Ganon (though I'll replace that statue in Tarrey Town for the Final Boss)

I hope in the dlc they get upgraded. Maybe they could act as the limbs to a decayed guardian leading to a 3 phased battle: gloom guardian, gloom hands, then gloom Gannon.

shooting them with dazzle fruit makes it so much easier because they all get stunned and blinded for long enough to jump down from the high ground, get a couple safe slaps in, and repeat. Makes me feel real smart which is a huge part of this game!

Omg the lizafos tail is so smart. I’ve been stocking up on bomb flowers, shock fruits, and elemental keese eyes cuz these things go crazy in the depths.

Impressed that you got to 22 hearts before coming across gloom hands even once.

My immediate response the first time I saw one and every time afterwards has been "NOPE NOPE NOPE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" and after getting completely trounced by them the first couple of times, I have now settled on using a lynel bow and two sets of bomb arrows as my prefered method of just immediately dealing with them, it is enough to kill all hands immediately and is fairly easy to pull off if you can get some bullet time. The first time phantom ganon showed up though absolutely terrified me as well though since I decided to explore the depths below hyrule castle and he showed up after I killed one, which made me think I accidentally triggered the final boss or something when I still only had like 6 hearts.

Those tall tree things are nicknamed "Upside down tree", because the branches look like roots, making the tree look flipped on it's head. They are native to Africa.

Now, the second I encounter the hands, I instantly mark the location on the map, and warp away.

My first encounter was near the Goron city and I was just walking around trying to get a picture of an ostrich for my paraglider fabric when the Gloom Hands spawn and I start running for my life, whenever I see them my whole body tenses up and it gets difficult to breathe, its exhilarating but terrifying at the same. I know the routine to kill them now though, I've killed at least 10 of them.

You didn't even mention how crazy the sky and clouds go during this sequence

The first time i've met those hands, i feeled the same as the boar encountering scene in Princess Mononoke. Strangely they were pretty far from me, on a nearby rock. My girlfriend told me "what is that?!" as i was traveling, i ask her "what?" then she said "left on the mountain". Then we both look at the moving gloom silently and there they saw me. My weapons were very weak a this point but i manage to kill the hands with 2 hearts remaining. The ending was pretty tragic after we both saw the life bar on the top of the screen 😅

I think this enemy sticks out because of its previous version that was so memorable in oot. They expanded on dead hand in a proper way. One of the few enemies they got right in totk.

A few things that you may have missed and gotten wrong. Phantom Ganon can not only drop the Gloom Sword and Gloom Spear, some can also drop the Gloom Club, a two-handed weapon with a base attack power of 50. Fusing stuff to Gloom weapons doesn’t remove the Gloom Toll, that’s not how it works. You have to fuse a gloom weapon TO a normal weapon in order to negate its effect. The Demon King’s Bow has a special ability in which its attack power is dependent on the current amount of max hearts you have. Though this has a cap of 60.

I found this in the depths the first time and it scared the shit out of me. I ran and avoided it. The first time I actually fought them was for the deku tree quest and that was challenging, especially since I think the phantom Ganon that comes those particular gloom hands is harder than other ones. Your lizalfos trick is interesting. Never thought to try it. Usually I just bomb arrowed them until phantom Ganon. However, both phases become trivial once you get the master sword. Even hand-to-hand with the hands themselves isn’t that bad even with a small fusion.

The first time you see the Gloom Hands is like the first time you see a walking guardian in BOTW. Running is not going to help you.

don't forget bullet time with the gloom hands, especially with multi shot bows (lynel bows, duplex bows, etc)

I was trying to get to hateno village to be where I would call "tranquil lands" but made a stop to what was a horse archery area in BOTW only to bump into the gloom spawn there, so spooked by what I saw I could'n't even stear my horse right until they got me.

they are scary at first, but after you gets stronger, they are great challenging foes that the players need, esp. considering how TOTK provides many ways for easy combat. I wish they add more random Gloom Spawn like Yiga Clans do, instead of fix locations

in my first playthrough i was getting comfterble on the great plateu again, seeing how it changed from botw. i went out of a shrine teleport inside a cave and walked out into the sunlight through a little crevice. then a gloom hand rushed at me and grabbed me before i could even think, pure terror. i got out by just warping away when in its grasp, but man was it terrifying. i didnt know about phantom ganon, so going to the shrine with a mandatory fight there, bombing the gloom spawn, feeling acomplised and heading down, only for a healthbar and the words "PHANTOM GANON" to appear was just unforgettable. tjis game is something else

i met these things almost immediatly. i accidently missed lookout landing cause i wasn't paying attention during the cutscene where it tells you to go there, so i just kinda wandered around some hills trying to get up to a floating rock when randolmly i hear a screech. i started running, but almost immediatly got grabbed and died. terrifying.

weirdly enough, my first experience with them was surprisingly calm. i had just jumped off of the great sky island at the beginning of the game and ran straight into them, and when the sky turned red, i thought it was one of those instant blood moons (that happened it botw when the game got overwhelmed) and i honestly thought that it was just one of those malice eyes from botw that surrounded some of the towers if i remember correctly. also, my first forced blood moon happened at one of those towers with the eyeballs, so i thought “oh, i guess it’s one of those malice eyes, i’ll come back to it later after i visit hateno” and just walked off! lmao