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The world of Hyrule may no longer be the thriving hub that it once was, but something is certainly thriving. And that something is monsters. Hyrule is a dangerous place full of Bokoblins, Moblins, and great titans that are almost like boss battles in themselves.
Some of the most formidable of which are the Igneo Talus. As if regular Talus weren’t scary enough, there are also ones made completely out of lava. But like any other boss, they are relatively simple to defeat. It’s all just a matter of learning their attack patterns and how to efficiently deal with them.
Key Notes Up Front
Igneo Talus are like regular Talus, but they reside in the volcanic region of Eldin. Talus replicate the nature of their surroundings, and unfortunately, in the case of Igneo Talus, that means that they are on fire. Needles to say, this makes them far more dangerous than their regular counterparts.
Since they are also usually surrounded by lava, you have to be far more aware of your surroundings when fighting them. There are four Igneo Talus in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well as an extra Igneo Talus Titan that is part of Daruk’s section of the EX Champion’s Ballad DLC. In this guide we will go over the best way to defeat the Igneo Talus, as well as where you can find them all.
How to Prepare For a Fight Against an Igneo Talus
The first thing to consider when taking on any strong monster in Breath of the Wild is what gear and weapons to bring with you to the fight. In the case of the Igneo Talus, the best way you can prepare is by wearing the level 2 Flamebreaker Armor, complete with the Fireproof set bonus.
The Fireproof set bonus makes Link totally immune to fire-based attacks. This means that if you are unfortunate enough to get slammed by one of the rocks an Igneo Talus throws at you, Link won’t sustain any fire damage after the fact. Unfortunately, he will still loose HP from the original impact though. The Fireproof set is good, but not that good.
The level 2 Flamebreaker Armor set bonus will also allow Link to mount the Igneo Talus without having to put its fire out first, making the process of defeating one essentially the same as defeating a normal Talus. It is an incredibly valuable bonus, but it’s not necessary to defeat an Igneo Talus.
The Flamebreaker Armor set consists of three items, the Flamebreaker Helm, Flamebreaker Armor, and the Flamebreaker Boots. Each piece needs to be upgraded at the Great Fairy Fountain at least twice to get the set bonus. Here is how you can get your hands on each piece of the set and what you will need to upgrade them:
Flamebreaker Helm
- Purchased from the Ripped and Shredded store in Goron City for 2000 Rupees.
- Level one upgrade requires 1x Fireproof Lizard + 2x Moblin Horn.
- Level two upgrade requires 3x Fireproof Lizards + 4x Moblin Fangs.
Flamebreaker Armor
- Purchased from the Ripped and Shredded store in Goron City for 600 Rupees or collected as a reward for completing the Fireproof Lizard Roundup side quest.Â
- Level one upgrade requires  1x Fireproof Lizard + 2x Moblin Horn.
- Level two upgrade requires 3x Fireproof Lizards + 4x Moblin Fangs.
Flamebreaker Boots
- Purchased from the Ripped and Shredded store in Goron City for 700 Rupees.
- Level one upgrade requires 1x Fireproof Lizard + 2x Moblin Horn.
- Level two upgrade requires 3x Fireproof Lizards + 4x Moblin Fangs.
If you don’t have the level 2 Flamebreaker Armor set, you can still defeat a Talus, as long as you have the right weapons, that is. Make sure you stock up with plenty of ice arrows and a strong sword or two before you head into the fight.
Remember that if you don’t have the level 2 Flamebreaker set bonus, some sort of ice is absolutely essential. You can use a Frostblade or something like that, but I personally prefer to stock up on ice arrows since I like more long range weapons. The more space between me and an Igneo Talus, the better.
How to Complete The Fireproof Lizard Roundup Side Quest
If you want to get your hands on the Firebreaker Armor for free, (and why wouldn’t you?) You will have to complete the Fireproof Lizard Roundup side quest.
Thankfully, it’s a rather straightforward one to complete, so it’s well worth your time. Especially if you want to save the 600 Rupees it costs you to purchase the armor from the Ripped and Shredded shop in Goron City instead.
To activate the quest, you must first locate Kima. Don’t worry, he’s pretty hard to miss since he is the only human in the area. You can find him sneaking around searching for Fireproof Lizards in the Southern Mine, just south of the village.
Kima is urgently searching for Fireproof Lizards to make an elixir to stop him from catching fire due to the extreme heat of the area. He is looking for ten, to be exact. All you need to do is find them and give them to him.
There are plenty of Fireproof Lizards scuttling about the area, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble collecting them. If you find they are too fast to catch, you can don your Sheikah Armor to boost your stealth, and crouch down making sure to move as slowly as you possibly can in order to minimize your noise.
If you don’t have the spare cash to fork out for the Sheikah set, you can also have yourself a Sneaky Elixir to boost your stealth abilities long enough to snag the lizards. You can brew a Sneaky Elixir with a Blue Nightshade and a Silent Princess flower from any cooking pot.
Once you have collected ten Fireproof Lizards, give them to the very thankful Kima, and set off towards the mountain with your brand new Firebreaker Armor.
How to Defeat An Igneo Talus
I personally found Talus to be one of the hardest enemies in the game to defeat, especially when it came to the ice and fire variants. All Talus use the same attack patterns, however, which makes defeating them relatively easily. Especially when you learn what to look out for and if you know your elemental weaknesses.
The main ways that a Talus deals damage is by slamming its head into the ground (and possibly Link if you aren’t careful) and by launching its giant rock arms at you. You can tell when a Talus is about to hurl its hands at you from its movements. This makes it much easier to predict its next move so you can plan yours in retaliation.
The Talus are huge and intimidating. Thankfully for you (or Link), however, their giant size also makes them quite slow, which you can use to your advantage. Before the Talus launches an arm projectile at you, it swings its body back. Once you see the beast draw back its arm, that is your queue to start sprinting to the side to dodge the onslaught.
Once an Igneo Talus throws both its arms at you, it needs to slam its body into the ground to spawn new ones. If you have the Flameproof set bonus, this is when you want to run up to it and climb up the side of its body to reach the ore deposit on top of its head.
This is the beast’s only weak point. The secret to a Talus is mounting it and wailing on its weak point until it eventually succumbs to your combat prowess.
If you don’t have the Fireproof set bonus, you first need to extinguish the flames that cover the Igneo Talus’s body so you can mount it safely. This is thankfully very easy. All you need to do is shoot its body with an ice arrow or give it a whack with a Frostblade.
Sometimes it takes two arrows to extinguish the flames, but just keep shooting it with ice arrows until you see steam rising from it and its body turns to a solid grey or blackish color. When this happens, the Igneo Talus will slam its body into the ground to reabsorb heat from the lava below. When it does, climb up it and start attacking the ore deposit on the top of its head.
When you’re on top of an Igneo Talus with or without any fireproof abilities, you are at great risk of it reigniting and burning you or throwing you off into the lava that more than likely awaits you below. The main thing to remember when on top of an Igneo Talus is not to get too greedy with your attacks. You only want to be on top of it for around 5-6 seconds tops. Slow and steady wins the race.
Depending on the strength of your weapon, you will probably only have to repeat the process of extinguishing it and climbing up and hitting its weak spot around three to four times before the Talus is finally defeated.
What Do I Get For Defeating An Igneo Talus?
The rewards for defeating such a formidable foe are quite plentiful. During the fight, you’ll occasionally get precious gems like rubies, diamonds, opal, and flint from attacking the ore deposit on top of its head.
When you finally defeat the Igneo Talus, you collect even larger amounts of these precious ore deposits which you can sell for profit. Whenever I was strapped for cash in the game, I would head straight for the Talus. They are the best get rich quick scheme I found during my play through, and since they respawn so you can essentially farm them endlessly for money.
If you defeat all the Igneo Talus, along with every other Talus variety, Kilton will give you the Medal of Honour: Talus in return for all of your hard work.
Where Can I Find The Igneo Talus?
There are four Igneo Talus in the base game plus one Titan, which is part of the EX The Champions Ballad DLC. They are all located in the Eldin region, in or around lava lakes and deposits.
You can find the first Igneous Talus on a small island in Gorko Lake. You can find Gorko Lake in between the Daqa Koh and Kayra Mah Shrines.
The second Igneo Talus can be located on the western shores of Darunia Lake, on the bank opposite a small island southwest of the Shora Hah Shrine.
You will find the third Igneous Talus on the southeastern shores of Darb Pond, almost exactly east of the Kayra Mah Shrine.
The fourth Igneo Talus is around Goronbi Lake, which is west of Eldin Tower. Once you get to the island in the lake, follow a road up to the north where the Talus will be waiting for you at the end.
The fifth DLC Igneo Talus Titan is smack bang in the middle of Lake Darman, which you can find just east of the Shora Hah Shrine and northwest of the Divine Beast Vah Rudania. It is far larger than any of the other Igneo Talus and much harder to beat because of its engorged HP and the fact that it’s completely surrounded by lava.
The best and most efficient way to defeat it is to use the glider to catch the air currents and allow them to lift you up. Then either shoot arrows straight at its ore deposit, or alternatively, at its body to extinguish it. Then you are free to land on top of it and go to town on its weak point with your strongest weapon.
The one saving grace of that fight is the nearby Shrine. When I was taking on the Igneo Talus Titan I hid behind the Shrine until he threw both hands at me, then I took my chance to fly up using the air currents once I knew there was no chance it could smash me out of the sky.
Then I landed on it and started beating the living daylights out of its ore deposit. I may have been playing it safer than others, but at least you will end the fight alive. And thats the point, isn’t it?
FAQs
Question: Are the Igneo Talus the hardest Talus to beat?
Answer: Personally, I found the Frost Talus harder since their elemental ability freezes you leaving you unable to defend yourself from further attacks. The Igneo Talus deal extra fire damage, but at least you can still dodge while you’re on fire.
Question: Should I go to the trouble of upgrading my Firebreaker gear or just take on the Igneo Talus without it?
Answer: The Flameproof ability makes the fight significantly easier, but it is still completely doable without it.
Question: Do the Igneo Talus respawn?
Answer: The Igneo Talus do respawn after you defeat them. You can tell if you have previously defeated them or not because the Talus will have a star beside its name and say Defeated. Defeating the other Igneo Talus again is a great way to practice before taking on the Igneo Talus Titan from the DLC.
The Igneo Talus Aren’t As Scary As They Look
All of the giant enemies in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are extremely intimidating, whether it be Lynels, Hinox, or Talus. But they are all creatures of habit and have their own distinct attack patterns that, once learned, give you a massive advantage. You can come prepared with all the armor and weapons in the game, but the main thing you need when taking on the Igneo Talus is confidence in your abilities. They might look scary, but you can rest assured knowing that if I can defeat them, so can you.