Ancient Automaton Koloktos boss battle guide — Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

The fifth boss battle in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is against a mechanical hulk called the Ancient Automaton Koloktos. This machine dwells at the top of the Ancient Cistern.

Polygon’s The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Ancient Automaton Koloktos boss battle guide explains what the boss does in its two phases. We’ll give you tips, tricks, and tactics to defeat your opponent by explaining its attacks, movement patterns, and how to counter the Ancient Automaton Koloktos’s abilities.

Ancient Automaton Koloktos, Phase 1

In the first phase of the Ancient Automaton Koloktos boss battle, your mechanized enemy will launch three different attacks. The first is a long-range strike where the robot swings both of its arms with blades on them. This attack creates projectiles that fly around the room.

If the boss crosses its bladed arms around its body, the machine follows that move with a sweeping slash. Dodge backward before it attacks.

The attack you want to look out for is an overhead melee strike. The boss will wind up one of its arms and pound the ground. Sidestep this attack and look out for the joint on each arm’s elbow. You can grab this joint with your Whip. Latch onto the arm joint and then pull back to detach the arms.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

After you removed two arms, you can attack the boss when it raises the two arms covering its chest for a double overhead strike. This move exposes the red orb in the center of its body.

You can choose to immediately hit the boss when it raises its arms, or you can wait for the boss to pound both arms into the ground. If you choose the latter, you can remove both arms, which leaves its chest wide open for attack.

After a few hits, Ancient Automaton Koloktos regains its arms, causing you to repeat the process of removing its limbs before you can hurt it again.

Ancient Automaton Koloktos, Phase 2

In the second phase of the Ancient Automaton Koloktos boss battle, the machine will summon its arms back and pull itself out of the ground.

This time, you’ll have to dodge overhead sword strikes from three arms at a time. You can tell which direction the boss will attack from as it’ll raise three of the arms on either side before hitting the ground.

If you get too close to the boss, it will unleash a fury of strikes for a few moments. Run away until it stops attacking. As the fight goes on, the boss will summon Cursed Bokoblins to harass you. Either take them out or run around them. If they grab you, you’ll become an easy target for the boss.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Dodge the robot’s attacks and detach an arm with the Whip when it does its triple sword strike. Once you remove an arm, the boss will drop a large sword. Grab this weapon and swipe at the machine’s legs to destroy them.

With its legs removed, you can swing the massive blade at the boss’s chest which breaks the cage guarding its red orb. From there, take as many swings at the weak point as you can.

After a few hits, the boss will regain its legs and will take its sword back. Repeat the process until the boss is finished.