There are plenty of new bosses that Link can encounter in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But, even the bosses that do return from Breath of the Wild come with new abilities and modifiers to make them all the more dangerous. The Stalnox is not new to Zelda fans, but the Stalnox that can be found underground in TOTK comes with a new challenge: Gloom-based attacks.
The Stalnox can be found in two locations in Tears of the Kingdom: in the Depths, and deep in the Royal Hidden Passage. Both will use the same suite of moves, and require the same tactics to defeat. However, Depths Stalnox is preceded by a few waves of enemies, and its attacks reduce Link's maximum Hearts. Making Gloom-resistant food, and food that replenishes Hearts lost from Gloom, is essential to defeating this version of the Stalnox.
Stalnox Locations
Stalnox can be found in two places. The first is in the Akkala House of Bones in the Depths at coordinates (3248, 3444, -0431), which is beneath an area called Skull Lake. There's a handy chasm nearby that puts players practically on top of the Stalnox here, but it can also be accessed through the Depths (and is actually highlighted with an X by one of the game's Old Maps).
The other Stalnox in Tears of the Kingdom is found deep in the Royal Hidden Passage, which Link can access almost as soon as he arrives in Lookout Landing. He has to complete the introductory quests and open up the Emergency Shelter, where he will see a hole in the wall that two NPCs are staring at. Crawl through to find the entrance to the Royal Hidden Passage – and a familiar, Heart-trading statue along the way. Smash through a series of rock walls to reach this inner chamber, where the Stalnox is hidden beneath another pile of rocks.
The two are different in one major way, though: the Stalnox encountered in the Depths, like most Depths-based enemies, will reduce maximum Hearts with Gloom attacks. The fight itself is not very different between the two versions, but different preparations should be made to fight the Akkala House of Bones Stalnox.
How To Beat Stalnox
Despite their size, Stalnox are far from the worst enemies to fight in Tears of the Kingdom thanks to all of Link's new tools and abilities. Aside from equipping a powerful weapon and bow with plenty of arrows, there isn't much prep Link needs to do to fight a normal Stalnox. The Depths Stalnox, though, should be approached with a bit more caution.
Prepare some Gloom-resistant food with materials like Dark Clumps to reduce the impact of the Depths Stalnox's attacks. Cook food with Sundelions to recover any hearts that have been taken away by Gloom. Make sure to have a handful of each type of food in case things get hairy, and remember to save before the fight either way.
To beat a Stalnox in Tears of the Kingdom, players will need to rely on their Bow and their ability to quickly close distance. Stay far from the Stalnox at all times, and run away when it gets too close to aim at its eyeball – when Link shoots the Stalnox's eyeball with an arrow, it will be stunned for a few seconds and fall onto its butt. Get in close with a high-Attack weapon and give the Stalnox a few good wallops.
When it starts to get up, dash away and take aim at its eye again. It may try to block Link's aim with its hand, in which case players should dash away and make more space to create another stun opportunity. As Link whittles down its health bar, it will rip parts of itself off to use as weapons, and will even throw them Link's way. These thrown attacks can hit hard, but Link has a new trick up his sleeve: Recall. As soon as the Stalnox's limb is airborne, activate Recall and select the bone to launch it back at the Stalnox.
When the Stalnox is close to death, its eyeball will pop out and bounce around with its own health bar. When this happens, focus on the detached eyeball as soon as possible with melee attacks. If it's not destroyed, it will eventually re-attach itself to the Stalnox's eye socket. If Link shoots it again just once, though, the eye will pop out and give him another opportunity to strike.
What Do Stalnox Drop?
Upon defeat, Stalnox drop a pretty strong array of consumables, items, and things Link can use to Fuse to his weapons. Stalnox can also drop weapons, and the Depths Stalnox in the Akkala House of Bones has a particularly unique weapon: Biggoron's Sword. The Stalnox was not likely meant to be Biggoron himself, but it's a nice nod to the classic Ocarina of Time weapon and character.
The Stalnox in the Royal Hidden Passage will drop regular weapons as well as some gems on defeat, though part of that could be from the surrounding rocks destroyed during the boss fight. The crafting materials dropped by Stalnox are particularly powerful, and make for very good Elixirs. Both Stalnox will respawn with each Blood Moon, though Biggoron's Sword can only be acquired again from Poe statues underground.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.