First appearing in the Champion’s Ballad DLC for Breath of the Wild, Monk Maz Koshia was an intriguing character who also turned out to be one of the best boss fights in the entire game. While Link doesn’t have to re-challenge the Blight Ganons to unlock him as a playable character, he is connected to side challenges and can be obtained after completing the first mission of Chapter 4.
Taking the Shrines that are missing in Age of Calamity and turning them into an entire battle style shouldn’t work on paper, but Maz Koshia is one of the more interesting battle styles in the game and plays a lot like his boss battle counterpart from Breath of the Wild, though with fewer clones.
11 Playstyle
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Maz Koshia is something of a mixed bag, but the equal focus on both large scale attacks and short-range melee damage makes him a good pick for just about any situation. The main core of Maz Koshia’s playstyle is to “become massive,” as the game will prompt, where he will deal decent damage in a very large area of effect attack that can easily clear entire strongholds in a single strike. These attacks can be banked similarly to Impa’s clones, though are gained by destroying the Shrine items that are summoned rather than absorbing symbols.
9 Strong Attack
Nostalgic for the early 2000s, using Maz Koshia’s strong attack will make him do his best impression of a Beyblade for a short period of time. While it’s not the best attack in his arsenal, it is fairly decent for clearing small groups of Bokoblins or Lizalfos quickly. The main use for this attack, however, is to quickly destroy any Shrine items summoned during his strong attack combos and can be used as a combo extender once those strong attack combos have finished.
8 Special Attack
Like his Breath of the Wild counterpart, Maz Koshia’s special attack will cause him to “become massive” and shoot a Guardian laser straight ahead. Unlike regular Guardian lasers, this one has a bit more width to its attack and will deal damage in a band in front of him rather than only in a straight line.
This special attack is one of the more focused, so making sure he is locked onto his target is necessary to ensure he doesn’t fire wildly around the battlefield by accident, though it can also be executed from point-blank range instead to make sure he doesn’t miss.
7 Basic Combo String
Maz Koshia’s basic attack sting is fairly simple with enough forward momentum to move him around the battlefield alongside having a decent range and speed on par with most characters that use two-handed weapons. There’s nothing really special about his basic combo attacks, however, and the main use for them is to clear Bokoblins from the battlefield quickly, as his best high damage moves are all in his strong attack combos.
6 Strong Attack Combos
This is the bread and butter of Maz Koshia’s attacks. Each combo will summon a different item that is usually found inside Shrines, such as the electrified balls or the massive rolling spike balls. The fourth combo, however, will actually summon a Shrine from the ground instead. It’s not only useful for launching enemies into the air but for gating larger enemies and keeping them at bay. His best strong attack combo, however, is his fifth, where he summons six spike balls before launching them around the field and detonating them, instantly filling all of his “become massive” charges.
5 Weak Point Drainer
None of Maz Koshia’s attacks really stand out as being good weak point drainers, since the majority of his attacks are just as good as each other. The best option, however, is simply repeating his Beyblade impression with his strong attack if there are no “become massive” charges available. However, if there are charges available, this attack deals considerable damage to weak point gauges if the attack lands directly on the enemy, making it a good use for these charges in general.
4 Sheikah Runes
Like Link, none of Maz Koshia’s Sheikah Runes really stand out among the others, though using Stasis in combination with his strong attack or “become massive” attack is a very good combination. The Bomb Rune is also somewhat more useful on Maz Koshia than others, as it summons a bomb directly under the target and significantly reduces the chances of missing the attack.
Like most other characters, Cryonis and Magnesis are only really good when prompted to be used on larger enemies. Although Cryonis also has some use as a gating tactic, it is much more efficient to simply summon a Shrine instead.
3 Defending
Despite being a long-dead Sheikah Monk, Maz Koshia is very nimble on the battlefield and is more than capable of dodging most attacks. Aside from this, his sprinting strong attack causes him to attack wildly from side to side and also moves him out of the way of most larger enemy’s attacks in the process. It’s a decent alternative to the standard dodge if you want to remain on the offensive, though has the drawback of not triggering Flurry Rushes.
2 Weapon Modifiers
Because Maz Koshia is a fairly well-rounded character, he is more than capable of using just about every weapon modifier fairly effectively. Weapon Speed, Normal Attack Damage, and Damage Per 100 kills are generally always good choices, though he can also get use from the Damage to Midair Enemies modifier as a couple of his combos launch enemies into the air, most notably his fourth combo.
1 Unique Action
As previously mentioned, Maz Koshia’s unique action is to grow to the size of a Hinox and slam the ground with an area of effect attack using a Shrine hammer. The best use for this attack is to either clear strongholds in an instant or as a weak point drainer. While these attack charges are generally consumed when used, there is actually a loophole that allows him to use these attacks limitlessly — by using his fourth combo to summon a Shrine, then attacking the shrine using the “become massive” attack. Instead of consuming charges, it will accumulate them without using them in the first place and is a good way of charging these attacks before unlocking the fifth combo.
