The Great Fairies may just be the most unconventional and bizarre characters in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. With their enormous size, strange animations, and unusual moveset, they can feel incredibly clunky at first. But once you learn how to control them, cancel their animations effectively, and maximize their unique actions, they quickly become one of the most devastating characters in the entire game. Here’s a full breakdown of their abilities, combos, mechanics, and the advanced strategies that make them top-tier in skilled hands.
Dash Attacks
The Great Fairies have two distinct dash attacks:
- Sprint + Y: One of the fairies pops out of the pod, damaging nearby enemies.
- Sprint + X: A fairy arm swipes in front while the pod continues to move. Great for keeping momentum while dealing damage.
Their strong attack (X) is a quick shoulder bash forward—just slightly slower than their dodge. This move is fast and surprisingly useful for interrupting enemies while closing distance.
ZR Unique Actions – Swapping Fairy Styles
The Great Fairies’ ZR action changes based on which fairy is currently active, and each fairy has a different effect:
- Purple-haired fairy: Summons amaranth and a massive protective shield that can absorb one attack (or two if enhanced).
- Pink-haired fairy: Launches flower petals far forward for massive damage.
- White-haired fairy: Summons effluents that burst from the ground.
- Blonde-haired fairy: Spawns blue nightshades that lower enemy defenses for 14–15 seconds. This debuff stacks and refreshes each time it’s reapplied.
Key Trick: Use dodge canceling at the end of the unique action to prevent the fairy from swapping. This is critical for spamming specific fairy effects, especially the pink (long-range damage) or blonde (defense shred).
Also, note that sprinting causes the fairy to switch. If you’re trying to maintain a specific fairy, avoid entering and exiting the pod unnecessarily.
Weak Point Smashes & Special Attack (A)
Their Weak Point Smashes have wide AoE and can affect more than just the boss, making them useful even in crowd situations.
Their special attack has all fairies appear around a central point, kissing enemies for massive damage. It deals splash damage to nearby enemies too, making it excellent for clustered fights.
Sheikah Rune Abilities
- Cryonis (L + A): Summons a giant ice block. The fairy sits atop it before smashing it down for massive AoE freeze damage.
- Remote Bomb (L + Y): Shoot bombs from the pod by spamming Y. The trajectory can be adjusted with the left stick. End early with B for a final explosive bomb.
- Magnesis (L + B): Absorbs metal objects and fires them as two projectiles. These can break weak point gauges and deal solid damage.
- Stasis (L + X): Freezes the fairy and nearby enemies. Press X to charge forward—the charge color (yellow/orange/red) shows strength. You can cancel this with B or dash out early with X to reposition.
Attack Combos
- YYYYYY (6-hit string):
- Begins with regular swipes.
- Additional fairies appear to shoot hearts.
- Use Y repeatedly for a full animation and heart pop finisher.
- Fairies switch twice during this combo.
- Y, then X (YX):
- A quick swipe followed by three pink blasts.
- High range and excellent burst—ideal for fast, aggressive play.
- YY, then X (YYX):
- Two basic swipes, then another fairy pops out and fires a heart that explodes.
- The fairy swaps afterward.
- YYY, then X (YYYX):
- Follows the same swipe progression.
- Ends with magic dust you can aim using the left stick.
- YYYY, then X (YYYYX):
- Similar to combo 1’s opener.
- Ends with a whirlwind that sucks enemies in, damages them, and spits them out.
- Works even on major bosses and exposes weak point gauges.
- YYYYY, then X (YYYYYX):
- Same base as combo 1.
- Opens the pod, allowing movement and two attacks: Y to pop out for damage, X for a finisher.
- This mode lasts around 7–8 seconds and ends with an auto-finisher.
Optimal Weapon Build
Due to their slow base speed and vulnerability during combos, it’s highly recommended to stack Attack Speed seals. This significantly improves combo flow and reduces the chances of being interrupted.
If you want a +20% damage bonus, you can swap one Attack Speed seal for Strong Attack Damage to match the hidden seal synergy.
Advanced Strategies
- Fairy Swapping Trick: Sprint until the pod closes, then tap B. If the wrong fairy comes out, tap B again and repeat until the right one appears.
- Unique Action Spam: Dodge cancel the end of the unique action to loop the pink fairy’s long-range flowers or the blonde fairy’s defense debuff.
- Boss Killer Combo: Use the blonde fairy + stasis combo to stack defense drops. When timed correctly, this strategy can annihilate bosses in seconds. (Example: defeating Calamity Ganon in ~10 seconds.)
- Outpost Clearing: Combo 5 (whirlwind finisher) is ideal. It pulls in enemies, does AoE damage, and exposes weak points. If you don’t have combo 5 unlocked, combos 1, 2, and 3 also do the job well.
- Boss Combos (Non-Spam):
- Combo 6: Good for exposing weak points and flexible follow-ups.
- Combo 4: Solid when a boss’s weak point is exposed.
Final Thoughts
The Great Fairies are undeniably powerful—some would argue broken—in the right hands. Their overwhelming AoE, unique debuffs, and combo potential make them a force in any fight. That said, their sheer size and sluggish mobility come with drawbacks. They’re hard to use in tight corridors, frequently interrupt other characters, and take practice to fully master.
While they might not be for everyone, for those who enjoy complex characters with big payoff potential, the Great Fairies are worth the effort.
Feel free to share your own strategies or builds in the comments. And if you’ve made it this far—thank you for joining through the entire character guide series!
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