Board 8 > ~FIGHT!~ Link vs Aloy

(+) Yeah! (+)

Don't get me wrong, if this comes down to a close range fight, Link takes it.

but it wont, especially not in this big of a terrain. Aloy's a MUCH better stealther and tracker, and has more traps and ranged options. Even if Link does see her, she can just as easily separate him from his bike as he can from her Charger
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this is a good match

I think the average enemy alloy faces is stronger than the average enemy that link faces

but the boss range that link faces is higher

so his level of potency is higher, and I would say that their damage output is pretty close

I think Link has the edge but its very close.
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man I just wanna convince one person over to the Aloy side at this point
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Aloy

Johnbob got me
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yesssss
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fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!
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Link. I convinced myself by reminding myself of how many NPCs in BotW go out of their way to say "Link is ridiculous"
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I think this is more to say that both Link and Alloy are 4s
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I fully expected Link would end up winning the vote

but I thought it'd be a lot closer and I stand by my argument of Aloy > Link, as long as they're not starting in melee range
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!

I dunno, Majoras Mask Link has some pretty strong transformation masks.
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hombad46 posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!

I dunno, Majoras Mask Link has some pretty strong transformation masks.

But no actual hype for them (except Fierce Deity and I guess Giant's Mask if you count that). It's like...all you got to go off them is gameplay and the gameplay isn't super impressive for anything but the Fierce Deity Mask. So it's hard to get hyped about them.
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

hombad46 posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!

I dunno, Majoras Mask Link has some pretty strong transformation masks.

But no actual hype for them (except Fierce Deity and I guess Giant's Mask if you count that). It's like...all you got to go off them is gameplay and the gameplay isn't super impressive for anything but the Fierce Deity Mask. So it's hard to get hyped about them.

Well theres also the Goron Mask, which uses the body of a Goron Hero. Admittedly a Deku Scrub and a Zora Musician arent exactly hypeworthy
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If the Goron Mask was as fast as Darunia is in Hyrule Warriors I'd be all over it

but damn those megapunches are kinda slow yo
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!

What about Hyrule Warriors Link?
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redrocket posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

fwiw John

I don't think this is indicative of Aloy being weak in the slightest

it's more that this Link would clearly stomp every single past one into the dirt. Maybe combined, even. Like damn son, I never thought I'd see the day Link had real feats!

What about Hyrule Warriors Link?

Good gameplay but it's against crap mooks

I'd take BotW Link over HW Link easily, because lore hype goes a long way for me and he has a much better toolset.
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Hyrule Warriors is the only Link I know of where he became so full of himself that the Master Sword ended up being a -detriment- to his abilities and powers.

He has nice swordplay but that's about all he has. His beams can be deflected (probably very easily, since Link canonically deflects guardian beams which are much faster than MS beams) and HW Link has long end lag on his combos (well, when you don't roll, at least). I think BotW Link with the abilities TC has given him will definitely take every Link in the series outside of combining the inventories of the Links that appear in multiple games.
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BotW Link needs a bottle of Chateau Romani
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CelesMyUserName posted...

BotW Link needs a bottle of Chateau Romani

...Would it even do anything for him? I seem to recall his spells work on cooldowns, not mana.
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... maybe it'll give him inf stamina!
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HW Link is certainly no HW Ganon, that's for sure
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I feel like analyzing them more so let's go.

Gonna just read through the canon stuff to see how Link measures up.

"I couldn't help but admire his Goron-like strength. While I was distracted, a monster almost got the jump on me. He stopped it." Daruk describes him as having "Goron-like strength"

"He said sometimes when he focuses, it feels like time slows down." So his bullet time stuff is canon.

"Link grabbed a pot lid from the ground and deflected the blast. He nailed the thing in its weak spot and saved the day. " Already covered this but it's worth repeating that he not only deflected a guardian beam with a pot lid, but he did so just right to hit it in its weak point for massive damage

" One of them was a Hylian child of only about four years of age." ... "One thing that surely sets him apart is his swordsmanship, which I hear is exceptional. He has even bested adults." Link has bested adults in swordsmanship since he was four years old according to Mipha's Diary.

Now for the champion blessings he has.
Urbosa's Fury allows him to call lightning down on his enemies within a pretty good range. It can be used 3 times before going on a 12 minute cooldown, 4 minutes if he has the boosted version. As Aloy is given a full stock of potions, this would include Resist Shock potions, which grants 75% shock damage resistance for 90 seconds. However, Urbosa's Fury is still an exceedingly powerful move capable of even stunning Calamity Ganon, so I believe that Aloy should still try to stay outside of its range.

Daruk's Protection completely negates all damage Link takes 3 times before going on an 18 (or 6) minute cooldown, but he has to consciously be using it. It can also deflect some attacks back. Aloy would need to catch Link off guard to get past it, as if he is aware of her and her location, I believe he is capable of defending himself even without it.

Finally, (as Mipha's Grace is banned), Revali's Gale propels Link into the air along with creating an updraft. It can be used three times before going on a 6 (or 2) minute cooldown. While this is a nice boost to Link's mobility, it would also give away his position to Aloy and make him an easy target. Overall I think this is the least important of the blessings to this battle.

Now for Link's runes.

1. lol amiibo rune
2. Cryonis could help, maybe, if they fight in a watery area? I guess?
3. Remote bombs could possibly be used to lure Aloy into a trap. On their own they don't do much damage.
4. Magnesis could possibly work on Aloy's Shield Weaver armor and should definitely work on her Charger as it is a machine. Using it highlights metallic objects so it would give away the location of the charger.
5. The Camera. Now originally I was going to include this with amiibo in "lol" but thinking about it more, it is linked to the Shiekah Sensor+. If he manages to get a picture of Aloy or her charger, he can track them with the Sensor. If the fight isn't over after the first encounter, this would give Link a huge advantage in finding her again.
6. The Master Cycle Zero is a motorcycle. As this is likely going to be a stealth match, it probably won't come up much.
7. Stasis has been discussed at length. It probably wouldn't last too long against Aloy, but it would still remove her from her charger and leave her open to attacks.

Most of the weapons aren't anything worth talking about. Everyone knows the Master Sword is strong.
However, the description for the Savage Lynel Bow says it "has tremendous stopping power and can pierce thick armor as easily as thin paper." Aloy has potions that can reduce fire, ice, and electric damage for 90 seconds, but really Link should be using Bomb arrows for maximum damage anyway.

to be continued
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The Hylian Shield's stats far outshine those of the other shields in the game, so I don't think it should break at all during this fight. Finally, the Fierce Deity Armor grants attack up with each piece. I believe this in combination with Link's arsenal, should allow Link to two shot Aloy.

Now for Aloy. I believe her main strength is in her variety of weapons and ammo.

First off, her melee weapon is her staff. As there are no machines to override here and Link clearly outclasses her in melee combat, this will be useless to her.

The Banuk Striker Bow can fire Hunter Arrows, which are basically normal arrows, fire arrows, which are self explanatory, and Hardpoint arrows, which are Hunter Arrows but better. This would be Aloy's main weapon against Link, and could do some decent damage if she manages to land a clean hit.

The Banuk Powershot Bow fires precision arrows, which would be used for sniping outside of Striker Bow's range, Tearblast arrows, which use a burst of compressed air to knock off machine parts or knock over humans while dealing no physical damage, and harvest arrows, which are only good against machines. I believe only the precision arrows would be good here.

The Banuk Champion bow allows her to fire shock, freeze, and corruption arrows. Shock and freeze are self explanatory while corruption status makes those afflicted with it attack both friend and foe. As this is a 1v1, this is useless to her. Shock and Freeze could be useful if she can land them though.

The Forgefire is basically a flamethrower. As they are fighting in a jungle I don't believe she should use this unless she wants to cause a forest fire.

The Icerail's primary fire is close range and thus unlikely to be useful. Its secondary fire is a slow firing projectile that deals good damage, but would also be easily deflected by Link.

The Stormslinger starts off not doing much damage but ramps up with consecutive shots. This would alert Link to her using it and thus not be very useful.

The Sling allows her to fire Shock, Freeze, and Fire bombs, which turn the area they hit into hazard zones temporarily. This could be useful to her if she wants to deny movement options to Link.

The Blast Sling can fire Blast Bombs, Sticky Bombs, and Proximity Bombs. Link could easily deflect any blast bombs sent his way, and sticky bombs are easily dodged. Proximity bombs could be used to set traps, and I don't remember if they make any noise or anything. Didn't really use them much myself.

The Ropecaster is used to tie down machines at close to mid range, so it probably won't do much in this fight.

The Rattler is trash.

The Tearblaster is basically a shotgun version of Tearblast arrows, which fires a large blast of air at the opponent at close range. Again, Aloy wants to avoid close range so she shouldn't be using this.

Finally, the Tripcaster can be used to lay traps, specifically Shock Wires, Blast Wires, and Fire Wires. Unfortunately for Aloy, Link is smarter than a mechanical animal, and would likely avoid these traps. Also dinosaurs are stated to be roaming the battlefield, so they could easily set off a trap meant for Link.

Now lets move on to Heavy Weapons, if for some reason she's allowed to have those despite them not being part of her normal inventory, and unable to be carried on a mount, which she is stated to start the battle with.

The Deathbringer gun is a machine gun. It is loud and inaccurate past medium range. Bad choice to use.

The Disc Launcher fires slow moving explosive discs. If they actually hit Link that'd do serious damage, but he could deflect those with ease.

The Firespitter is short range and uses fire. So no.

The Mine Launcher lets her set mines. However, they explode after 30 seconds so it's doubtful Link would set them off.

The Ravager cannon is pretty similar to the Deathbringer gun.

TBC
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I'm not super well informed but I think this large terrain favors Aloy's better ranged weaponry. I like Link far better in close to mid range but I cant see that happening here.
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Finally, the Oseram Cannon. This bad boy does huge explosive damage and can take down pretty much anything. Unfortunately, it requires an exterior ammo source and Aloy can only barely hold the cannon, as evidence by her saying "Ugh! Heavy! All I can do to hold it up!". If Aloy happens to find out where Link is while camping near her Oseram Cannon, I suppose she could try and carpet bomb the area, but I doubt he would even be hit on the first shot and once he's aware of the threat, he would keep Daruk's Protection active and head toward her location. I don't think this one is as much of a surefire win as others seem to.

Next, she is wearing the Shield-weaver armor. This armor generates a shield that negates damage and recharges between hits. I believe the shield portion of her health would be depleted immediately by Urbosa's fury, especially with Link having attack boosts from his armor. Another thing to note is that this armor cannot be modified like other armor in the game.

Finally, Aloy's most important asset in this fight is her skill in tracking. She would most likely be the first one to find Link rather than the other way around, especially because her Focus improves her tracking capabilities.

As a full stock of potions is mentioned, her potions include fire, shock, freeze, and corruption resistance potions, as well as potions to restore her health. According to the wiki, the max potion pouch size is 12, but I don't remember if that means 12 potions total or 12 of each. Either way this battle is ignoring gameplay conveniences, so she would need to retrieve the potion and actually drink it in order to use it, which would give Link an opening.

Given the battlefield, I believe it is also important to look at the survival capabilities of both combatants. Link can climb pretty much anything in BotW, while Aloy requires handholds, which is confirmed in story by Sylens adding handholds to allow her to get into GAIA Prime. Link regularly catches food to eat while Aloy is more accustomed to hunting machines. However, she is still good at scavenging off of animals. Overall, I believe they are both suited to survive here for a while.

In conclusion, while Aloy is more likely to be the first one to find her opponent, I do not believe she would be capable of taking him out in one shot, and even that assumes Link has his guard down and is not using Daruk's Protection, or able to hear the arrow coming and activate it before it hits. I think Link has this.

Edit: I forgot to mention again that if the first encounter isn't the last one and Link manages to get a picture of Aloy or her Charger, he could use his Sheikah Sensor+ to locate her
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I think I have seen enough, Link
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I'm curious what @Johnbobb thinks of my analysis, as it could very well be biased since I thought Link would win going into it.
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It's largely accurate, though there's a few minor things

while maybe Urbosa's Fury would dig through the Shield Weaver armor, I think it's ultimately a non-factor. It's extremely close-range and seem pretty to dodge, especially for someone like Aloy. I don't see Link ever even attempting it here as it'd leave him wide open to someone with a penchant for headshots on moving targets, and like I've mentioned before, these two aren't getting close to each other.

I also think it's a big mistake to rule out the Tearblast arrows as useful. While they're primarily meant for destroying machines, they're main purpose is to do extreme damage to armor AND they do serious knockback. They're probably gonna be Aloy's best tool for getting rid of Link's bike and dealing with the Fierce Deity armor
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I think you're underestimating the range of Urbosa's fury.
https://imgur.com/uFoMGWl It extends to that line in the background, so I would hardly call it "extremely close-range". In fact, I think it just about covers Aloy's normal fighting range in game, at least how I played her when actively engaged in combat rather than sniping.

As for dodging it, you'd need to move out of that bubble before he unleashes it, unless you think Aloy can literally dodge lightning. And for the charge time, he can use Stasis on Aloy to give himself time to charge as it only takes about a second, and Link's mobility outclasses Aloy's so if she engages at a distance, I believe Link will be able to get in close before she can do any serious damage. Speaking of, how far away do you imagine Aloy sniping Link from? I don't think she's so much better at archery than Link is that she'd be able to attack from far outside his effective range, and given that Link has Bomb Arrows, he doesn't need to land a direct hit to do serious damage to Aloy.

As for the Tearblast arrows, even if his armor gets knocked off, he would still have Daruk's Protection, which he should definitely have up if he's aware that she's firing at him. And the Motorcycle is a rune, so I'm pretty sure he can just summon it to him whenever like Wario in Smash.

Also, this Link has the True Master Sword, meaning he has cleared the Trial of the Sword. The Trial of the Sword does not allow Link to bring in anything from the outside except for his runes. No armor or champion abilities to protect him. This means that Link has defeated two Lynels (one Blue-Mane, one White-Mane) with no armor and the only thing he has to protect himself being whatever shield he picked up on the way there inside the Trial itself. As I recall, Lynels are formidable archers in their own right, so clearly Link is able to either take a few arrows or dodge enough of them even without armor. It took an entire army of Guardians to take Link down, whereas Aloy has been knocked out by a simple bomb.
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