Weak Point Smash

Weak Point Smash is a technique that appears in Hyrule Warriors. It is can be used to inflict a large amount of damage to certain enemies and bosses.

Weak Point gauge
To perform a weak point smash, first an enemy or bosses weak point gauge must be emptied. For standard enemies, Weak Point gauge is exposed after they perform certain attacks or are attack by the player with either a Focus Spirit Attack or certain item they are vulnerable to. Once visible, the circular gauge can be reduced by attacking that enemy quickly and brutally (using combos and special attacks) to chip away at it. Once the gauge is emptied, the enemy will become dazed and a ring will appear around them. Entering or being inside this ring will cause the player character perform a weak point smash. Some enemies like Darknuts, Stalmasters, Aeralfos, and Fiery Aeralfos will expose their weak point gauges if they are attacked in a certain way. The Weak Point Smasher Apothecary mixture makes weak point gauges to reduce faster for a single battle scenario. This mixture can be purchased from the Bazaar for 125 bronze Materials and 25, 000 Rupees.

Boss Downed State
Unlike regular enemies, Bosses only show their weak point gauges when they are in a downed state. A boss can be put into a downed state by using either a Focus Spirit Attack or using an item that that Boss is vulnerable to when they are using a specific attack. However some bosses like The Imprisoned and Ganon have specific methods (like destroying The Imprisoned's toes) to put them into a downed state, stunning them and exposing their weak point gauge.

In Ganon's Fury, Ganon can put Bosses into a downed state by using specific Boss Attack Items and via Focus Spirit Attack.

Weak Point Attacks
There are two versions of weak point smash for each moveset. Depending on the player characters level, weapon attack power and skills, Attack Badges, as well as the enemy's health gauge/moral/strength, the battle scenario, and difficulty level are all determining factors as to whether or not the weak point smash's damage will kill the enemy/boss or not. For example a using a weak point smash on a Boss on a high difficulty level with a low level character with a low ranked/level weapon will likely only lightly damage the Boss. However a High Level/Tier character with a high ranked/level weapon on a lower difficulty may very well kill the Enemy/Boss with their weak point attack.

Standard Weak Point Smashes
This version of the Weak Point Smash is used on non-boss enemies and enemy characters (regular characters that appear as CPU controlled enemies in various scenarios) when their weak point gauge is emptied. Each weapon moveset has a its own standard weak point attack.

Boss Weak Point Smash
One a Boss's weak point gauge is empty a weak point smash can be performed causing the player character to perform a powerful attack on the Boss. Each weapon moveset has its own standard weak point attack, though the parts of the attack may vary from boss to boss (due to differences in body type). It should be noted that it is possible to defeat a Boss without performing a weak point smash by simply emptying its health gauge with damage from special and focus spirit attacks.