Special Attack

Special Attacks are powerful techniques in that can be performed by any Warrior once the Special Attack Gauge is filled. These attacks are often sweeping and destructive, able to take out many enemies at once, and can be incredibly useful at clearing away mobs of enemies in a difficult situation.

Uses
All Special Attacks can be performed by filling the Special Attack Gauge, then pressing the Special Attack button. The Special Attack Gauge may be filled by either defeating enemies, by collecting Force Fragments dropped by breaking yellow Pots or by defeating certain enemies, by drinking a Purple Potion or greater, or dropped by Triforce Transport Captains in Adventure Mode only. Every weapon category in the game has a different Special Attack, each with a unique animation, with different Elemental Effects applied to the attacks and striking different ranges around the Warrior.

Adventure Mode battles in certain DLC Packs have specific ways to alter the Warrior's Special Attack Gauge. In certain battles affected by Twilight in Adventure Mode's Twilight Map of the Twilight Princess DLC Pack, the Warrior is restricted from using Special Attacks. No Force Fragments will appear, and defeating enemies will not fill the Special Attack Gauge. The Twilight, however, can be cleared from these battles with Tears of Light Item Card. As well, in the Termina Map of the Majora's Mask DLC Pack, using a Majora's Mask Item Card will fully charge the Special Attack Gauge for one battle only.

Two types of Badges affect Special Attacks in Hyrule Warriors — the Din's Fire Badge and the Fierce Deity's Mask Badge. The former speeds up the rate at which the Gauge fills, while the latter raises the number of segments the Special Attack Gauge has, first to two, then to three with versions I and II, respectively. As performing a Special Attack will only consume one segment, the extra segments can allow a Warrior to use the attack in rapid succession. To unlock the Fierce Deity's Mask Badge, Warriors must first craft Din's Fire II. Additionally, if the Twilight Princess DLC Pack has been purchased, Warriors may use the Apothecary to create a Mixture that will cause the Special Attack Gauge to continually refill, for the cost of 200 Bronze Materials and 50,000 Rupees.

Force Fragment
Force Fragments are yellow, pyramid-shaped fragments that increases a Warrior's Special Attack Gauge when collected. Force Fragments come in two sizes — a small fragment that fills a quarter of the Special Attack, and a large fragment that fully fills a single gauge segment. Small fragments may be dropped by defeating certain enemies, usually Captains, whereas larger fragments are always dropped by breaking yellow Pots commonly found inside Keeps. In certain Adventure Mode battles, large fragments will also be dropped by defeating Triforce Transport Captains.

Enemy Commanders
Even tho they are not playable, Enemy commanders can perform special attacks as well that can do huge amounts of damage to the Warrior. When activated, they surround themselves in a charging aura before giving out the final attack. Despite that they still can be attacked during this move, they do not flinch until the attack has ended, and their Weak Point Gauge becomes exposed after but only for a short time. However if the Warrior uses the right item attack during the charging aura of their attack, it will cause the commander to daze out and end up using it's attack on itself and it's allies around them. Each commander has a counterpart variant that does the same attacks as the original.

Trivia

 * When using the Power Gloves tier of the Gauntlets, the Chain Chomp will bite down into the ground, while Link does not seem to throw it into the ground as hard.
 * In Impa's Naginata Special Attack, the blades that rise from the ground will be the same as the blade on the currently equipped Naginata.
 * Ganondorf's Special Attack is a reference to Demise's second battle phase. Similar to Demise, he charges up his sword with a lightning strike, then fires a lightning bolt by swinging it.
 * The balls of magic used in Zant and Midna's Special Attacks are identical, with green markings and exploding in the same fashion, despite Zant's magic often having red markings.