Divine Beast Vah Ruta

After some more exploring in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I made my way to Tabantha Tower. I scaled it and activated it.

Activating Tabantha Tower.From the top of the tower, I spotted a new fairy spring. So I paraglided down and met the Great Fairy Kaysa!

Kaysa: How would you like to live here with me, hmm?After paying her a fee, she upgraded some of my clothing to improve my defensive stats. I then completed a nearby shrine.

I traded in four spirit orbs for another heart container, and I decided it was time to head back up to Ploymus Mountain. Fortunately, the big angry dude from before didn’t spot me, and I was able to sneak past him. Even better, I found enough shock arrows stuck in trees that I got more than the 20 that I needed!

Once I got to Shatterback Point, I had to glide down to the lake below. On my first attempt, I tried to land directly on the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. But it had a force-field around it, and I died pretty quickly.

I bounce off a force field surrounding Ruta.So I tried again, realizing I needed to find Prince Sidon. He told me I needed to ride on him as he swims up to the giant mechanical elephant known as Vah Ruta. Sidon took me close, then I had to swim up the waterfalls and shoot the elephant’s pink orbs with shock arrows. Once I landed enough hits, the water coming out of Vah Ruta slowed down. I thought I was done…and then Sideon took me closer, telling me now the real work starts.

Sidon: Looks like this is where the real work starts.He took me to the entrance of Vah Ruta, and told me to look for a map inside. That actually sounded good to me, because it meant I was finally getting to a dungeon in the game! I was surprised there hadn’t been any dungeons yet, although some shrines are kind of like mini-dungeons in a way.

Inside, I activated a terminal (the first of five) and began exploring. A bit later, I found the map and acquired the ability to adjust the trunk of the elephant. Water constantly streams from the trunk, so adjusting the trunk is necessary to reach certain areas–including the big top of the elephant.

The map of Divine Beast Ruta.Paragliding inside Divine Beast Vah Ruta.Through exploration and some trial-and-error, I was able to activate most of the terminals. But there was one terminal in particular that was causing me problems, and it took me several play sessions over a few days before I finally figured it out.

For those who don’t know how I play, I try to avoid spoilers if at all possible (and other people’s videos/walkthroughs) because I feel it’s more satisfying to figure everything out for myself. Even if it means some puzzles (or other obstacles) may take me longer than if I just watched a video or Googled it.

But once I finally activated that last terminal, I fought a boss and completed the dungeon. That earned me another heart container. The story advanced, I got a very helpful reward, and then I found myself back in Zora’s Domain.

The crowd gathers to thank me at Zora's Domain.Everyone thanked me, and I took the time to shop and do some cooking. I met up with a Zora named Torfeau, and he had a side quest for me. He told me to defeat the Hinox (a giant) over by Ralis Pond. He said that this should be a piece of cake…fish cake, to be exact.

Torfeau: For he who saved the domain, this should be a piece of fish cake.
Mental note: Do not order dessert while in Zora’s Domain.

So once I was done in Zora’s Domain, I checked my map and headed for Ralis Pond. I found the giant there, and after I woke him up, he had his eye on me. I think he just wanted a big hug.

The blue hinox looks at me with his one eye, as his arms are outstretched.Okay, not really. He literally pulled trees out of the ground and then tried to beat me to a pulp with them. If I ran too far away, he would throw the logs at me. I think I barked up the wrong tree by picking a fight with guy.

While I wouldn’t call him a piece of cake (fish or otherwise), I wood not be deterred. After several minutes of fighting, I defeated him and collected some interesting items…namely his guts, teeth, and toenails. I bet I can gross out Zelda with these!

Hinox Toenail: A nail obtained from a Hinox. It's as thick as a plate of armor and can be stewed with critters to make elixirs.
This makes for an interesting footnote.

I returned to Torfeau, and he rewarded me with 100 rupees. Rupees aren’t exactly my favorite reward, but I’ll take them. I then left Zora’s Domain once again and headed off for some more exploration. I made my way to Eldin Tower and activated it.

Activating Eldin Tower, overlooking some lava.From there, I glided down to Foothill Stable and chatted with the people there. I then completed a nearby shrine before wrapping up my game. I have no idea where I’ll go next time, but we’ll see. 🙂

4 thoughts on “Divine Beast Vah Ruta”

  1. I feel like you’ve done loads more than me, even though I’ve just defeated the same Divine Beast 😛 I got stuck on the wheel and glanced at my guide, but other than that I managed to do the whole thing without 🙂

  2. The towers can be very annoying, and I remember doing that one. My tip is to save while on one of the platforms, exit the game, and load up from there. The weather will be reset and enemies attention would have been redirected.

  3. Jeff, are you planning to buy the new DLC that’s just come out and show it a little bit in one of the entries? It looks like a nice pack and I’d love to see your thoughts on it.

    1. I’m not sure yet, and I haven’t even looked at the details of it. I plan on beating the game before even considering any DLC, so it will likely be months still.

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