Unless you’ve been living the Korok life under a rock somewhere, you’re probably playing a lot of Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo has once again created magic with an open world that dazzles at every turn. Even more impressive this time is the inclusion of a sprawing underworld, known as the Depths. This bizarro Hyrule is every bit as big and full of secrets.
Here are nine tips to help you make the most of your subterranean sojourns.
9. Look for Shadow Soldiers
There’s a lot to see in the Depths, and a lot to miss too. These shadowy soldiers stand atop rock formations and offer up some pretty decent weapons to aid you in your exploits.
Even if your arsenal is stocked, it’s worth grabbing a few to fuse with rocks and boulders to make rock hammers for harvesting the Zonaite scattered everywhere.
8. Visit Zonai Stations
One of the big challenges in exploring the Depths is the health-sapping gloom all over the ground. You can try to tiptoe around it, or you can fashion a vehicle at one of the many Zonai crafting areas in the Depths.
There’s usually enough on hand to build what you need, although steering sticks may be in short supply. (If you need to add more to your inventory, the Zonai device dispenser near Tarry Town is a reliable place to get more.)
7. Do the Prep Work
Speaking of steering sticks, there are a few other things you’ll want in your inventory before you go for a long haul in the Depths. You’ll want to cook up plenty of meals with Sundelions to restore hearts lost from touching gloom. Brightbloom seeds will help light the way down there, and you can make foods with Brightcap and Glowing Cave Fish, or elixirs with Deep Fireflies, to give Link a glow effect too. You’ll want plenty of arrows, as well as health- and stamina-boosting foods and elixirs for dealing with baddies like the Stalnox.
6. Beating Stalnox
Roam around the Depths long enough, and you’ll eventually encounter a Stalnox. These gargantuan undead cousins of the Hinox can be a terrifying surprise, and since they’re often surrounded by gloom it’s easy to get killed if you’re scrambling to get away.
But fear not! The Stalnox can be defeated pretty easily if you do a few key things. The most important is to pop the eye out of its skull with bomb flowers, then attack it when it's on the ground. Really unload on the thing using a fast, strong, one-handed weapon. The more you hit it, the longer it’ll take to fly back into the Stalnox.
If you don’t have bomb flowers, you’ll need to melee it until it gets below 50 percent health, then the eye pops out. Stay close, and run between its legs and get behind it once you see it preparing to stomp you on the ground. Being under it is better than being in front of it. You’ll conquer it in no time.
5. Fight Gloom Hands
Another frequent foe in the Depths are the terrifying Gloom Hands. They’re fast, they appear out of nowhere, and they do a combo of gloom damage and regular damage that rips through your health. Plus there’s a bunch of them! But this multiplicity provides a key weakness. The best way to combat Gloom Hands is to hit them with a Muddle Bud so they all attack each other.
However, sometimes killing Gloom Hands spawns Phantom Gannon. Unless you have a very strong character, run from this fight. RUN!
4. Tame a Stalhorse
Making a vehicle is a helpful way to get around, but they have limited range depending on your Zonai battery situation. This is why the Stalhorse is the preferred mode of travel for your Depths adventures.
Taming a Stalhorse is the same as any normal horse, just keep an eye on your stamina wheel after you mount it and replenish as needed. Your Stalhorse won’t take any Gloom damage but it will detonate Bomb Flowers, so gallop carefully. There’s no stable in the Depths, either, so if you want to get a Stalhorse in Hyrule head to Sanidin Park Ruins (Coordinates -1645, -0684, 0136).
3. Find the Miner’s Armor
The Depths is dark and full of terrors, so you’ll be tossing lots of Brightblooms around to illuminate your way from Lightroot to Lightroot, but the easiest way to stay lit in the Depths is to track down the Miner’s Armor, which gives Link the same glow effect permanently. Here are the coordinates where they’re located (if you open your map you can see the numbers in the lower right, so navigate to these, and leave a pin and you’re all set!)
- Miner’s Trousers (-1286, -2251, -0707) southwest of Great Abandoned Central Mine.
- Miner’s Top (-1077, -0556, -0514) north of the Great Abandoned Central Mine.
- Miner’s Mask (-3232, -2475, -0475) west of the Great Abandoned Central Mine.
2. Scavenge Everything
The Depths has many unique resources that you’ll want to take advantage of while exploring. Bomb Flowers, Muddle Buds, and Zonaiteare very valuable on the surface and can’t be found in the same concentrations anywhere else.
Poes, the little white lofty spirits bobbing about, can’t be found anywhere but the Depths. Collect them every chance you get so that when you find Bargainer Statues you’re ready to turn them in and collect rewards, like Gloom Armor that protects you from taking damage when you touch gloom.
1. Pin Those Lightroots
The #1 tip I can offer to players traversing the Depths is to make use of the Purah Pad’s pin feature. Why? Because visibility is unreliable down there. You’ll see a Lightroot off in the distance, start heading towards it, get turned around by the terrain or an enemy or some loot, and then it’s gone.Tall objects like trees and rock formations can obscure your line of sight, so don’t trust your eyes.
When you see a Lightroot (or anything of interest, really) open the pad by clicking the right stick, train your sights on the object, then press A. This keeps track of it for you, whether you die or leave the Depths too. There are 120 of them (they mirror shrine locations), so stop reading and get started!
“It's dangerous to go alone!” Check out more of Inverse’s Tears of the Kingdom coverage:
THE INVERSE REVIEW: Tears of the Kingdom Is the Best Nintendo Switch Game Ever Made
Tears of the Kingdom's Most Useful Vehicle Is Surprisingly Easy to Build
6 Best Places to Find Diamonds in Tears of the Kingdom
10 Essential Food and Elixir Recipes for Tears of the Kingdom
