Highlights

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes place in the same world as Breath of the Wild, offering familiar locations with exciting changes.
  • Exploring the Great Sky Island in Tears of the Kingdom reveals hidden treasures like the Archaic Tunic and Archaic Warm Greaves.
  • Players should take advantage of the Ultrahand mechanic and use it to experiment with building structures and vehicles for traversal and puzzle-solving.

For fans of The Legend of Zelda series, the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has given them a whole new game to obsessively play to completion. Taking place in the same world as Breath of the Wild, players of the first game will find themselves traveling to very familiar locations and will have fun seeing all the changes that have been made to those places.

Link and fighting enemies in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
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One of the new locations in the game is the Great Sky Island, which acts in the same way that the Great Plateau did as a sort of tutorial area for players. There are several activities that players have to do while on the Great Sky Island to progress in the story, like visiting the shrines and getting into the Temple of Time. But, there are also some things players might miss their first time there, and though players can eventually return, doing a few things before leaving will benefit them when they return to Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom.

Updated on January 5, 2023, by Ritwik Mitra: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the greatest video games ever made, and it's easy to see why players are still finding new things to do in this amazing title. The Great Sky Island may not reach the quality of the Great Plateau in terms of being a great tutorial area, but this area still has its fair share of fun things to do for players, especially for those who want to experience just how in-depth and engaging the game is before diving down to the land of Hyrule. This list has been updated to include some more Great Sky Island secrets, items, caves, and more.

7 Find The Archaic Tunic

Provides Some Much-Needed Protection Early On In The Game, No Matter How Weak It May Be

The Archaic Tunic lies within the Pondside cave

When Link first wakes up, he finds himself missing one of his arms, which is replaced with a new one, and his clothes. Players will easily find the Archaic Legwear, but another part of the outfit, the Archaic Tunic, which will complete one of Link's new ensembles, is easy to miss. The Archaic Tunic is in a chest in a tucked-away location called the Pondside Cave. The Pondside Cave is in the same area as the Ukouh Shrine, where Link receives the Ultrahand ability, so it's a good idea to stay in that area after leaving the shrine.

Players will find Brightbloom Seeds and Giant Ore Veins. Breaking them will give the player minerals, which have several good uses, including being great fuse material. As the player travels deeper into the cave, they should be on the lookout for a large glowing frog, which is a new creature called a Bubbulfrog.

The Bubbulfrog is mostly harmless, as it only shoots out bubbles from its mouth, which can be easily avoided. Shoot the Bubbulfrog with an arrow, and it will drop a new Key Item, a Bubbul Gem, which will be useful later. Just before reaching the end of the cave, there is a small alcove that will have Keese and a green chest. Clear out all the Keese and open the chest to find the Archaic Tunic.

6 Find The Archaic Warm Greaves

Helps Players Resist The Cold Instead Of Relying On Spicy Food

After leaving the Gutanbac Shrine, use Ascension to reach the top of the large ledge and go inside the large hollowed out tree

One of the shrines that Link has to go through on the Great Sky Island is the Gutanbac Shrine. The Gutanbac Shrine holds the Ascension ability, which lets Link travel through solid items that are above him. It's located in the snowy area of the island that will deal cold damage if the player doesn't protect Link from the cold. Luckily, players will be able to find a Cooking Pot and a Spicy Pepper bush. Just like in Breath of the Wild, Spicy Peppers can be used to make food that will give Link Cold Resistance.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
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The more Spicy Peppers used, the longer Link's Cold Resistance will last. After the player comes out of the shrine, they will see a large ledge to Link's left that has a large hollow tree trunk. Using the newly acquired Ascension ability, players can get to the hollowed-out tree trunk with ease. Inside, they'll find a green chest that has the Archaic Warm Greaves. The Archaic Warm Greaves will offer some Cold Resistance, which, paired with the effects of the Spicy Peppers, should offer players a good amount of cold resistance in most chilly environments.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - How to Restock Crystallized Charges at Forge Constructs

It's not until players reach the ground that they'll realize just how important Crystallized Charges are. So, when they find this item for the first time being sold in a mine on the Great Sky Island, they may be compelled to ignore this area altogether.

So, it's important to not hoard any Zonaite and use it to acquire these charges. The benefits of a bigger battery capacity for Link can't be stated enough, especially given how important Zonai devices are in the game.

4 Experiment With The Ultrahand Mechanic

One Of The Most Innovative Powers In The Game With A Ton Of Mileage

Link using Ultrahand on a car made of Zonai devices

The first time players get their hand on the Ultrahand mechanic is going to be a great time, especially given how groundbreaking this power is. Players can spend hours upon hours constructing unique structures and vehicles that help them traverse the landscape, fight against enemies, and solve puzzles.

Getting some practice with this mechanic in the Great Sky Island is very much recommended, especially given how integral this mechanic is in Tears of the Kingdom. This tutorial area isn't dangerous and gives players a lot of resources to mess around with, so players should have no issues understanding the depth of Ultrahand and how useful it is.

3 Fight The Flux Construct To Get Valuable Materials

A Powerful Enemy Who Will Help Players Become More Adept In Combat And Drop Unique Resources Too

loz totk flux construct 1 sky islands unknown sky giant side quest

The Great Sky Island isn't populated with many powerful foes, given how vulnerable Link is in this area. Thankfully, players who want to put their newfound combat skills to the test can try fighting the Flux Construct in this area.

This mechanical mini-boss is pretty challenging, and players with a limited arsenal can find it hard to take down this beast. Only by using Link's new powers in tandem with his weaponry can players best this powerful foe and gain some valuable materials in the process.

2 Find Koroks

Get A Head Start When It Comes To Finding And Collecting Korok Seeds

Reunite the Traveling Koroks

Players will have to hunt for Korok Seeds all over again if they want to upgrade the number of slots in Link's inventory, and they'll want to do that sooner rather than later.

link with fused spear, soup laddle, bokoblin arm, durable weapon
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Several Koroks are hiding away on the Great Sky Island, and just as in Breath of the Wild, finding them and their hiding spots will reward the player with a Korok Seed. There are 19 that can be found on the Great Sky Island, and one of them can be found and acquired on the same island where the Ukouh Shrine is located.

1 Find The Mining, Bottomless, And Pit Caves

All Of Them Have Unique Enemies And Valuable Items To Find

Discovering the mining cave, finding a Bubblefrong on the walls of the pit cave and discoverying the bottomless cave

Exploring caves will present new challenges for players but also great rewards. There are 4 caves on the Great Sky Island: Pondside Cave, The Bottomless Cave, the Pit Cave, and the Mining Cave.

The Mining Cave is in the Southern region of the Great Sky Island, located in the same area as the Nachoyah Shrine. North of the shrine, players will see a mine cart path that will lead directly into it. It's filled with Brightbloom Seeds, Mining Constructs, and most importantly, Zonaite Deposits which can be used for Zonai Charges and Crystallized Charges. Zonai Charges are used for Device Dispensers, and Crystallized Charges are used to make Energy Cells, which are used to power Zonai Devices.

The Bottomless Cave is located in the same area as Gutanback Shrine, and this will be a player's first time seeing the Like Like enemy in Tears of the Kingdom, though they have been a recurring enemy in several Zelda games before. There are two Like Like enemies, and one of them will drop a chest once it's defeated. Inside the chest is a Flame Emitter. The Bottomless Cave also has an Ore Deposit, a Bubbulfrog, and a treasure chest that has an Amber Gem.

The last cave on the Great Sky Island is the Pit Cave. It's found in the southeastern region of the island. There isn't an item or treasure to be had, but it does have Spicy Peppers and a Cooking Pot where players can make more cold Resistance food. There's a Bubblefrog and a Rare Ore Deposit that will give the player expensive gems that they can sell.