Image: Nintendo via HGG / Noelle Roberts
Since first playing Halo 2 at the ripe age of 6, Noelle Roberts has nursed a healthy love of video games. Throughout her childhood she would become... Read more
Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom steps up the difficulty from its predecessor quite a bit with harder hitting, sturdier, and smart enemies. Even worse, Link has to effectively start from scratch again. Luckily, the Great Fairies are still willing to lend a hand and upgrade Link’s armor. However, all of the Great Fairy locations have been moved around in Tears of the Kingdom.
So if you’re a returning player expecting to find a Great Fairy in Kakariko Village, you’re out of luck. Naturally, this is a bit of problem given that armor upgrades are even more crucial than ever before to surviving the mid and late-game.
That’s why in this guide, we’ll show you where to find every Great Fairy location and how to upgrade your armor in Tears of the Kingdom.
How to Upgrade Armor in Tears of the Kingdom
For players who are veterans from Breath of the Wild, armor upgrading is pretty much the same here. On the other hand, rookie adventurers setting foot in Hyrule for the first time may find this section very helpful.
Upgrading your armor is a simple process. Speaking to a Great Fairy will allow you to open this menu. Here, every piece of armor you currently possess will be displayed. After moving the cursor to the piece you wish to upgrade, you’ll see the required materials, as well as the cost in rupees.
As you unlock more Great Fairies, higher tiers of upgrades will become available. Each subsequent upgrade will cost more rupees and materials, so be sure to stock up on both. You can make the process of finding materials significantly easier with the help of the Sensor+ upgrade for the Purah Pad.
Each time you upgrade your armor, the defense value will go up and the armor will have a star on it in your inventory. You can upgrade each piece of armor 4 times, one for each Great Fairy.
Additionally, certain armor sets will give you bonuses for wearing every piece of them once you’ve upgraded them to 2 stars. One of the most useful examples of this is the Glide Set, which when upgraded to 2 stars, allows you to negate all fall damage while wearing the full set. Armor upgrading is one of the best ways to improve Link’s survivability in ToTK.
Every Great Fairy Location in Tears of the Kingdom
Before we begin, an important thing to note. Even if you go to a Great Fairy’s location, they won’t appear unless you complete their related side quest. The side quests required to unlock each Fairy are part of a chain. Completing each step of the chain in order will allow you to utilize the powers of each Great Fairy.
1: Great Fairy Tera
Great Fairy Tera is located right next to the Military Training camp and Woodland Stable, closest to Eldin Canyon Skyview Tower. To begin the quest to unlock this first Fairy (and the first leg of the side quest chain), travel to Woodland Stable.
Once you’ve arrived at Woodland Stable, you should see a small stage and a man named Mastro, along with a fiddle player, practicing music. Speak to Mastro and he’ll tell you that they are the last remaining members of the Stable Trotters. The Stable Trotters once toured around Hyrule, performing their music for anyone who would hear it. Nowadays, the group has broken up, and this is why the Great Fairies of Hyrule have gone into hiding.
After hearing that the world has become corrupt since the Upheaval, along with losing the Stable Trotters music which they dearly loved, the Great Fairies have secluded themselves and refuse to come back out. The mission of the quest chain is to reunite all the members of the Stable Trotters and use their music to convince the Great Fairies that good still exists in Hyrule.
This opening leg of the quest is also the simplest. For this stage, you simply have to attach the Stable Trotter’s wagon to your horse’s towing harness and take the duo up to the Great Fairy. After doing so, they will perform for her and cause her to come out of her bulb.
After completing this simple side quest, congratulations! You’ve found the first Great Fairy Fountain and can now upgrade all your armor up to 1 star. Tera will then mark the locations of all other Fairy Fountains on your map. Convenient!
2: Great Fairy Mija
Great Fairy Mija is located in the Hebra region, next to Snowfield Stable and Pikida Stonegrove Skyview Tower. The Stable Trotters will be located at Snowfield Stable this time, asking you to find their former horn player.
The horn player’s location will be marked on your map, and you’ll be tasked with building a device to transport him out of a hole in the ground. After doing so, you can transport the group up to the Great Fairy, unlocking 2 star armor upgrades.
3: Great Fairy Cotera
Great Fairy Cotera is in the Dueling Peaks Region, south of Kakariko and close to Sahasra Slope Skyview Tower. Head to the Dueling Peaks Stable to find the Stable Trotters who need their drummer.
Luckily, he’s not far away and asks Link to simply gather 3 Courser Bee Honeycombs. Afterwards, you will need to build a flotation device with nearby materials for the Troupe to get to the Great Fairy, unlocking 3 star upgrades.
4: Great Fairy Kaysa
Great Fairy Kaysa is located by Hyrule Field Skyview Tower and Outskirt Stable. Travel to Outskirt Stable and you’ll find the Stable Trotters in need of their flautist. The flautist is to the south, at Highland Stable, and needs you to collect 10 Sunset Fireflies so he can impress his crush. After doing so, he rejoins the Stable Trotters.
With the whole troupe finally reunited, you’re ready to transport them to the final Great Fairy. They will perform for the Fairy in a nice little cutscene, thank Link, and declare that they will begin touring Hyrule’s stables once more as the Stable Heroes. Kaysa will then allow Link to upgrade his armor to the maximum of 4 stars.
Congratulations, you’ve now found all of the Great Fairy Fountain locations in Tears of the Kingdom and can fully upgrade your armor!
Join the High Ground!
We hope you found this guide helpful. You should now have at least a couple armor pieces upgraded and be ready to take on some of Tears of the Kingdom‘s most daring Challenges.
Do you have any extra thoughts on this guide? Let us know by sharing this article on social media or leaving a comment down below. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides and gaming content.
Happy gaming!
You must sign in to comment.
Don't have an account? Sign up here!