Vah Ruta and Waterblight Gannon – Zelda: Breath of the Wild Divine Beast guide (2024)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Vah Ruta is the elephant-like Divine Beast in the Zora Domain.

In this Breath of the Wild guide, we’ll help you find the Van Ruta main quest map location, guide you through the quest steps to find shock arrows and the Zora’s Armor, help you navigate the Divine Beast Vah Ruta and find the map, and then give you tips for the Waterblight Ganon boss fight.

Table of contents

• How to get the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest
• Retrieve 20 shock arrows on Polymus Mountain
• Swimming up the waterfalls
• Getting the arrows and avoiding the Lynel
• Fighting Divine Beast Vah Ruta
• Divine Beast Vah Ruta dungeon and puzzles
• The map terminal treasure chest
• Vah Ruta’s map
• Terminal 1
• Terminal 2 and a treasure chest
• Terminal 3 and a treasure chest
• Four more treasure chests and a waterfall shortcut
• Terminal 4
• Terminal 5
• Waterblight Ganon boss fight
• Part 1
• Part 2
• The aftermath
• Mipha’s Grace
• Completing the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest and getting the Lightscale Trident

Divine Beast Vah Ruta main quest location

Speak with King Dorephan to end the Reach Zora's Domain main quest and unlock the Divine Beast Vah Ruta main quest. During the conversation, you’ll also receive Zora’s Armor, which is essential for the quest.

After getting the quest, equip Zora’s Armor and head to the courtyard area of Zora’s Domain. (It’s the area with the statue in the middle.) Speak with Muzu, the old and doubting Zora you met alongside the king. The armor softens his stance.

Retrieve 20 shock arrows on Polymus Mountain

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Look for waterfalls to the northeast of Zora’s Domain, and head across the walkways toward them. When you arrive, Zora’s Armor allows you to press A and swim upward. That’s the path to Polymus Mountain, where you can find shock arrows.

Swimming up the waterfalls

Explore the grassy area between the first and second waterfalls to find a couple of items. Explore the area to the left, and you’ll find a bunch of rocks to walk and climb on. (Don't explore the area to the left, is what we're saying.)

Explore the pool between the second and third waterfalls to find items, and the grassy area surrounding the waterfall for some animals to hunt and plants to pick. Along the cliff wall, you can read "History of the Zora, Addendum 2 Prince Sidon’s Great Escape," for some backstory.

Getting the arrows and avoiding the Lynel

Swim to the top of the third waterfall, and you'll nearly be at your destination. Follow the sign for Shatterback Point up the hill, and you’ll arrive at a clearing. The cutscene that follows introduces you to a Lynel, a horrible and immensely powerful beast that has survived in Hyrule since ancient times. Lynels are strong, fast and can call forth thunder for a one-hit kill.

Do not fight this Lynel.

Instead, use the cutscene as your guide. You hid behind a boulder, right? So use the boulders as cover and sneak from tree to tree gathering shock arrows. There’s a particularly good stash up a hill in the northeast corner (relative to the path that leads up here) — right before Shatterback Point.

If the Lynel discovers you, run. Run fast. Run far. You can even climb down the side of the mountain until the monstrosity loses interest. It’s also a good place to use stealth-buffing food and elixirs. This beast has preternatural hearing, and drinking purple sneaky juice will at least make you harder to hear.

When you have your 20 shock arrows, leap from Shatterback Point back down to Zora’s Domain. Meet Sidon at East Reservoir Point. Speak with him, and say you’re up for a fight with the Divine Beast that gives this mission its name — Vah Ruta.

(Shatterback Point is also a good place to revisit if you’re looking for shock arrows later in the game. In our experience, they don’t tend to regenerate, but you can still sneak around and grab some.)

Divine Beast Vah Ruta fight

The fight with Divine Beast Vah Ruta takes places over four related phases, with you on Sidon’s back.

Vah Ruta hurls ice blocks your way. Equip cryonis, center the blocks in your reticle and press L to shatter them. Destroy all of the ice blocks on once side, and Sydon will swim close to the giant mechanical elephant. Press A when you’re near a waterfall, and you can fly up it (using Zora’s Armor, of course).

When you fly into the air, hold ZR to raise your bow. Time will slow down, allowing you to aim at the glowing pinkish targets, conveniently located near the waterfalls you swim up. Make sure you’re using your shock arrows.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Every time you hit a target, a new phase begins. Vah Ruta continues to hurl ice blocks in ever more deadly ways and adds things like mines to its arsenal. Repeat the cryonis process above, taking out whatever’s flying at you and creating ice blocks for the mines.

When you’ve destroyed the four pinkish targets, the fight ends, and you can enter Divine Beast Vah Ruta.

Divine Beast Vah Ruta dungeon and puzzles

Enter Vah Ruta, and interact with the Sheikah slate terminal. This activates a fast travel destination directly to the giant elephant machine, so if you need to leave and restock, feel free to do so. Why might you want to leave? To get more arrows of all varieties. You should have a ton of them for the puzzles in this dungeon and the upcoming fight.

When you're ready to go, your goal is to find and activate five Sheikah slate terminals within Vah Ruta.

The map terminal and treasure chest

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Cross the bridge next to the eyeball in water (or where the underwater eyeball used to be), and use cryonis to create an ice block underneath the gate. Enter the room behind it, and interact with the terminal.

Vah Ruta map

You now have access to Vah Ruta’s map, which is actually super interesting. Not only does it show the locations of the terminals in 3D, but it allows you to control the Divine Beast’s trunk. More on that soon.

Vah Ruta Terminal 1

Head up the ramp from where you entered, destroying the eyeball in the goo along the way. Use magnesis to lift the treasure chest out of the pool of water, and open it for an ancient spring. Destroy the guardian scout in the room, and fire an arrow at the eyeball in goo underneath the water.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Use magnesis to rotate the gear next to the chains. This will lift a platform with a Sheikah slate terminal. Interact with it. One down, four to go.

Vah Ruta Terminal 2 and a treasure chest

Head up to the next level, prepared to destroy a guardian scout when you enter the room. There are two gigantic gears in this room. One is moving, and one is way bigger than the moving gear.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The smaller gear has a terminal inside of it. Use cryonis to create a block of ice that blocks the flow of water turning the gear. Time it so that the terminal is exposed (as close to the bottom as you can get it), and then hop into the gear to interact with it. Two down, three to go.

Treasure chest

Before you leave, though, destroy the ice block you created and ride the gear up. Use cryonis while you’re on it to block the water like you did before. This time, jump off of the gear and onto the ice block. Climb up, turn left, and head to the treasure chest for a silver (100) rupees.

Vah Ruta Terminal 3 and a treasure chest

On your way up to the third floor, destroy the eyeball in goo, but be extra careful. This monstrosity has teeth and ejects skulls (as you do). You may find yourself fighting more than just one enemy (as you also do).

This floor leads to the center of the biggest gear. Use your Vah Ruta map to move the elephant machine’s trunk up. Water will shoot from the business end of the trunk, turning the gear. You can either get it moving at a slow enough speed that you can walk on and off without falling or, while the treasure chest and terminal you want approach, move the trunk back to stop the gear’s rotation. (We found it easier to just slow the gear's movement to a crawl and walk on and off as needed.)

Use stasis on the block that slides up and down on a pole by the treasure chest. While it’s frozen, open the treasure chest for an ancient core.

Use stasis on the glowing orange ball that also slides up and down on a pole. Holding it in place by the center of the gear prevents the terminal door from closing. Hop in as the Sheikah slate terminal passes to interact with it. Three down, two to go.

Four more treasure chests and a waterfall shortcut

To access the final Sheikah slate terminal, you have to do a bunch of things. Doing those things puts you in the path of four more treasure chests. That's what we'll cover in this section.

From the second floor (the one with both gears), hop onto the gigantic gear and ride it to the top like a Hylian Ferris wheel. Move the elephant trunk with your map, so that the gear stops moving while you're up top. Use arrows to destroy a guardian scout, and then hop off the gear to where the guardian used to be before you made it blow up.

Step on the pressure plate here to activate a waterfall. You can use this as fast travel between the lower floor and this one. And to get more loot. Hop off of the side of the waterfall, and you’ll end up in a pool on the second floor. Swim up the waterfall and use your paraglider, turning right, and you’ll see a treasure chest. Open it for a knight’s halberd.

Repeat the Ferris wheel process again to find a gear with a bunch of goo and an eyeball on it. Move Vah Ruta's trunk from your map screen to stop the gear, destroy the eyeball, and claim the treasure chest for 10 fire arrows. (Depending on your angle of attack, you may need to monkey with the elephant trunk so you can get at the treasure chest.)

Back on the platform where you destroyed the guardian scout, follow the hallway that leads away from the gears and toward the elephant’s trunk. Lower the trunk to a horizontal position and walk across. Shoot the eyeball in the purple and black goo. Open the treasure chest there for an ancient shaft.

While standing on the elephant trunk, interact with your map to raise the water-spewing hose. Use the platforms to climb to the opposite side of the trunk as it raises. From there, you can jump to the top of Vah Ruta. Shoot yet another eyeball in goo to get access to another treasure chest. (It’s on the opposite side of the eyeball.) Open it for 10 ice arrows.

Vah Ruta Terminal 4

At the top of Vah Ruta’s head, there’s a hole. (See the previous paragraph if you need to get to the top of the old elephant machine guardian … thing.) Hop through, and murder the gooey eyeball on the ceiling.

Use magnesis to turn the crank on the wall. That will open a section of the ceiling conveniently above the fire raging below and blocking your access to the final terminal.

Interact with your map and move Vah Ruta’s trunk into the position shown in the gallery above. The water will douse the fire and give you access to the final terminal. Four down, one to go.

Vah Ruta Terminal 5

Return to the hallway that allows you to walk onto Vah Ruta's trunk, and move the trunk as pictured above so you can paraglide directly to the water-spewing end. When you get to there, walk to the far end and move the trunk, as shown in the gallery above. The final terminal is on the far side of the trunk. Hop over the far edge of the trunk platform and land on the ledge to interact with the final terminal.

Waterblight Ganon boss fight

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Before you even begin to fight the scourge of the Divine Beast Ruta, here’s a bizarrely important thing to know: You can straight up leave the room in which you fight Waterblight Ganon. If you’re ever low on hearts or you want to regroup, just walk up the ramp you took to get in, and you’ll be safe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, before you begin, make sure you have food or elixirs that increases you defenses. Think of food in Breath of the Wild as temporary armor. If you eat something that boosts your defenses for a couple of minutes, that'll be plenty to survive the fight. It can turn one-hit kills into survivable strikes.

Waterblight Ganon phase 1

Waterblight Ganon's fighting style changes depending on how close (or far) you are from him. Our preference is that you keep your distance and rely on arrows for your primary attack.

Waterblight Ganon telegraphs his attacks — mostly a thrust, a spear throw and if you get close enough, an attack that shakes the ground beneath him (browse the gallery above to see them all). Putting space between you and him gives you more time to react and makes those attacks easier to avoid.

After chipping away at about 20 percent of his health, Waterblight Ganon will fall to the ground. Run to the monster, equip your most powerful weapon and attack.

Repeat the process until he loses about half of his health, at which point the second part of the fight begins.

Waterblight Ganon phase 2

When Waterblight Ganon’s health dips below 50 percent, the second phase of the fight begins. Instead of having the freedom to move around the area, you’re confined to four blocks, and you have to swim between each.

Waterblight Ganon will cling to the ceiling to attack from a distance. Get to the platform farthest from him and launch your attacks. Use your most powerful bow and whatever arrows you have — though of course arrows with status effects will deal more damage. (It seems that shock arrows are the most deadly.)

Watch out for his spear lunging attack, which you can dodge or jump off the platform to avoid. He’s also fond of throwing his spear at you, and you can avoid that in the same way.

Waterblight Ganon will also use the same tricks that Divine Beast Vah Ruta used when you were trying to break into this mechanical elephant. Equip cryonis and destroy any ice blocks he throws your way. If you miss, you can dodge at least some of the remaining ice blocks while swimming to another platform.

Watch your health, keep eating to increase your hearts, and keep firing arrows from a distance until he falls.

The aftermath

Defeat Waterblight Ganon, and you’ll receive a heart container, which raises your maximum number of hearts.

Interact with the main control unit to leave Divine Beast Vah Ruta. Note, however, that when you leave, you’re gone for good. See above if you’ve missed or skipped any treasure chests.

Mipha’s Grace

Interact with the terminal, and you’ll meet Mipha, who will give you Mipha’s Grace — a literally life-saving mechanic that resurrects you when you die, restores your hearts and grants you several extra, temporary hearts. It’s kind of the best.

You can track its readiness with a glance at the elephant icon at the upper left of your screen. When the elephant icon is white, it’s ready to use. When it’s hollow, that means it’s in the cool down period after you use Mipha’s Grace. That lasts several minutes.

Completing the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest and getting the Lightscale Trident

Return to King Dorephan in Zora’s Domain, speak to him and complete the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

After the cutscene ends, open the treasure chest to get the Lightscale Trident weapon. As you’d expect, this weapon can break. Unlike other weapons, though, you can repair and reforge this weapon. Just speak to Dento in the Zora’s Domain shop.