The Divine Beast Vah Ruta elephant is the first big challenge many will face in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As you make your way into the Zora’s Domain, you will partake in the Divine Beast Ruta main quest. Once you reach the Zora’s Domain and speak with the king, you’ll be sent off to find Shock Arrows before heading to Ruta the elephant, which is essentially a dungeon of sorts. When you get back you’ll get the Lightscale Trident, one of the first weapons in Breath of the Wild that can be remade if it breaks. This article covers the Divine Beast Ruta in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, shows you where all the chests are inside Ruta the elephant, how to defeat Waterblight Ganon and even how get the Lightscale Trident and how it works.
Divine Beast Vah Ruta
If you don’t have at least 5-10 Shock Arrows, head over to our coverage about how to get Shock Arrows (and the Zora Greaves) before heading into the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. With your Shock Arrows in hand, head back out the eastern exit, but this time head to the right after the long path that leads out of the Zora Domain. You’ll come to a long ramp that leads to the top of the East Reservoir Lake where Prince Sidon is waiting for you. Before you speak with him, head to the west side of the dock area, just beyond the bed. There’s a chest here that contains a Knight’s Shield with considerable durability and 40 defense.
When you’re ready, equip the Zora Armor, Shock Arrows and the Phrenic Bow if you have it, along with the Cryonis rune. If you don’t have the Phrenic Bow you can still complete this quest, it’s just slightly more difficult. Speak with Sidon and you’ll have to jump on his back as you take out the preliminary defenses of the Vah Ruta. This where the Cryonis rune comes into play.
Vah Ruta will shoot ice cubes and ice spikes at Link and Sidon. You can break these from a distance with the Cryonis rune so they aren’t a threat at all. Once each round of ice attacks is dealt with, Sidon will move in closer to Vah Ruta. As soon as you reach one of the waterfalls coming off of Vah Ruta, swim to the top of it and Link will have a bird’s eye view of the four glowing pink orbs (two on each side) that you need to hit with Shock Arrows.
If you have the Phrenic Bow you can shoot the orbs from almost any distance. However, if you’re using a normal bow you’ll have to float down a bit to get closer before you can hit the orbs with your Shock Arrows. Either way, you need to hit each of the four orbs one time to complete this portion of the Vah Ruta quest.
When you board Vah Ruta and access the Sheikah terminal, use a bow to shoot the eyeball-like object at the top of the first ramp. You need to take out these eyeballs anytime you see them to prevent other enemies from spawning and remove the purple areas that hurt Link if he comes in contact with them.
Once you’re inside, kill the small Guardian on the far side of the room, then look to the left where the door is barred. To the right of the door is another eye under the water. Take it down with an arrow and move over in front of the doorway. Use the Cryonis rune directly under the bars to lift them and gain access into the room.
Access the Guidance Stone inside the room to gain a map of the Divine Beast and allow Link to move the trunk at will. Head out of the room and immediately look in the water to the right. A chest is hidden in the water that can be accessed with the Magnesis rune. Open the chest to find an Ancient Spring inside.
Run to the far side of the room where four chains are hanging down from above. Use the Magnesis rune to rotate the handle to the right of the four chains. This raises the platform the chains are attached to, revealing another Sheikah terminal. Access the terminal and you’re ready to move to the next area. While there’s a ramp to the right, that leads to the final room of Vah Ruta, so just remember the location for now as you head through the doorway to the left of the terminal.
Continue up the ramp to the next floor, avoiding the purple corrupted areas along the way. When you reach the floor above another small Guardian attacks. Take it down, then look at the smaller gear directly ahead. As the gear turns you will notice another Sheikah terminal inside, as well as a waterfall powering the gear to the left. You need to use the Cryonis rune to plug the spout of the waterfall when the Sheikah terminal is at the bottom of the gear (partially submerged in water).
With the gear stopped, access the terminal, then head out the doorway on the far side of the room. Continue up the ramp and take out the eyeball near the ceiling. When you reach the next floor, access the map and move the trunk of the Vah Ruta to the very top position. This causes water to flow in through the ceiling, powering the large gear.
Your task here is two-fold. First you need to access the Sheikah terminal in the middle of the gear, and second you need to access the chest that’s also moving around the center of the gear. To reach the terminal you need to wait until the ball in the middle of the gear is just about to shift to the outer position as it rotates to the right side of the gear. Just before it drops, freeze it with the Stasis rune, then use the glider to hover to the left and into the small chamber where the Sheikah terminal resides. You need to get inside before the Stasis effect wears off.
The door will close on you, but as long as you access the terminal before you hit the spike son the ceiling of the small chamber, you’ll be fine. Once you access the terminal exit the chamber and wait for the chest to reach the upper left side of the gear. At this point the chest and the two slabs of concrete it’s stuck between will be dropping toward the center of the gear at any moment. Just before it drops, freeze the top slab of concrete with the Stasis rune. This allows you to quickly access the chest before the top is unfroze and drops back down.
Collect the Ancient Core inside the chest, then back up to the doorway where you entered. You need to glide down to one of the platforms sticking out of the gear on the left side. Time your jump so that you leave the doorway just as one of the platforms is passing under you. With proper timing you can glide down to the platform and wait as it rotates up.
Once the platform clears the floor above, jump off and take out the small Guardian that attacks. Stand on the switch in the floor top the left to activate the waterfall and provide and easy way to reach this floor from the bottom level.
Now head back over to the large gear and wait as it rotates. One of the platforms has an eyeball on one side with a chest next to it. However, you can’t access the chest until you clear the eyeball. Shoot the eyeball with an arrow, then wait for the platform to rotate back around again so you can jump on it and collect the 10 Fire Arrows inside.
Continue to ride the gear until you can jump off when it rotates around to the other side. Jump off as high as you can so you can glide over to the left where another chest awaits on the far side of the room, near the smaller gear. Open the chest to obtain a Silver Rupee (100 rupees).
Drop down to the bottom level, then use the waterfall you activated with the floor switch to skyrocket up to the very top of the room. From this height you can see a chest on the highest platform. Glide down to the chest to find a Knight’s Halberd (13 attack) inside. If you don’t have a melee weapon with longer range like this halberd, keep it because it will come in handy during the final battle in this area.
Move back down one level (where you just fought the small Guardian), and head down the hallway to the end. This may look like a dead end, but all you need to do is lower the trunk of the Vah Ruta. Move the trunk to the lowest position, then glide down toward the purple corruption near the tip of the trunk. Shoot the nearby eyeball with an arrow to clear the corruption, then climb up and open the chest to find an Ancient Shaft.
At this point you can climb up to the very tip of the trunk, but for most it’s easier to raise the trunk again and glide down to the doorway you where just in. Make sure not to raise the trunk all the way or else the doorway will be covered. Once you’re back inside the doorway, lower the trunk again to the lowest position. This time glide all the way to the very tip of the trunk and wait on the platform. Position the trunk about two points from the top so that you can access the Sheikah terminal on the very tip of the trunk. If you’re not comfortable doing this all at once, move it a few positions at a time so you can slowly move around to the very tip of the trunk.
Now you only have one more terminal to access, but before you get to the glide down to the top of the Vah Ruta. There’s a corrupted chest on the left and another corrupted area on the right. The easiest way to handle this is to glide down near the chest, then shoot an arrow across to the other corrupted area where the eyeball is. If you have the Phrenic Bow this is easy, however it can still be done with a normal bow if you aim a little higher than you normally would. You may need to move to the far left side of the platform to get a clear shot at the eyeball.
Open the chest to find 10 Ice Arrows, then glide back toward the trunk to find a small square opening in the head of the Vah Ruta. Drop down through the opening but make sure you’re gliding. As you enter the room below, use your bow to target the eyeball in the ceiling so you don’t have to deal with any additional enemies.
Use Magnesis to access the handle on the far side of the room. Turn it until the ceiling panel is open as far as it will go. There’s a fire below you that needs to be extinguished with the water from the trunk of the Vah Ruta. Position the trunk five slots from the top and water will rush in to put out the fire and allow access to the Shiekah terminal.
With all of the terminals taken care of you can drop back down to the first room where you entered. Now head down the ramp you skipped before and prepare for battle. Ideally you want to equip a melee weapon with some range (like the halberd you found earlier), as well as the Cryonis rune. Make sure you have a decent number of arrows as they will also come in handy. Even if you’re out of normal arrows, you should at least have the 10 Fire Arrows you found earlier. Access the Sheihak terminal to spawn the Waterblight Ganon boss.
Boss Battle: Waterblight Ganon
The Waterblight Ganon battle is fairly straightforward if you come in prepared. It has a long sword with deceptive reach, but if you have decent dodge timing it shouldn’t be a problem. At the start of the fight keep your distance and wait for Waterblight Ganon to attack with its spear. This is almost always a vertical attack that is easily dodged to the left or right. If you can land a Perfect Dodge you get several free attacks with Flurry Rush, but even if you don’t get Perfect Dodge you have plenty of time to quickly run in and strike Waterblight Ganon several times in the head.
If you have a weapon with longer reach you can stay until Waterblight Ganon starts to move again. If you don’t have longer reach then you should move back out after a few hits to keep Link safe. If you stay close to Waterblight Ganon it will lift the spear into the air and slam it down on the ground, creating a large shockwave that is difficult to avoid if you’re too close. As soon as you see the spear raise into the air, start running away so you can avoid the shockwave that follows.
Repeat this process until a short cutscene plays indicating that Waterblight Ganon has moved on to phase two of the battle. At this point the water raises and you’re left with foru platforms to stand on. Quickly swim over to the closest platform and prepare to use the Cryonis rune to destroy any ice blocks Waterblight Ganon sends in your direction. This is the Waterblight’s primary attack during phase two. However, after a few ice attacks it will throw the spear at Link. When you see Waterblight Ganon pull back with the spear, get ready to jump into the water to dodge the projectile attack. As soon as the spear is thrown, jump to avoid it.
Quickly climb back up onto one of the platforms as Waterblight Ganon takes on an orb shape and moves to another position in the room. Ideally you don’t want to be too close to Waterblight Ganon, so if it moves to your platform, quickly swim to another platform. With a decent bow (25 attack or higher) it should only take about 15 shots to take down Waterblight Ganon’s remaining health. Attack with your bow as often as you can between Waterblight Ganon ‘s ice attacks. If you let it linger at low health it will use a laser blast similar to the larger Guardians. This is difficult to evade, but you can block it with a good shield.
Take down Waterblight Ganon to earn a heart container and watch a cutscene before being transported back to Zora Domain. When you get back speak with the king twice, then collect the Lightscale Trident (22 attack) in the chest to the right of the king.
Lightscale Trident
The Lighscale Trident is one of the few weapons in the game that can actually be repaired. If you speak with Dento in the shop on the level below the king’s chamber, he will offer to repair the Lightscale Trident should it ever break. However, to perform the repairs you will need a Zora Spear, one Diamond and five pieces of Flint.
Diamonds can be a little hard to come by, but if you find 10 Luminous Stones you can trade them to Ledo for one Diamond. Ledo is generally found near the main entrance to Zora Domain. Speak with him to start the Luminous Stone Gather side quest. The first time you bring him 10 Luminous Stones he will reward you with two Diamonds. Every subsequent time you bring him 10 Luminous Stones he will give you one Diamond. Luminous Stones are generally found in caves around Hyrule.
For more strategies and advice, be sure to check out our Zelda: Breath of the Wild game hub!
