The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — How to rescue Vah Naboris

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sends you to the desert in order to recover the Divine Beast Vah Naboris. Need some tips to proceed?

Warning: Obviously, there will be some spoilers here as to what goes on while you adventure in the Gerudo Desert in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild marks four separate places on your map to begin the four Divine Beast quests. If you head to the lower left area on your map, you’ll find the Gerudo Desert, which is being plagued by Vah Naboris.

Of course, since the Gerudo don’t allow any men in their town, you’ll have to start by infiltrating.

Entering Gerudo Town

Outside the gates, you’ll find a man walking around near the shrine. His name is Benja, and he’ll tell you of a man who has made it into the town before and who travels between the Kara Kara Bazaar and town. Head back to the Bazaar and scale the general store. At the very top is a person who will end up selling you Gerudo clothes for 600 rupees, provided you don’t pointedly ask whether or not he’s a man despite there being an option to do so.

After a cutscene showing off your new threads, you can head back to Gerudo Town and go inside. Remember — you can’t enter unless you’re wearing Gerudo clothing. The guards will stop you if you have other armor on.

The Thunder Helm

Proceed into the palace at the far end of Gerudo Town. There, you’ll meet Riju, the current chief. She’ll recognize you for what you are but knows you can help with the whole Vah Naboris problem. There’s just one slightly smaller problem first: the heirloom Thunder Helm, which repels Naboris’ lightning, has been stolen. And since you’re conveniently there to help, you’ll have to go get it.

Once you agree, head right into the barracks to learn your destination: Karusa Valley. Leave the barracks and head left to find a woman who will let you rent a sand seal for 20 rupees. As it’s a long trek to the valley, I rented one and cut the time down significantly.

When you enter the valley, be wary of boulders. You’ll have to get off the seal to climb up a few levels, and then you’ll find the entrance to the Yiga Clan Hideout.

Well, technically you’ll find a room with several little alcoves covered in burnable cloth. From left to right, working around the semi-circle, here’s what you’ll find: a chest, Keese, Keese, a chest, the way forward, some boxes and a sickle, and more Keese. The actual entrance is the third from the right.

Time for some stealth

You’ll see a captured Gerudo in a cell next to some Mighty Bananas. She’ll tell you that the Yiga Clan really loves them and you’ll need to use that as you sneak in. Head down the stairs to see a guard patrolling around a square. Follow him around — stealthily — and head down some more stairs in the upper right.

(If you are caught, you will almost certainly die. Just don’t get caught.)

The next guard you have to get past is stationary, with two structures creating three different paths. Shoot down the bananas on your end of the central path to distract the guard. If you want, you can work your way around to a chest and re-distract the guard to get back to the way forward.

Once you head up the stairs, head up the ladder at the end of the hallway. The path will lead you to a banana hoard and a chest. On that path, there’s also a way to drop into the huge room. Your goal is the ladder in the upper left corner, but there are some treasures to be grabbed if you’re feeling bold. You certainly have enough bananas to do it.

Taking the ladder in the upper left corner leads you to a suspended network of paths above the room. There’s a silver rupee in the chest atop the central structure, and then you can make your way over to the upper right section of the room. There’s another stationary guard, so drop some bananas, and once the guard is distracted, drop yourself down and go into the next room.

Here, there are some chests stuck in the ground — use Magnesis to pull them out. You’ll see that the wall to the right is magnetic, so pull it around to open a new path to the boss of the Yiga Clan.

Fighting Kohga

In the first round, Kohga will summon a shield and then a large boulder above his head. He’ll drop the shield right before he throws it at you, so quickly snipe him so that the boulder falls on his head. Rush in for some good hits.

In the second round, he’ll do two boulders in a circle around him, so you’ll need to time your arrow shot accordingly.

In the third section, the boulder will have spikes. It’s also magnetic. In other words, if you use Magnesis on it, you can drop it on him at your leisure. After the cutscene, you can go to the chest to retrieve the Thunder Helm. Head back to Gerudo Town and talk to Riju, who will be on the second floor of the palace. Get your next memory, and then head out to the southern lookout when you’re ready to continue by getting into Vah Naboris.

Subduing Vah Naboris

Hope you’re good at controlling sand seals, because you’ll need the skills for this battle. Riju’s Thunder Helm will protect you from Naboris’ lightning strikes, but you’ll need to stay close to her for that to work. You’ll be able to see the protected area on the ground. Naboris doesn’t strike immediately, so if you’re close enough to it, you can head out of the circle for a final strike.

You’re aiming for the four feet, and you’ll need to get pretty close to make the shots with your bow and bomb arrows. Riju will give you 20, so you have plenty of room for mistakes. Once you’ve hit all four feet, you’ll be able to enter Vah Naboris.

Inside Vah Naboris

As per usual, your first order of business after turning on your warp point is activating the Guidance Terminal to get your map and controls for the Divine Beast. You’ll go up the nearby ramp and have to shoot an eye to clear your way into the main chamber of Vah Naboris. The map is at the opposite end on the middle level. Your controls here will be to rotate three separate sections to reach the five terminals.

The first terminal can be found by rotating the front and middle sections to complete a circuit on the ceiling. That’ll start the front wall itself spinning. By standing in an opening, you can ride your way to the top and another circuit puzzle. Push the wheel clockwise for the node on the left; turning it counterclockwise will raise the node on the right. That’ll raise Vah Naboris’ head and activate an elevator you can ride up to your first terminal.

Head back into the main chamber and rotate the middle section to catch yourself on platforms, which will connect and make a path to the second terminal. Stay by the terminal and continue rotating the middle section to access two chests that are on opposite sides of the same platform.

There’s another terminal hiding in the rear section’s large square structure. To get inside it, line up an opening in the middle section on the right (facing the front) side. That opens a path that lets you head back to another opening. While standing there, rotate the rear section around to get inside the structure with the terminal, and rotate it one more time so that the terminal’s right side up for you to activate.

Before you head upstairs there are some other chests to grab here. With the huge central terminal right side up in the middle section, go out the left (facing front) opening, take another left and follow the path to an opening you can go through for a chest. Then, head back into the main chamber. In the front section, there’s a bombable wall to the right. Toss a Remote Bomb to it and then jump to it for a chest.

There’s also a middle passage in the front of Naboris. Stand at the left opening in the front section, and as the front wall rotates with the upper circuit activated, you’ll be able to run into the middle passage. Kill the circuit by rotating a section to open a path to a chest. Use Stasis on one of the lasers to have room to run around the corruption on the floor. Finally, there’s another chest in the rear — you’ll see it hanging. Use Stasis to stop it moving, shoot the rope holding it up, and pull it over with Magnesis before Stasis runs out.

Now it’s time to head upstairs.