The main quest “Trail of the Master Sword” in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom starts after the quest “Guidance from Ages Past”.
After you have finally found the fifth sage, see “Find the fifth sage”, the whereabouts of the master sword are at least partially clarified. Return to Lookout Landing and speak to Purah again. She recommends that Link interrogate the Great Deku Tree in the middle of the Hyrule Forest.
Note: You do not have to have started the quest to find the Master Sword. If you already know the whereabouts, you can always go to the forest of the Koroks or directly to the actual Location of the sword. If you have already received the Master Sword before this section, the main quest will automatically be marked as completed when it starts.
Navigation
- Preparing to search
- Lost Woods and Minshi Woods Chasm
- Through the Depths to the forest of the Koroks
- Investigate the Great Deku Tree
- Gloom hands in Great Deku Tree defeat
- Boss: Phantom Ganon in Great Deku Tree
- Speak to the healed Great Deku Tree
- Master Sword find earlier
Preparing to search for the Master Sword
To get to the Great Deku Tree you have to cross a dark area of the underground and then fight against gloom hands and a single Phantom Ganon. Therefore, take enough Brightbloom Seed, wooden arrows, several bomb flowers, durable shields and strong one-handed weapons. Sundelion meals made from Sundelions are also very helpful, as they restore hearts destroyed by Gloom.
Activates the Oaths of the Wise. Tulin, Riju, Sidon and Yunobo support you in the later fight, while Mineru’s construct makes its way through gloom areas Depths relieved. You don’t need a specific number of hearts or stamina meters to complete this quest. However, for later pulling out the Master Sword two full, permanently unlocked stamina circles necessary. Yellow additional stamina from courts or Elixir is not enough for that.
Lost Woods and Minshi Woods Chasm
The Great Hyrule Forest is north of the scout post. If you approach the Lost Woods on the surface, you will be caught in the thick fog and transported back to the edge of the forest. Gliding from above doesn’t work either. The only intended access to the Korok Forest is through the Depths.
First travel to Woodland Stable or Ekochiu Shrine and follow the road north. Shortly before the entrance to the Lost Woods you will discover the Minshi Woods Chasm on the eastern side at approximately 1063, 1655, 0167. You can find a detailed overview of the area in our guide to the Lost Woods and the forest of the Koroks.
Jumps into the abyss and only opens the Paraglider just before the ground. You end up in Minshi Grove. Shoot some Brightbloom Seed directly at the floor and the surrounding walls, as the further path is initially almost completely in the dark.
Through the Depths to the forest of the Koroks
Opens the surface map and places a marker at approximately the center of the Great Forest of Hyrule. Then switch back to the underground map. The marking remains visible and shows you the basic direction to Great Deku Tree.
Run northwest from the abyss. Orient yourself by the small blue will-o’-the-wisps that lead like a trail through the Minshi Grove. Throw Brightbloom Seed forward regularly before moving into unknown areas. Individual trees can turn out to be enemies and attack you. So have an ax or a sharp weapon ready.
On the way you will reach larger areas of gloom. You can climb over roots and rocks or summon Mineru and walk over the Gloom on her construct. As long as Link sits on Minerus’ back, he doesn’t touch the dangerous Depths. Our underground map with all roots provides further orientation.
Continue following the will-o’-the-wisps and head towards the center below the forest. Eventually you will reach a glowroot at approximately 0407, 2132, -0592. Activate it to permanently illuminate the area and unlock a fast travel point.
Ascend to the Korok Forest use
Near the lightroot there is a stone structure with a flat ceiling. Stand under the blanket and activate the Ascend. Link moves up through the rock and lands directly in the Korok Forest.
Do not attempt to ascend anywhere on the ground. The Ascend only works where there is a suitable, not too high ceiling above the link. The stone structure next to the light root is the intended climb.
Examine the Great Deku Tree
After the climb you immediately realize that something is wrong in the forest. The Koroks hardly move and do not react to link. The Great Deku Tree is also affected by Gloom and cannot speak to you properly at first.
First activates the nearby Musanokir Shrine at approximately 0408, 2133, 0144. You don’t have to solve the “Counterweight” test yet. Activating it is enough to get a fast travel point right next to the Great Deku Tree. You can find more shrines in the region in our overview of the shrines in the Great Hyrule Forest.
Then go to the Great Deku Tree and enter the opening between its roots. Inside there is a cooking area where you can prepare for the upcoming battle. Cooks Sundelion meals, normal healing dishes, and, if necessary, foods with additional attack power or defense.
At the back of the chamber you will discover a deep hole from which Gloom rises. This is the Deku Tree Chasm. Jump in and open the Paraglider just before the ground. After landing, the fight against the gloom hands begins immediately.
Defeat Gloom hands in Great Deku Tree
Five giant hands appear from the puddle of gloom with eyes in their palms. The hands are extremely fast, grabbing Link and gradually destroying his hearts. Defeated hands can also regenerate if you don’t take out the remaining opponents quickly enough. You therefore have to complete all five hands within the shortest possible time.
Use bomb arrows against all hands
The simplest strategy is bomb arrows. Keep your distance, aim for the middle of the group and connect your arrows with bomb flowers. The blast radius hits multiple hands at once, disrupting their movements. A multiple-shot bow is particularly effective, but not absolutely necessary.
Does not fire the bomb arrows if the hands are already directly in front of Link. Otherwise the explosion can hit you yourself. Run along the edge of the arena, turn around briefly and fire another bomb arrow into the middle of the group.
Freeze and stun hands
Ice Fruits, White Chuchu Jelly and Sapphires can freeze individual hands. Lightning Fruits and Riju’s ability stun multiple targets. A light fruit or blended fruit also gives you some distance for a short time. Use these effects if your hands get too close or if one of them runs out of the bomb arrows’ explosion radius.
Enables all available modes. The companions deal additional damage and distract individual hands. When riding Mineru’s construct, you are protected from the Gloom on the ground, but can still be hit by the hands. So keep moving with Mineru.
Watch out for destroyed hearts
Normal dishes will not replenish hearts completely destroyed by Gloom. In this case, open the inventory and first eat a Sundelion meal made from Sundelions. You can then refill the restored Heart Container with a normal healing dish.
The Gloom hands in this abyss do not disappear on their own. Therefore, you cannot win the fight just by hiding long enough. Only when all five hands have been defeated does the second phase of the encounter begin.
Boss: Phantom Ganon in Great Deku Tree
After the last Gloom hand, Phantom Ganon rises from the dark crowd. In contrast to the fight in Hyrule Castle, here you only have to fight against a single phantom. However, the opponent has a lot of life and uses a long-range Gloom sword.
Block attacks with the shield
Equip a one-handed weapon and a sturdy shield. Hold ZL and wait for Phantom Ganon to perform his attack. After a normal sword strike, he stops briefly and can be hit with several quick blows. Then retreat again and raise the shield.
The shield prevents direct damage, but can break if you get too many hits. Therefore, take at least two usable shields with you. Sidon’s Water Shield can also intercept a failed block.
Perfect dodge and attack series
Perfect evasive maneuvers are particularly effective. Phantom Ganon starts with a side sword slash, jumping backwards at the last moment. If you make a straight charge attack, dodge to the side. If the timing is successful, you can trigger a series of attacks and inflict significant damage on the boss.
Don’t attack too early. Phantom Ganon’s sword has greater reach than the visible blade suggests. Watch his shoulder and weapon arm and don’t press the jump button until the actual blow begins.
Phantom Ganon fight with arrows
If you want to avoid close combat, you can interrupt Phantom Ganon with hits to the head. Connect arrows to Keese Eyeballs to automatically track their target, or use powerful monster parts for additional damage. Bomb arrows also work, but should only be used from a sufficient distance in the small arena.
The Gloom spreads around Phantom Ganon during the battle. Don’t stand right next to him for too long and don’t walk backwards into a dark area. Let the sages men distract the boss and attack from the opposite side.
Easy combination for the boss fight
Blocks an attack with the shield, lands two or three hits of your own and moves away again. Then interrupt Phantom Ganon with a headshot and repeat the process. With a strong one-handed weapon, multiple shields, and enough Sundelion meals, this cautious method is very reliable.
Speak to the healed Great Deku Tree
After Phantom Ganon’s defeat, the Gloom disappears from the Great Deku Tree and the Korok Forest. Collect the items left behind and then teleport to the previously activated Musanokir Shrine. This way you don’t have to climb back through the entire chasm.
Go from the shrine to the large roots in front of the face of the Deku Tree. Climb onto the small tree stump with the short branch and green leaves. At this point you can address the Great Deku Tree directly.
The Great Deku Tree shows Link the memory “The Power of the Master Sword” and then tries to track down the holy spell sword. He finds that the Master Sword is in the sky and constantly moving. The current location will be marked on your map.
This brings up the main quest “Trail of the Master Sword” completed. At the same time, the next main quest “Recovering the Hero’s Sword” starts. In it you have to follow the moving marker, reach the Light Dragon and pull the Master Sword out of its head.
Find Master Sword
earlier
The Master Sword is located on the Light Dragon’s head from the beginning of the freely exploreable game world. You can therefore obtain it without asking Purah, Mineru or the Great Deku Tree about its whereabouts. The real difficulty is finding and reaching the very high flying kite.
If you have discovered all the memories from the quest “The Tears of the Dragon” or healed the Great Deku Tree, the Light Dragon will be much easier to track. The Great Deku Tree also places a moving target marker on the map. You can find our alternative solution in the guide “The Tears of the Dragon – Master Sword”.
Two complete circles of stamina are required to pull out the sword. Link starts with a circle, so you need five additional Stamina Vessel. To do this, a total of 20 more blessing lights must be exchanged for a statue of the goddess. Yellow additional stamina, stamina dishes and Elixir do not count during the decisive sequence.
If you received the Master Sword before completing “Instructions from Ancient Times”, Mineru will recognize this. The main quest “Trail of the Master Sword” is then marked as completed immediately after it starts. You can and should still free the Great Deku Tree from the Gloom so that the Koroks can be addressed again and the other tasks in the forest are available.