Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Divine Beast Vah Ruta Walkthrough

Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Divine Beast Vah Ruta Walkthrough

We take you through the Vah Ruta Divine Beast dungeon and show you the solutions to all its puzzles in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Taking back control of the Divine Beasts is a major objective in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The logical first Divine Beast to tackle is Vah Ruta, to the North of Hateno Village and the Hateno Tower Region in Zora’s Domain. The Divine Beast Vah Ruta has been infested with Calamity Ganon’s corruption, and to purge this infection you must go inside of it. However, just getting to Vah Ruta is a quest in and of itself, and this walkthrough will take you through every step of getting to and completing the Divine Beast Vah Ruta dungeon.

Getting to Zora’s Domain

You’ll be able to spot Lanaryu Tower from quite a distance.

Your first objective in the quest to Zora’s Domain should be the Lanayru Sheikah Tower. Lanayru Tower is north-northeast of Kakariko Village, but no road leads that way. Instead, you’ll have to climb and glide your way there. Fortunately, Lanaryu Tower is easy to spot from a distance, so you shouldn’t have any issue making it there. Once you make it to the tower, you’ll discover some Bokoblins at its base. You shouldn’t have any problem sneaking past them, but it will be raining when you get there so climbing to take a path around them will be harder.

Once you reach the top of Lanayru Tower, you’ll meet the Gruve of the Zora. Gruve was ordered by Zora Prince Sidon to stand watch for the arrival of a Hylian and directs you to where Prince Sidon is waiting on the bridge below.

Prince Sidon will be your companion during this quest.

Go below and meet with Prince Sidon and he’ll ask you to come with him and save Zora’s Domain. Although Sidon can simply swim all the way to Zora’s Domain, Link doesn’t have that luxury. You’ll have to go by foot and face some Lizalfos and Bokoblin on the way. Sidon will pop up from time to time to encourage you and tell you how far you are from Zora’s Domain. It’s not a short journey, but it’s not that difficult either.

Meeting the King

The King of the Zora is very old and has met Link before.

Once you reach Zora’s Domain, proceed to speak with Prince Sidon who will implore you to talk to the King of the Zora. King Dorephan will tell you about the malfunctioning Divine Beast Vah Ruta that continues to make it rain in the Lanayru region. The rain threatens to overflow the dams that protect Zora’s Domain and the rest of Hyrule from flooding, and if Vah Ruta isn’t calmed soon, then the Zora may be wiped out.

The puzzle within Ne’ez Yohma is a tricky one.

To aid you in your quest you’ll be given Zora Armor, which increases your swim speed and allows you to swim up waterfalls. You’ll also be told that before you can take on Vah Ruta, you need to collect about 20 Shock Arrows. Before you leave to gather your Shock Arrows, though, you may want to complete the nearby Ne’ez Yohma Shrine to unlock a fast travel point to Zora’s Domain.

How to Get Shock Arrows

Shatterback Point is the highest part of Ploymus Mountain.

There are several ways to get Shock Arrows. Muzu and Sidon suggest climbing Ploymus Mountain to Shatterback Point and picking up the Shock Arrows fired by the Lynel that lives there. To get to Shatterback Point, just head in the direction of Ploymus Mountain from Zora’s Domain and swim up the waterfalls. Just head towards the waypoint and keep climbing and you’ll soon reach the Lynel’s lair.

Lynel are among the toughest monsters you’ll face in Hyrule.

If Vah Ruta is your first Divine Beast, then you probably aren’t equipped to fight a Lynel at this point. Therefore you must use stealth to move about the mountaintop and gather the Shock Arrows stuck in the trees and laying on the ground and rocks. Lynels have great hearing and eyesight, and they will easily track you down if you get too close or make too much noise. The Stealth Armor set that can be purchased from the Kakariko Village Clothing Shop can help boost your stealthiness if you find you’re getting noticed by the Lynel too much.

Another way to get Shock Arrows is simply to buy them. If you’ve made it to Gerudo Town, there’s a merchant in the marketplace that sells them for 140 rupees for a bundle of 10. Once you have about 20 Shock Arrows, head to the East Reservoir Lake and meet up with Prince Sidon.

Entering the Divine Beast Vah Ruta

Vah Ruta will fire ice blocks that you can destroy with Cryonis or arrows.

When you’re ready, climb on Prince Sidon’s back and head out into the lake. Sidon will swim around Vah Ruta, and you’ll need to defend yourself from Cryonis projectiles while trying to hit the pink orbs on Vah Ruta’s shoulders. To take out the ice blocks, Vah Ruta shoots at you; you can either hit them with normal arrows or use your Cryonis Rune to break them.

Use Link’s slow-mo arrow shot ability to take out the pink orbs on Vah Ruta’s shoulders.

After you destroy some of Vah Ruta’s projectiles, Sidon will swim beside one of the waterfalls pouring out of Vah Ruta. You can then use your Zora Armor to swim up the waterfall and into the air. When you aim your bow while falling, you can activate slow-mo. During this slow-mo period fire Shock Arrows into the four pink orbs on Vah Ruta’s upper body. Once you take out all four pink orbs, the fight will end, and you can head into the body of Vah Ruta.

Divine Vah Ruta Dungeon Terminal Locations

Your primary objective once you enter Divine Beast Vah Ruta is to activate five terminals then use the main control unit to reactivate Vah Ruta and bring it under your control.

Vah Ruta Dungeon First Terminal

Vah Ruta’s first terminal is hidden beneath the water.

In Vah Ruta’s first room look to the top of the ramp and send an arrow through the Calamity Eyeball you see there. You’ll then need to take out the Guardian Scout in the room. Once those two enemies are taken care of, move to the wall with a set of cogs on it.

The gears are connected to a platform in the water. The handle is metal so you can use your Magnesis Rune to spin the cogs which raises the platform. On the platform is the first terminal of five.

Lifting this gate with Cryonis will allow you access to Vah Ruta’s map terminal.

Your next destination should be the lowered gate in the pool of water opposite the wall with the cogs on it. Shoot the Calamity Eyeball in the water to the right of the gate and use Cryonis to form a block of ice under the gate to raise it. In the room behind the gate is the Vah Ruta map terminal, which will not only give you a map of the Divine Beast but the ability to raise and lower its trunk, a key to many of the puzzles you’ll find in the Vah Ruta Dungeon.

Vah Ruta Dungeon Second Terminal

The interior of this wheel holds a terminal, but you’ll have to stop it turning to get there.

To the right of the map terminal room, there is an exit leading to a ramp. Go up the ramp, and you’ll find yourself in a room with a wheel being pushed by water. You’ll spy a terminal within the interior of the wheel. Kill the nearby Guardian Scout, and get ready to stop the wheel.

Using Cryonis to stop the water will also stop the wheel.

To get to the terminal, you must use Cryonis to freeze the stream of water pushing the wheel when the terminal is at the bottom of the wheel. Once you freeze the water, the wheel will stop moving, and you can enter it and activate the second terminal.

Vah Ruta Dungeon Third Terminal

On the opposite side from where you entered the water wheel room the first time, there’s another passage with a ramp leading up to the third level. There is a Calamity Eye you need to shoot on the upper left side of the ceiling, and you’ll also need to watch out for the Calamity Mouth shooting floating skulls out. Once you make it up the ramp, you’ll see an even larger wheel that isn’t moving.

Use Stasis on the ball when it’s in the socket and quickly run through the gate to the third terminal.

Within the interior of the giant wheel, you’ll see the third terminal locked behind a gate. To open this gate you need to get the orange ball into its socket, and to do that you need to move the wheel. To move the wheel, enter your map screen and set Vah Ruta’s trunk to the highest position. When the trunk reaches its apex, it will pour water onto the large wheel, and the wheel will begin moving. When the wheel spins to where the orange ball drops into its socket, the gate in front of the terminal will open. Use your Stasis Rune to freeze the orange ball and run into the small enclosure containing the third terminal. You can then activate it.

You have a very limited amount of time to get through the gate. It may take a few tries.

To get the chest, you use the same idea as you did for the orange ball. When the great stone slab moves off of it as the wheel spins, cast Stasis on it. You can then walk onto the slab and open the chest to receive an Ancient Core.

Vah Ruta Dungeon Fourth Terminal

You’ll see a ledge to the left and above the large water wheel. You’ll need to ride the water wheel up to that ledge to move on. Move Vah Ruta’s trunk until it’s at the point that the large wheel is spinning towards the ledge and head back down to the room with the smaller water wheel. Here you can jump onto one of the teeth of the large water wheel cog and ride it up and over. Once you’re in a position to jump and glide over to the ledge, do so and take out the Guardian Scout nearby.

This waterfall will save you a lot of trouble if you need to get to the ledge from the first floor.

There’s a button nearby that will allow you to turn on a waterfall leading to the first floor. You can now use your Zora Armor to swim all the way up here as a shortcut.

Try to hit the small gray platform near the tip of Vah Ruta’s trunk.

Head out of the opening towards Vah Ruta’s head, and you’ll find yourself facing his trunk. Use your map screen to lower Vah Ruta’s trunk to its lowest level and then jump from the opening and paraglide to the far end of the trunk. You’ll see a small platform just before the tip of the trunk on which you can land.

The fourth terminal is the hardest to figure out in the Vah Ruta dungeon.

Once you’re on the platform, move Vah Ruta’s trunk three notches up, and you can stand on the tip of it. When you peer over the side, you’ll see the fourth terminal. If you set Vah Ruta’s trunk to move up two or three more positions, you’ll be able to step off the tip and onto the platform with the fourth terminal and activate it.

Vah Ruta Dungeon Fifth Terminal

Drop down this hole to reach the fifth terminal.

With Vah Ruta’s trunk in the highest position, leap off of it and glide to its body. On the top of its head, you’ll see a small hole into which you can drop down. This room contains the fifth terminal, but it’s engulfed in flames. Shoot the Calamity Eye on the ceiling and then use Magnesis on the handle to turn the cogs and open the roof.

With the fifth terminal activated you’re ready to purge Vah Ruta of Ganon’s influence.

You can now move Vah Ruta’s trunk into a position over the hole, and the water from it will put out the flames. You can then drop down and activate the fifth terminal.

Vah Ruta Dungeon Main Control Unit

Make sure you’re ready for a fight before you activate the Main Control Unit.

The Main Control Unit for Vah Ruta is in the room to the right of the first terminal. Before you activate it, make sure you’re ready for a boss fight. Enable the main control unit using the Sheikah Stone, and a cutscene will play. After the cutscene, you’ll have to face Waterblight Ganon, the entity that corrupted Vah Ruta 100 years ago.

Waterblight Ganon is most likely the hardest foe you’ve faced thus far.

Find out which armor will help you most in each dungeon in our armor set guide. For more info on a plethora of topics check our The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild guide.