Hidden deep within Hyrule’s mysterious depths lies the Zonaite Armor – a powerful set that channels ancient technology to boost your energy and endurance. Here’s how to track down every piece and power up your adventures in Tears of the Kingdom.
While these challenges might seem designed for later in the game when you have more energy cells, you can actually collect the set quite early, and it’s best that you do. The Zonaite Armor set – which includes the Zonaite Helm, Zonaite Waistguard, and Zonaite Shin Guards – reduces how much energy Zonai devices consume, so you can fly, drive, or glide further without having to rely on Zonai charges.
Zonaite Shin Guards Location
The Zonaite Shin Guards can be found in the Depths beneath the Great Plateau, inside a chest located within the Great Abandoned Central Mine. To reach them, descend through the Great Plateau North Chasm and follow the tunnels guarded by Construct enemies. Activate Brightbloom Seeds for visibility and watch for Gloom pools along the path. The chest rests near a small ruin surrounded by Zonai structures, and equipping the guards increases your Energy Cell recharge rate when using Zonai devices.
You can get the Zonaite pieces in any order, but I recommend starting with the legs piece. It’s the easiest to get, and the power consumption buff it gives you makes obtaining the other two pieces easier.
The Zonaite legs piece is in the Akkala Sky Mine, which takes some careful maneuvering to reach.
How to Reach Akkala Sky Mine
You’ll need to unlock the Ulri Mountain Skyview Tower in Akkala first. If you haven’t done that already, the easiest way to reach there is taking the road east from Woodland Stable. It runs through a valley and eventually skirts Kanalet Plain and runs next to the tower.
Akkala actually has two sky mines. The Sokkala Sky Mine is closest to the Ulri Mountain tower, but it only has some treasure and Natak Shrine to offer. The one you need, called just “Sky Mine,” is hovering over the Rist Peninsula.
If you have batteries, plenty of charges, and a plan for building a fan platform or balloon device, you might be able to land on a nearby island and fly up there without issue.
If you, like me, only have one energy cell and no fancy Autobuild plans, here’s what you should do. After firing yourself out of the Ulri Mountain tower, land on this platform:
Fight or ignore the Flux Construct boss, and walk over to the square platform. You’ll find a ready-made fan platform with a few batteries already attached and some extra fans and batteries scattered around. Use Ultrahand to attach all the batteries to the platform.
If you have a large Zonai charge or a dozen or more spare regular charges, you could attach the other fans to help make the platform go faster.
It puts significantly more demand on your energy cell, however, and you can still reach the Sky Mine with the fans that are already attached.
Hop on board when you’re ready and interact with the control stick. Your destination is this island, specifically, the lowest level of it.
How to get the Zonaite Shin Guards
If you end up going too high, jump and glide back down. You need to activate the ring device at the bottom to start the giant block pushers.
Hop on one and let them shoot you up to the top of the island. Once you reach the top, turn the pusher so it’s facing the large floating sphere. You may want to save for the next part, in case you need to reload and try again.
Use Ultrahand to put a block in the pusher. If your positioning was accurate, you’ll see it fly into the sphere’s opening. Now it’s your turn. Step onto the pusher, and let it fire you into the air. You’ll probably need to climb a bit to get inside.
If you end up in the sphere’s lower half, use Ascend to go through the ceiling. The chest containing the Zonaite Shin Guards, which has 4 defense and reduces your Zonai device energy consumption, is in the middle.
Zonaite Waistguard Location
The Zonaite Waistguard is found deep within the Depths, directly beneath the Central Hyrule region. To locate it, descend through the Great Plateau North Chasm and travel east toward the Abandoned Central Mine. Watch for Zonai structures and lightroots to guide your path. Inside a chest guarded by powerful constructs, the Waistguard grants Link improved energy efficiency for Zonai devices, making it a valuable piece of the set.
The Zonaite Armor chest piece is hidden on the Zonai Forge island, but depending on which devices you have, you’ll need to get the Zonai Hydrant device. First, cook some stamina-replenishing meals, and head to the Sahasra Slope Skyview Tower near Kakariko Village. Launch yourself into the sky, and angle south toward this point.
You may have better luck launching from Popla Foothills Skyview Tower.
Once you arrive, activate Ukoojisi Shrine, and toss some Zonai charges into the dispenser. You only need one Hydrant, so don’t worry about trying for several unless you just want them. Make sure you’ve got a spare rocket or a fan before continuing.
How to get to Zonai Forge Island
At the northeastern end of the island, you’ll find a floating platform with a rocket on it and several spare rockets lying around.
Use Ultrahand to move each rocket onto the platform, but don’t attach them yet. Position them upright so they don’t fall. Zonai Forge Island is higher than you can reach with a wing, and you’ll need every rocket here to get there.
Strike the single attached rocket once you’re ready to begin. Attach one more rocket after the initial one disappears, and keep doing this until you’re level with Forge Island. Use a final rocket or a fan to move toward the island. Your floating platform will start to blink and eventually disappear as you get closer. Hop off before it vanishes, and glide toward the island.
You need to go here:
How to get the Zonaite Waistguard
Interact with the ring to activate the fans of the chimney stacks, and use them to reach the island’s top stack.
You need to dive into the center stack and avoid the Mission Impossible lasers in the process. The fan provides so much resistance that you need to hold the dive button down the entire time.
Activate Yansamin Shrine once you reach the bottom. Take your hydrant device out, and use it to make platforms in the lava behind the shrine, as close to the wall as you can get. Hop on the platform and use Ascend, and you’ll pop out in a secret room with the chest containing the Zonaite Waistguard, which has 4 defense and reduces your Zonai device energy consumption.
Zonaite Helm Location
The Zonaite Helm can be found in the depths beneath the Akkala region, inside the Zonaite Forge Ruins. To reach it, enter the East Akkala Depths Chasm and follow the route toward the coordinates around (4500, -1800, -0450). Watch for strong enemies in the area and bring plenty of Brightbloom Seeds to light your path. The helm is stored in a chest near a large forge structure guarded by constructs, completing the set’s defensive and energy-boosting abilities.
The Zonaite head piece is the most difficult to obtain, requiring you to reach Lightcast Island, a location so high in the sky that it exists in a low-gravity zone.
Before you embark, you should take:
- 3 rockets
- 1 fan
- 1 control stick
- At least 10 Zonai charges
- At least 2 spicy sauteed pepper dishes, made with 5 peppers each
- At least 2 energy elixirs that fully restore your stamina wheel
You’ll also need the Zora Armor chestpiece, so head to Lanayru and start Sidon’s quest if you haven’t done so already.
How to get to Lightcast Island
Lightcast Island is in the skies south of Rito Village, roughly in the center of Tabantha Frontier. It’s also one of the highest points in the game, and unless you have several energy cells, batteries, a few dozen Zonai charges, and some good Autobuild schematics, you can’t get there without jumping through some hoops.
Unlock Rospro Pass Skyview Tower north of Rito Village, and launch yourself into the air. Head south toward this small cluster of islands just north of the “West Hebra” label on your map. Defeat the Constructs nearby, and hop on one of the floating Zonai platforms. Eat one of your cold-resistant meals. Even if you have Snowquill Armor, it’s best to wear your Zonaite Armor and conserve energy, unless you have plenty of energy to spare.
Activate the balloon, and wait. When I completed this stretch of the journey, I had one full energy cell and one portion of a second cell. It took three depletions of the cell to get as high as I needed to go, and I had both pieces of Zonaite Armor equipped.
Next, angle yourself south toward these islands:
Get your rocket out, and attach it horizontally to the platform so the rocket is facing the direction you need to go. Activate it, then repeat the process at least two more times. In the distance to the south, you’ll see a waterfall. Attach a fan to the platform and blow yourself closer if need be.
The platform will blink and disappear as you approach. Jump off, change into your Zora armor chest piece, and glide toward the waterfall.
It takes nearly two stamina wheels to reach the waterfall. Drink your elixirs when your stamina is almost gone. Once you reach the waterfall, you’ll automatically start swimming up.
The island you land on has a mine cart track leading to another island further up, with some extra devices scattered around. Put the mine cart on the track. Pick up two rockets, and put them in the mine cart. Don’t attach the rockets. Attach a fan to the back of the cart, and it’ll take you to the next island.
This one has two wings, some fans, more rockets, and another mine track. You can use the spare rockets on the second mine cart to reach another island with a Sage’s Will, but to reach Lightcast Island, I recommend ignoring the Sage’s Will for now. You need the spare rockets.
I also recommend saving in case something goes awry. The spare rockets will vanish, but you can easily get back to the previous island and bring them over again.
Build a Fan Plane by attaching three fans to a wing as shown above (or by using Autobuild if you have that feature unlocked and some spare Zonaite).
Attach your two rockets and the two spare rockets in the spots between the fans, and put a control stick in the middle. Use Ultrahand to place the wing near the end of the slope, hop on, and activate the control stick.
Angle the wing upward toward Lightcast Island after taking off, and replenish your energy as you go. If you have several spare Zonai Charges, you might be able to reach a point where you can either climb the island’s underside or use Ascend to reach the top. If, like me, you didn’t, that’s okay.
Your wing will blink and vanish around the time you reach the bottom of the island. Press “B” to disengage the control stick when the blinking starts, jump off, and glide. Head towards this island.
Ignore the Flux Construct, and head to the square area at the end of the island. Here, you’ll find another fan platform with plenty of batteries, the same as the one near the Akkala Sky Mine. Attach all the extra batteries, and take off.
You can reach Lightcast Island with ease.
How to get the Zonaite Helm
Save once you reach the island, since there’s no fast travel point. Mind how you go when you jump, too. Gravity is low here, so you’ll jump higher and travel further.
Activate the ring mechanism at the island’s western end, blow up the rocks in the center of the island, and go inside. You’ll find two mirrors. Angle one toward the opposite end of the chamber using Ultrahand until you see it reach another mirror.
Travel to that mirror, and continue repeating the process until you see the last mirror pointing the light downward.
Go back to platform with two mirrors, and use Ultrahand to move the spare mirror through the chamber until you reach the vertical light. Drop the mirror down there, and angle it toward the shining orange hexagon. Defeat the Construct first if you need to.
Light will flood the entire chamber. Move in front of the now-green hexagon, use Ascend, and you’ll pop up in front of the chest with the Zonaite Helm, which, like the other pieces of this set, has 4 defense and reduces your Zonai device energy consumption.
Zonaite Armor upgrade costs, effect, and set bonus
The Zonaite Armor set features an Energy Up effect on each piece that reduces energy consumption for Zonai devices, scaling with upgrades up to level three for maximum efficiency. Full set upgrades across all three pieces demand 15 each of Soldier Construct Horns (I-IV), 15 each of Captain Construct Horns (I-III), 15 Zonaite, 45 Large Zonaite, and 2280 Rupees at Great Fairies. Wearing the complete set activates Energy Recharge Up, restoring Energy Cells twice as fast.
The Zonaite Armor gives an Energy Up buff, which decreases the amount of battery consumed by Zonai devices. When all three pieces are two-star or higher and worn together, you’ll get an additional Energy Recharge up buff, which recovers your battery faster.
To upgrade your armor, head to a Great Fairy Fountain and be prepared to hand over some Construct materials:
- 1-star (7 defense): 5 Soldier Construct horns, 10 rupees
- 2-star (12 defense): 5 Soldier Construct II horns, 5 Captain Construct I horns, 5 zonaite, 50 rupees
- 3-star (18 defense): 5 Soldier Construct III horns, 5 Captain Construct II horns, 5 large zonaite, 200 rupees
- 4-star (28 defense): 5 Soldier Construct IV horns, 5 Captain Construct III horns, 10 large zonaite, 500 rupees
To fully upgrade your Zonaite Armor, you’ll need 15 of each Soldier Construct horn, 15 Captain Construct I, II, and III horns, 15 zonaite, 45 large zonaite, and 2,280 rupees.
Where to find Zonaite Helm sky coordinates
Zonaite Helm Location
The Zonaite Helm is found on Lightcast Island in the Tabantha Frontier Sky region of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Multiple guides confirm its precise in-game coordinates as approximately -3593, 0942, 1732. This spot is inside a cave on a ledge above a light-sensitive switch after solving the mirror puzzle.
Accessing the Area
Launch from Rospro Pass Skyview Tower or North Tabantha Sky Archipelago, using Zora Armor to swim up the waterfall and Zonai devices like springs, rockets, and fans for traversal. Inside Lightcast Island, activate the terminal to lower water, align mirrors to direct light to a sensor, defeat a Soldier Construct, and climb to the chest.
Best route to reach Lightcast Island from Strock Lake
Strock Lake lies south of Rito Village in the Hebra region, providing a starting point near the North Tabantha Sky Archipelago where Lightcast Island is located. The best route involves sky island hopping with Zonai devices or stamina boosts, leveraging the area’s waterfalls and updrafts.
Step-by-Step Route
Head north from Strock Lake to the waterfall cascading from the North Tabantha Sky Archipelago, visible in the Tabantha Frontier sky. Equip Zora Armor to swim directly up the waterfall to reach the archipelago’s lower islands without excessive stamina drain.
From the archipelago (near Ganos Shrine at roughly -3660, 1020, 1620), minecart with fans to the central island, then build a flight device: attach two fans, steering stick, wing, rockets, balloons with flames, and a big battery. Activate to fly northwest to Lightcast Island (-3593, 0942, 1732), landing directly.
Alternative Methods
Post-Tulin Wind Temple quest, bounce across floating ships upward, then paraglide (use stamina food for 4+ wheels). Or reuse crystal transport devices from Tabantha Sky Crystal shrine quest for high-altitude glide without Tulin. Early-game vehicle builds from Rospro Pass Skyview Tower also work reliably [conversation_history].
