TotK #15 – Mushroom Haven

Now that Ganondorf has been defeated, I’m now able to explore Hyrule more freely (even though I basically did that anyway). I started out by exploring sky islands I hadn’t been to yet.

Of course the Hero’s Path mode helps me find areas where I haven’t explored yet. But another thing that helps a ton is to look at the map, and then alternate between the surface and the Depths levels. The shrines on the surface and the lightroots in the Depths are usually (if not always) in pretty much the same spot. So that should help me find both.

Speaking of the Depths, I ran into something I found amusing down there: A Yiga Clan base where Yiga soldiers were riding on carts that endlessly went around a small track. It was like a little train ride at a kiddie park! I thought it was funny to see these determined fighters looping around on a ride that looks like it was designed for 6-year-olds! 😆

A Yiga Clan fighter riding a kiddie ride around a small loop.

I’ve also obtained some additional Yiga schematics while exploring the Depths further. That includes an assault cart, a “charged charger,” a raiding plane, and a three wheeler. Cool stuff.

I had enough Sage’s Wills to make my bond stronger with another sage, so I enhanced Sidon’s power this time. It seems that you can only enhance each sage’s power once though, because Yunobo and Tulin were no longer options.

When I ran into Koltin again, I continued to trade Bubbul gems for treasure…until he ran out of treasure to trade!

Koltin: Nnngggyaat! More... Give me more Bubbul gems!

Of course, he still wants me to give him every Bubbul gem in existence! He told me there are still 96 left for me to find! That will probably take quite a while. There are so many things to collect in this game, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to them all. It does seem a bit more doable than collecting all of the Korok seeds, though. 😛

I’ve also been working on some old side quests that have been on my list forever. This guy has wanted to see a skeletal horse, and I originally thought I only needed a photo of one. But that never worked, so I tracked down a real one and rode it back to him. Giddyup.

Toffa: Hmm? HMM?!

By consulting the map, I found all of the stone tablets for the “Messages from an Ancient Era” side adventure. They’re easy to spot because they’re all on tiny star-shaped sky islands.

Flying to a stone tablet island.

I returned to Wortsworth in Kakariko Village and showed him the photos of all the tablets. My reward wasn’t particularly exciting, but it feels good to have completed one of the bigger side adventures in the game.

Wortsworth: We collected all 13 of them!
We…? …WE?!

While exploring in the Hebra Mountains, I found a cave that led me to the ultimate mushroom haven! (I found it before the mushroom hunter sisters, Nat and Meghyn.) There were glowing crystals everywhere, and of course, a wide variety of mushrooms. It was beautiful!

The beautiful mushroom haven in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

But I plucked it clean of mushrooms and went on my way. 😆

In the Necluda Sky, I beat my first King Gleeok. I’ve faced at least one of them before, but I previously couldn’t figure out how to beat its final attack, the lightning bolt barrage stage. But I finally found a strategy that worked, and I’ve obtained another Sage’s Will. I currently have three, so I’ll still need one more to enhance another sage’s power.

I also took a photo of that King Gleeok, so I headed back to Tarrey Town to show it to Kilton. Hudson built a model of it, and I placed it on the stage (but not without some difficulty, since the stage is kinda full now).

Kilton: This is it...the most monstrous of all monsters! The King Gleeok!

That completed the “A Monstrous Collection” side adventure, and I’m glad to clear another big project off my to-do list.

This seems like a good place to wrap up this entry and take a look at my progress. My map completion percentage is up to 61.23%, and here is my adventure log progress:

  • Main Quests: 21/23 (really 23/23)
  • Side Adventures: 53/60
  • Shrine Quests: 23/31
  • Side Quests: 67/139
  • Memories: 18/18

My others stats can be seen here. I’ve now completed my third/final stamina wheel, so I’ll just be adding more heart containers from now on.

My stats as of May 28, 2024.

My shrine count is at 127 (up from 113 last time), my lightroots are up to 111 (from 94), and my Korok seed count is 227 (up from 207). Here is my Hyrule Compendium progress:

  • Creatures: 81/92
  • Monsters: 107/110
  • Materials: 118/126
  • Equipment: 142/175
  • Treasure: 6/6

I’m still playing the game regularly, so I don’t think I’ll be dragging this out for five years like I did with Breath of the Wild. I’ll see you next time, but for now, check out my latest video showing many of the vehicles in the game:

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