How to Get Into the Depths in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
How to Get Into the Depths in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
How to Enter and Navigate the DepthsDepths TipsThe Depths represent one of Tears of the Kingdom’s most ambitious additions — an entirely new layer of Hyrule equal in size to the surface that rewards vertical thinking about the world. Players who engage with the Depths early gain access to Zonaite for Zonai device upgrades, Crystallized Charges for expanding the Energy Cell, and Poe-traded gear that meaningfully impacts surface exploration. The key insight for first-time Depths visitors is that Gloom is a resource management challenge, not a damage system — as long as you bring Sundelion meals and activate Lightroots regularly, the Depths become progressively safer and more navigable with each visit. For the full picture of what the Depths contains and how to farm its most valuable resources efficiently, pair this guide with the Fuse weapon guide (Silver Lynel farming from the Floating Colosseum) and the armor upgrade guide for which Frox materials your current armor sets need.
FAQ
⚡ Quick Answer
What You Need Before Entering the DepthsEnter the Depths by jumping into any Chasm — the dark glowing holes in the ground found across Hyrule. There are over 100 Chasms spread across the surface map. The easiest first entry point is the Hyrule Castle Chasm (large crack in the courtyard, coordinates -0230, 0790, 0042) or the Nisoij Lightroot Chasm just south of Lookout Landing. Bring Brightbloom Seeds or torches — the Depths are pitch black and Gloom will drain your max HP if you stand in it.
| Item | Why | Where to Get |
|---|---|---|
| ⭐ Brightbloom Seeds | Create light sources — the Depths are completely dark | Caves, surface forested areas — glow blue/green |
| ⭐ Sundelion meals | Restore Gloom-drained max hearts permanently | Sky Islands — yellow flower, grow near Skyview Towers |
| Bomb Flowers | Break ore deposits and Frox weak points | Caves and Depths ore veins |
| Strong Fused weapons | Depths enemies hit harder than surface equivalents | See Fuse weapon guide |
| Autobuild (optional) | Build platforms and vehicles from Zonai parts | Great Sky Island — Dragon’s Tears questline |
1
Find a Chasm — dark glowing cracks in the ground across Hyrule. Chasms appear as large dark oval holes with a faint purple or orange glow around their edges. They’re found throughout Hyrule — in fields, inside ruins, near rivers, and in enemy camps. On the surface map, Chasms appear as dark markers once discovered. The earliest accessible Chasm is just south of Lookout Landing — walk south from the starting town and you’ll spot the dark glow within a few minutes. To enter: simply walk off the edge and fall in. The fall is very long — you can open your paraglider at any point to slow descent. You land in the Depths at a point directly below where the Chasm is on the surface map.
2
The Depths are completely dark — light them up immediately on entry. Upon landing in the Depths, you’re surrounded by total darkness. You can see approximately 5–10 meters without any light source. Throw a Brightbloom Seed (press ZR to throw from your pouch) — it lands and emits a large radius of blue-green light that persists indefinitely. Throw multiple seeds in the direction you’re travelling to create a lit path ahead. Giant Brightbloom Seeds (larger, rarer) illuminate much wider areas. Fuse a Brightbloom Seed to your shield for constant personal lighting — it illuminates your immediate surroundings without consuming inventory. Arrows fused with Brightbloom Seeds also create light sources at range for scouting ahead in dark corridors.
3
Gloom — the Depths’ main hazard — permanently reduces your max hearts. The Depths floor is covered in Gloom, a dark red substance that deals a unique type of damage: it doesn’t reduce your current HP directly, but permanently removes heart containers from your maximum until you heal them. Standing in Gloom drains 1–2 hearts per second from your maximum. Hearts drained by Gloom appear as dark grey outlines — they cannot be refilled by food or rest. To restore Gloom-drained hearts: eat Sundelion meals (Sundelions grow on Sky Islands — cook 3–5 together for powerful Gloom resistance food) or reach a Lightroot (activating a Lightroot instantly clears Gloom in a large radius and restores all Gloom-drained hearts for free). Stay on lit paths and elevated rock platforms to avoid standing directly in Gloom.
4
Find and activate Lightroots — the Depths’ equivalent of Shrines. Lightroots are large glowing root structures found throughout the Depths — they look like inverted Shrines. Activating a Lightroot does two things: illuminates a large surrounding area permanently (creating a safe Gloom-free zone) and unlocks it as a fast travel point in the Depths. There are 120 Lightroots total, each positioned directly below a surface Shrine. If you want to reach a specific Lightroot, check which surface Shrine is above that Depths coordinate and jump through the nearest Chasm. Lightroots are the primary navigation anchor points in the Depths — always move toward the nearest unactivated Lightroot for safe progression.
5
What to do in the Depths — key rewards and objectives. The Depths contain several unique resources unavailable on the surface: Zonaite (ore for crafting Zonai Charges — found in large deposits on cave walls), Crystallized Charges (upgrade Zonai Energy Cells — found in Construct enemies and chests), Poes (ghostly collectibles traded to Bargainer Statues for exclusive gear and armor), and Boss monsters including Frox (giant frog enemies that drop valuable Gloom-resistant parts) and Silver enemies (highest-tier monster variants). The Floating Colosseum in the Depths (contains 6 Lynels) and the Construct Factory are the highest-value combat locations for rare material farming. The Depths also contain the story-critical Dragon’s Tears memory locations for the main questline.
6
Getting back to the surface — Ascend or Lightroot fast travel. To leave the Depths: find any cave ceiling in the Depths that has surface land directly above it and use Ascend (X while looking at the ceiling) to phase through directly back to the surface. Not every cave ceiling in the Depths has passable surface directly above — if Ascend doesn’t work, the surface above is occupied by water or another obstacle. Alternatively, open the map, switch to the Surface layer, and fast travel to any surface Shrine or Skyview Tower to leave immediately. Fast travel from Depths to surface works the same way as fast travel between any two surface points — free and instant from the map screen.
→Fuse a Brightbloom Seed to your shield for free permanent lighting: equipping a shield with a Giant Brightbloom Seed fused to it illuminates your surrounding area constantly without requiring any throws or resource consumption. The light is attached to Link and moves with him. This is the single most quality-of-life improvement for Depths exploration and costs only one seed per shield — keep a stock of Giant Brightbloom Seeds specifically for shield fusing.
→The Depths map mirrors the surface map — use surface knowledge for navigation: the Depths layout directly mirrors the surface Hyrule map — if Hyrule Castle is northwest on the surface, the equivalent Depths area is also northwest below Hyrule Castle. This means your surface exploration knowledge transfers directly to Depths navigation. The position of Lightroots below their corresponding Shrines means you can predict where Lightroots are based on your surface Shrine map.
→Cook Sundelion meals before going deep — they’re your Gloom insurance: Sundelions grow on Sky Islands (the yellow flower found near Skyview Tower launch zones). Cook 5× Sundelions together for a meal that grants substantial Gloom resistance AND restores multiple Gloom-drained hearts. Carry 5–8 Sundelion meals for any extended Depths session. Unlike regular health food, Sundelion meals are the only food that restores the grey Gloom-drained hearts — regular meals only restore red current health. See the cooking guide for the exact recipe.
→Bargainer Statues trade Poes for exclusive gear — collect them: Poes (floating ghost collectibles) only appear in the Depths and are found near Lightroots and along cave paths. Trade them at Bargainer Statues (found in the Depths and one in Lookout Landing) for exclusive armor sets including the Depths Armor and the Gloom-resistant Mystic set. These sets are only obtainable with Poes and provide the best protection for continued Depths exploration.
→Frox drops are essential for armor upgrades — farm them early: Frox (large frog boss enemies in the Depths) drop Frox Fingernails, Fangs, and Guts — materials required for upgrading several mid and late-game armor sets. Frox are found near large ore deposits throughout the Depths, indicated by their glowing eyes in darkness. Defeat them by throwing Bomb Flowers into their open mouths (staggers them) then attacking the exposed glowing organ on their back. They respawn with every Blood Moon.
How do you get into the Depths in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?Jump into any Chasm — the dark glowing holes in the ground found across Hyrule’s surface. The easiest first Chasm is just south of Lookout Landing. The Depths are directly below the surface map. Bring Brightbloom Seeds for light and Sundelion meals to counter Gloom damage.
What is Gloom in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?Gloom is a red substance covering much of the Depths floor that permanently reduces your maximum hearts while you stand in it — appearing as dark grey heart outlines. Regular food cannot restore Gloom-drained hearts. Restore them by eating Sundelion meals or activating a Lightroot (which instantly clears Gloom and restores all drained hearts for free).
What do you find in the Depths in Zelda TotK?The Depths contain: Zonaite (Zonai device crafting material), Crystallized Charges (Energy Cell upgrades), Poes (traded for exclusive armor at Bargainer Statues), 120 Lightroots (fast travel points + Gloom clearing), Silver enemies (highest-tier drops), Frox boss enemies, and the Floating Colosseum (6 Lynels for Silver Lynel Saber Horn farming).
How do you get out of the Depths in Zelda TotK?Use Ascend (X) while under a cave ceiling with surface land above to phase back to the surface directly. Or open the map, switch to the Surface layer, and fast travel to any surface Shrine or town. Fast travel from the Depths to the surface is free and instant from the map screen.