How to pass the Lost Woods to Korok Forest in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
We've some Koroks we need to cheer up.
Maybe you encountered the Lost Woods by chance in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, or maybe you’re in hot pursuit of the Master Sword. Either way, this guide to getting through the Lost Woods contains a handful of minor spoilers, so if you’re not approaching Tears of the Kingdom’s endgame, proceed with caution.
Link needs to retrieve the Master Sword if he wants to beat Ganondorf, but his sword is always on the move… In Korok Forest, however, someone can reveal its location to us. It’s getting to Korok Forest that is the problem, though. Without further ado, here’s how to pass the Lost Woods to Korok Forest in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
How to pass the Lost Woods in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Lost Woods are located in the Great Hyrule Forest in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and we’ll need to head here in our hunt for the Master Sword. While you can try to navigate the Lost Woods, it’s all one big maze shrouded in gloom and smoke.
Beyond the Lost Woods, though, is Korok Forest, and the Deku Tree in Korok Forest is able to help us locate the Master Sword, so we ought to go and speak to them. How are we going to get there without stepping into the Lost Woods, though?
We will, unfortunately, be heading to The Depths. Make your way to the Minsi Woods Chasm that is southeast of Great Hyrule Forest, and marked on the map below. I recommend also marking the location of Korok Forest on your map with a pin, to make navigating The Depths easier.
Dive into Minsi Woods Chasm to enter The Depths. From here, we want to use our map of the surface to gradually make our way over to Korok Forest. You’ll want a handful of Brightbloom Seeds to help illuminate our route through The Depths, too.
Down in The Depths, you want to head north, following the direction of the red pin. Fortunately for us, our route is marked with a trail of small, blue Poes. That said, be sure to fire your Brightbloom Seeds around the area so that you can avoid any gloom.
You’ll eventually come to a point where the floor is nothing but gloom, but you will be able to see the Eknupup Lightroot in the distance, which you likely won’t have activated yet. Mineru’s Construct is resistant to the gloom around the area, so hop on their back and go toward the Lightroot.
When you reach the Eknupup Lightroot, activate it. From here, head southwest over to the tree branches that have illuminated peapods growing from them. Follow the peapods upwards, and you’ll come to a stone platform, with the Rikonasum Lightroot beside it.
Activate the Rikonasum Lighroot, and then return to the stone platform. You can Ascend up the pillar above it to reach Korok Forest.
In Korok Forest, you’ll notice a less-than-lively mood. Nobody will speak to you until the gloom covering the forest is gone, so we need to go ahead and do that. Grab the nearby Musanokir Shrine for an easy fast travel point, and prepare for battle.
How to clear Korok Forest in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
We’re going to head down into The Depths again, unfortunately. Go inside of the Deku Tree and head to the back of it, where you’ll find a chasm. Dive in.
Once you reach the bottom, you’ll need to fight it out with five gloom hands before facing Phantom Ganon for the umpteenth time. You’d think fighting the ghostly foe ten times over at Hyrule Castle would be enough, but no.
With this in mind, prepare for the worst; upgrade your armor at the Great Fairy Fountains, and prep some meals to help restore any Cracked Hearts.
First things first, the gloom hands. These folk are fast, and won’t get bored and despawn as they would in the overworld. Your best bet is taking them on with summons and a bunch of Bomb Fruit, much like we did with the first phase of the Phantom Ganon boss fight earlier in the game.
When they’re done, it’s time to go head-to-head with Phantom Ganon again, using the same technique that we did previously. He’s fast, has a ferocious slash, and requires us to dodge his attacks to really take control of this fight. Did I mention that he is also constantly pouring gloom all over the arena? You best hope you’ve plenty of hearts to spare.
Perfectly timed dodges against Phantom Ganon’s attacks will give us a window to attack, and in the best case scenario, will even land us a flurry rush attack on the foe. Fortunately, you can stay relatively clear of the gloom as Ganon is eager enough to rush towards us when attacking anyway; let him rush in, dodge, and if you’re lucky, flurry rush away at him.
As ever, rinse and repeat, and the foe won’t be able to take it for too long. With the gloom and Phantom Ganon taken care of, Korok Forest will finally be restored to its former self.
The Koroks will return to their jovial selves, and even Hestu will make a grand appearance. He’ll now take up residence at the Korok Forest, so if you have any Korok Seeds to use, you’ll want to come here instead of Lookout Landing in future.
Climb to the platform by the Deku Tree to speak with it. The Deku Tree will then tell you he can sense the Master Sword's location. As a result, a marker will be placed on our map detailing where the Master Sword is, so now all that’s left to do is for us to go and retrieve it.
Now, to continue the story of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you can hunt down the Master Sword and take on Ganondorf.
For more on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, make sure to use up your Bubbul Gems and have completed the Lucky Clover Gazette quests. On top of that, have you fought with a Gleeok yet?