One of the best things about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is that you can go anywhere and do anything you want. Once you’ve finished the Great Sky Island quest and returned to Hyrule, you’re free to go off in any direction.
However, there are quite a few things you should do in TotK first before you get too adventurous. Once you’ve completed the first few missions, you’ll find yourself with 4 new map points as part of the Regional Phenomena quest that will direct you to each of the temples across Hyrule.
Although you can complete the temples in any order you choose, the story naturally pushes you towards The Wind Temple first. This is the order in which we recommend tackling the Tears of the Kingdom Dungeons.
Start with the Temple of the Wind first
There are quite a few reasons why you should start with the Temple of the Winds before any of the other three. NPCs will naturally nudge you in this direction after you start the Regional Phenomena quest by mentioning Rito Village. This is largely because heading in this direction would naturally start doing two important side missions along the way.
If you start on the trail to Rito Village from Lookout Landing, you’ll find Impa near New Serenne Stable on Hyrule Ridge. By talking to her, you will start the Impa and Geoglyphs quest which is very similar to the Captured Memories side quest in Breath of the Wild. Then, if you continue down the road, you should run into Hestu – who trembles in fear from some seemingly innocuous trees. After helping him, you will be able to trade Korok Seeds to increase inventory space and he will move to his second location.
After these two encounters, you can make your way to Rito Village. You’ll only need to complete the Tulin of Rito Village quest before you can head to the Wind Temple and enjoy the first Zelda dungeon of the game.
Take on the second Fire Temple
Once you’ve finished with the Temple of Wind, you’ll want to head back to Lookout Landing where you should find Goron at the center that will mention Death Mountain and that you should head to Woodland Stable to get an idea of where to go next. This should naturally lead you towards Goron City and the second part of the Regional Phenomena quest.
You’ll need to complete the Yunobo of Goron City quest before heading to the next dungeon, and you can take a look at the Fire Temple’s full walkthrough for tips on how to complete it.
Take on the third water temple
After completing the Fire Temple, you’ll want to head back to Lookout Landing as there will be additional side missions for you to take on. If you talk to Purah, she will mention that there are active monsters in the south – which will naturally lead you to Zora’s domain.
Once you’re in Zora’s domain, you’ll want to talk to Chroma, Kira, and the third villager who’s standing near a statue and sludge-filled water. This will start the Statue Covered in Sludge quest which will lead to the Sidon Al Zorah quest that you will need to complete before heading to the Water Temple.
Take the Temple of Lightning last
If you’ve completed all the other temples first, that leaves you with just one map point in the Regional Phenomena mission. You’ll want to head towards Gerudo Town where you will find Riju and start the Riju of Gerudo Town quest. After that, you will be able to head to the Temple of Lightning.
Take a look at the video above for complete instructions on the Lightning Temple.
Looking for more Kingdom Tears? Check out our larger TotK walkthrough for tips on how to complete all of the main story quests in order.
“Friendly food geek. Communicator. Hipster-friendly creator. Bacon evangelist. Zombie nerd. Pop culture advocate. Beer aficionado.”