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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild introduced many new features to the Zelda formula, foremost being the weapons. Unlike previous games in the franchise, Breath of the Wild gives Link a vast catalog of weapons to play around with. So today, we’ll take a closer look at a weapon you might have overlooked: the Ceremonial Trident.
What is the Ceremonial Trident?
Damage: 14
Durability: 40
Weapon Type: Spear (Two-Handed: Light)
Location: Zora’s Domain
Related Quests: The Ceremonial Song, Dagah Keek Shrine
Materials needed to build: 1 Zora Spear, 5 Flint
The Ceremonial Trident is a fun weapon in Breath of the Wild. It is a replica of the Lightscale trident, the weapon wielded by the Zora Champion Mipha, which was made to be used in Zora ceremonies in her absence, hence the name. It is a silver trident with a teal grip and red accents, which all add up to an elegant weapon, more than fitting for the Zora princess it was designed for.
However, despite being a perfect duplicate in appearance, the Ceremonial Trident is inferior in both damage and durability, coming in at 14 and 40 compared to the Lightscale Trident’s 22 and 70. Like the Lightscale Trident, it is a two-handed spear-type weapon, meaning that Link cannot hold a shield while wielding it, but as a trade-off, attack speed and range are increased.
Like most other weapons in Breath of the Wild, the Ceremonial Trident is breakable; in fact, it breaks pretty easily. Unfortunately, like the other champion weapons, the Ceremonial Trident doesn’t naturally respawn in the world after a blood moon.
If you break yours and want to get a new one, you have to go to the Zora craftsman, Dento, just as you repair the Lightscale Trident. If you bring him one Zora Spear and five flints, he’ll fix you up a new one. Although, you can only do this after calming Divine Beast Vah Ruta.
Why do I Need the Ceremonial Trident, and Where can I Find it?
The Ceremonial Trident is one of those fun weapons within Breath of the Wild that comes with its own Shrine quest, being an optional part of unlocking the Dagah Keek Shrine.
The Ceremonial Song
The first time the game will tell you about the Ceremonial Trident is when you activate the Shrine Quest ‘The Ceremonial Song.’
Talking to Laruta
Seek out the young Zora Laruta after defeating Waterblight Ganon and calming Divine Beast Vah Ruta. You will find her singing a song from the Champion Festival, and she offers to sing it for you. The song goes as such:
“A gift from the sky: a scale of light
Splits the feet of a Veiled Falls sight.
Your trial awaits… It’s glowing bright.”
After she sings for you, she will comment on how the Zora in charge of the Champion Festival, Trello, hasn’t started preparing for it yet and wonders if he has forgotten. This will then trigger the quest and add it to your Adventure Log.
Clumsy Trello
After speaking to Laruta, you can now find Trello on the western bridge out of Zora’s Domain. Talk to him, and he will tell you that while he was bringing the Ceremonial Trident to Dento for inspection, he accidentally dropped it off the bridge. As it’s a mere replica, Trello decides to ask Dento to make a new one rather than fishing it out. He says that he’d let them keep it if someone were to find it.
That sounds like our lucky day!
How to Obtain the Ceremonial Trident
Drop off this bridge and look around with the Magnesis rune on your Sheikah slate, you should see the trident in the water. It can be a little difficult to spot sometimes, but keep looking; it’s directly under the north side of the bridge. Once you find it, simply use the Cryonis rune to make a path over to it and fish it out with Magnesis. Easy-peasy. Although, make sure you have room in your inventory because I know I never do.
Now to finish the rest of the Shrine Quest.
The Dagah Keek Shrine
This is where the song that Laruta taught us comes into play. While it isn’t difficult to piece together on your own, this is what you need to do to complete the Dagah Keek Shrine:
On your map, west of the Great Zora Bridge, you will find Veiled Falls, as is mentioned in the song. Make your way over there, and you’ll find a Sheikah pedestal glowing orange in the water.
Interpreting the song lyrics, we can see that we need to take the Ceremonial Trident, “a scale of light,” and while dropping from the sky (like a “gift”), strike the pedestal. The easiest way to do this is to don the Zora Armor, swim up the waterfall, and hit the pedestal on the fall back down. You can use the paraglider; if you don’t, Link will die. (For some reason, I didn’t understand this my first time around.)
Interestingly, if you don’t want to bother fishing the Ceremonial Trident up and already happen to have the Lightscale Trident, that will work too. I think this is a cute detail, as the Ceremonial Trident was made to stand in for the Lightscale Trident in the Champion Festival. This is just more proof of how much thought and love went into crafting this game.
Whether you use the Lightscale Trident or the Ceremonial Trident, you’ll trigger a cutscene once you hit the pedestal. The orange light turns blue, and the Dagah Keek Shrine dramatically rises from the earth, just like every other Shrine you have to unlock. It’s undoubtedly a cool cutscene… the first time you see it. A shame you can’t skip it.
After all the work you’ve put into unlocking it, you’ll be glad to hear that the only things waiting inside the Dagah Keek Shrine are the monk and a silver rupee for your trouble.
And with that, congratulations! You’ve completed ‘The Ceremonial Song’ and hopefully netted yourself a Ceremonial Trident. Go you!
The Champion’s Ballad: EX Champion Mipha’s Song
If you were hoping that the Ceremonial Trident would show up in another quest (if you weren’t, then why not?), you’re in luck.
Breath of the Wild’s DLC brought us plenty of new and exciting content. Of the DLC, I have to say that ‘The Champion’s Ballad’ questline was my favorite. Not only because it prominently stars my favorite character Kass, but because it threw a bunch of new challenges at us, including a rematch against all four Blight Ganons.
These rematches are tough. They limit your equipment and health restoration to just a few meager items that quickly disappear if you don’t use them wisely, especially the arrows.
We’re most interested in the weapons you are limited to, though. You are supplied the weapons that once belonged to the Champions, accompanied by a couple of inferior versions of them. And, you guessed it, this means that during the rematch against Waterblight Ganon, you are presented not only with a Lightscale Trident but also two Ceremonial Tridents.
I found the Waterblight Ganon fight particularly hard thanks to its nasty trick of attaching itself to the ceiling. It only comes down when you land three critical hits with a bow which is hard enough when you don’t only have 10 arrows. (Urbosa’s Fury will bring it down too.)
They may be difficult, but winning these fights is rewarding and makes you feel like you’ve done something impressive. Not only that, but the physical rewards are great too, halving the recharge time of the powers the champions bestow upon you once you calm the Divine Beasts.
Really Though, What’s the Point?
Now that I’ve taken you through all of the base features of the Ceremonial Trident and when it’s used, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re asking what the point of it is. Forever in the shadow of its superior originator, it might be hard to justify keeping the Ceremonial Trident around. It breaks quickly and hits for less than most other weapons in the game, so why let it hog one of your precious weapon slots?
This is all very true once you reach the late game. It is strange to me that the game would introduce the Ceremonial Trident to you immediately after giving you the Lightscale Trident: you can’t access its associated quest until you’ve got it. On top of that, you don’t even need the Ceremonial Trident to unlock the Shrine at all.
But this is where I lift the curtain and tell you the actual value of the Ceremonial Trident.
It’s Available from the Start of the Game
Yeah, I know! It’s one of those Breath of the Wild things that can be picked up the second you step off the Great Plateau if you know it’s there. Look at the Ceremonial Trident from the perspective of a new playthrough, and it looks a lot more useful now.
Since Vah Ruta is the closest of all the Divine Beasts to Kakariko Village, it’s common for Zora’s Domain to be the first significant location that players will reach, even if the path up there is a nightmare to get through if you don’t know what you’re doing. So, once you get there with maybe a couple of armor pieces and a pack full of traveler’s swords, knowing that you can just jump down to the water and pick up a spear that deals 14 damage is pretty neat.
14 damage might look small compared to other early-game weapons like the Double Axe’s 18; the Silver Longsword’s 22; or the staggering 50 of the Edge of Duality you might pick up from the Shrine of Power. However, it makes up for what it lacks in power, like all spears, with speed and range. Allowing you to deal a lot of damage quickly and from a distance, the Ceremonial Trident can be lifesaving for a new player.
And so is the Shrine!
Yes! Dagah Keek Shrine is also available from the start of the game.
You don’t have to unlock the quest to access the Shrine. Just grab yourself the Ceremonial Trident and head over to Veiled Falls. The pedestal is already waiting for you to launch yourself off a cliff and on top of it. The easiest way to do this is still using the Zora Armor. If you’ve reached Zora’s Domain anyway, you probably already own it. Actually, it’s very difficult to get to Veiled Falls without it, considering the constant rain. However, it is possible, and it’s also possible to activate the pedestal without it (trust me, I tried it myself).
So, are you itching to get your hands on the Master Sword as quickly as possible? Or starting a new game and looking to increase your health or stamina? If so, this Shrine is easy and quick to access early on and may help you get to your next heart container a little faster. Also, a free silver rupee never hurt anyone.
A Word of Warning
It is worth noting that if you break the Ceremonial Trident before defeating Waterblight Ganon, you cannot get it back until you do.
Like all other elderly Zora, the guy who fixes both the Lightscale and Ceremonial Tridents, Dento, dislikes Link on principle when he first arrives in Zora Domain. He won’t help you until you have the Lightscale Trident; he even says this if you try to talk to him beforehand. So be warned: if you break the Ceremonial Trident before activating the Dagah Keek Shrine, you won’t be able to until Dento makes you a new one (or, at that point, you can just use the Lightscale Trident).
One last quick note on the Ceremonial Trident: be careful when dropping it. I don’t know if this was just my game, but my Ceremonial Trident developed a habit of disappearing if I put it down. This might be a glitch surrounding Zora Domain or weapons in general. Still, it’s worth being vigilant if you’re determined to get that Shrine before the game tells you it’s there.
The Ceremonial Trident: An Underdog Story
While it may never quite live up to the grace and majesty (and usefulness) of the Lightscale Trident, the Ceremonial Trident is hardly a piece of gear to turn your nose up at. Like all other weapons in the game, it has its place, and I would say one not to overlook. At the front and center of a fun Shrine quest, tied up in a neat bit of lore, and even helping to alleviate the stress of starting a new game file, the Ceremonial Trident is a weapon you should take another look at. If only because it’s pretty.
FAQs
Question: Where is the Ceremonial Trident?
Answer: The Ceremonial Trident is in the water under the Western bridge in Zora’s Domain.
Question: How do you get the Ceremonial Trident?
Answer: Look under the western bridge in Zora’s Domain. Use Magnesis to find it, Cryonis to make your way over, and then Magnesis again to pick it up.
Question: What is the Ceremonial Trident Good for?
Answer: The Ceremonial Trident is central to the quest ‘The Ceremonial Song’ and can be used to unlock the Dagah Keek Shrine. It’s also a decent weapon if you pick it up in the early game.
Question: What Happens if you Break the Ceremonial Trident?
Answer: If you break the Ceremonial Trident, it will not respawn. You have to bring a Zora Spear and five flints to the Zora craftsman Dento if you want another one. However, this is only possible after calming Divine Beast Vah Ruta.
Flint can be obtained by breaking ore, rare ore, and luminous stone deposits, which can be found all across Hyrule, especially in higher elevations. Zora spears can be harder to find, but there’s one hidden in the bathing pools in Zora’s Domain underneath the stairs up to King Dorphean’s palace.
Question: Which is Better, the Lightscale Trident or the Ceremonial Trident?
Answer: In terms of base stats, the Lightscale Trident is better.
The Lightscale Trident deals 22 damage with every hit and has a durability of 70. On the other hand, the Ceremonial Trident only deals 14 damage and has a durability of 40. However, the Ceremonial Trident is available much earlier than the Lightscale Trident and is cheaper to repair.