Flamebreaker Armor Guide

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Alex Scowen

Born to a pair of proud nerds, Alex has been an avid fan of everything from video games to books to anime since early childhood. You'd be hard-pressed to find her without a book or a controller in hand, and if so, she's probably at the computer typing out what she hopes will be the next best-seller. Having started with a baby's first PS2, complete with a custom pink controller, she's evolved into a fully-fledged nerd with a collection of gaming titles, including The Legend of Zelda, Persona, and Fire Emblem, and a boasts a manga library of well over 200 volumes.

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There are so many pieces of gear to pick up and play around with in Breath of the Wild, each with its own unique look and effect.

The Flamebreaker Armor is one of the more important gear sets in the game, as it grants protection against the extreme heat of Death Mountain. If you want a snowball’s chance in a volcano of freeing Vah Rudania, you’ll need to get at least one piece of this set.

Where can I find this set? How much does it cost? What do I need to upgrade it? Read on, and I’ll answer all these questions and more.

What is the Flamebreaker Armor?

Location: Goron City, Ripped and Shredded
Pieces: Flamebreaker Helm, Flamebreaker Armor, Flamebreaker Boots
Price: 3300 rupees
Protection: Medium, 3/20 (min/max)
Armor Effect: Flame Guard
Set Bonus: Fireproof

The Flamebreaker armor is the armor set that provides protection against the extreme heat within Death Mountain. Each piece of the set grants one level of flame guard. This is different from heat resistance and will not protect Link in the Gerudo Desert in the daytime. 

You can buy the Flamebreaker set from the Ripped and Shredded armor shop in Goron City, run by Rogaro. Gorons don’t wear clothing, let alone armor, so the gear is made and sold exclusively to tourists.

There are three pieces of the Flamebreaker Armor set:

• Flamebreaker Helm — 2000 rupees
• Flamebreaker Armor — 600 rupees
• Flamebreaker Boots — 700 rupees

In total, the set will cost you 3300 rupees, which makes this set the second most expensive in the game, behind the ancient armor set.

The set is bulky, and large parts are made from metal and heat-resistant rock. The collection is primarily brown and grey in the plating but with red and orange accents throughout and bright yellow belts holding it together. The helmet covers Link’s entire head and resembles a diving helmet, with a decorative spike at the back to resemble the hairstyle most Gorons sport.

The Flamebreaker Armor provides medium protection, with a minimum of 3 defense and a maximum of 20; all three at max level would total 60 protection.

This armor also has a set bonus when all three pieces are enhanced twice at a Great Fairy Fountain and worn together. This bonus is called ‘Fireproof’ and does what it says on the tin: while in effect, Link cannot be set on fire or damaged by it.

This will protect from fire keeses, fire arrows, fire obstacles in shrines (and Vah Rudania), Igneous Talus bosses, etc. However, it will not protect against hitting lava, so you can’t swim in the volcano while wearing it.

Do You Need the Flamebreaker Armor?

Like anything in Breath of the Wild, you don’t have to pick up any of this armor. But if you want to beat Vah Rudania, you will need at least one piece of the set. There are two levels of extreme heat in the volcano, and from the North Goron Mine, Death Mountain grows hotter than Goron City itself. You cannot protect yourself from that heat with an elixir.

Never fear that hefty price tag, however. If you don’t want to spend your precious rupees on this armor, you can get your hands on the chest plate free of charge through a side quest found at the South Goron Mine.

Fireproof Lizard Roundup

At the Southern Mine on Death Mountain, you meet Kima, a Hylian tourist on his way home from sightseeing. He wants to bring souvenirs back to all his friends but hasn’t had the time to grab any. He wants to get them all fireproof lizards but is finding it difficult to catch the slippery little guys.

If you’re willing to help him collect 10 fireproof lizards, he’ll give you his Flamebreaker Armor (chest piece) in return. That sounds like a good deal to me. However, he won’t trade you his Helm; that thing cost him an arm and a leg, after all. Once you’ve brought him the 10, he’ll continue you buy more lizards from you, paying 20 rupees for every 3.

You’ll find lots of lizards hanging out at the Southern Mine. For further details on catching them, refer to the next section of this article about collecting materials for upgrades.

Upgrading the Flamebreaker Armor

All three pieces of the set will require the same materials to upgrade and provide the same defense when worn. To enhance the gear, you need to unlock the corresponding number of Great Fairy Fountains.

These materials aren’t too difficult to get your hands on, although it might depend on how well you fight Hinoxes. The most challenging material to collect is, by far, the butterflies, which spawn in limited locations and in low numbers. But stay tuned, and I’ll share my tips for gathering it all.

Moblin Horns, Fangs and Guts

This is the most straightforward. When you kill a moblin, it will have a chance to drop some or all of these items. Horns are the most common, followed by fangs and then guts. You’ll need to kill quite a few to get your hands on enough guts for the 3rd upgrade, but after playing for a while, you’ll find moblins all over the place.

However, Tumlea Heights in the Akkala region is specifically riddled with the brutes. This is a result of the side quest associated with the area: ‘Robbie’s Research.’ This is something we can take advantage of when farming moblin parts.

Hinox Guts

Killing a Hinox will reward you with one Hinox Guts. Unlike the Moblin Guts, killing a hinox will guarantee one of these dropping. This is because, unlike moblins, hinoxes are mini-bosses and have standard drop rates for specific items. So, to upgrade all three pieces of the Flamebreaker Armor to 4th level, you’ll need to kill 6 hinoxes.

The key to killing a hinox lies in shooting it in the eye. When you hit a hinox in the eye with a bow, you’ll knock it down, opening it up for attack. Using a bomb arrow will help this process along as well. Try fighting red hinoxes, as they’re the weakest of the lot. They can be found at West Loshlo Harbor, Phalian Highlands, and Tobio’s Hollow, among other locations.

There are 40 total hinox bosses, so you’ll find them wherever you go. For a cluster, however, you can fight the Hinox Brothers.

These are three hinoxes in swamps right next to each other around Mount Taran. They are related to the shrine quest ‘The Three Giant Brothers.’ Doing this quest will get you half the guts you need for the upgrades, so it’s worth doing if you haven’t.

And remember, fighting stalnoxes will not net you any guts, as stalnoxes have none. They are skeletons.

Fireproof Lizards

Fireproof lizards are easy as pie to collect, provided you have the correct equipment. They are abundant in the Southern Mine on Death Mountain, found chilling by the lava river on rocks, and often in pairs or groups of three.

The first thing you’ll want to do is snap a picture of one of the little guys. With this, you want to use the Sheikha sensor to detect them. That much is obvious. The important part is you either need the Shiekha Gear plus a flame guard elixir or Flamebreaker Armor plus a stealth elixir.

If you do this as I advise, you’ll be able to walk right over these lizards before they realize you’re there, leaving plenty of time to pick them up. You can collect more than ten each time you sweep the southern mine, and it’s hardly the only place you’ll find fireproof lizards. They can only be foraged in the Eldin region, though.

You can also buy fireproof lizards from Beedle at South Akkala Stable for 25 rupees each.

Smotherwing Butterflies

The hardest material to gather. Everything about these guys can be a nuisance, from catching them before they fly away, to seeing them in the already soot-flecked sky, to even finding them in the first place. Smotherwing butterflies spawn far less frequently than fireproof lizards, and they aren’t always in locations you can easily reach.

Like with the lizards, you’ll want to take a photo of one of these butterflies and gather the correct equipment. I’d suggest prioritizing stealth as much as possible since the butterflies get spooked easier and are harder to spot, so more time to find them before they fly off is invaluable.

Smotherwing butterflies commonly spawn down the path between Goron City and the Southern Mine. You’ll find five or so down there on a good day. They also spawn around the rest of Eldin, including the stable, so just be sure to follow your sheikha sensor.

If all else fails, you can buy the butterflies from Beedle at the Wetland and East Akkala stables for 10 rupees each.

Fire Safety 101

The Flamebreaker Armor set is one of the more memorable ones in Breath of the Wild. Like the Zora tunic, you need to get your hands on some to calm a divine beast, so most players will own at least part of it. It also has a very distinct design and, thanks to its flame guard, you’ll probably use it a lot throughout any given playthrough. Pair this with an invaluable set bonus, and you have a set of gear to remember.

Collecting all the materials to level up the gear is challenging but well worth it, at least to the second level. If you’ve been struggling to get your hands on those butterflies, I hope I’ve given you a leg up toward fully enhancing this bulky but useful mess of an outfit. 

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