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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is like a playground sandpit for gamers. If you can imagine it, you can make it, thanks to the ancient Zonai abilities and mechanisms found within the game. Have you ever wanted to zip around Hyrule on an ATV covered in spikes? You can.
Have you ever thought it would be faster to travel to the other side of the map in a rocket ship? You can essentially make one of those, too. You can even create a rotisserie oven for Koroks, not that I think you should.
Creating epic and powerful vehicles or constructions is one of the most incredible aspects of Tears of the Kingdom.
But, of course, they all require power. And the bigger your masterpiece is, the more energy cells it’s going to gobble up. There is nothing worse than spending an hour crafting an absolutely magnificent monster of a vehicle, only to have it get about ten meters down the road before it putters out because it has run out of energy.
In this guide, we will teach you everything you need to know about Energy Cells in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, including how they work, and how you can max yours out so you can spend the rest of your play through riding in style on whatever crazy invention you come up with next.
Bottom Line Up Front
Energy Cells in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are batteries filled with concentrated Zonai energy that help power mechanisms within the game. They are necessary to power all of the Zonai devices, such as the fans, rockets, and flamethrowers that you can use to create vehicles and weapons.
There are 8 Energy Cells in total that you can collect and store in the pouch where Link used to keep the Sheikah Slate in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Energy Cells deplete quickly when being used to power a device, but they recharge with time once the device runs out of energy or you deactivate it.
You can make more Energy Cells with the help of the Constructs that work in the Forges and Crystal Refineries around the surface, Sky Islands, and the Depths. Making more Energy Cells is a long process that involves jumping through several hoops, but having more Energy Cells available makes the game far more enjoyable, so is definitely worth the trouble.
How Do I Make Energy Cells in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
There are multiple steps involved in the creation of Energy Cells, so what better place to start than at the beginning?Â
- The first step to creating Energy Cells is to collect Zonaite, an ancient ore that you can find within the Depths or in one specific location on the Great Sky Island. In addition to regular Zonaite, which is relatively common to find, you can also collect Large Zonaite on occassion, which is worth a lot more.
- Once you collect enough Zonaite, you can visit a Forge to concentrate it into Crystallized Charges. You need 3x Zonaite to make a Crystallized Charge. To make a Large Crystallized Charge, you need 20x Zonaite or 3x Large Zonaite.
- Once you collect enough Crystallized Charges, you will be ready to head to a Crystal Refinery to transform your Crystallized Charges into Energy Wells. You need 100x Crystallized Charges to make an Energy Well or 5x Large Crystallized Charges.
- Collect 3x Energy Wells, and you can fill an entire Energy Cell.
Sound confusing? That’s fair enough. There are so many steps involved in making and collecting Energy Cells. In an effort to make all of that information easier for you to absorb, I have created a flowchart below that has all the information you need neatly laid out. Feel free to save the image so you can reference it whenever you need to.
Among the Crystallized Charges and Large Crystallized Charges you can create through normal means in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, there are also Huge Crystallized Charges that you can collect. These are even more concentrated forms of energy and are usually received as rewards for completing boss battles. One Huge Crystallized Charge is worth 100 Crystallized Charges, or 5x Large Crystallized Charges.Â
***SPOILERS***
You can collect two Huge Crystallized Charges in total in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. One for defeating Master Kohga at the Abandoned Central Mine during A Mystery in the Depths Quest, and the second for defeating him once again at the Abandoned Gerudo Mine during the Master Kohga of the Yiga Clan Quest.
Where Can I Collect Zonaite in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
So you want to embark on the journey to collect more Energy Cells, but where do you find Zonaite? Thankfully, there are several places throughout Tears of the Kingdom where you can get your hands on some of this ancient ore.
The Sky Islands
You can mine Zonaite in the Mining Cave on the Great Sky Island, but you need such a large amount of the material to create an Energy Cell that hunting for it there is quite inefficient. By far, the best place in the game to farm Zonaite is in the Depths.
The Depths are far more vast than the Mining Cave, which you will deplete of Zonaite very quickly if that’s the only place you look for it.
The Depths
The Depths is absolutely brimming with Zonaite. You might be tempted to just throw yourself down a Chasm and start mining straight away, but hang on one minute!
The Depths is a huge and dangerous area, and you are going to need to stock up on several items first to ensure your safety down there. If you have unlocked your Paraglider and you are already stocked up on Brightbloom Seeds, absolutely go for it. But if you don’t, you are going to need those two things first.
How to Unlock the Paraglider in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Depths are a long way down, and the ground is not made up of pillowy mushrooms or mattresses by any means. So the first step to exploring the Depths is to get your hands on the Paraglider. Thankfully, you can unlock the Paraglider reasonably early on in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
After completing the tutorial area on the Great Sky Island, you will finally be free to explore the lands of Hyrule below. The first Quest you receive on the surface of Hyrule is To The Kingdom of Hyrule, which involves making your way to Lookout Landing and making contact with Purah.
After reuniting with Purah and completing the very first steps of her Quest, you have to head to the Lookout Landing Skyview Tower and activate that to download the map data for North Hyrule Field. To activate a Skyview Tower, all you need to do is open the door and interact with the Sheikah Pedestal you will find inside.
At that point, some vaguely threatening robotic arms will grasp Link’s limbs, and he will be catapulted high into the sky above. And by high, I mean really, really high up there. So for obvious reasons, Purah will provide you with the paraglider moments before you activate the Lookout Landing Skyview Tower and download your first piece of map data.
Where to Find Brightbloom Seeds in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The next vital ingredient you need to explore the Depths and embark on your hunt for Zonaite is a good, healthy stock of Brightbloom Seeds.
There is no light whatsoever in the Depths. So if you head in without any Brightbloom Seeds, you will be enveloped in complete darkness, and you won’t be able to get very far just swinging your weapon aimlessly in the dark. Trust me, Bomb Flowers litter the floor in the Depths, so this is not an effective strategy.
Brightbloom Seeds emit light so you can illuminate the area and navigate the Depths safely. The best way to use them is by attaching them to arrows and shooting them toward the darkness or just dropping them on the ground and hitting them with any weapon. Again, watch out for Bomb Flowers if you use this method.
Brightbloom Seeds are quite plentiful on the surface of Hyrule and can be found in pretty much all caves and wells. There is no shortage of wells and caves in Tears of the Kingdom, but if you’re in a rush and don’t have time to explore and seek them all out, a quick way to find some is by fast-traveling to each stable.
Every stable has its own well, and most of them have Brightbloom Seeds sprouting at the bottom of them. Some might even have Giant Brightbloom Seeds, which give off much more light than their regular Brightbloom cousins.
The location with the highest concentration of Brightbloom Seeds that I have found so far is in the Rauru Settlement Ruins Well along the road heading West from Woodland Stable.
There is also an abnormally high concentration of caves in the Faron region, so that is a great place to farm Brightbloom Seeds. If you just got your Paraglider from Purah, there is a well in Lookout Landing, so head there if you are eager to head into the Depths as soon as possible.
Once you have your Paraglider and a healthy amount of Brightbloom Seeds, you will be free to explore every aspect of Hyrule, from the surface, the Sky Islands and, of course, the Depths.
How to Farm Zonaite in the Depths
Once you reach the Depths, start lighting up the area with Brightbloom Seeds and begin your hunt for Zonaite. Zonaite is traceable in almost every aspect of the Depths, so it won’t take you long to start hitting the Zonaite jackpot.
Zonaite is dropped by all of the enemies in the Depths, so don’t be afraid to go in guns blazing and take down every Stalkoblin, Keese, and Tiny Frox you come across. It is worth noting if you’re going to be engaging in battle or just exploring the Depths full stop, that you should avoid the red dangerous-looking substance called Gloom.
Gloom not only saps your energy but it decreases your total number of usable hearts and is very hard to recover from. Gloom often covers the floor, which is easy to avoid. Just don’t step on it, but the issue is that most of the monsters down there are covered in the substance.
You can replenish these broken hearts by consuming food infused with Sundelions, which can be found on Sky Islands or on the surface of Hyrule next to pieces of fallen debris. You can also recover your broken hearts by activating Lightroots in the Depths.
If you are on the hunt for Large Zonaite to speed up your collection process, the best way to find it is by defeating the mini-boss monsters lurking in the Depths.
The Depths is home to Hinox, Lynels, and many other mini-bosses that are scary enough when they aren’t completely infested with Gloom. They are challenging, but you will be well rewarded with Large Zonaite for your incredible bravery and battle prowess when you eventually manage to take them down.
Another unarguably safer way to find Large Zonaite in the Depths is to look for Ore Deposits. These also have a chance of containing Large Zonaite fragments and come with a zero percent risk of death, which is reassuring.Â
Where Can I Find a Forge in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
So you’re all stocked up on Zonaite and have successfully completed the first step toward making a new Energy Cell, nice job! Now you just need to head to a Forge to refine your Zonaite into Crystallized Charges. As mentioned before, it takes 3x Zonaite to make a Crystallized Charge, and 3x Large Zonaite or 20x Zonaite to make a Large Crystallized Charge.
In terms of what Forge you visit, you will probably find that you want to frequent more than just one of them. Once you trade your Zonaite for Crystallized Charges, it takes a little while for the Forges to replenish their stocks so you can get more. You can choose to spend the night at a Stable to pass some time and come back to the same Forge, or you could just head straight to another one if you’re a little impatient like me.
You can locate a Forge on the map by looking for a pot-shaped icon.
The Sky Island Forge
There is one Forge in the Sky Islands that you would have already visited as part of your exploration around the Great Sky Island. Since it’s the one you will be most familiar with, you may want to make this Forge your local. You can find it on the Great Sky Island, to the right of the Room of Awakening.
Forges in the Depths
If you’ve been mining away for the last few hours to fill your pockets with Zonaite, you might already be close to a Forge. There are ten Forges in total throughout the Depths, so it might be easier for you to just visit the ones nearby rather than have to fast-travel out of the Depths and back again.
The map of the Depths has a tendency to reflect what lies above the surface. For example, Shrines always have a Lightroot underneath them, and Abandoned Mines tend to appear below large cities in Hyrule above. It’s at these Abandoned Mines where you will find the Forges.
Here is a list of all of the Abandoned Mines in the Depths, along with the locations they mirror on the surface.
- Abandoned Eldin Mine: Death Mountain
- Abandoned Lanayru Mine: Mount Lanayru
- Abandoned Hebra Mine: Hebra Mountain
- Abandoned Tarrey Mine: Tarrey Town
- Abandoned Gerudo Mine: Gerudo Desert
- Abandoned Kara Kara Mine: Kara Kara Bazaar
- Abandoned Central Mine: Hyrule Field Skyview Tower
- Abandoned Kakariko Mine: Kakariko Village
- Abandoned Hateno Mine: Hateno Village
- Abandoned Lurelin Mine: Lurelin Village
Since it is so dark in the Depths, you don’t have the same luxury of getting to higher ground to survey your surroundings and decide where you’re going to go next like you do on the surface. A great hack to make sure you stay on track toward the next Abandoned Mine location is to pin its corresponding location on the surface and follow that marker throughout the Depths.
Side Note: Make sure you interact with all of the glowing orange tree-like structures as you pass by them in the Depths. These are called Lightroots, and once activated, allow you to fast-travel there, making your future exploration through the Depths much easier.
Where Can I Find a Crystal Refinery in the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
Once you collect 100x Crystallized Charges or 5x Large Crystallized Charges, you are well on your way to completing a full Energy Cell. All you need to do at this point is turn those Crystallized Charges into Energy Wells at a Crystal Refinery. Crystal Refineries aren’t as plentiful as Forges in Tears of the Kingdom, but they are still easily accessible.
You can locate Crystal Refineries on the map by searching for a battery-shaped icon.
Sky Island Crystal Refinery
The first Crystal Refinery you come across in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is on the Great Sky Island. You can take a shortcut there by fast-traveling to the Nachoyah Shrine and heading straight forward to talk to the Steward Construct.
There, he will ask you for 100x Crystallized Charges or 5x Large Crystillized Charges in exchange for one Energy Well. The Energy Well will get transferred directly to one of your Energy Cells.
North Hyrule Field Crystal Refinery
The next Crystal Refinery in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is right outside Lookout Landing in North Hyrule Field. The North Hyrule Field Crystal Refinery isn’t there at the start of the game, however. It conveniently falls from the Sky Islands above after completing the first part of the Regional Phenomena Questline.
The Crystal Refinery is on a rather large rock that will be slippery when wet. There is an overhanging ledge on the West side of the rock face that you can Ascend up to avoid having to climb and waste your Stamina.
Creating Energy Wells at Crystal Refineries is the last stage in the process of filling up your Energy Cells. You need 24 Energy Wells in total to completely fill up all of your Energy Cells, so get yourself a snack because it’s going to take you quite some time.
The Duplication Glitch
Collecting all that Zonaite to make all those Crystallized Charges to make all those Energy Wells is a lot of work. There is, however, another way players have found to exploit the game into glitching and creating duplicates of items.
This glitch can be used to duplicate any item but is most useful when duplicating Large Zonaite to make Large Crystallized Charges and completely fill up all your Energy Cells in record time.
If you’re somewhat of a purist and prefer to play your games the old-fashioned way, with no cheating involved, that is absolutely fair enough. I am too. But in the interests of science, I will tell you how you could potentially use the duplication glitch to duplicate Large Zonaite – hypothetically, of course.
The glitch is rather finicky, and it isn’t a guarantee. It also requires at least one Large Zonaite and two bows, preferably identical ones. Once you have collected those items, press the right trigger to draw your bow. Then press the up button to fuse a Large Zonaite to your arrow.
Then open up your menu, drop the bow you are currently holding, and equip a new one. Up until this point, you can take as much time as you need to perform the previous actions, but this next action requires some lightning-fast reflexes.
Press the plus button twice as fast as you can to close and reopen the menu. Then drop the bow you are currently holding. Ideally, when you close out of the menu after and pick up your two bows off the ground, you will have two of whatever item you had on your bow initially.
This glitch is simple in theory, but it is pretty difficult to actually get it right in practice. You have to press plus twice at speed-runner speed. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect, and if you try it enough times, you are sure to get it eventually.
Leave Your Battery Woes in the Past by Filling Up Your Energy Cells
Upgrading your Energy Cells in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a whole mission in itself, but the rewards far outweigh the grinding it takes to get even just one single Energy Well.
Never again will you have to leave your beloved hoverboard behind because you ran out of power in your Energy Cells, and never again will your flamethrower run out of juice mid-boss fight, resulting in certain death. Well, it doesn’t make constructs last forever. So either of those two things could still potentially happen, but just nowhere near as often.
There is so much to do in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that it can be easy to just move on with the story and forget all about your Energy Cells and the Depths completely, but upgrading your Energy Cells should definitely be high up on your priority list.
FAQs
Question: Where are the best places to mine for Zonaite in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
Answer: If you’re looking for huge amounts of Zonaite fast, the Daphnes Canyon Mine, the Hylia Canyon Mine, and the Faloraa Canyon Mine are all filled to the brim with the ancient ore. Make sure to pin those areas so you can visit them whenever you’re nearby.
Question: What happens if I run out of Brightbloom Seeds in the Depths?
Answer: If you run out of Seeds while you’re in the Depths but you don’t want to head back to the surface yet, look for some small turtle-shaped enemies called Tiny Frox. The Tiny Frox eat Brightbloom Seeds, so they also drop them when they die.
Question: How much battery power do you get from having full Energy Cells?
Answer: The larger your construct is, the more energy it requires. But if you are flying around a regular hoverboard, you could fly for approximately four minutes if you have maxed out Energy Cells. You can get a decent way across the map during that time.
Question: Are there any Forges on the surface of Hyrule?
Answer: No, a vast majority of the Forges in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are located in the Depths, with the exception of the Sky Island Forge. There is also no Crystal Refinery in the Depths.