BotW Gem Farming: Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires and Topaz

Gems in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild come from three kinds of rock and from the strongest ranks of the common monsters. This page gives the game’s drop rates for each source, a route that turns every Blood Moon into a gem run, what each gem sells for and how many the armor upgrades use. For rupees in general, see rupee farming.

Which sources drop the most gems?

The rates are from the game’s drop tables, and the percentage is the chance per draw. The rest of each draw is mostly Amber, Opal, Flint or Rock Salt. Silver monsters only appear later in the game, when the monsters that rank up with your world level reach silver.

Hinoxes and Moldugas drop no gems: a Hinox drops food and its own parts, and a Molduga drops its guts, fins and a chest of weapons. Pebblits drop Amber, Opal or Flint.

How do you farm gems from Taluses?

A Stone Talus (Rare) has 900 HP. Its ore is on its back: climb up and hit it. Each Talus kind has its own first drop: Ruby for a Stone Talus, Luminous Stone for a Luminous one, Ruby (80%) for an Igneo Talus and Sapphire (70%) for a Frost Talus; only the Rare kind leans towards Diamonds.

The game has seven Rare Taluses, and a Blood Moon brings defeated monsters back, Taluses included. After each Blood Moon:

1. Open the Talus map. All 40 Taluses, the seven Rare ones among them, are on the Talus page.
2. Visit the seven Rare Taluses. Two of them are around Hyrule Castle, so go well armed.
3. Add the Silver monsters on your way. Late in the game, Silver Moblins (10% Diamond on their first draw) and Silver Lynels are the next-best gem sources.
4. Sell at Ramella once you have ten of a kind (below).

Where are the rare ore deposits?

The game’s description says a rare deposit holds “a good deal of precious ore and the occasional rare mineral, like ruby and sapphire”. Break one with a weapon or a bomb to get its draws.

The counts come from the game’s placement data and include every placement. The mines around Death Mountain in Eldin have more deposits than anywhere else, which makes a run through Eldin worth it even before you can reach Ramella. A Luminous Stone deposit gives Luminous Stone 90% of the time and Flint otherwise.

What do gems sell for, and where?

Any shop buys gems at the price on the left.

Ramella, a Gerudo gem trader, sets up in Goron City after you free Divine Beast Vah Rudania. Her first request, the side quest The Jewel Trade, is ten Amber for 500 rupees. After that she asks for ten of one gem at a time and pays 200 to 500 more than a shop. She does not buy Opals or Luminous Stones. The details are on the rupee farming page.

How many gems do armor upgrades need?

Totals for taking every piece that uses a gem from no stars to four stars, from the game’s data:

Silver Lynels also drop Star Fragments; for those, see Star Fragment farming. The ancient parts from Guardians are on the ancient materials page.