BotW Vah Ruta Walkthrough: 5 Terminals, 7 Chests, Rewards

Vah Ruta is the Zora Divine Beast in the Lanayru region, and for many players it is the first one. Its puzzles are about water: you steer the trunk from the map so its stream turns wheels and douses fire. The Divine Beast order guide explains why it makes a good opener.

What do you need before Vah Ruta?

Wear the Zora Armor for the whole quest. It lets you swim up waterfalls, which is both the shortcut to Ploymus Mountain and part of the dungeon route. The Zora set page lists the other two pieces and their upgrades.

Video walkthrough

[Zelda BotW] Divine Beast Vah Ruta Guide (All Chests) — YouTube

How do you reach and board Vah Ruta?

1. Take the quest from King Dorephan. After arriving in Zora’s Domain, speak to the king. He asks you to calm Vah Ruta and gives you the Zora Armor.
2. Show Muzu you wear the Zora Armor. Muzu refuses to help a Hylian until he sees the armor Mipha made. Put it on and talk to him; he tells you the Shock Arrows are on Ploymus Mountain.
3. Swim up the waterfall east of Zora’s Domain. The armor lets you climb waterfalls, which is the fast route up to the mountain.
4. Collect 20 Shock Arrows at Shatterback Point. The Lynel on the summit shoots them. You can fight it for the arrows or sneak in and grab the ones stuck around the area.

5. Meet Sidon at East Reservoir Lake. The lake sits right below Shatterback Point. Talk to Sidon with the Zora Armor on and he swims you around the Beast.
6. Shock the four glowing orbs. Ride up a water torrent, get launched into the air, and hit a pink orb with a Shock Arrow in slow motion. Break the chasing ice cubes and the spiked ice balls on the water with Cryonis. If you fall, Sidon catches you. Each orb makes the next barrage harder.

7. Enter Vah Ruta and activate the entrance terminal. Sidon drops you at the entrance once the rain stops. The terminal there registers a Travel Gate.

How do you get the Vah Ruta map?

8. Shoot the eyeball in the Malice at the entrance. A Guardian Scout is in this room, so deal with it first.

9. Shoot the underwater eyeball and lift the gate. Hit the eye in the pool, then make a Cryonis block under the barred gate on the left so the ice raises it. Use the Guidance Stone behind it for the map. The Ancient Spring chest lies in the water under this gate; pull it out with Magnesis.

How does the trunk in Vah Ruta work?

From the map you can raise or lower Ruta’s trunk. The water it pours moves with it, which turns the big wheel, lands on specific ledges or puts out fire. Positions here are counted from the top, so “fourth from the top” means four steps down from the highest setting. Use the ones named below and adjust by one if the water misses.

How do you activate all five terminals?

10. Terminal 1: turn the gear handle. On the wall opposite the map room, grab the handle on the gears with Magnesis and turn it. The terminal rises out of the water.

11. Terminal 2: stop the small water wheel. Go outside and climb the long ramp opposite the entrance; another Guardian Scout waits here. The terminal is inside the small wheel. When it rotates to the bottom or level with the floor, freeze the spout driving the wheel with Cryonis, then walk in and activate it. Check the high ledge in this room for the Silver Rupee chest.

12. Terminal 3: get the big wheel turning. Shoot the eye above the Malice on the outside ramp and go up. Set the trunk to the fourth position from the top so its water spins the big wheel.
13. Terminal 3: freeze the orange ball. When the orange ball sits in the center hole of the big wheel, hit it with Stasis to hold its gate open. Walk in as the room swings around to you and activate the terminal. The Ancient Core is also inside the wheel, between two sliding slabs; freeze the outer slab with Stasis to open it.

14. Open the shortcut waterfall. Ride the big wheel up to the upper ledge, defeat the Guardian Scout there, and step on the floor switch. A waterfall appears that you can swim up in the Zora Armor.

15. Terminal 4: glide to the tip of the trunk. Take the hallway to the base of the trunk, set the trunk to its lowest position and glide to the tip. Then raise it to the fourth position from the top and walk to the terminal on the underside of the tip as it lifts. The Ancient Shaft chest sits under Malice near the tip.
16. Terminal 5: drop into the flame room. Raise the trunk to its highest position and glide from the tip onto Ruta’s head. Drop through the small square hole and shoot the eyeball on the ceiling, which spits skulls at you.
17. Terminal 5: douse the flames. Turn the wall crank with Magnesis to open the ceiling, then set the trunk to the fifth position from the top so its water puts out the fire around the terminal. Drop down and activate it.

18. Go down to the Main Control Unit. It is on the lowest floor, down the ramp next to the gears from terminal 1. Touching it starts the Waterblight Ganon fight.

What are all the chests in Vah Ruta?

You cannot re-enter after activating the Main Control Unit, so anything left behind is gone.

How do you beat Waterblight Ganon?

• Phase 1: it attacks with a spear. Arrows to the eye knock it down, and a last-moment dodge opens a Flurry Rush.
• Phase 2 (half health): the room floods, leaving four platforms. It warps between them and hurls ice blocks. Shatter them with Cryonis, or freeze one with Stasis and hit it back.
• Late attack: watch for a laser from its eye and keep moving between platforms.

The first Blight you fight has 800 HP, and each later one has 400 more. The full fight with screenshots, plus the Hyrule Castle and DLC rematches, is on the Waterblight Ganon page; all four are compared on the Blights page.

What rewards does Vah Ruta give?

Mipha’s Grace is the reason Ruta is our suggested first Beast, and it is still active in the Hyrule Castle run. Freeing Ruta also has Mipha fire on Calamity Ganon at the start of the final fight. For how the trident compares with other spears, see the best weapons list.

How all four Champion abilities compare, with recharge times and the DLC upgrades, is on the Champion abilities page.