BotW Weapon Farming: Royal Guard, Royal, Savage Lynel Spots

Weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild break after a few fights and cannot be repaired, so what you really want are places where a lost weapon can be picked up again. This page lists the dependable sources of high-attack weapons by place — Hyrule Castle, the Coliseum Ruins, Hinoxes, Lynels and the Test of Strength shrines — and when each one comes back. For attack rankings see the best weapons; for bonus rules see weapon bonuses.

What makes weapons come back?

The Blood Moon. A Blood Moon revives defeated monsters and puts back weapons you took from the world. By source:

Defeating enemies also adds to a hidden point total. The higher it gets, the better the weapons held by enemies, lying in the world and sitting in chests: first they gain white and then yellow bonuses, then they turn into the next weapon of their series — a Knight’s Claymore becomes a Royal Claymore at about 2,667 points, for example. Monster colors follow the same points; see enemy scaling.

Where is the Royal Guard gear in Hyrule Castle?

In normal mode, Royal Guard weapons are placed only inside Hyrule Castle; Master Mode adds one of each in sky-platform chests around the castle, and those open only once. Their base attack is at or near the top of each class: the Royal Guard’s Spear is the strongest spear, and only the Savage Lynel Sword and Crusher, the Bow of Light and the Hylian Shield beat the others. Durability, though, is very low; the game’s own description of the Royal Guard’s Claymore says “its low durability made it impractical in battle.” That makes them perfect to use up, drop, and collect again after the next Blood Moon.

The Second Gatehouse also has a chest with a Royal Guard’s Spear, which you only get once. Several Royal weapons lie around the castle too: around the Sanctum there is one each of the Royal Broadsword, Royal Claymore, Royal Halberd, Royal Bow and Royal Shield, the Guards’ Chamber has a Royal Claymore, and the Dining Hall and Observation Room each have a Royal Bow. The Black Moblin in Princess Zelda’s Room carries an Edge of Duality (attack 50).

How to farm them:

1. Enter after a Blood Moon and do a loop. The Lockup claymore is the easiest; the route in through the West Passage is in the Hyrule Castle walkthrough.
2. Leave before midnight. If you are inside Hyrule Castle at midnight, that night’s Blood Moon is put off to the next night.
3. Come back when it breaks. The Royal Guard’s Claymore has only 15 durability, so save it for bosses and Silver monsters.

Once your points are high, the castle’s Royal Guard weapons can also come with a bonus. The Royal Guard’s Claymore’s yellow Attack Up is +27 to +44, for a maximum of 116 — the highest in the game:

Why farm Royal weapons at the Coliseum Ruins?

The Coliseum Ruins sit on the plain north of the Great Plateau, with a Lynel waiting in the middle: Show on map. What the nine Black Bokoblins, Black Moblins and Black Lizalfos inside carry depends on how many Divine Beasts you have freed. Only after the third and before the fourth do they carry Royal weapons: a Royal Claymore, Royal Broadsword or Royal Halberd, with a Royal Shield for each broadsword. Before that they carry Soldier’s and Knight’s weapons. Once all four Beasts are freed they switch to elemental weapons — the Flameblade, Frostblade and Thunderblade, the Great Flameblade, Great Frostblade and Great Thunderblade, and the Flamespear, Frostspear and Thunderspear — and only the Royal Shields stay. So farm the Royal set while exactly three Beasts are done. According to the game data, these monsters’ weapons do not change with your points and carry no bonuses.

Royal weapons last far longer than Royal Guard weapons, so they suit everyday use. The Royal Bow is not carried here; it hangs on the Hinox necklaces below. The game data stores every grade of the Coliseum Ruins Lynel at the same spot. Once three Divine Beasts are freed it is a White-Maned Lynel with a Savage Lynel Sword, Savage Lynel Bow and Savage Lynel Shield; after the fourth it becomes a Silver Lynel and swaps the sword for a Flameblade, keeping the Savage Lynel Shield and Bow. The ruins are not inside the castle, so you can wait for everything to revive on the night of the Blood Moon.

Which Hinoxes have Royal weapons on their necklaces?

The game says of the Hinox: “A deft hand can steal weapons off the necklaces they wear.” Four Hinoxes wear both a Royal Broadsword and a Royal Bow:

These are the weapons as placed. With higher points, the Knight’s and Soldier’s weapons may turn into better weapons of the same series. A Hinox revives after a Blood Moon, necklace and all. Tactics and the other Hinoxes are on the Hinox locations page.

Where do I farm Savage Lynel weapons?

White-Maned Lynels. The Savage Lynel Crusher’s 78 attack is the highest base attack of any melee weapon (only the Bow of Light, at 100 per arrow, is higher); the Savage Lynel Sword has 58, and the Savage Lynel Bow fires 3 arrows at once. White-Maned Lynels placed with Savage Lynel gear:

The two N. Tabantha Snowfield Lynels and the Mount Drena one are all near Sha Gehma Shrine, so you can fight three in one trip. Blue-Maned Lynels carry Mighty Lynel gear that becomes Savage once your points are high enough: the Mighty Lynel Bow at about 2,417, the Crusher at about 4,000, the Sword at about 4,333 and the Spear at about 4,500 points. Lynels that scale also turn from Blue-Maned to White-Maned and then Silver. Which Lynels are easiest and what each drops is on the Lynel farming page.

How do I farm Guardian++ weapons?

The Major Tests of Strength. The Guardian Scout IV in each of these eight shrines carries a fixed set of three ++ weapons, and all of them drop when it is destroyed. The test resets after a Blood Moon, so you can go back and fight it again. Its weapons do not change with your points, though they sometimes come with a white bonus.

Saas Ko’sah Shrine stands right next to Hyrule Castle, so it fits into the same run as the castle’s Royal Guard weapons. Tactics are on the Guardians page.

Which strong weapons can I get without fighting?

Ancient gear from the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. After Robbie’s Research, Cherry, the lab’s Ancient Oven, trades ancient materials plus 1,000 rupees for the Ancient Short Sword (attack 40), Ancient Bladesaw (55), Ancient Spear, Ancient Shield and Ancient Bow (attack 44, durability 120). You can keep trading as long as you have the materials; the costs are on the ancient materials page. Weapons from shops reportedly never come with bonuses.

How do bonuses fit into farming?

A bonus is decided when the weapon spawns, using the same points that drive monster colors. The higher your points, the more likely the weapons from the castle and the Lynels carry a yellow bonus (the Coliseum Ruins’ black monsters are the exception noted above). To pick a better roll, come back after the next Blood Moon and take it again. In Master Mode, 85 chests on the sky platforms always give yellow bonuses, but each opens only once. Ranges and point thresholds for every weapon are on the weapon bonuses page.

See also

• Best weapons
• All weapons
• Blood Moon
• Enemy scaling
• Tears of the Kingdom weapon farming