TotK Shard of Farosh's Spike: Picking Them Up Without Getting Struck

The Shard of Farosh’s Spike is the one Farosh part you do not knock off. In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the shards sit at the base of the big spikes on the lightning dragon’s back, and you collect them by walking along it. The game’s description: “An incredibly hard stone mined from a spike on Farosh’s back. It is very destructive when fused to a weapon, and it also imbues that weapon with the power to shock.”

No ten-minute wait, but a lot of lightning

Because you pick these up rather than break them off, they are not tied to the ten-minute wait that follows every scale, claw, fang shard or horn. Each landing on Farosh is worth a walk down its back, whatever else you came for. There are reportedly ten to twelve shards on the back at a time, and they come back after a while.

The catch is where you have to stand. Farosh, in the Compendium’s words, has a body coated in electricity that “can cause lightning storms”, and lightning goes for metal. Riding Farosh with a metal sword, bow or shield equipped is asking to be struck. Two ways around it:

• Carry nothing metal. Swap to wooden weapons and a wooden shield before you land.
• Be Lightning Proof. The Lightning Helm, from the Yiga Clan Hideout, gives it on its own. The Rubber set gives it too, but only with all three pieces upgraded to two stars; a single Rubber piece only adds Shock Resistance. See the Rubber set.

Where to land on Farosh is on dragon locations: the Gerudo Canyon Skyview Tower is the closest launch point to its surface route.

Fifteen shards, one cap

Only the Cap of the Wild uses them, and it uses a lot:

• Third star: 5 Shards of Farosh’s Spike, with 3 Energetic Rhino Beetles, 2 Shards of Farosh’s Fang and 200 rupees (defense 12 to 18).
• Fourth star: 10 Shards of Farosh’s Spike, with 3 Star Fragments, 2 Farosh’s Horns and 500 rupees (defense 18 to 28).

That is 15 in all, more than any other Farosh part, and no quest asks for them. The good news is that you will be on Farosh’s back anyway for the fang shards and horns those same stars need, so collect spikes on every landing until you have 15. The cap itself is on the Hero of the Wild set page.

On a weapon: shock plus smashing power

Fused to a weapon or shield, the shard adds 16 attack and shock, the same attack as Farosh’s Scale. What the scale lacks is the part of the description that says it is “very destructive”: in the game data the spike shard carries a smashing property that Farosh’s scale, claw and fang shard do not have. It costs nothing in waiting time and sells for 30 rupees, so a spare one is a cheap way to get a shock weapon that also breaks things. On an arrow it stays at 16; for shock arrows use the claw or fang shard. More in the fuse guide.

Not a guaranteed incredible success

This is the trap in the cooking pot. Farosh’s scale, claw, fang shard and horn all guarantee an incredible success; the spike shard does not. It adds 1 minute 20 seconds to a timed effect but gives only a 10% chance of an incredible success. If you want a sure one, use another part or see how to cook.

Spares sell for 30 rupees, so even the full 15 is only 450 rupees. They also count as Light Yellow at the Kochi Dye Shop, five for one dye job.

See also

• Farosh’s Scale
• Shard of Farosh’s Fang, also needed at the cap’s third star
• Dragon locations and dragon parts
• All materials