The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild’s Best Sidequests And Bonus Content

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a big game with lots to do outside of its main quests. Maybe you’ve fought Ganon and are looking for more to do in the world, or maybe you’re looking for every excuse you can to put off the final confrontation. Whatever the case may be, here are a handful of bonus missions, shrines, and quests worth pursuing that you won’t find on your Main Quests lists.

Below you will find a list of spoiler-free suggestions for a number of side activities that are worth doing. And if you keep scrolling, you will find more detailed, spoiler-filled descriptions of these activities, their rewards, and why we think they’re worth pursuing.

1. Do all of Gerudo’s sidequests
Make sure to talk to everyone in the town, starting with its leader, and do whatever they ask. The rewards are worthwhile.

2. Do all of Kakariko’s sidequests
Kakariko’s sidequests don’t offer much in terms of physical reward, but doing all Kakariko has to offer delivers on one of its most interesting storylines.

3. Do the maze shrines
There are three in Hyrule, and you can find them by looking at the map.

4. Get the climbing equipment
Hopefully you’ve got some of the pieces already, but if you click to page two you can find out how to get the full set.

5. Get the horse everyone is talking about
There is someone south of Lake Tower who should be able to get you started.

6. Get the other horse everyone is talking about
Outskirt Stable just southwest of central Hyrule will give you the lead you need to start this sidequest.

7. Eavesdrop at the Gerudo bar
You might hear a valuable secret.

8. Bring the woman in Gerudo some flint
I mentioned this in my spoiler-free starter guide, and I stand by that recommendation. Find the woman that needs flint in Gerudo and give it to her.

9. Help out the guy in front of Gerudo
He’s not technically part of Gerudo since he is right outside the front gate, so it won’t add to your total in terms of completing all of Gerudo’s side missions, but it’s a good idea to do everything he asks of you.

10. The southeast island
It may take an extra stamina potion to fly out there (you can also take a raft), but it’s worth exploring the island off the southeast coast.

11. Check out all the houses in Hateno
I hear Hateno village has some beautiful properties.

12. Help the town
I hear the beautiful properties in Hateno village have some people nearby that are worth talking to.

13. Find the guy that loves monsters
A guard patrolling the East Akkala Stable has an assignment that will get you started with this task.

14. Explore Hyrule Castle
Whether you have fought Ganon or not, you can explore Hyrule Castle, and I recommend you do.

15. Find the prison in Hyrule Castle
Piggybacking off the previous tip, make sure you look for the prison area of the castle, specifically.

16. The fifth fairy
If you found all the Great Fairies, know that there is another… odd one. Explore near Highland Stable to start on this path.

17. Look up
There are a couple of things up there worth spotting. Head towards Mount Lanayru if you’re not sure what I am talking about.

18. Do all the shrines
There are a lot and many are hard to find, but I really like the reward for doing them all.

Next: More detailed spoiler-filled information on each quest and its reward.

1. Do all of Gerudo’s sidequests
Helping everyone in Gerudo lets you “borrow” the Thunder Helm. It’s the helmet you retrieved for Riju in order to board the divine beast, and it’s awesome. It looks weird and it makes you impervious to lighting, which is incredibly handy. You have to retrieve a Gerudo woman who went missing in the desert, deliver ice, and convince a litterbug to change her ways, among other missions, but it’s worth it.

2. Do all of Kakariko’s sidequests
You won’t get something as awesome as the Thunder Helm, but if you help get all of Cado’s cucco’s, show off some fireflies, and give Koko every food item she is looking for, you are treated to an interesting mystery, and the chance to learn some surprising details about one the villagers of Kakariko’s past.

3. Do the maze shrines
You will find the Dila Maag Shrine east of the Gerudo desert, the Tu Ka’loh Shrine north of the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, and the Qaza Tokki Shrine northeast of Rito Village. They’re different from your typical Shrine and they award the Barbarian Helm, Barbarian Armor, and Barbarian Leg Wraps, which is an interesting look for Link.

4. Get the climbing equipment
The climbing gear speeds up climbing, which makes each component super valuable. You can find the Climber’s Bandanna in the Ree Dahee Shrine, the Climbing Gear in the Chaas Qeta Shrine, and the Climbing Boots in Tahno O’ah Shrine.

5. Get the horse everyone is talking about
A character names Straia hanging out just south of the Lake Tower by the Mounted Archery Camp. He will tell you about a giant horse nearby. Head to the Taobab Grassland, either avoiding or fighting the Lynels that hang out in that area, and you will find a gigantic, red-haired horse. Mount the horse and take him back to Straia to complete the sidequest, and then you can register him at the closest stable.

6. Get the other horse everyone is talking about
As I mentioned on the previous page, Outskirt stable just southwest of central Hyrule will give you the lead you need to start this sidequest. You will find the pure white horse just northeast of the stable near the Sanidin Park Ruins. If you don’t have a large stamina bar (or even if you do) have some stamina potions ready. It’s the horse that used to belong to Zelda and it’s very good.

7. Eavesdrop at the Gerudo bar
There is a group of Gerudo women in The Noble Canteen in Gerudo that will stop talking when they notice you, but if go into Rotana’s house next door, you can eavesdrop on them and learn how to get into the exclusive Gerudo Secret Club, which is in the building behind the non-secret clothing store. In it you can purchase male Gerudo clothes as well as the bizarre, Luchadores-inspired Radiant outfit – as long as you have enough luminous stones.

8. Bring the woman flint in Gerudo
There is a Gerudo woman near the entrance of Gerudo Town looking for 10 flint. When you give it to her, she opens up the Jewelry Shop which is full of very useful, but very expensive jewelry that offers all kinds of handy bonuses.

9. Help out the guy in front of Gerudo
In front of Gerudo is a man named Bozai looking for true love. If you dress in your Gerudo garb, he will make a number of requests for you, specifically that you take some photos. If you do all his missions you will walk away with snow boots and sand boots, which make you move faster in snow and sand. They’re very useful.

10. The southeast island
Eventide Island is one of the more interesting shrine quests in the game. When you land on the island after a lengthy flight, it takes all your equipment and tasks you with staying alive. You get to keep your hearts and dungeon items though, so the sooner you tackle this shrine, the harder it is to complete.

11. Check out all the houses in Hateno
Just southwest of the Myahm Agana Shrine in Hateno, you will find a home that is for sale. Don’t be intimidated by the initial price Bolsom quotes you. You can talk him down to a reasonable sum and buy the home. After that you can upgrade it and store three weapons, three shields, and three bows in trophy cases. I’ve been using these cases to store my Amiibo-exclusive items. It’s worth fully upgrading the house, because once you do Bolsom will throw in a bunch of free furniture to make it look real nice.

12. Help the town
Once you buy the home, Bolsom will send off his co-worker Hudson to establish Tarrey Town in the middle of Lake Akkala north of Zora’s Domain. Find Hudson and he will ask you to find people to live in his town. He will require a lot of wood and send you to Goron City, Gerudo Town, Rito Village, and Zora’s Domain in order to find specific people. Once you do all of these things, you get to see a beautiful Hyrule wedding.

13. Find the guy that loves monsters
Kilton is not your typical merchant. He uses his own currency, which is earned by trading monster parts with him, and he has some of the weirdest clothing in the game. You can buy monster masks from him, as well a whole Dark Link outfit, which has some amazing bonuses and looks awesome. Jerrin in the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab pointed me his way by asking me if I had explored Skull Lake west of the lab. Once you establish a rapport with him, you can find him at night in all the major towns. Make sure to take a picture of him to share with the guard at East Akkala Stable.

14. Explore Hyrule Castle
My first time in Hyrule Castle was a mad sprint to take on Ganon. I was conserving health and the Divine Beasts’ cooldown abilities by sprinting to the finish line. While this is a perfectly acceptable tactic, you should take time to explore Hyrule Castle. It’s surprisingly big and full of awesome stuff like powerful weapons and caches of Ancient Arrows.

15. Find the prison in Hyrule Castle
And while you’re exploring the castle, make sure to seek out the prisons. In it you will fight a skeleton Hinox that will award you the Hylian Shield, which is easily the best shield in the game.

16. The fifth fairy
If you cross the Horse God Bridge heading toward Malanya Spring southeast of Highland Stable, you will meet Malanya, the Horse God. She is a lot different from the other fairies in the world, and can revive dead horses for you.

17. Look up
You will see dragons floating around the world, but don’t be intimidated by them. They’re (mostly) harmless. Shoot arrows at them to produce fangs, horns, and scales, the latter of which can be dropped in the conspicuous springs to open up shrines. Their items are also necessary for the bigger Great Fairy clothing upgrades.

18. Do all the shrines
This is a big task. I admit to resorting to a guide to find the locations of the last few, but it’s worth it. Doing all the shrines is where you will see all the game’s clever puzzle solving, and the reward for doing them all is worthwhile, especially if you have no interest in using Amiibos in the game. You can head here if you want to see the reward for getting them all.

Still want more to do in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? How about some sightseeing? Or you could dive into the timeline debate with Wade Wojcik and me.