Zelda Breath of the Wild guide: How to find and upgrade the Zora armor set

Any time you have to swim anywhere in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you probably want to wear at least one piece of the Zora set. It increases your swim speed and lets you swim straight up waterfalls. You’ll pick up your first piece of this set during a main story mission, but the other two pieces — and the associated set bonus they grant — take a little more work.

Zora armor

When you reach Zora’s Domain and embark on the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest, King Dorephan will give you the first piece of this set, the Zora armor. Even just this one piece will increase your swim speed and allow you to swim up waterfalls.

How to get the Zora helm

Grid View

The second piece of the Zora set is close by, and you can get right away. From Zora’s Domain, head north-northeast toward Toto Lake. The quickest way to get there is just to equip the Zora armor and swim up the two waterfalls between here and there.

When you get to Toto Lake, swim out into the ruins, and head for the far left corner in the northwest. Turn back toward the center of the ruined building and activate magnesis to find a chest at the bottom of the lake. Pull it up and open it for the Zora helm. (If you have any trouble finding it, check the gallery above.) The helm allows you to perform a spin attack while swimming, which is a corkscrewing lunge forward through the water.

How to get the Zora greaves (‘Lynel Safari’ side quest)

You’ll get the final piece of the Zora set by completing the ‘Lynel Safari’ side quest. Look for Laflat on the eastern side of the middle level of Zora’s Domain. When you talk to her, she’ll ask you to show her a picture of a red-maned lynel. Conveniently, you have to go confront/avoid a red-maned lynel to gather shock arrows during the Divine Beast Vah Rota. Take the photo back and show her, and she’ll reward you with the Zora greaves.

Upgrading the Zora set

Wearing any piece of the Zora set will increase your swim speed. The Zora helm gives you a spin attack while swimming, and the armor lets you swim up waterfalls. After the second upgrade, wearing the entire outfit give you a set bonus that increases your swim dash stamina — or, more accurately, dashing while swimming consumes less stamina.

Upgrading this set at a Great Fairy fountain is fairly easy — the requirements are all relatively common. You just need a lot of them:

• Lizalfos horns and tails are basically everywhere in Hyrule. Hyrule bass are also easy to come by in most bodies of water — try the river south of Riverside Stable (which is near Wahgo Katta shrine) or the river in the canyon near Ree Dahee shrine.
• Hearty bass are more common at the bases of waterfalls, so watch for them in the areas around Zora’s Domain and down the Zora River from there.
• Opals are a bit trickier because they’re a random drop. Your best approach is to mine every chunk of ore you can find around Death Mountain. You should also fight any talus you find (here’s the short version of how to fight a talus: Climb up on it, and hit the shiny rock with your weapon). Stone, igneo and frost taloses all have a chance to drop opals.