Depths are the cruelest place in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Devoid of any light and plagued with Gloom that is slowly eating away at everything, it is not a happy place for anyone to visit. It is now up to you to light up the Depths in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by any means necessary.
Depths is a treasure trove of gems and resources and you must visit it multiple times to progress the main story quest. Depths are the only place in Hyrule where you can find pristine weapons and help awaken the Fifth sage at the Spirit Temple.
How to light up the Depths in Zelda TotK
With the upheaval, various Chasms appear all over Hyrule. They all lead to a very dark place with a strange goo-like substance called gloom. If you encounter it, you will start losing your health and health containers permanently (unless you cook foods with Sundelions to remove the effects of gloom).
The complete absence of any kind of light makes it even more difficult to avoid the gloom and safely make your journey to the destination. Depths are filled with gloom-infested enemies that cause a lot of damage if you come in contact with them.
But it is not all bad news. The game offers various ways to combat the darkness of the Depths and light up this abyss with the help of useful items. There are at least 6 ways to light up the Depths in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for a safe journey from one point to another. Two of them are permanent solutions, while the rest are temporary.
Use Brightbloom Seeds
The best and the official way of lighting up the Depths is using Brightbloom Seeds. The game has a small tutorial where you will get a few Brightbloom Seeds from Josha while venturing into the depths for the first time during the Camera Work in the Depths‘ main quest.
Brightbloom Seeds can be used in multiple ways. You can combine them with arrows (ZR plus D-pad up), drop them on the ground and hit them with a weapon, or throw them like a baseball (R plus D-pad Up).
In all three cases, Brightbloom Seeds take root in the ground or on the walls and illuminate the surrounding area. They remain in the same place, glowing even if you leave the depths and return to the same area later. This is the best solution to brighten up the depths of the game.
Brightbloom Seeds can be found in the caves present all over Hyrule. These glowing seeds can be noticed from afar and are extremely abundant.
Their bigger and better version, Giant Brightbloom Seeds, can also be found in the caves with high-level Horriblins. They horde a large amount of Giant Brightbloom Seeds in their encampments. You can also kill enemies like mini Frox in the depths to obtain some Brightbloom Seeds as loot.
Activate the Lightroots
The second method involves activating the roots of light trees, also known as Lightroots, that have grown all the way down into the depths. These roots also serve as teleport points and can be activated just by interacting with them. Lightroots can be viewed from afar, and they appear as orange bulbs (visible even in the dark).
Activating a Lightroot usually lights up a large amount of area around it (almost the same amount of map you unlock by activating a Skyview Tower on land). Due to their unique nature and role as a Checkpoint in the depths, Lightroots are placed far from each other.
The journey to reach the next Lightroot is always perilous and full of dangers unless you carry many Brightbloom Seeds.
Find the Miner’s armor set
Another way to illuminate the area around you in the depths is to wear the Miner’s Armor Set. The Old Maps for the Miner’s Armor Set are hidden inside treasure chests on West Hebra Sky Island. Finding all the old maps will mark the Miner’s Armor Set locations on the depths map with an X.
Miner’s Armor has glowing bulbs illuminating the area around you as you move through the depths. This is not a permanent solution, as you won’t be able to see as far as you can with a Brightbloom Seed. Still, it makes avoiding gloom a lot easier.
Light up a Torch
If you are feeling adventurous or have run out of Brightbloom Seeds (there is no shame in admitting it because we all did during our initial visit to the depths), light a torch to get temporary relief. You can also use a fire weapon or put any of your wooden weapons on fire to use them as makeshift torches.
Using a torch in depths is ill-advised and impractical unless you have no other options. You can’t run while holding a torch, and you definitely can’t climb a wall with the torch lighting up your path. They can be used for a few moments before they go out.
But Torches are still better than having no light in that godforsaken place.
Cook Bright Elixirs
Another method of lighting up depths is to cook elixirs in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that can brighten up your body once consumed. These Bright Elixirs can only be crafted using the Deep Fireflies as their main ingredients. You can cook them with various monster parts to increase the duration of the elixir.
While this sounds good on paper, finding Deep Fireflies is no easy task as they are native to depths. Crafting elixirs costs a lot of precious resources that can be avoided by simply using Brightbloom Seeds instead.
Use the Master Sword
You can also carry Master Sword into the depths, which will lighten up a small area around you. This is our least favorite method, as you will visit the Depths frequently but won’t get hold of Master Sword until you reach the very end of the game.
Even if you obtain the Master Sword earlier, it won’t have the same effect as using the Brightbloom seeds. You can always fuse a Brightbloom seed to your Master Sword to maximize its efficiency against darkness and gloom in the depths.
