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 Link to light up the Depths in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and make them more manageable for others to traverse.
Link must go to the Depths multiple times to save Hyrule. Depths are the only place in Hyrule where Link 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 Link encounters it, he starts losing his 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 4 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 and the remaining two are temporary.
Use Brightbloom Seeds
The best and the official way of lighting up the Depths is using Brightbloom Seeds. There is a small tutorial in the game where Link gets a few Brightbloom Seeds from Josha while venturing into the depths for the first time.
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 come back to the same area later. This is the best solution to brighten up the depths in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
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 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 their role as a Checkpoint in the depths, Lightroots are placed at a great distance from each other.
The journey to reach the next Lightroot is always perilous and full of dangers unless you are carrying a lot of Brightbloom Seeds.
Find the Miner’s armor set
Another way of illuminating the area around you in depths is to wear the Miner’s Armor Set. You can find the Old Maps for the Miner’s Armor Set on West Hebra Sky Island, hidden inside treasure chests. 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 that illuminate the area around Link as he moves 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 provide temporary relief to Link. 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. These are some of the ways we have found to light up the Depths in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and traverse the area safely by avoiding the gloom.
