Divine Beast Vah Ruta – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Before you can even enter the Divine Beast Vah Ruta in Zora’s Domain, you need to fight your way inside. You clamber onto Sidon’s back, shooting down or slashing apart the ice projectile the massive mechanical elephant shoots Link’s way before swimming up the waterfalls spewing out of the beast’s sides, leaping into the air and firing Shock Arrows at the four glowing points on Ruta’s back.
After this battle, you’ll gain entry to the dungeon itself. Dungeons in Breath of the Wild are different from those in previous Zelda titles, featuring a much larger focus on solving puzzles than battling enemies. Entering the first room you’ll find yourself with three possible doors to go through: one to the left, one to the right, and one on the far wall.
Enter the door to the right and you’ll find Ruta’s central terminal, but you can’t access it just yet. You’ll need to turn on four other terminals beforehand.
The first of the four is located immediately outside the door to the central terminal. A set of gears is embedded in the wall above a pool of water. Use the Magnesis rune to crank the handle and raise the terminal out of the water, making it accessible to you.
While you’re on the first floor you should also head to the door to the right. Destroy the corruption by tossing a bomb under the water where it lurks and use the Cryonis rune to create a block of ice and prop the door open enough for you to sneak under and use the guidance stone to download the dungeon’s map to your Sheikah slate. The map of Ruta is unique because you can interact with it, raising and lowering the elephant’s trunk in order to solve puzzles, but more about that later.
Head through the doorway on the far wall and ascend to the second floor of the dungeon. You’ll enter a room with two massive waterwheels situated in the middle of the room. The smaller of the two, which lies on the left as you enter, is turning slowly thanks to an outpouring of water coming from the wall. In the middle of the wheel sits a terminal. Wait for it to be oriented properly and use Crynosis to block the flow of water and halt the wheel.
Now that the second terminal is activated you can head to the third floor through the door on the far side of the room. You’ll need to dispatch a bit of corruption as you climb the ramp but this can easily be done with bombs or arrows.
A small walkway leads to the center of the larger water wheel, which currently sits motionless. Directly in front of you will be a terminal blocked by a set of bars. protruding from it, expanding down to the bottom of the wheel, are a stone sphere on a track and a chest sandwiched between two stone blocks. This is where you need to use Ruta’s mighty trunk. Manipulate the map so the trunk is as far back as it can be, spraying water on the wheel, causing it to turn.This will make the ball fall into its slot at the top of the rod, opening the bars. Use the stasis rune to hold the ball in place and rush to the terminal, quickly activating it. If you want the chest too, you need to use stasis on the top block of stone and unlock it as it reaches the peak of the wheel’s rotation.
Your next task is reaching the fourth level, which is done by riding the wheels. First, you’ll need to pull Ruta’s trunk back a little bit to change the rotation of the larger wheel so both are rotating towards the wall and the ledge you need to reach. After that, it’s a simple matter of leaping onto one of the smaller wheel’s blades and catching a free ride.
Once you reach the fourth floor you’ll be greeted by a small guardian which can be easily defeated. You’ll also want to step on the switch to the left which will activate a waterfall leading from the second floor to the fourth. If you swim up it and paraglide at the peak of your jump you can reach a second chest.
Follow the only door on the fourth floor to reach the trunk. Lower it as far as you can and run down its length, dispatching the corruption at the end. Once you are as close to the top as possible, raise the trunk again, staying close to the top. As the trunk raises you’ll be able to clamber over the top and drop onto a small ledge that keeps you from plummeting into the water below. Once the trunk is in its highest position you can access the terminal on top of it.
From here you can drop onto Ruta’s head and claim and third and final chest. You’ll also have access to the room housing the fourth terminal. pillars of flame surround the terminal, however, so you need to reposition the trunk so it douses the flames and gives Link a safe passage through. Once all four terminals are activated you can return to the central terminal and challenge the dungeon’s boss.
Waterblight Ganon isn’t the most difficult foe you’ll face, but it can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing. We have an in-depth guide on how to take this boss out easily.
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