The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Dragon Hunting Guide - Nintendo Switch - By mikeszekely (2023)

Introduction

If you're reading this FAQ, then you've probably already figured out that you need dragon parts to upgrade some of the better armors in Breath of the Wild. At first, this task may seem a bit daunting. Maybe you saw one of the dragons flying overhead in the distance, thought, "Hey, I need horns from that thing!" before trying in vain to chase it down. Fortunately, with the right preparation and a little knowledge of where the dragons spawn and what paths they take, hunting the dragons doesn't have to be difficult (just time consuming).

Hunting Dragons

The Basics of Dragon Hunting

There are three dragons in Breath of the Wild; Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra. Each dragon is associated with a Shrine quest. I'd done all those Shrine quests first, but Naydra's is the only one you must do before you can hunt it (note: if you left me that comment, please email me so I can give you credit). So, at the request of other users there's a section on Naydra's Shrine quest, but the other two won't be covered here. Just remember to save an extra scale from Dinraal and Farosh.

To get a dragon to drop a material you simply need to shoot it with an arrow. You can get a horn, a claw, a fang, or a scale based on whether you shoot the dragon on the horns, a hand, its mouth, or anywhere else, respectively.

Before you set out, there are a few basic things to keep in mind.

-Each dragon spawns at night. For me, almost always between 9:30pm and midnight, but one night not until 2:00am.
-The dragon you're after may not spawn. This seems to be rare, though. I farmed all the materials I needed for all the non-Amiibo armors and a dragon failed to show maybe two or three times.
-Each dragon takes a fixed route.
-You may only get one drop per dragon per night. So if, for example, you shoot Farosh in the horn shooting him in the body won't get you a scale on top of a horn. It's been brought to my attention that you can, however, try to hunt one of the other dragons. Using the methods I've outlined in this guide I personally haven't encountered more than one dragon a night, but players who may or may not be using this guide apparently have. Honestly, as quick as sleeping is, I don't think it makes much difference.

So what you're going to do is sleep at an inn or your house or wait by a fire for night, go to a spot where we know one of the dragons will be that's high enough to jump and fall toward it, then shoot the desired spot when we're close enough. Each dragon will kick up winds to help keep you aloft while you get into position. Remember that while the dragons won't attack you directly that each dragon will spawn elemental orbs around it's body that will shock/burn/freeze you, and running into the dragon will cause damage. The spot you where you hit the dragon will sparkle and that sparkle will blast off from the dragon like a shooting star. Glide down, pick up your prize, then travel back to your bed/fire to sit for another night.

The only things that are absolutely required to hunt for dragon parts are a bow, arrows, and the paraglider. If you follow my guide, though, you'll also want at least the Zora Armor and to have activated the fast travel points at the Lake Tower (Lake Tower Region south of the Great Plateau), the Dow Na'eh Shrine (Hateno Tower Region, southeast of Kakariko Village), and the Shae Loya Shrine (Ridgeland Tower Region, west of Hyrule Castle). It's not necessary, but you may also find it helpful to have a little extra stamina for climbing/gliding and the complete sets of Rubber, Flamebreaker, and Snowquill armors to protect you if you accidentally hit one of their elemental orbs.

Hunting Farosh

We're going to start with Farosh, because he's pretty easy. Begin by fast traveling to the Lake Tower.

Turn around and walk to the northeast edge of the tower, then jump off, angling your glide toward Hyrule Bridge.

What you want to do is land on the bridge tower closest to you.

From there, carefully climb onto the northwest corner of the tower. Farosh will rise up out of Lake Hylia, just to your left.

Farosh will circle the lake, eventually moving in front of you from the left. Wait for it to get close (you'll know the dragons are approximately close enough when the wind starts to kick up), then jump off the tower toward it. Shoot your desired spot, then glide down to pick up the prize, which will either land on the bridge or in the water near the shoreline on either side of the bridge. Be careful not to get hit by the lightning orbs, which will shock you and cause you to drop.

Hunting Dinraal

Hunting Dinraal is about as easy as hunting Farosh. Begin by fast traveling to the Shae Loya Shrine.

You will find yourself facing the Tabantha Bridge Stable and the Tabantha Great Bridge. The Tabantha Bridge Stable, incidentally, is a great place to sleep or sit by the fire between nights of hunting Dinraal, but if you're ready to hunt you want to head for the bridge.

What you're looking for is a spot on the bridge that'll be on Link's right, a little over halfway across, where there's no rope or rails.

Dinraal will come flying down the canyon from the north. Just wait until he gets close and starts to kick up the wind, then jump off the bridge. Watch out for fireballs and pick your shot. Take extra care if you jump late because you're going to be coming down on top of Dinraal. If you collide with any part of him you'll take damage and be knocked back. Dinraal's drops will either land at the bottom of the canyon or on one of the ledges with the windmill things on the sides of canyon.

Hunting Naydra

I'm saving Naydra for last because hunting it is a little more of a pain than the others. For starters, you have to complete the Shrine Quest "The Spring of Wisdom" first. If you haven't done that, skip to the next section and come back here when you're done. Then when you're ready to hunt, you're starting a little further away from where you want to be, and you can't just glide or walk to the right spot. There's climbing involved, so if it's raining go back to your chosen sleep spot/fire and wait until the next night.

Begin by traveling to the Dow Na'eh Shrine. From there, where you want to go is a little ledge on the Lanayru bluff, overlooking the Lanayru Promenade. I've marked the spot with a red arrow.

From where you spawn, directly in front of you is a waterfall. If you took my advice you'll want to jump toward it and swim up it when you hit the water. After you launch into the air you'll glide toward the cliffs on Link's left. If you don't have the Zora Armor there's an opening to the left of the waterfall that you can use instead, jumping out and toward the cliff. However, you're more likely to land in the water and will have further to climb, causing you to spend more time on this than you really need to.

One you're on top of the cliff press on to the east a bit. Your goal is a protruding ledge, just a little past a big tree (again marked in red). Expect to be attacked by Stalkoblins and/or Keese along the way.

Naydra will fly down from the mountain to the east and through the Lanayru Promenade. As always, wait until it gets close enough (when the wind picks up), jump off the ledge, and pick your shot. Avoid the ice orbs as they will freeze you if you're not wearing the Snowquill set.

While Naydra's drops may fall on the cliffs or ruins below where you jumped, be advised that Naydra's drops have an annoying tendency to shoot forward into the ruins to the west of the waterfall where you started.

Necessary Shrine Quest: The Spring of Wisdom

Unfortunately, I did this quest long before I figured out how to hunt the dragons... I basically went from the Great Plateau to Kakariko, from Kakariko to Hateno, and from Hateno to the Spring, but didn't start actively hunting the dragons until I'd completed all 120 Shrines. Short of starting the entire game over and losing my save in the process I can't grab much in the way of screenshots for this section.

Anyway, begin by traveling to Hateno Village, in the Hateno Tower Region. You're looking for a farmer who is tending a field behind the building across from the dye shop.

If you talk to him, he'll tell you about the Spring of Wisdom, which will add the Shrine Quest to your quests list. Note that you can do the quest without him, but Hateno village, or more accurately the nearby Hateno Reseach Lab, is a good starting point for the rest of the trip.

From Hateno, you're going to head northeast (almost due north if you're starting from the lab). It's going to get cold, so make sure you have some armor, meals, or elixers that grant cold resistance, as well as plenty of arrows. Your goal is the Spring of Wisdom, at the top of the mountain the farmer pointed you at. This map should help... don't focus on the cursor, just note Hateno Village and the Research lab at the bottom-right, and the Spring of Wisdom near the top-right.

When you arrive at the Spring, you'll find Naydra coiled on the mountain and covered in Malice (aka corruption junk). What you want to do now is free Naydra by shooting all the orange eyeballs growing on it with an arrow. After you shoot the first eye, though, Naydra is going to get up and take off. Jump off a cliff and glide after it. You can shoot the eyes from the air while you chase it, but eventually Naydra will start flying in circles so don't worry about it getting away.

Once all the eyes are destroyed, you'll be whisked back to the Spring of Wisdom along with Naydra. Shoot Naydra again. A scale will come off and Naydra will fly away (allowing you to hunt it later). Pick up the scale, then drop it on the spot in front of the Goddess Statue in the Spring to reveal the Jitan Sa'mi Shrine. This Shrine is one of those "getting here was enough trial" Shrines, so all you gotta do is grab your treasure and talk to the monk-mummy to complete the Shrine and the quest.

Outro

About this guide

This guide was written on March 29th, 2017 and last edited on April 1st, 2017. Copyright mikeszekely 2017. Do not copy or link to this guide without permission. So far, only GameFAQs.com and Neoseekers.com have permission, so if you see it somewhere else let me know.

All screenshots were taken by me using the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda; Breath of the Wild, the characters therein, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii U are registered trademarks of Nintendo.

I've been using Gamefaqs for what seems like forever, but I'd never written a FAQ before. I wrote this guide because I played until near the end of the game without getting a single dragon drop (minus the scales needed for the Shrine quests). It took a lot of trial and error to figure out where the dragons spawn and where they go and when I'd looked on the net for help but what I found at that time was unhelpful and often conflicting. When I found these spots that I could get to quickly and have the dragons show up consistently I started taking screenshots, figuring that I'd write something up for my dad (who is also playing) before deciding to share with the wider gaming community.

About the Author

This guide was written by me, mikeszekely. I'm long-time gamer (my first Zelda was the original one on the NES, which I got when it was brand new), and I've been using Gamefaqs since dial up. This is the first FAQ I've written, though.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about this guide, send an email to mikejszekely at gmail dotcom. Be sure to include your gamefaqs username so I can give you credit if I update this FAQ with new info or corrections you provide.

And yeah, I know, 33.99% But after 150 hours I've upgraded all my armors, done all the Shrines, found all Link's memories, completed all the Divine Beasts, did every side quest I could find, and gave Ganon a walloping. What's left? Finding all 900 Koroks and filling the Hyrule Compendium just seems like busy work.