Gamers are going to have to go through a lot to clear Zakusu Shrine in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This shrine is hidden on the map, as players will need to complete a shrine quest just to get access to it. Between the side quest and the shrine itself, though, this mini adventure is quite a bit of fun.
How to open Zakusu Shrine (Proving Grounds: Ascension) in Zelda Totk (Tears of the Kingdom)
In order to get to Zakusu Shrine in Tears of the Kingdom, players are first going to need to finish The High Spring and the Light Rings side quest. This mission is given out by Nazbi, an NPC camping outside of the Spring of Wisdom (coordinates: 3962, -1356, 0464).
Players can get to the Spring of Wisdom easily by warping to the Mount Lanayru Skyview Tower on the east of Hyrule and then walking to the right to find the Spring.
How to clear The High Spring and the Light Rings side quest in Zelda Totk (Tears of the Kingdom)
Nazbi give Link a clue that references a journey from the heavens to a mountain below. This hints that Link should head to the skies. Fortunately, the sky island he needs to reach is right by the Mount Lanayru Skyview Tower. Activate the tower, jump out, and look towards the Necluda Sea; a snowy sky island should be right below (coordinates: 3962, -1540, 1119).
Upon reaching this sky island, activate the Zonai emblem to begin this side game.
A green circle will appear at the foot of the sky island. Link's goal here is to jump through the circle, land on Mount Lanayru, and shield surf down the mountain while going through the consecutive rings placed before him.
The toughest part of this mission is sticking the landing. I made the mistake of gliding down with the paraglider when I got close to the first ring on the ground. The paraglider slows Link down way too much, and there isn't a lot of time for Link to reach that first ring on the ground.
I found success by just diving straight down and then shield surfing immediately once I hit the ground. Once on the ground, though, players really need to get a move on. At least three times I had the ring disappear on me because I was too slow getting to it. It's also a good idea to put the volume on for this section to hear the ticking countdown that occurs between rings.
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Once Link has started the shield surf, he will need reach every ring down the mountain to unlock the shrine. It's a short trip to Zakusu Shrine, but there are a couple of tight turns Link will need to make. When Link finishes this side quest, the opening to the shrine will reveal itself in the Naydra Snowfield (coordinates: 3527, -1482, 0168).
Solution for Zakusu Shrine (Proving Grounds: Ascension) in Zelda Totk (Tears of the Kingdom)
As for beating the shrine itself, Zakusu Shrine is another Proving Grounds shrine, which means Link is going to lose all of his equipment. There will also be a group of Zonai Constructs that Link needs to defeat to clear the shrine.
There are a couple of ways of going about this shrine, but the game suggests that Link takes out the Zonai Construct in front and then use Ascend to get to the higher levels. The opening of the shrine has a blocked area with several beams, but Link can crouch under these.
This allows him to get inside and use Ascend to kill the first Construct.
Alternatively, Link can always shoot that Construct down with a Bow. This might be a safer method, since Link can shoot this Construct from behind a pillar. The arrow fire from the other Zonai Constructs can get very annoying, so it's smart for players to use cover here.
The blocked off area has a couple Rockets for Link to use. Fusing a Rocket to an arrow will make a very powerful projectile. Fusing a Rocket to Link's shield can also let him reach higher levels of this shrine without needing to use Ascend.
The overhang from that area will lead to the next Zonai Construct. There are also some weird moving platforms here that move way too fast for Link to use. The best way to reach that Construct is to use Recall on one of the platforms and ride it up to the Construct to get the kill.
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There is one other area after this Construct that has enemies for Link to face; in fact, they are guarding the final room. Take care of the smaller archers first, since they should be easy kills. The middle Zonai Construct has a higher level, and therefore will be tougher to kill.
For an easy kill on this Zonai Construct, Link can simply use gravity. The Zonai Construct is right by a cliff, so whack it in that direction so that it falls down. The fall will deal tons of damage, hopefully leaving it in range for Link to kill with a couple of hits.
Also, as with all of these Proving Ground shrines, make sure to always be fusing weapons. The weapons that Link can grab are really weak, so it's vital to fuse strong monster parts with them to improve their damage output.
A really quick way to clear this shrine for the bold is to fly up using the air balloon in the back left corner.
The air balloon floats straight up to the large Zonai Construct. It's tough to beat, but afterwards, Link can use their Construct Helmet to make a very powerful weapon.
Want more Zelda Tears of the Kingdom guides? Pro Game Guides has you covered with How to clear Mayaumekis Shrine (Downward Force) in Zelda TotK (Tears of the Kingdom).
Shane Foley is both a huge gamer and a Contributing Writer at Pro Game Guides. He's been gaming ever since the Nintendo 64 came out, and he knows everything there is to know about Pokémon, Fire Emblem, Zelda, and several other Nintendo franchises.