The Lightning Temple is one of five main dungeons that are a part of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s main storyline. All of them relate to one of Hyrule’s many races. The Lightning Temple corresponds to the Gerudo tribe in the desert region. It is an ancient pyramid that is hidden beneath the sand. Unlocking its secrets is necessary for any brave hero that wants to free the Gerado from Ganondorf’s evil monstrosities.
Completing the Lighting Temple will also help advance the Riju of Gerudo Town main storyline, give Link an additional heart container, allow Gerudo merchants to sell more items, and give players permanent access to Riju’s lightning attack. This makes it one of the most important questlines within TotK.
Here’s a walkthrough of everything you’ll need to find and complete the Lightning Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
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Traveling Through Gerudo Desert
Reaching the Lightning Temple, as well as multiple other necessary locations, will require crossing one of the harshest environments in all of Hyrule. Gerudo Desert is located in the far south-west corner of the map, but prepare to face fluctuating temperatures before beginning your journey. Players will have to deal with both scorching heat during the day and freezing cold temperature at night.
Avoiding Intense Heat
You’re unlikely to find heat resistant armor before reaching Gerudo Town. Note that the Flamebreaker armor set only protects from fire, rather than heat specifically. The easiest way to avoid heat is to stay in shadows. If the shadows cast by mountains aren’t enough, then try creating your own protection. Carrying a large object such as a crate or Tears of the Kingdom’s brand-new Zonai Wing device above Link can save him from the sun’s harsh rays.
Shadow cast by overhead Zonai Wing.
Freezing Cold Resistance
Cold temperatures hurt Link just as much as heat can. Luckily, there are multiple ways of overcoming this problem. Creating fire or wearing cold resistant armor are the two most effective methods of getting through the desert in this condition. The Archaic Warm Greaves can be found on the Great Sky Island, and the Snowquil tunic can be bought at Lookout Landing. Both offer enough cold resistance to get you through Gerudo Desert. Alternatively, the full Snowquil armor set is available in Rito Village.
Snowquil armor set.
How to find Gerudo Town in the Sandstorm
It would normally be helpful to unlock the region’s Skyview Tower beforehand, but unfortunately the sandstorm that covers the region will cut off your map’s signal. Still, it can be helpful to unlock in the long run. If you wish to fill in your map before exploring the region, then you can find the tower at the coordinates -2434 -2180 0307.
This region is home to undead enemies called Gibdos. Gibdos were not in Breath of the Wild, but have appeared in past series installments. They have extremely high physically defense in Zelda TotK, and will resist most standard attacks. They are only weak to elemental attacks, so you’ll want to avoid most of them until Riju accompanies you.
A group of Gibdo enemies.
Following the region’s single road will take you to Kara Kara Bazaar. Gerudo Town is further along the road at the coordinates -3816 -2894 0044, but the sandstorm can potentially make it difficult to see where you’re going. Gust of wind scattered around the sandstorm can lift you high enough into the air for you to gain a more clear vision. Use theses gusts of wind to help you figure out what direction you need to go if you’re feeling lost.
Finding Riju and Starting Riju of Gerudo Town Main Quest
The Gibdos have forced the Gerudos to seek shelter underneath Riju’s palace. Talking to them will activate the start of the questline to find Riju. She is at the North Gerudo Ruins, which can be reached by simply running directly north of Gerudo Town’s main entrance. Talking to Riju at the northern portion of the ruins will initiate a combat tutorial. She will create a lightning circle. Any arrow you shoot within this circle will cause lightning to strike nearby enemies.
Riju the chief of the Gerudo.
Travel to Kara Kara Bazaar after Riju’s quick combat tutorial. Once there, you will be tasked with defeating a group of Gibdos. You can use elemental weapons to speed up this battle, but Riju’s lightning and arrows are sufficient. That is, however, not the final confrontation you will have with the undead army. You will need to face another Gibdo onslaught at Gerudo Town.
Defending Gerudo Town from Gibdos
During the Gibdos invasion, enemies will continuously spawn near all three Gerudo Town entrances. Your two objectives here are to protect Riju and wipe out all foes. Riju will continue to charge up an expanding lightning circle. Firing an arrow that lands within this circle will spawn lightning that is strong enough to kill all enemies and spawners in the nearby area.
Take out the large purple pod on the giant mushrooms near each of Gerudo Town’s entrances as soon as possible to avoid being overrun with enemies. These Gibdo hives will overwhelm you if you wait too long. You’ll succeed once all three spawners and all enemies have been defeated. Try using elemental weapons if Riju’s lightning doesn’t charge fast enough for you.
Gibdo pod.
Unite the Pillars in Light to Reveal the Lightning Stone
Unlike a few of the other dungeons in Tears of the Kingdom, the Lightning Temple can’t be found on the map prior to activating a specific device. The only hint the game provides is a riddle telling you to look for red pillar behind Riju’s throne. The key to unlocking the temple’s location is to make a triangle of light between three pillars. Destroy a glowing rock at the closest pillar to create the first ray of light.
Follow that light to find a second pillar in the distance. There’s a small turning device on the west side of this tower. Turn it until the first ray of light bounces off the mirror at the top of the second pillar. The new beam of light will point you in the direction of the third pillar.
Three pillars connected by light.
This final pillar has a rotation device at the top which must be turned, but it lacks handles. You can make your own handle by attaching objects via the Ultra Hand ability. There are some pieces of wood in the lower level of the pillar if necessary. The final ray of light will trigger a cutscene that spawns the Lightning Stone. Striking the Lightning Stone will cause the Lightning Temple to rise out of the ground.
Entering the Lightning Temple
The entrance to the Lightning Temple is covered in purple Gibdo pods. Talk to Riju to have her create a lightning circle, and then shoot the pods to uncover what lies underneath. You will have to briefly fight the dungeon’s boss before even entering the temple, but this fight is as easy as hitting the Gibdo Queen with lightning a few times. Just be careful of her deadly tornado attack.
Queen Gibdo.
There’s a door in the inside that can’t be opened unless you find a switch hidden underneath a pile of sand. The room provides a Korok-Frond Guster that can eradicate sand piles, but any wind based weapon you have will work equally as well. You start this temple in the northeast corner, and your objective is to go around the basement’s passage until you reach the central chamber.
Lightning Temple Basement
The first part of the basement floor is a straight line, but there are a few optional awards. These include; a treasure chest containing a Large Zonai Charge in the pit bellow the second bridge, a Royal Claymore in the small room at the first corner, and a Gerudo Scimitar at the bottom of the collapsing floor room. The room at the corner is hidden behind a few loose stone slab bricks. Remember to use Riju’s ightning to defeat Gibdos in this area.
The first real obstacle is a hallway filled with flamethrowers. Riju can’t make it past them, but you can with precise timing. Alternatively, you can place objects in front of the flamethrowers to make getting past them easier. You will need to hit the button in the next room for Riju to run past regardless of the method you use to get past the fire.
The next challenge is getting past a rolling fireball. Both the Ultra Hand and Recall abilities can be used to push the ball back. Hitting the switch at the end will once again allow Riju to catch up to you. The basement’s last puzzle is a room where you need to bounce light off a mirror onto a green light above a doorway. Be careful of Gibdos and Construct enemies along the way.
A mirror reflecting light.
1st Battery
Activating the Zonai device in the center of the Lightning Temple’s main room will allow you to teleport here at any time. This section of the dungeon contains a stairway that leads to multiple chambers. There are four batteries spread across these rooms which you will have to activate.
The first of which can be seen instantly, but the passageway is seemingly blocked. To the right is a wall with stones that can be moved by the Ultra Hand ability. Head inside the room through this passage, and then strike the battery with lightning to activate it.
First battery behind a doorway.
2nd Battery
You can access the room on the second floor, however, the door to the battery is blocked off. The way to get inside is to actually move a rock near the start of the staircase on the first floor. This will reveal a gust of wind that you can use to glide up on to the fifth floor. Enter the room on 5F, and look for a mirror hidden behind a wall. Place the mirror on a block like a pedestal in the middle of the room, and aim the light into the main chamber.
The main chamber has four statues that hold mirrors. Push the statue closest to the room emitting light out of the way so that the light can travel to the statue on the opposite side. You’ll want the light beam to bounce off the north-east statue to the north-west statue, and then up to a light detector on the sixth floor. A quick cutscene will play once done correctly.
Light reflecting off mirrors.
Use Ascend or climb your way up to 6F. Follow the new hallway to a pit filled with flamethrowers. Carefully glide down the flamethrower pit to find yourself inside the room you could not previously access on 2F. Hit a switch to allow Riju to catch up to you, and then strike the battery with her electricity.
3rd Battery
Unlocking the door in the third floor is done in a similar way to gaining access to the second floor’s room. Head back up to 5F, and rearrange the statues to direct the light down to the 3F. This can be done by having the light bounce off the south-west statue to the south-east statue, and then down to the light detector on the third floor.
The room on 3F contains four Construct enemies, and a puzzle that must be completed to proceed. Your goal is to bounce the light that is emanating from the ground to a detector near the top of the room. This can be done multiple ways. The three most common solutions are to either lift a mirror up via hot air balloon, build a tall tower with the mirror at the top, or to place the mirror on a floating platform that you can move upwards with Ultra Hand.
Mirror attached to hot air balloon.
4th Battery
Ride the gust of wind in the main chamber up to the top, and then look at the opposite corner of the room. Down on the fourth floor is a little torch. This torch marks the entrance to room with two spinning wheels. Use Recall to make these wheels line up with each other. The next step is to use Ultra Hand on some stones that block light in this room. The light will travel through the whole on both spinning wheels to a light detector on the main chamber. You will then face a few rooms with spike traps. Ultra Hand can be used to move block slabs between the spike traps. This will prevent them from closing all the way, and allow you safe passage across hallways.
Rock blocking a spike trap.
The furthest room from the main chamber contains another pillar of light emitting from the ground. Reflect this light onto a detector at the lowest part of the chamber, and then travel back up to direct the light towards a detector on the previous room. This will grant you access to the final battery.
Lightning Temple Boss: Queen Gibdo Fight
Once all four batteries have been struck, the Zonai device on 1F will gain enough energy to carry Link and Riju up to the top floor. Make sure you have enough arrows in your inventory, and them witness a cutscene by activating the elevator. At the top you’ll face the Gibdo Queen once again, but this time she has a lot more health. Her first phase is entirely the same as when you fought her at the dungeon’s entrance.
Queen Gibdo returns.
She will start to summon a horde of Gibdos to aid her in battle once her health is low. Defeating them isn’t necessary to win the boss fight, but does make it easier to hit your main target. Queen Gibdo will also gain access to a few new attacks during this phase. Keep hitting her with lightning until you successfully defeat her. All that’s left is to claim your rewards for clearing the Lightning Temple. You’ll receive a Heart Containing, a sage Tear, and Riju’s sage essence.
Amit
there is a typo under unite the pillars of light. it says riju’a
Day Young
Thanks for the catch! It has been fixed.