The Depths — Complete Survival Guide

The Depths is a vast underground world directly mirroring the surface of Hyrule — every mountain, valley, and lake above has a corresponding feature below. It's dark, filled with Gloom, and home to the game's most rewarding resources. This guide covers everything you need to navigate it safely.

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What Is the Depths?

The Depths is accessed by jumping into chasms — the glowing red gaps scattered throughout Hyrule's surface. There are approximately 100 chasms across the surface and sky layers.

The Depths mirrors the surface map exactly:

• Hyrule Castle is above Gloom's Origin (the final boss area)
• The four temple regions above correspond to Depths regions below
• Lightroots (your illumination and fast travel points underground) are positioned directly below each surface shrine

Key danger: The ground and some enemies in the Depths are coated in Gloom — a dark purple substance that permanently removes heart containers until healed. Unlike normal damage, Gloom damage cannot be healed with standard food.

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Gloom — How It Works

When you step on Gloom-covered ground or are hit by a Gloom-inflicting enemy:

• Heart containers turn red (Gloom Hearts)
• Red hearts cannot be refilled with normal food, potions, or beds
• You still have full health in your remaining white hearts
• Gloom Hearts restore automatically when you leave the Depths or eat Sundelion-based food

Critical rule: Never let your white hearts run low in the Depths. Your effective health is only your non-red hearts.

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Essential Preparation

Before entering any chasm:

1. Brightbloom Seeds (Large and Small) — Throw these to illuminate large areas. Large Brightbloom Seeds light up a 20-meter radius. Bring 30+ for any serious exploration session.

2. Sundelion Meals — Sundelions grow on sky islands above Hyrule. Cook them with any food item for Gloom-healing meals. 5–10 servings is the minimum; bring more for extended sessions.

3. Depths Armor (Dark Tunic set) — Reduces Gloom damage. Bought with Poes from Bargainer Statues. Upgrade to ★★ minimum for 30% Gloom resistance.

4. Stamina food and elixirs — Climbing in the dark is disorienting. Extra stamina prevents falls.

5. Zonai Devices — A portable light source (beacon) or flame emitter can substitute for some Brightbloom Seeds but burns battery.

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Lighting Strategy

The Depths is completely dark. Your options:

Brightbloom Seeds (best) Throw them ahead of you as you explore. They don't despawn and their light persists until you leave the area. Drop a trail of them like breadcrumbs — it also helps you navigate back.

Lightroots Find and activate Lightroots to permanently illuminate a large area around them. Each Lightroot is named after its corresponding surface shrine (reversed spelling — "Iayusus" is above "Susuyai" shrine). Once activated, they provide fast travel points underground.

Strategy: Activate as many Lightroots as possible on your first pass through an area. On return visits, navigation becomes trivial.

Portable Light Sources

• Fuse a Brightbloom Seed or Bomb Flower to your shield for an ambient glow
• Zonai Flame Emitters on your back provide moving light (but loud — alerts enemies)
• A torch (found commonly) provides basic melee-range light

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Resources in the Depths

Zonaite

The primary currency of the Depths. Used to:

• Upgrade Energy Cell (battery) capacity at Crystal Refineries
• Purchase Zonai Devices from Zonai Dispensers
• Craft at Forge Constructs

Where to find Zonaite:

• Orange ore deposits embedded in walls and floors throughout the Depths
• Drop from Construct enemies (Soldier Constructs, Soldier III Constructs)
• Large Zonaite nodes appear near Zonai ruins and factories

Tip: Bring a weapon Fused with a Heavy Stone or Goron Boulder — smashing multiple ore deposits quickly is more efficient than using individual tools.

Poes

Glowing blue wisps found floating near enemy camps, in ruins, and in glowing clusters. Used to purchase items from Bargainer Statues.

Where to farm Poes:

• Large camps of Gloom Hands drop significant Poes on defeat
• Fixed Poe clusters near Lightroots and Bargainer Statue locations
• Ruins throughout the Depths — especially in the four major factory areas

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Bargainer Statues

Bargainer Statues are large stone figures scattered throughout the Depths. They sell:

| Item | Poe Cost | Effect | |------|----------|--------| | Dark Tunic (head) | 150 Poes | Gloom resistance set piece | | Dark Tunic (body) | 150 Poes | Gloom resistance set piece | | Dark Trousers (legs) | 150 Poes | Gloom resistance set piece | | Depths Armor (full set) | 450 Poes | Full Gloom resistance set | | Poe Fragments | Variable | Exchanged for other goods |

Bargainer Statue locations: There are Bargainer Statues on the surface too (one behind the Lookout Landing basement) — find it early to start Poe banking.

Main Depths Bargainer Statues are located near the center of each quadrant — roughly beneath the four main towns (Rito Village, Goron City, Zora's Domain, Gerudo Town).

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Enemy Types in the Depths

| Enemy | Threat | Notes | |-------|--------|-------| | Gloom Hands | Very High | 5-hand cluster; inflict massive Gloom; defeat all 5 to stop | | Phantom Ganon | High | Spawns after defeating Gloom Hands; powerful melee attacker | | Like Like | Medium | Swallows Link and drains items; stab it from inside | | Construct Soldiers I–IV | Low–Medium | Common; drop Zonaite and construct parts | | Gibdo (skeleton) | Medium | Fire kills instantly; bring fire arrows |

Gloom Hands priority: These are the most dangerous enemy in the Depths. If you encounter them, you have two options:

1. Fight — hit each hand until all 5 are destroyed (defeating them spawns Phantom Ganon)
2. Run — outpace them; they cannot follow indefinitely

Do not let Gloom Hands grab Link — the grab deals enormous Gloom damage and traps you.

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Crystal Refineries — Battery Upgrades

Crystal Refineries are large Zonai machines that convert Crystallized Charges into battery upgrades.

• Small Crystallized Charge — found in chests and on constructs — adds 1/5 of a battery segment
• Large Crystallized Charge — rare; found in Zonai factory chests — adds 1 full segment
• 20 small Charges = 1 full Energy Cell upgrade

Battery upgrades are permanent and increase the total Zonai Device usage time. Maximum capacity is 8 full batteries. Prioritize:

1. First full extra battery (base game starts with 3 segments)
2. Second extra battery (Hoverbike becomes very viable)
3. Continue until 4–5 batteries for full Zonai vehicle builds

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Depths Exploration Tips

Map the mirror. The surface and Depths maps are identical in shape. If you know where something is on the surface, its underground equivalent is directly below. Use this to navigate to specific Lightroots.

Lightroot first. Always prioritize activating Lightroots on the way to any objective. They serve as fast travel points — having them saves enormous backtracking.

Drop markers. Use your Purah Pad's map to drop custom pins on valuable locations — large ore deposits, unexplored cave branches, enemy camps you want to return to.

Full battery before Depths vehicle builds. Hoverbikes and boats work in the Depths but you need enough battery. Farm a second full battery before committing to vehicle-based Depths exploration.

Bring 50+ Brightbloom Seeds. Seriously. Running out of light in the middle of a large area with Gloom enemies is extremely dangerous.

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See also: Battery Upgrades Guide | Dragon Parts Farming | Tips & Strategies