Tears of the Kingdom contains four Great Fairies, just as its predecessor Breath of the Wild did. These massive fairies have special magic that can enhance a large majority of Link’s equipment. Great Fairies could be unlocked in Breath of the Wild by paying rupees, and then trading in material for upgrades. Material is still required for upgrades in Tears of the Kingdom, but now players must unlock the Great Fairies by fulfilling their requests. All four want to hear music from a specific instrument.
Link is known to have many instruments throughout The Legend of Zelda series, but does not have access to any within Tears of the Kingdom. Instead, you must help a band of NPCs reach the Great Fairy Fountains. There is one specific fountain you must unlock first, but the other three can be done in any order. You will be able to upgrade equipment one tier per Great Fairy unlocked. This is one of the lengthiest side adventures in the game since it requires completing a few other side quests along the way, but the rewards are very much worth the time investment.
Here is every step you’ll need to take in order to unlock all Great Fairies in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Looking for more Tears of the Kingdom guides?
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- Tears of the Kingdom | Phantom Ganon Guide
How to Start the Great Fairy Quest and Become a Reporter
The first requirement for unlocking the Great Fairy Fountains is to become a reporter. Talking to Penn in Lookout Landing will give you a hint for how to do so. You must head towards the Lucky Clover Gazette near Rito Village in the Hera region. It is the only town in the north-west segment of the map. Following Lookout Landing’s west road will take you to this destination.
Lucky Clover Gazette’s location on the map.
Speak to Penn and Traysi in the Lucky Clover Gazette to join their news reporting team. Penn will fly away soon after, but he will show up again whenever you find something newsworthy. Nearly every horse stable in the game has one news related side quest, and one of them relates to reaching a Great Fairy Fountain. While you could hypothetically start the side quest now, you wouldn’t get far without a horse and the towing harness.
Taming a Horse Tips
- Your Breath of the Wild horses can be transferred into Tears of the Kingdom if you played both games on the same profile. This only applies to horses from Breath of the Wild’s main mode. Challenge mode horses will not carry over.
- Horses like to spawn in large open fields.
- Wild horses will run away from you if they see you.
- Sneak up to a horse with the crouch button. Alternatively, you can glide down onto a horse from the air.
- Continue to press the L button until the horse is soothed.
- Take the horse to a stable and register it at the counter.
A blue maned horse.
Unlocking the Horse Towing Harness
You must turn in three pony points to get the horse towing harness from a stable NPC. Registering a new horse will give you one point, and you can get one pony point per stable you visit by talking to the NPC behind their respective desks. This means that the easiest method to get three points is to visit two stables and register one horse, but any combination will do. Talk to the stable owner NPC from the side desk on the inside of the building to receive the towing harness.
Serenade to a Great Fairy
Now that you’ve become a new reporter, head to Woodland Stable to the north-east of Hyrule Castle. Here you’ll find a group of musician NPCs. They’re a band called the Stable Trotters, and talking to them will result in Penn flying over to your location, and activating the Serenade to a Great Fairy side quest. The musicians will tell you they need to reach the nearby Great Fairy Fountain, but can’t due to their wagon being broken.
Woodland Stable map location.
This wagon is called the Breezer. Use the Ultra Hand ability to attach new wheels, and then sit the Breezer upright. This is where the horse towing harness comes in. You must attach the front of the Breezer to your horse’s harness, that way you can help transport the musicians. Talk to the Stable Trotter NPCs again, and agree to take them to the Great Fairy Fountain.
Finding the First Great Fairy Fountain
All Great Fairy Fountains emits a purple gas that makes them easy to find from a short distance away, and there’s only one within the Woodland Stable’s view. If you’re unable to see the gas, try heading along the west road, and then heading north at the first turn. You’re essentially heading in the direction of the Lost Woods. There will be another road split, and this time you should head left.
Great Fairy Fountain near Woodland Stable.
The musicians will get out of the wagon to play a song for the Great Fairy once you arrive. Great Fairy Tera will come out of her fountain after hearing the music, and will then present Link the ability to upgrade most of his equipment one tier in exchange for trading her materials. There are only a few armor sets which can’t be enhanced at all. One such set of gear is the Dark Link armor.
Penn and musicians at the Great Fairy Fountain.
Other Great Fairy Fountain Locations
Tera is only the first of four Great Fairies in the world of Hyrule. There are three others which can be discovered in any order. Unlocking them requires finding musicians in nearby stables, and then once again helping them reach the Great Fairy Fountains. The Breezer will need to be enhanced each time to help it overcome various geographic conditions. This includes; traversing snow, a steep cliff, and crossing a river. All of the Great Fairies are on the surface, so you can ignore the chasm and sky islands for the entirety of this questline.
Finding Great Fairy Mija’s Fountain
Mija’s Great Fairy Fountain is located on a hill in the Tabantha Tundra. There’s a good chance you stumbled across it or the Snowfield Stable on your way to the Lucky Clover Gazette earlier. If not, then start at the Lucky Clover Gazette. Take the long north-eastern road until you reach a stable. Mastro’s music troupe can be found practicing near this stable, and talking to them will reveal that their horn player is missing. If you already found their horn player then talking to them will activate the Serenade to Mija side quest.
Mija’s Great Fairy Fountain location.
How to Find the Hornist
The hornist named Eustus is trapped in a hole within the Tabantha Frontier. The hole’s location is between Nero Hill, Piper Ridge, and Rayne Highland. These three locations are south of Rito Village. It’s almost exactly at the road’s large curve. There will be a lot of smoke coming from within, so it will be very hard to miss. Talking to Eustus inside the hole will initiate the Hornist’s Dramatic Escape side quest.
Eustus the hornist.
The Hornist’s Great Escape
There are numerous ways to help the hornist escape this pit. One method is to use the nearby hot air balloons to raise him out. Another way is to build a ramp, and then lifting him out with Ultra Hand. Regardless of what method you use, the main objective is to move Eustus and his cart onto land outside of the hole. Accomplishing this in any way will complete the hornist’s escape. Eustus will give you some Courser Bee Honey for helping him. This reward is actually quite useful for a different Great Fairy side quest, so you should save it for later. Freeing him also means you are now one step closer to unlocking another Great Fairy Fountain.
Transporting the Musicians to Mija’s Great Fairy Fountain
The Breezer at Snowfield Stable will need one additional feature to help the NPCs stay warm in this harsh snowy environment. The nearby supply of wood will suffice is allowing the player to build a roof for the wagon. Use Ultra Hand to attach the wood to the wagon in a way that the NPCs will be protected from falling snow. The path to Mija is quite straightforward, but there is a group of Bokoblins on horseback that will get in your way, Taking a slightly longer route around these enemies is the safest method, but you could try running past them quickly. Fighting them head-on is a bit difficult while trying to transport NPCs on a cart, so it’s best to just ignore them during this segment.
Great Fairy Mija.
Finding Great Fairy Kaysa’s Fountain
Kaysa and the Outskirt Stable can be found near the south-west corner of Hyrule Field. They are directly west of the surface coliseum and north of the Great Plateau. Mastro’s music troupe can once again be found here, but there’s one additional issue this time around. Their flute player went missing. This is problematic since Great Fairy Kaysa will only come out of her fountain if she hears a flute. You will need to find and bring back an NPC named Pyper.
Kaysa’s Great Fairy Fountain location.
Where to Find the Flute Player
Mastro will ask Link to find Pyper at the Highland Stable. This stable is south of Lake Hylia and the Faron Woods. NPCs in the area will hint that a young flute player is somewhere on the north side of the stable. You can hear his flute if you head there, but he seems to be just out of sight. Pyper is actually standing on top of the thick tree. Climb up the tree and speak to him to start a side quest called The Flute Player’s Plan.
The Flute Player’s Plan
Pyper wants Link to collect Sunset Fireflies for him. These bugs will only spawn at night, but are thankfully not that rare to come across. They usually spawn in the woods and near small ponds. Alternatively, the NPC named Beedle will sell a few at the Highland Stable. He won’t sell enough for you to complete the quest, so you will have to go out and collect a few for yourself. That is of course assuming you don’t want to wait for a Blood Moon, which is when he restocks all his items.
Giving Pyper the Sunset Fireflies is merely half this side quest’s objective. Pyper also wants you to bring his friend to the tree he was hiding in during the night. This friend is a young girl named Haite. She is usually outside during the day, but you can’t tell her to go to the tree until sundown. She is likely to run into the stable at night. You can then convince her to follow you to the nearby tree. the only exception is if it’s raining since she will refuse to walk outside in the rain. The side quest will end once you take her to the tree. You can then continue Serenade to Kaysa by heading back to Outskirt Stable.
Pyper on a glowing tree.
Transporting the Musicians to Kaysa’s Great Fairy Fountain
The Breezer is going to need even heftier wheels this time around since it needs to go up a rocky hill. Nearby is a piece of metal with three Zonai wheels attached, and a fourth wheel which can be glued to the piece of metal via the Ultra Hand ability. Attach the Breezer to the piece of metal once all for wheels are on it, and then attach the whole contraption to your horse’s towing harness. Take your time carrying the NPCs up the rocky incline since they will get angry each time the wagon tips over too far.
Finding Great Fairy Cotera’s Fountain
Cotera can be found south of Dueling Peaks Stable. As its name implies, this stable is right next to the massive split mountain known as Dueling Peaks. There is a shrine on the mountainside that can make quick traveling here easy, but if you don’t have it then try traveling south of Kakariko Village. The Stable Trotters will reveal that they’re missing yet another member of their band. This time it’s their drummer named Beetz.
Cotera’s Great Fairy Fountain location.
Where to Find the Drummer
Head to the road between Kakariko Village and the Dueling Peaks Stable. Follow it north of the bridge until you come across a small cliffside next to the waterfall. Some players may recognize this as the location where Hetsu was in Breath of the Wild. A drumming sound can be heard once you get close to this area. Talking to Beetz here will activate the Honey Bee Mine side quest. If you’ve followed this guide in order, then this side quest can be completed instantly.
Honey Bee Mine
Beetz wants you to give him three Courser Bee Honey. Eustus the drummer gave you three for saving him, so if you saved that honey then this side quest is already over. If not, then you must find more. Beetz hints that there is Courser Bee Honey in the woods up north near Kakariko Village and the East Hill Chasm. Courser Bee Honey can also spawn in many other foresty areas. Just keep an eye out for any bee nests. Grabbing their nest will make them want to attack you, but Link can run fast enough to get away in time.
Transporting the Musicians to Cotera’s Great Fairy Fountain
There used to be a bridge that could take you from the stable to where the Great Fairy is, but a bunch of rocks from the Sky Islands collided with the bridge when falling. Thankfully, the broken bridge is now a safe haven for Zonai part collectors. Grab some wood, a few Zonai fans, the sail, the Zonai control device, and prepare to turn the Breezer into a boat with them. Other Zonai devices can also be beneficial to add, but are not necessary to get across the river.
Great fairy Cotera.
You won’t actually need your horse for this specific Great fairy Fountain since Serenade to Cotera is a side quest that only involves water travel. Steering the Breezer to the peninsula where Cotera is should be enough for the NPCs to be satisfied, but you can also use Ultra Hand to bring it a little more inland if need be. Just make sure not to tip the carriage over in the process since the NPCs will make you restart your journey across the river.
Upgrading Equipment
Upgrading armor at a Great Fairy Fountain is as simple as talking to any of the Great Fairies you’ve already unlocked. Most early upgrades will only require some easy to come by materials, but they will progressively require more rare items. Upgrading all armor in a set to the two-star tier will often give that armor set a new ability. The ability you gain for wearing the full two-star Snowquil set is becoming incapable of freezing. Not all armor have hidden traits, but it’s still a good idea to upgrade them for additional defense.
Collecting Material Tips
- Monster parts such as Keese Wings, Bokoblin Horns, Horriblin Guts, and Lizalfos Tails will drop from their respective enemy types.
- Frogs, crickets, and lizards usually hide in grass, under rocks, near water, or on cave walls. A few lizards are exclusive to the Eldin region.
- Fruits, mushrooms, flowers, and courser bee honey usually grow in areas with a lot of trees. The only exceptions are some of the fruit like the Hydromelon which likes to grow in the Gerudo Desert.
- Rubies, sapphires, and diamonds can be found within ores all across Hyrule. Make sure to break them whenever you can.
- Star Fragments are one of the hardest items to find. Head towards a glowing light if you see one fall from the night sky.
