Finding Riju and Gerudo Town in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the first step toward getting to the Lightning Temple in Gerudo Desert. You can find this area in the Southwest region of the Hyrule map. Follow the objective marker for Regional Phenomena that is in the Southwest corner of the map.
It will be tricky to get to, so we recommend bringing some heat-resistant food and equipment before you start your journey into the harsh desert.
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How to Start Riju of Gerudo Town In Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
You can start the Riju of Gerudo Town quest by, naturally, making your way to Gerudo Town. Once you’ve arrived you’ll see a ghost town that has been attacked by Gibdos. Head over to the objective marker to discover you aren’t allowed in the Gerudo hideout.
Walk around the town until you run into a child Gerudo. Following this NPC will lead you to the secret entrance to the now-underground Gerudo Town. If you don’t want to do that, just look inside buildings for suspicious rocks that are covering up entrances. Once you’re in the underground area, a cutscene will play and the quest will start. Now to find Riju.
Reaching the North Ruins
Head to your new objective marker in the ruins to the north of Gerudo Town. As you reach the ruins, you’ll begin hearing lightning strikes, but don’t worry. That’s not a storm, it’s Riju. Run towards the lightning until you see the Vai practicing her signature move, which she will consequently teach to you right now.
Next, you will be called to defend Kara Kara Bazaar.
Defend Kara Kara Bazaar
You should have discovered this outpost on the way to Gerudo Town. Fast travel back to the Mayatat Shrine and a cutscene will play. You will now have to defend the bazaar using your arrows in conjunction with Riju’s Lightning ability.
At the end of this encounter, you will be directed to a Gibdo Hive that looks like a giant mushroom with a glowing weak point. To destroy these hives, I found that shooting a bomb arrow at the glowing purple weak point took them down in one hit.
Defend Gerudo Town
You will be called back to Gerudo Town to defend it from an even bigger Gibdo attack. Speak to Buliaria and she will send you down to the two adjacent courtyards.
First speak to Captain Teake to ensure that her forces are set up at one of the three entrances. Since there are three groups of allies, I recommend you spread your forces and place one unit at each entrance. Next go to the opposite courtyard to talk to Padda. More importantly, make sure to grab all the Zonai devices, chests, and weapons you can from this area. Then, tell Padda to put the barricade at the North Gate (we found this positioning most useful).
Once you’ve spoken to Riju to begin the fight, you should immediately head to the East entrance. Here you will find some Gibdos and a hive you must destroy. There is one hive outside each entrance and you must destroy all three. Work counter-clockwise, using Riju’s ability to deal with the Gibdos and bombs arrows on the hives, until all three hives are destroyed. Then, dispose of the remaining Gibdos for the final task of this quest line.
How to Solve the Gerudo Desert Pillar Puzzle In Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Riju will take Link to the mural in the town and give him a riddle to solve. The first line of the riddle says “standing back-to-back with the throne” so go to the Gerudo throne room and look behind it. In the distance you should see three pillars. Now all you have to do is walk straight through the desert and kill any Gibdos in your way to reach the first of pillars.
If you’ve made it to the right structure, you will see a breakable pile of rocks on the ground. Destroy the rocks and a beam of light will shoot up, hitting the mirror at the top.
Now, there is a horizontal ray of light shooting across the sky. Follow it to reach the next pillar. Use the tornadoes that adorn the desert to give yourself a boost up above the sandstorm in order to actually see where to go.
When you’ve reached the second pillar, look up to If see the mirror you need to use… only its flipped upside down. What you need to do head over to a nearby rock column, located at (-4599, -3275, 0046). On top of it there is a wheel you can spin to raise the second pillar. Spin the wheel until you get a cutscene and the mirror will reflect the light toward the next pillar.
Use the tornadoes to reach the third pillar. At the top there is a wheel that you cannot spin. There is an intended way to do this but the easiest way I found was to just drop any item and attach it to the wheel. From there, you can just use Ultrahand to grab onto the attached object and getting the wheel spinning. Turn it clockwise to line up the final light beam, creating a triangle formation.
Once you’ve completed the light triangle head to the center to finally enter the Lightning Temple. Prepare yourself!
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