Ancient cores are collectible items in Zelda Breath of The Wild. They’re used to upgrade rune powers, which makes them extremely valuable. Some enemies drop them, but there’s a more reliable way to get them. They can be found in certain chests. In this guide, we’re going to show you Zelda Breath of The Wild ancient core locations, how to upgrade runes with them.

This is a guide to farming Ancient Gears, a material in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW). Learn where to get Ancient Gears, its buy and sell prices, as well as what you can do with it. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Guide & Walkthrough Wiki. For The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch, a GameFAQs message board topic titled 'Best way to get ancient gears?'

Where to find ancient cores in Zelda BoTW

Guardians sometimes drop ancient cores when you kill them. They can be tough to kill, but since you need the cores, it’s better to confront them whenever you find one. Luckily, there are certain locations where you can get cores without having to fight a giant ancient robot.

One such chest is located in the Dah Kaso Shrine in Central Hyrule, west of the Great Plateau region. It’s in the last room of the shrine, where the monk gives you the spirit orb. It’s a battle test, so you’ll have to defeat a special Guardian mini-boss.

Another chest is hidden in the Akh Va’quot Shrine, next to the Rito Village in the Tabantha region. It is located on the island in the middle of lake Totori. As soon as you enter, turn right and go up the stairs. Look across the gap – there’s a platform with a glowing tube there. Shoot the tube, and it will rotate the platform. This will cause the turbine to blow onto the fins on your side, lifting the grate, giving you access to the chest.

How to upgrade runes in Zelda BoTW

In order to use the ancient cores you’ve gathered, you’ll need to find a tech lab. There’s one in Hateno Village, in the Necluda region. Talk to Purrah, the tiny, bespectacled woman standing on a stool. If you haven’t, you’ll first need to complete the quest that ends with you getting the camera. You can also talk to Robbie at the Akkala Ancient Tech lab, if that’s more convenient. You can find it in the northeastern corner of the map, in the Akkala region.

Giant ancient cores are one of the hardest items to obtain in Breath of the Wild, but also pretty essential for acquiring and upgrading important weapons and armour. This post explains one reasonably fool-proof and safe way to farm them. The drop rate of giant ancient cores in this location over time is 1 in 8.
Note: This post is about farming giant ancient cores. You might also like to check out my separate post about farming ancient cores and other Guardian parts.

I’ve found that the flying guardians are the most reliable source of giant ancient cores. The trouble is, some of these enemies are in locations which make them difficult to attack and retrieve the drops. Here’s my solution:

Firstly, make sure you have a 3-shot bow and at least two ancient arrows. This makes the attack easy because three strikes from ancient arrows will kill any over-world guardian. You can use lesser weapons but the attack can quickly become a bit messy 🙂

The attack starts from the site called Ancient Columns which is close to the Tabantha Great Bridge. There is a shrine close to the top of the high ground that you can use to access the location:

What could go wrong? Occasionally there are a few wolves, and further down the slope from the shrine are some Moblins – I tend to avoid these so I can focus on my farming run. But the biggest danger is from the two flying guardians that circle the stone pillars that the road down below winds between. Luckily they move in very predictable paths and watch the road.

In the above screenshot, the red 1 and 2 indicate the two flying guardians circling the stone pillars. To follow my simple method, you need to start your attack from the green circle across the other side of the gap. So go north to the cliff edge then glide (ie following the blue arrow) across the gap to the other side. Don’t worry, the guardians won’t see you even if you glide over their heads:

— Pavlos Fairly (@PavlosFairly) August 31, 2018

Once on the other side, move to the edge and make sure you have your 3-shot bow equipped with ancient arrows. Wait until you see the first guardian turn towards you, then glide out towards the top of the stone pillar. Wait until you’re quite close then aim the arrow for its body in slow-mo time – you need all 3 shots to hit. Once you see it take a fatal hit and begin falling, glide to the top of the stone pillar it was circling:

— Pavlos Fairly (@PavlosFairly) August 31, 2018

From the top of the stone pillar, wait until you see the second guardian coming towards you. Attack this guardian in exactly the same way:

Breath Of The Wild Shrine Map

— Pavlos Fairly (@PavlosFairly) August 31, 2018

Once you have destroyed both guardians, glide down to the road way and collect all your loot – be quick as some of the light items such as ancient screws can roll away if it’s very windy.

I consistently get a 1 in 8 drop rate for giant ancient cores from this location – that is, I get on average 1 giant ancient core every 4 visits.

Breath Of The Wild Farming Ancient Gears Free

Have fun…

A reminder: You might also like to check out my separate post about farming ancient cores and other Guardian parts.