Technically, the first hot air balloon in the game is found at Fort Watch, and that may have even been what made you think about looking for one in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. The Hylian Explorers’ balloon is never going to take off, but there’s nothing stopping you from tinkering with your own hot air balloon, with the proper artifacts. There’s also another hot air balloon in the game, which can be repaired by completing a series of quests. You can check them out in the guide below, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Where to find the hot air balloon?
See you at Northwest of the continent, in the Hyrule Hills region. Activate the Mount Labulat Reconnaissance Tower located there, in order to reach the skies. You must then head towards the main island of theTabanta East Celestial Archipelagoas shown on the map below.
Depending on which island you land on, you can choose to descend to the island below by taking on the island’s Test of Courage, which requires you to pass through green rings while free-falling.
Around the finish line are a Sanctuary, activated by successfully completing the test, as well as a Soneaus Artifact Distributorproviding a lot of useful information, including the famous Hot air balloon artifact. Plan on having plenty of Energy Cores to make the exchange.
You also have a dispenser on one of the idols, only reached after completing the Piaf Village main story questline.
How to build the hot air balloon?
There are probably an infinite number of ways to build vehicles in this game, and that goes for the Hot Air Balloon as well. You can try to improvise a giant pseudo-zeppelin, or a minimalist Hot Air Balloon. In any case, you need at least one more artifact before you can start flying: at least one flamethrower. You must place it vertically in the firebox located under the hot air balloon, so that when lit, the flame passes through the opening, and heats the air inside, as in the real world.
You can obtain this artifact from quite a few Capsule Vending Machines, including the very first one in the game, found on the Sky Island in the Prelude.
For the rest, you just have to let your imagination run wild. It might be wise to attach several hot air balloons to your vehicle, not to mention a means of propulsion, such as a turbine or two at least. All of this will consume quite a bit of energy, so plan for extra batteries too.
