It costs around 2000 Rupees to buy a set of armor in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, which will literally take you dozens of hours of play if you don’t know where to look. There are several methods to earn Rupees, but few are as quick as killing a boss from Zelda Breath of the Wild, which returns in this sequel: the rare Lithorok. It’s considered rare, since the ore vein on its back is rare, and it has an exponentially higher chance of dropping valuable gems than a Lithorok with a normal vein. That’s also what the camera says, when you take the time to catalog it.
Where to find the Ruby farming boss?
This boss is hidden in Gerudo Canyon, deep in a cave. You can reach it very easily if you have unlocked the Gerudo Canyon Reconnaissance Tower. Then simply jump in Paraglider in the indicated direction, to arrive directly at the location. Once the fast travel point is unlocked, getting there takes about a minute. The Taafei Heights Cave is easy to spot, as it is from her that the river, just above the big waterfall.
Strategy
The rare Lithorok is a boss that can be extremely easy when everything goes well and you have a good weapon, or extremely frustrating if you fall and he does the painful combos.
The principle of the fight is simple, you have to inflict damage on the ore vein positioned on its back, you can do this by climbing the boss, then attacking the vein in close combat, or from afar, with arrows. Both approaches have their merits and drawbacks.
Body to body
You can start the fight right on the boss’s back, which gives you a golden opportunity to deal tons of damage to the vein. If you fall, or the boss ends up throwing you, which deals minor damage, you’ll then have to climb back up one way or another. Climbing the boss is generally not too difficult, at least when he’s not moving too much. Don’t try to climb the boss from the front, or he’ll slam his head into the ground, killing you. The advantage of this technique is that you can really kill the boss quickly if you have a powerful two-handed blunt weapon that you charge. Once you’re on the boss, there’s not much to worry about either. You just have to be very careful between climbing phases, if he pulls his arms out, or slams his head in, it can kill you right before you have enough hearts. Try to sidestep him and then sprint behind him.
From a distance
An alternative is to shoot arrows at the vein. But basic arrows do little damage, so you have to combine them with Amalgam. The best choice is probably the Explosive fruitwhich will inflict extreme damage. There are also some that grow on the walls of the cave. The drawback of this method is obviously the risk of getting thrown arms in the face, so you have to position yourself far away, and be ready to sprint or dodge.
Profitability and farming
The boss loot is pretty random, like with the veins. Sometimes you’ll only get Raw Amber and Opals, but you’ll regularly find Topaz, Sapphire and Rubies, or even Diamonds if you’re really lucky. On the test shown in the video, we were pretty lucky, and we got about 800 Jewel Rubies in total. You won’t necessarily be as lucky every time, but it’s still worth it, if you have some decent weapons in reserve. The boss also drops his heart, which can be used with Amalgam to create a powerful weapon. It’s best to use it on a two-handed weapon, such as a Great Solid Club, which will help you kill him next time. The cave contains respawning Explosive Fruits, which makes the area quite interesting.
Coming to the point of killing him multiple times, as you will have understood, the Bosses respawn, like all other monsters, during the Blood Moon. Whenever this event occurs, with the corresponding cutscene, remember to come back and say “hello” to this boss, in order to stock up on gems.
