Faron Tower, near the southeast coast of Hyrule, is in a rainy and often electrifying area. Indeed, it’s guarded by an Electric Wizzrobe and swarms of Keese, so it can be daunting. But you’ll want to scale this tower early to reveal the map and better find the luminous stones, hearty durians, and other materials and treasure the area affords. Doing so also opens up the view toward the southern route to Gerudo desert.
There are two possible approaches to scaling Faron Tower. Okay, likely more, but two that we tried.
The first is the peaceable, airborne approach. (See: Climbing Towers the Zelder Way.)
If you have upgraded Climbing gear, you could get yourself to a high cliff nearby and glide over to get a leg up on the climb and possibly avoid the tower’s defenders. Perhaps you’ve marvelously already defeated Divine Beast Vah Medoh and thus have Revali’s Gale to get you in the air. (We were not so marvelous.)
and isn’t particularly good at it.
One could also use Stasis and weapon whacks to move metal slabs around the tower’s base, unleashing air drafts that give Link a lift up with his paraglider; we did move a slab, and it did create a draft, but we didn’t get sufficient lift to warrant the effort. In addition, the Wizzrobe wouldn’t simply let us be while we were whacking the slab. Lastly, Itzal hates Stasis and isn’t particularly good at it.
The other approach is a more conventional one taken by more expert players, in which one simply girds ones loins and climbs the tower from the bottom up without aerial assistance of any kind. Upgraded stamina or temporary stamina wheels are recommended, as there are no resting places in the beginning of the climb. [Editor’s note, July 2022: On a third playthrough, we jumped from the base to the tower and started climbing, more or less ignoring the enemies, and it went without a hitch. Either we were plumb lucky or, despite our best efforts to be unfailingly terrible, we are getting better.]
As previously noted, the tower is guarded by swarms of Keese in addition to the Electric Wizzrobe. A single ordinary Keese with a health point of one – even two or three Keese – is generally of little concern to Link. Keese swarms, on the other hand, are like killer bees and cause our hero considerable distress. Fortunately, striking dead a single Keese can cause the rest to disperse – unlike killer bees.
In any event, it may be rough going unless you take out the Wizzrobe – and to do so, you should either (1) consume an electro-resistant elixir prior to battle or (2) wear some rubber protection, lest you lose your weapons at best or your life at worst.
The Rubber Armor set, like the Climbing gear, is among our most recommended armors. (We realize we sound like a salesperson at Brooks Brothers, Macy’s, or similar.) Whether it’s electric enemies or the elements themselves, Link often finds himself in a state of shock. Wearing all three pieces of Rubber Armor, upgraded twice, permits him to cavort in a thunderstorm without damage. But even a couple of pieces of upgraded armor are helpful.
Rubber Helm
Talk to Cima at Lakeside Stable near Faron Tower. She’s troubled by all the lightening that strikes the stable. That’s your clue to investigate, Link! (To get to the top of the stable, you’ll need to glide down from the cliffs behind.)
When you’ve found the offending culprit, Cima will hand over the Rubber Helm as a token of her appreciation.
Zelder Tip #1: It’s best to divest yourself of anything metal you might be wearing or carrying, once it gets stormy on top of the stable.
Rubber Tights
The Rubber Tights – there’s a joke here, but probably not one for polite company – are also relatively easy to obtain. (We say relatively because the third rubber piece is more exasperating.) Complete the Qukah Nata shrine and open a chest therein for the tights.
Zelder Tip #2: The shrine is located near the Calora Lake, and your first thought might be to scale the cliffs below it. Given the unrelenting rain and thunder in that area, we urge you to discard such thought and instead come around the back way, even if you have to hoof it overland after a paraglide from Hateno Tower. The distance is not as great as it seems, and even without the regional map extracted, this strategy may prove quicker than trying and failing over and over to scale the cliffs.
As long as you’re in the area, Demelza helpfully suggests fishing for Hearty Bass in the upper and lower Calora Lakes. (“Eye on the prize!” Itzal will snap, to which Demelza will retort, “Who went swimming in the lake when you wanted your Zora gear upgraded? You think these fish fall from the sky?”)
We digress. We do that a lot.
Body Armor
The body armor piece of the Rubber set is more troublesome than the other two, as evidenced by the name of the shrine quest whereby it’s acquired: The Trial of Thunder. To activate Toh Yahsa shrine, you’ll have to work in rainy, dangerous weather on the Thundra Plateau near Ridgeland Tower. To wit: There are four colored orbs which must be placed in a bowl in front of a pillar emblazoned with a symbol of the same color. One is easy: the purple orb is on the ground next to the appropriate pillar. The green orb is easy enough: it’s within the playing field, at least, although you must first get it down from atop a statue. (Strike it with Stasis and an arrow or two.)
The third orb, the red, is more challenging; it’s outside the pillared arena atop another statue-like thing. You must hit it with Stasis, knock it to the ground with an arrow or two, pick it up and place it in a strategic location, hit it with Stasis again, then thwack it with a melee weapon hard enough to send it over the wall into the arena. Whew.
The fourth orb is the worst. The orange orb ( yellow-orange, really) lounges atop a still higher statue-like thing. Unless you have Revali’s Gale at this point – we did not – there’s no way you’re getting on top with the orb. It’s a little harder to reach by Stasis, and still harder to aim appropriately and quickly enough to get it to fall. Once it does, take it to the strategic location, and repeat the Stasis and thwacking.
Zelder Tip #3: Start this quest first thing in the morning. There are a few enemies out then – some Octoroks and Chu Chus – but the enemies at night are worse.
Zelder Tip #4: Start this quest when you have wooden bows for shooting the orbs and wooden thwacking weapons for the Stasis. Even with an electric resistance potion consumed, we suffered significant lightning damage and loss of our weaponry during a critical point of Stasis when we tried a metal melee weapon. Wooden Bokobats and similar aren’t as easy to aim with as a sword, but they’re safer.
After all that, you’d think Toh Yahsa would be a blessing shrine, wouldn’t you? It’s not. That said, the treasure chest inside is worth the effort.
Meanwhile, back at the tower
By now you are wearing some rubber armor or have downed a (greatly recommended) high-level electro elixir or both, and you’re ready to fend off the Keese swarm and take out the Electric Wizzrobe.
Zelder Tip #5: Elemental arrows like fire or ice don’t work on this Wizzrobe. You’ll have to rely on a well-placed ordinary arrow to the head, preferably before he notices you, and then some solid whacks with a melee weapon. Once he’s out of the picture, start your climb. Given the dearth of resting spots, eat a meal providing temporary stamina wheels before commencing.
Whew. That’s a lot of work to build out our map of southeastern Hyrule. But it’s well worth it – Lurelin Village, Lake Floria, and Floria Bridge are now open to view, there are new shrines to be discovered, and – what’s that lilting music? A siren call? So pretty…. (Here Itzal gets a starstruck look in his eyes, unable to concentrate, pathetically holding out his hand beseechingly and mumbling “Dragon….”)
In keeping with the area’s theme, Farosh the Electric Dragon travels through much of Hyrule, but it’s in the Faron region that you’ll find him (and thus Itzal, pining) most often.
Our suggested cocktail for a day spent fending off bolts of lightning: Electric Iced Tea