By completing the Rito section in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players will receive a new mechanic: boats. They can be found in the air, but they won’t take Link and Thulin anywhere. Instead, they have another use that helps Link reach the skies over the Hebra Mountains.
How to cross the boat over the Hebra Mountains in TOTK (Zelda Tears of the Kingdom)
The boats in Tears of the Kingdom actually function as giant jump pads. Each boat in the air has a horizontal sail that Link can jump onto to get to greater heights. To complete the Rising Islands chain, Link needs to start by jumping on a boat near the Mayaumekis Temple.
How to complete the Rising Island chain in TOTK (Zelda Tears of the Kingdom)
After jumping off the first boat, Link and Thulin will find themselves on a platform with a huge ice circle in the middle. These mini ice lakes can be shattered with two arrows (or one fire arrow). Beneath this is a secret chest.
From there, Link has to cross a huge chasm. This is easy to do by using Thulin’s impulse to push Link forward. When I used Thulin, I found that he fired his burst in the direction Link was facing, so I had to readjust Link a couple of times before I could even out the burst.
After moving forward and destroying a couple of Zonai constructs, Link and Thulin will find themselves on a huge platform. On the left, there will be a hanging column with icicles covering the bottom. The fastest way to get up there is to knock down the icicles and use Ascend on the clear rooftop.
At the top there will be a central column rising high into the sky. There will be more icicles on the side; shoot them down so Link has room to climb up.
After that, Link will stumble upon another huge chasm, to overcome which he will need the help of Thulin. He will then need to cross a couple of platforms before meeting up with the Flux Construct . This mini-boss looks intimidating, but Link can easily take him down in less than two minutes.
The idea behind the Flux Construct is that one of the many blocks that make up its body (the one that glows green ) is vulnerable. If Link is able to hit him multiple times, the blocks will collapse and Link will have a small time window to knock the life out of the green block.
After defeating Flux Construct, Link can climb to the top of this island. To his right will be a cave with icicles that he can knock down to grab a chest. Otherwise, a boat with a closed roof is obtained. The middle of this roof is actually rubble, which Link can either smash with a hammer or blast with a bomb arrow.
Once the roof opens, Link will have several boats that he will need to jump on to get to the next platform. The next series of platforms has a bunch of Constructs to fight. At the end of this area is a small area with materials that Link can use to craft a hot air balloon.
Collect the balloon and jump to the next platform. There will be another hanging pillar here that Link can use Ascend on. This leads to a huge chasm with two circling boats that Link can jump onto. Players definitely want to be careful here as they need to take into account the movement of the boats when they land.
Once they reach the end of this area, players can download the Kahatanaum Temple . To the left of the shrine is the final part of the location: a bunch of boats circling in a snowstorm. Link will need to jump on the boats to get to the top of the snowstorm and dive inside.
I have definitely had a few bad jumps in this section. The wind is picking up here, so I figured it would be best to jump into the boats as they get closer to Link. If Link tries to catch up with a passing boat, it will always be faster. Once at the top, Link can dive into the blizzard and start the Temple of the Wind.
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