In most Legend of Zelda titles, the Great Fairy is responsible for upgrading your gear or providing you with useful bonuses. The same can be said about the ones in Breath of the Wild, as their use is similar to those previous incarnations, but quite a bit more important this time around. In order to upgrade your armor, and even revive your fallen horses, you will need to enlist the aid of the Great Fairy sisters.
But before we get to their locations, let’s look at how some of the mechanics work real quick.
How the Armor Upgrade Mechanic Works with Great Fairies in Breath of the Wild
The armor upgrading system in Breath of the Wild is pretty standard for an RPG. All you need to do is ensure that you have at least one Great Fairy that is responsible for upgrading equipment, as well as the items required to upgrade that item.
There is no additional fee for upgrading armor outside of the required items, so don’t worry about your wallet being on the lighter side.
What you do need to pay for is the revival of each of the Great Fairy sisters.There are four sisters in total, and you will need all four to get the best possible armor upgrades. There is also one Great Fairy who is responsible for reviving horses.
The fee increases based on the number of Great Fairies you have freed: 100 rupees for the first, 500 for the second, 1,000 for the third, and 10,000 for the last. The Horse God Fairy will cost you 1,000 no matter what. Only once all four sisters are awakened will you be able to fully upgrade any piece of equipment.
There are many benefits to upgrading armor, such as increased defense, enhanced abilities, and other bonuses. Also, once you upgrade a set to the second level, set bonuses will begin to appear — but only if the armor piece belongs to one.
Armor Upgrade Great Fairies
Cotera’s Not-So-Secret Fountain
Cotera is the name of the Great Fairy that is most likely to be the first one you stumble upon. She lives just north of Kakariko Village, only about a stone’s toss away from the shrine on the hill overlooking the town.
If you have already spoken to Impa for the main quest, you can receive a side quest from the painter just outside her home. He will guide you half way to the Great Fairy Fountain, and he will give you a reward if you bring back a picture of her fountain.
Mija’s Akkala Getaway
Mija is an easy to find, but often overlooked Great Fairy. Hidden in plain sight, her Great Fairy Fountain is actually marked on the map, and is the only one, other than Cotera, who gets this treatment.
Akkala is found in the north-eastern part of the map, just north of Zora’s Domain, and south of Death Mountain. You will want to hang close to the eastern seaboard, and the Great Fairy Fountain will be along the road.
Flying Over to Kaysa’s Tabanthan Hideout
Kaysa is a bit tougher to reach than the other Great Fairies. In order to get to her fountain, climb the Tabantha Tower on Nero Hill. This will take a bit of effort since Ganon’s dark matter is all over it, but if you climb the nearby columns, you should get there easily.
Once at the top of the Tabantha Tower, look south toward Piper Ridge. There, you should see a giant orange and green bulb. Fly over there with your paraglider to unlock the next Great Fairy
Bonus: If you reach the stable just east of the Tabantha Great Bridge, one of the visitors will offer you 500 Rupees as part of a quest. This is a great way to easily unlock Kaysa if she is your second Great Fairy.
Tera’s Sandy Skeleton Hut
This one is by far the most annoying Great Fairies to reach. If the hot days and cold nights weren’t enough, sandstorms, which knock out your map functions, are found in this area as well. Thankfully, all you really need is a marker in the general vicinity of the most south-western point of the map to guide you to Tera’s fountain.
I highly recommend stocking up on healing items, as well as cold and heat resistance, before taking on this Great Fairy Fountain. Activating the Gerudo Desert tower will also make this much easier. As for getting to the fountain itself, take a Sand Seal, as it will greatly reduce travel time, as well as let you make several passes in the sandstorm cloud if you miss it the first time.
There is a shrine right next to her fountain, so don’t be worried about finding it again if you don’t have the rupees to revive her when you first get there.
The Horse God
South of the Faron Woods is the Lake of the Horse God. If you have already unlocked the tower for this area, this is an easy find. Getting there is similarly easy, provided you have a means to fend off the black bokoblins in the area of Fural Plain.
Unlocking this Great Fairy will allow you to bring any horse back to life — provided that it was registered, and that you have the means to pay for it. Even legendary or rare horses can be brought back to life at this fountain — including Epona (provided you already summoned her with an amiibo).
There You Have It!
This is how to unlock all of the Great Fairies in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Keep in mind that while it is possible to reach all of them without high-tier weapons and armor, it is generally advisable to be decently equipped before setting out.
With that said, enjoy your resurrected horses and upgraded armor, adventurers!
Check out our other Breath of the Wild guides!
- Melee Weapons Guide
- Horse Taming Guide
- Special Mounts Guide
- Great Fairy Locations
- Sheikah Rune Upgrades
- Zora Armor Set Locations
- Obtaining the Master Sword
- Keo Ruug Shrine Guide
