The Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sky islands are, obviously, a major part of the huge, open-world adventure. No longer is Link forced to stay on the ground and walk everywhere, we can now glide from island to island as we explore the cloudy skies above Hyrule. We could really do with a Loftwing, to be honest.
Need more helpful links (get it?) to assist your Hyrule adventure? Here’s everything you need to know about the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom dragons, where to find Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom stables, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom horses to go in them.
Let’s fly into our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sky islands guide.
What are Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sky islands?
The sky islands are our starting point in Tears of the Kingdom – specifically the Great Sky Island above central Hyrule. Here, we meet some Zonai constructs that assist us in getting acquainted with our new life in the clouds.
The islands are small archipelagos of land floating high above the surface in most of Hyrule’s sky and offer different challenges, rewards, and adventures. The islands appeared during the Upheaval, caused by Link and Zelda finding Ganon’s body beneath Hyrule Castle. No one quite knows why they appeared, but they’re here now for us to explore.
What can I do on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sky islands?
Here’s a list of fun things you can find on the sky islands.
Shrines
The larger of the sky islands tend to house Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom shrines, so that we can easily teleport back to the location without having to fly up each time. The Great Sky Island has three shrines, the Rito and Zora areas archipelago have a couple of shrines each, and there are more dotted around the map.
Constructs
Robotic Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Zonai constructs litter the depths, surface, and skies alike. The steward constructs are plentiful on the Great Sky Island and introduce Link to forging with zonaite and how to get more energy wells for powering our devices, while plenty of soldier constructs are waiting to strike and enter combat with us.
Enemies
Some islands are conveniently shaped like round arenas – if you head to them, you find a Flux Construct awaiting you. These are mini-bosses and drop very helpful items to fuse onto weapons.
Armor sets
Among these plentiful isles are some locations that provide Link with very helpful armor pieces – namely the glide set. There are three tests run by Steward Constructs where we must dive through rings and safely into a pool of water. Each of these rewards us with a piece of the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom armor set.
Ancient tablets
Another type of island is a small, almost flower-shaped stone formation. There are twelve of these across the map, and they’re related to a quest from researcher Wortsworth in Lookout Landing. Chances are you’ve stumbled across one by accident already, though.
Each of these floating structures holds a stone tablet written in ancient Hyrulean. It’s your job to snap a picture of each one and bring them to Worstworth to decipher.
Sage’s wills
There are many round, glowing, collectible items that we pick up in Tears of the Kingdom, and the sage’s wills are one of them. They’re found on some sky islands (though we’ve only located a few) and are spent at goddess statues to improve your summoned sage’s abilities. For a full rundown, check out our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sage’s wills page.
How do I reach Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s sky islands?
Now, how do we get around these floating islands? There are a few ways, some intended, and some likely not. The easiest way is to use the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom towers to launch Link into the sky and float towards your island of choice.
Not all skyview towers allow us to reach every island, though, so there are some other methods. You can use the recall ability on falling rocks from the sky and get a free ride, but these don’t go too high as the ability times out after a while.
The new Zonai devices allow us to build some impressive machinery that can take us to the skies. Balloons, new-fangled flying machines, rocket launchers – you name it, you can probably build it.
If this isn’t enough Tears of the Kingdom info for you, then have a look at our guides to all the important Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom characters and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Hestu. Or, if you’re curious, here’s what we know about Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom divine beasts…