How to find the Light Dragon in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Light Dragon in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of many dragons roaming around the map and the hardest to find as it circles around all of Hyrule. The Light Dragon is also the most important as it’s where you’ll find Link’s iconic weapon, the Master Sword, along with valuable dragon parts such as the shard of Light Dragon’s scale, talon, and fang.

Read on to find out the Light Dragon’s location and flight path, so you can grab some of the best Fuse materials and one of the best weapons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Light Dragon path and location

There are multiple ways of finding the Light Dragon. If you’ve been focusing on the main story, you can pinpoint the Master Sword’s location by finding all 12 Dragon Tear memory locations. That method requires a lot of legwork, but thankfully, there are other, less time-consuming ways.

One is to get through the Lost Woods and reach the Korok Forest. Once there, you need to help the Deku Tree by defeating Gloom Hands and Phantom Ganon. Emerge victorious, and after talking with the Deku Tree, you’ll have access to the “Recovering the Hero’s Sword” main quest.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

This is the quest for the Master Sword, and thankfully, the Deku Tree will mark the location of the Light Dragon on your map. As long as you select the quest in your Adventure Log, you’ll see where the dragon is at all times, which is of great help.

Keep in mind that once you’ve recovered the Master Sword and the quest is complete, the marker will dissipate. If you want to be able to easily locate the Light Dragon to farm materials from it (more on this later), you might want to hold off on getting Link’s emblem weapon.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Source images: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The other way is, plain and simple, to stumble upon the dragon as you’re roaming around the map. The Light Dragon flies a circumferential route around Hyrule; you don’t need to have the related quest in order to find it. The Light Dragon’s flight circuit takes it through areas including Zora’s Domain, Hateno Village, Goronbi Lake, Lindor’s Brow, and the Thyphlo Ruins.

Our map above shows an estimated route based on findings from a few community sources, but we have not been able to confirm the exact route independently. Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for comment.

That said, it’s recommended you complete the Korok Forest quest, as this will mean the Light Dragon will fly lower to the ground. As such, you’ll be able to get to it just by using a nearby Skyview Tower to lift Link up to the sky. Until you complete the quest, there’s a chance that the dragon will be flying at the same height as the Sky Islands, for example, which will make the task significantly harder.

How to jump on the Light Dragon

Unlike in Breath of the Wild, Link is able to ride on the back of dragons in Tears of the Kingdom. This is done simply by landing on their bodies, from where you can easily move on top of them. (For dragons that have a specific element, you’ll be wise to have the proper elemental resistance. You do not need any such resistance for the Light Dragon.)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

If you spot the dragon out in the wild, either by chance or because you have the quest marker active, I recommend fast traveling to the nearest Skyview Tower. Taking this travel shortcut won’t affect the dragon’s position, resulting in a great method to get closer. Then, activate the tower to lift Link up to the air, and paraglide toward the Light Dragon.

As said, if you want to make the process even easier, then make sure you clear out the Deku Forest first. This will see the dragon fly closer to the surface, and thus be more accessible from the height of a tower.

In the case that any nearby towers are quite far from the dragon you’re attempting to reach, you can always attempt to get to a Sky Island. If you happen to see any sky rocks falling to the ground, use your Recall ability and hop on them to gain altitude. Then, you can jump off the island and bust out your paraglider to get close to the dragon.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The dragon’s movement is quite slow, but if at any point you fall off from its back, quickly opening your paraglider will lift you upwards again, as there are wind currents surrounding the dragon’s body.

Once you’ve made it to the Light Dragon’s back, the next step is to get the Master Sword from it. For a step-by-step breakdown of how to do this, head over to our dedicated Master Sword page.

Farming Light Dragon parts

Akin to the rest of the dragons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you can farm dragon parts from the Light Dragon. When using Light Dragon parts for Fuse combinations, the part will imbue the Fused weapon with a healing effect and will restore a quarter of a heart per hit.

At a glance, here are the parts you can get from the Light Dragon:

• Shard of Light Dragon’s spike
• Light Dragon’s scale
• Shard of Light Dragon’s fang
• Light Dragon’s talon
• Light Dragon’s horn

Our guide on farming dragon parts will walk you through everything you need to know about getting dragon parts, as well as tips for what to use them for.