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If your favorite part of Breath Of The Wild was climbing up every single cliff you could find, then Tears Of The Kingdom has the perfect set of armor for your Link to adventure in.
The Climbing Gear will let you climb up those surfaces faster. All you have to do is find the locations and finish the challenges those areas offer up. With the full set, Hyrule will become your playground more than it already was before. Happy climbing.
Updated by Wyatt Grondin on June 13th, 2023: A section detailing all the required ingredients to upgrade the Climbing Gear Set, as well as the bonus ability granted after upgrading the set twice, has been added to ensure a complete guide to the armor.
Climbing Gear Location
You'll find the chest piece section of your Climbing Gear in a cave called North Hyrule Plain Cave at coordinate -1182, 0622, 0066. You can have this spot mapped out for your in advance if you come across an NPC named Meeshy, as she'll tell you the legend of Misko and his treasure. You do not need to start this quest to get the armor, though, as going into the cave at any time will allow you to open the treasure chest containing the piece of armor.
Along with the basic cave enemies and a couple of ponds filled with water, the cave is full of climbable surfaces you'll have to traverse until you can reach the middle. Do not leave the cave; what you're looking for is a waterfall holding a secret passage behind it. There will be spiked pieces of wood sticking out of the walls and glowing purple mushrooms to help guide you to the correct spot.
Open the treasure chest behind the waterfall to earn the Climbing Gear. This piece of armor will make you climb up faster, meaning you can get a further distance while wasting less stamina. This also means players with a bit less patience don't have to spam the jump button as often when climbing a tall surface. Overall this minor buff will drastically improve your climbing even without the rest of the set.
Climber's Bandana
You'll be heading a good distance away from North Hyrule for this next piece; it's in the same region as the Zora's Domain. Right near the area, you'll spend your time helping Prince Sidon. You'll find Ploymus Mountain Cave at coordinates 3707, 0536, 0278.
Prepare for this one well. On paper, all you have to do is climb to the top of the cave. This will be a lot harder than it sounds because the cave walls are wet. Link is going to slide down these walls a lot, even if you know how to deal with damp climbing surfaces.
If you already have the Froggy Armor, this cave may not be an issue for you in the slightest. If you don't, you'll have to rely on Sticky Elixirs. The Sticky Elixir is a potion that, when drunk, claims will allow you to climb up walls in the rain without issue. These Elixirs are crafted by cooking a Sticky Lizard of Frog in a pot with monster parts. The one shown in the picture had a high rating and a long time limit, but Link still occasionally slipped down a bit. The Elixirs are not perfect, so be sure to stop on platforms when you can. The Elixirs are still your best bet as Link will slide far less often and lose far less stamina, but that said, also use Ascend when under other platforms, just not when it lets you back outside.
As stated, once you reach the very top, you will reach a treasure chest containing the Climber's Bandana. Just like the main gear, just having this piece increases your climbing speed by a surprising amount, and having both together will make many surfaces a breeze.
Climbing Boots
Your leggings will be found in a cave called Upland Zorana Byroad at coordinates 2681, 0484, 0199. Get ready to tread water.
There are a bunch of vines covering the entrance to this cave. Normally, you can take out vines by setting them on fire, but like with the Bandana, this cave is dripping wet, so you cannot set anything on fire. Take a slashing weapon and cut through the vines instead.
Your first obstacle is taking on a group of Horriblins, but this will be easier than most times you'll face them. Horriblins instantly drown in deeper water, so they headshot with them an arrow, and they will fall into the water below, which kills them. Once you are done, walk deeper into the cave.
The only other monster type for this cave is the Rock-Like, a Like-Like covered in protective rocks. You cannot damage them until their armor is broken, which can be done by using Rewind on a boulder they shoot at you or by throwing a Bombflower at them. There are a couple of Rock-Likes throughout the cave, so deal with them as you need to.
As you travel further into the cave, you'll find more vines to cut down. One such set will be in the water, too deep for Link to swim. As stated earlier, the dampness of the cave means you can't shoot a fire arrow to burn the vines. The intended method is to use Ultrahand on the boulder in the water and move it close to make a platform, but as you can see, you can also use ice to freeze a platform and cut the vines while standing on that instead.
Eventually, you'll reach a spot that does not look like a split path, so keep an eye out for both Misko's spiked wood signs and this submerged boulder.
They both will show there's a path just to the left of where you entered; in the picture, Link first went to the other side, which leads to the rest of the cave. For the Boots, you'll want to go down this secret path instead.
You're looking for these ruins, and then you'll want to head to the back.
Use Ultrahand on this dam gate to lower the water.
Then go to the back right of the room to head to the passage under these stairs.
This will complete your armor set.
Full Benefits
The full Climbing Gear set will bring Link to max climbing speed when worn. It's a massive boost that will help you climb pretty much anything, and not only that, but the full set has a slight resistance to slippery surfaces. Like the elixirs, this won't be perfect, so while the Froggy Armor is still best for those surfaces, the Climbing Gear is the quickest way to climb.
Upgrading The Climbing Gear
After you've successfully serenaded at least one Great Fairy, you can bring them materials to upgrade the Climbing Gear.
|
Upgrade Level |
Defense Increased To |
Rupees Needed |
Materials Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 Star |
5 |
10 |
|
|
2 Stars |
8 |
50 |
|
|
3 Stars |
12 |
200 |
|
|
4 Stars |
20 |
500 |
|
Climb Jump Stamina Up
When the Climbing Gear has been fully upgraded at least twice, you'll unlock the secondary ability to use less stamina when you jump while climbing. Above is a side-by-side comparison to show this decrease is a little over half of what you normally use.