The Lightning Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the game’s main dungeons. If you’re not sure how to progress, we’re here to help.
This Lightning Temple Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough guide will explain how to solve all of its various puzzles and defeat the boss.
Check out the rest of our Tears of the Kingdom Temple guides below.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Starting the Lightning Temple
Upon reaching the Lightning Temple, you will immediately be confronted by Queen Gibdo. This boss fight will be quite short-lived, as the Queen will flee once you damage her a decent amount.
To get rid of her, simply use Riju’s power to hit her with lightning or use your own fire/lightning attacks. Don’t get too close as she will slam you and do huge damage, and avoid her sand tornadoes by running to the side.
After damaging the Queen enough, she will retreat to the top of the temple. You will have to clear out some Gibdo nests using Riju’s power again. Just hit them when Riju’s aura has passed over the glowing part of the nest and clear out the Gibdos on the ground.
- Need help with the Wind Temple? Check out our full Wind Temple guide for Tears of the Kingdom.
Entering the Lightning Temple
Before you enter the Lightning Temple in Tears of the Kingdom, make sure you stock up on arrows. You can buy them from most shops in Hyrule, including Lookout Landing or Gerudo Town.
Use Riju to destroy the entrance to the temple. Inside the temple, you can grab a couple of Korok Frond Gusters on the wall and use them to blow away the piles of sand. This will reveal a chest, but more importantly, a switch that will open the door to the temple.
Go straight until you reach a room with two pathways. Straight on, you will find a chest and a Gibdo. To the right, you will see a room with flames. Kill the Gibdos and pass through the flames by waiting for the right moment to move. You can also block them with stone slabs.
At the end of the room, step on the switch to advance. Fireballs will charge towards you down the next hallway. Use Recall to send them back the other way and progress to the next switch on the right.
In the next room, you will find a Gibdo nest. Destroy it with Riju’s lightning and move on. Kill the construct in the Room of Hopeful Light, and then pull out the circular mirror shield from the sand pile and use it to reflect light above the locked door. Carry on through that corridor.
You’ve made it to the Room of Ascension, the main part of the Lightning Temple. Examine the circular structure to advance. You will be tasked with charging four batteries to ascend high enough to reach the top of the temple.
- Need help with the Fire Temple? Check out our full Fire Temple guide for Tears of the Kingdom.
Lightning Temple: Battery 1
The first battery is an easy one. It’s hidden behind the wall on the lowest floor.
Simply move the two stones stuck in the wall on the right side using Ultrahand. Enter the room and use Riju’s lightning to hit the battery in the centre.
Lightning Temple: Battery 2
We’re heading straight up to the fourth floor next. You can move a boulder in the corner of the room to create a gust that will propel you upwards.
Look for a hole in the wall on the same side as a locked gate and enter that room. Inside, you will see two spinning stone doors with holes in them. Pass through them to the other side and move the stones in the wall at the end. This will unleash light from inside the wall.
Next, use Recall on one of the spinning stones and let go when it’s aligned with the other door. You will need to line it up so that you’re letting go of Recall when both are symmetrical.
The light will shine through both holes at once, opening up a new switch on the far side of the room. Step on that switch to enter a new room with two spike traps.
You can block these spikes with one of the nearby stones, and pass through safely. Step on the switch to disable the moving spikes.
Do the same thing with the next spike trap, and kill the Constructs inside the room. Drop through the floor to the left. Grab a stake and jam it into the wall between the solid sections of the rotating wall.
Letting go of the stake will stop it from moving, and you can use a mirror shield to reflect light into the switch on the wall.
Head back up and reflect the light down the hall with the spike trap. You may need to move the stone to the side if it’s blocking the light. Use Riju’s power and shoot the battery after the gate opens.
Lightning Temple: Battery 3
Head all the way up to the top. Kill the Constructs and look for light coming out of the wall. You can move the statues on this floor with Ultrahand to reflect the light towards each other.
After moving the first two you will create a new switch down below. Step on it and enter the room with the Gibdo nest. Kill all the enemies in this room and destroy the nest.
This next part can be rather annoying. Build a contraption using the nearby hot air balloon, torch, plate and mirror shield. It should look like the image below.
Be sure to put the contraption in the big beam of light in the centre, then ignite the torch with fire to make it ascend. Aim your mirror shield directly towards the centre of the wall with the battery behind the gate. It has to be built correctly or it might not work.
The light should hit the switch above and open the gate to the third battery. Shoot it with an arrow after using Riju’s power to charge it.
Lightning Temple: Battery 4
It’s time for the fourth and final battery. Fly up to the top of the room and move the two statues back to their original positions. Move the other two statues this time, and this will open a new pathway way up high.
Climb up to the new switch at the end of the light trail and open the door. You will see a drop with flames covering it. Carefully glide down to reach the fourth battery.
You will have to step on a switch down here to open a door to allow Riju through. Use her power to charge the final battery.
Lightning Temple Boss: Queen Gibdo
First off, use Riju to hit the nest above. This will start the true boss fight with Queen Gibdo.
Putting this beast down is vital if you want to complete the Lightning Temple and save the Gerudo from the Gibdo threat, so it’s time to whip out your best weapons.
The strategy is very similar to the first time you fought her in the game. Make use of Riju’s power and you should be able to defeat the Queen, but you’ll have to watch out for an increased number of attacks and mechanics in the fight.
How to defeat Queen Gibdo in the Lightning Temple
Defeating Queen Gibdo is straightforward, but dodging her attacks is less so. All you need to do is focus on using Riju’s power and shoot the Queen with arrows to make her susceptible to attacks with your melee weapons.
However, her attacks can make this quite awkward sometimes.
The Queen has a few attacks. Firstly, she will charge you, which you can just run away from. She will also fire a homing beam which is much harder to dodge, but you can use the four pillars in the room to hide from it.
Queen Gibdo will also summon tornadoes which will knock you and Riju away. This will cancel Riju’s power if she’s charging up, so you will have to be careful when the tornadoes appear.
Shooting the Queen with a second powered-up arrow from Riju will stun her and open her up for damage. After enough damage, it’s time to turn your attention to the Gibdo nests.
At around the halfway point, she will summon Gibdos from four nests in each corner of the room. Use Riju’s power to destroy all these nests and clear out the Gibdos.
We recommend keeping your distance from the Gibdos and using the nests as cover from the Queen’s ranged attacks until you’ve destroyed all the nests.
Keep using Riju’s power to bring the Queen down and claim your rewards. You will gain a Heart Container for defeating her, and a cutscene featuring Riju will play.
That’s all you need to know thanks to our Lighting Temple Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.
For more Tears of the Kingdom guides, keep reading The Games Cabin.