The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has its fair share of shrines. Some of them feature challenging puzzles that will test your ingenuity. They may feature multiple puzzles, each with multiple solutions. Here is our guide on how to get the big balls to the switches in Tukarok Shrine in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Tears of the Kingdom – how to get the big balls to the switches in Tukarok Shrine
Tukarok Shrine finds you escorting big balls to switches so you can open doors and work your way back around to the room near the start of the shrine. You have to trip switches by placing big balls on them, but obstacles prevent each ball from reaching its destination.
To get the big balls to the switches in Tukarok Shrine, you can create vehicles to help them pass the obstacles. There are essentially three puzzles in the shrine that relate to this task.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
In the first puzzle, you encounter a ball resting on the floor near a vehicle comprised of Wheels and a sheet of metal. Use Ultrahand to lift the ball onto the vehicle and attach it. Then stand on the vehicle and hit one of the Wheels with your melee weapon. The vehicle will roll forward and safely cross over a lava pit.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
The second puzzle presents you with a series of racks below and to the left of a big stone slab that can ride along a wooden rod to a higher ledge. The equipment you are provided to solve this puzzle consists of a narrow sheet of metal and a Wheel.
There are multiple possible approaches here. The option I find easiest is to use Ultrahand to attach the ball to the metal sheet. Then set the sheet between the highest two racks you can reach. Climb to the top of the room and walk out on the ledge. You should just be able to reach the sheet and grab it to pull it up to your level so you can remove the ball and proceed.
An alternative approach is to affix the ball to the top of the concrete slab. Then attach a Wheel to the side of that slab. Finally, attach the metal sheet to the wheel, so that the wheel spins it around and the sheet grabs the lowest of the racks. If you did it correctly, the sheet will use subsequent racks to ascend to the area’s high point. Then you can climb the ladder to that ledge and grab the ball from the metal slab. You only have to get it to ascend part of the way, though sometimes it will go the full distance.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
The third puzzle starts at one edge of a wide pool of water. There are three lanes of water, with the current flowing against you in each one. Along the left wall as you face the three lanes, a ladder leads to high ground so you can run to the far end of the chamber once you get the ball across the water. Before you worry about the ball, check the middle lane. You’ll find a submerged treasure chest. Use your Ultrahand ability to bring it to you and open it for the Strong Zonaite Sword. Then you’re ready to tend to the puzzle.
There are multiple ways to proceed. The most reliable approach is to take all of the bits of wood and assemble a bridge leading down one of the lanes (the middle one works best, with walls on either side). Then you can use Ultrahand to grab the ball and carry it along the bridge. If that solution feels dull, you can also affix the ball to one of the rafts with an engines on either side. Set it so that it straddles the rails (you have to orient it precisely). Then bring the vehicle to life to watch it carry the ball across the room.
One way or another, get the ball to the room’s far side and set it on the switch. A door opens. Drag the ball into the next chamber and set it in the groove to open the gate to the shrine’s final chamber.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for purchase from the Nintendo Store.
