Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — How to Ride Dragons in TotK

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Dragons can be found as you’re exploring the vast world of Hyrule. The good news is that Dragons aren’t just there to mesmerize you as you look out at the landscape. It’s also possible to ride them! What’s more, there are four types: Fire, Frost, Lightning, and Light. Here’s our guide to help you learn how to ride Dragons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

How to Ride Dragons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

To ride Dragons, all you need to do is find their location and reach a high enough vantage point to reach them. It doesn’t matter if they’re the Fire, Frost, Lightning, or Light variety. Once they pass by below you, just glide and skydive to reach them. You can ride Dragons as they fly about Hyrule.

As I found out, though, there are some important tidbits that need to be considered when trying to ride Dragons.

TotK Dragon Locations

You can ride Dragons of four different types, and I found they tend to circle around specific regions:

• Fire Dragon Location — Northeast, around Akkala and Eldin/Death Mountain.
• Frost Dragon Location — Southeast, around Lanayru and Necluda.
• Lightning Dragon Location — Southwest around Gerudo and Faron.
• Light Dragon Location — All around the world.

Tears of the Kingdom Dragon Paths and Damage

A couple of facets about TotK Dragons are also quite important to know before venturing out to their spawn locations:

• If a dragon isn’t visible in a particular region, there’s a good chance that it flew down into The Depths, whereupon it will circle back to the overworld after a few minutes.
  
• It’s also possible to wait for a dragon to fly down into a Chasm, as it’s easier to catch up to them. I actually prefer doing this sometimes since it also allows me to see and tag additional Lightroots in the Depths.
  
• Be forewarned that dragons tend to cause environmental damage.
  • The Fire Dragon has a near-constant scorching effect, which you’ll need to mitigate.
  • The Frost Dragon, meanwhile, has puffs of icy cold that will freeze you, which can be deadly if you’re still in mid-air.
  • As for the Lightning Dragon, bolts of electricity will fry you if you’re not careful.
  • Only the Light Dragon tends to be fairly benign in this regard. It also has a particularly cool reward, which we won’t spoil here.

TotK Dragon Farming Rewards and Items

Apart from the Light Dragon’s unique reward, all of these majestic creatures tend to have the following goodies. In some cases, you’ll need to hit Dragons in a specific place to get an item. Thankfully, they don’t really take damage.

• Dragon Scales — Dragons will usually drop one if you hit a large scale at the back or at the neck.
• Dragon Shards — These are small crystals that are growing on their backs.
• Dragon Claws — These are required for Goddess Statue side quests. However, targeting can be a bit iffy. I’ve had issues with one particular task since my arrows were just going through the dragon’s own claws. This one requires patience and accuracy.

In any case, that’s how to ride dragons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s just one of many countless things you can do through Hyrule, and the Scales, Shards, and Claws they drop are important to farm for recipes and upgrades. For more about Link’s adventure, visit our Zelda: TotK guides hub.