Tears of the Kingdom: How to Find the Light Dragon Flight Path

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, players can farm three elemental dragons for materials that either upgrade special amiibo armor or fetch a pretty Rupee at vendors. These dragons return in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom along with another dragon known as the Light Dragon.

For reasons that we’ll get into, the Light Dragon is incredibly difficult to find and catch. Despite initial appearances, though, it actually does follow a rough (and massive) flight path. Here’s how you track that path and (hopefully) catch the Light Dragon.

Tears of the Kingdom: How to Find the Light Dragon Flight Path

Since the three other elemental dragons in Tears of the Kingdom tend to stick to specific regions, they are generally easy to find (relatively speaking). Early in Link’s adventure, the game also introduces an underground region players can explore. The three dragons are usually found flying above the surface of Hyrule or in one of its fresh caves. The Light Dragon, meanwhile, never ventures underground, so you can only find it in the sky. The problem is knowing where and when to look up. Well, that and how to actually reach the airborne serpent.

For the most part, the Light Dragon takes a loop around the outer perimeter of Hyrule in a clockwise manner. From what many gamers have seen, the dragon loops around the Hebra Mountains, flies eastwards, then turns south just shy of Deep Akkala to make a u-turn.

From there, the Light Dragon flies around Eldin Canyon towards Lanayru. Next, the creature passes over Mount Lanayru and turns west to fly over the northern area of East Necluda. From here, the dragon zigzags between West Necluda, the big lake north of Faron Grasslands, and finally the Gerudo Highlands. Finally, the dragon turns north, u-turns again until it is past Hyrule Ridge, and doubles back one more time towards the Hebra Mountains to start the circuit all over again.

Here’s a very rough look at what the Light Dragon flight path looks like from the Sky Map view:

If this sounds confusing, don’t worry. You don’t have to deal with all of this if you don’t want to. If you progress through the main story enough to obtain the quest “Recovering the Hero’s Sword,” your Purah Pad’s quest tracker will mark the Light Dragon’s location on your map. Why would you want to reach the dragon in the first place? Well, spoiler alert, but the Master Sword is lodged in the creature’s cranium. Don’t ask us how it got there since there are some answers we refuse to spoil right now.

To land on the Light Dragon’s back, you have no shortage of options. You can build a hot air balloon with Zonaite devices, leap off a floating island (or falling rock under the influence of Recall), or use a Skyview Tower. From there, it’s only a matter of gliding onto the dragon’s back. If you miss, don’t worry too much since the Light Dragon is surrounded by air currents that can give Link an extra boost. What you do have to worry about is maintaining Link’s Stamina since he can’t exactly paraglide while exhausted. That, and you’ll need extra stamina to reclaim the Master Sword.

How to Pull the Master Sword From the Light Dragon

Since Tears of the Kingdom lets players go wherever they want, whenever they want, you can technically land on the Light Dragon at any time past the tutorial. However, just because you can mount the Light Dragon earlier than intended, doesn’t mean you can reclaim the Master Sword when you’re there. 

Ideally, you should search for the Light Dragon during the “Recovering the Hero’s Sword” quest, as that should get you caught up on all story-relevant cutscenes. If you’re trying to claim the Master Sword before then, though, you should obtain at least two Energy Cells to be safe (or stock up on Zonai Charges). No matter how you reach the Light Dragon, in order to pull the Master Sword out of its skull, you need at least two full Stamina Wheels. Anything less will not only result in failure, but the dragon will knock you off, careening toward the surface. If this happens, you will have to fly up to the dragon’s back all over again.

Since the Light Dragon isn’t constantly discharging elemental energies that can harm Link, the Stamina Wheels and the means to reach the dragon are the only steadfast requirements you need to reclaim the Master Sword. You don’t need any extra hearts or special armors, but you can’t take a shortcut by eating food that provides bonus yellow stamina. The Master Sword can tell the difference and requires two bona fide green wheels; nothing less will suffice.

So, how did you manage to finally catch the Light Dragon?