How to farm dragon parts in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Farming dragon parts in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a crucial endeavor. Tears of the Kingdom features four dragons — Farosh, Naydra, Dinraal, and the Light Dragon — each of which you’re able to farm five parts from:

• Dragon scales
• Dragon spikes
• Dragon fangs
• Dragon horns
• Dragon claws

Each dragon part is imbued with the elemental property associated with the dragon. The part you get will depend on which area of the dragon’s body you attack with either a melee or ranged weapon. You’ll want to start farming dragon parts sooner than later since they’re extremely beneficial when you want to Fuse weapon combos, craft recipes and elixirs, and upgrade armor.

This guide explains how to farm each dragon part in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the benefits and uses for each one.

How to prepare for farming dragon parts

Before you set out to farm dragon parts, you’ll have an easier time if you’re stocked up on Keese, Aerocuda, or Octorok eyeballs. Fusing these to your arrows give them a homing effect, increasing the accuracy of your shot and helping you hit the flying dragons easier. However, for dragon fangs and claws, the accuracy of a regular arrow will work best, as homing arrows are guaranteed to hit the dragon, but their area of impact is random.

The Glide Armor set can also be of help to get closer to the dragons when you’re skydiving, since you’ll want to be as nimble in the air as possible.

How often can you get dragon parts?

There is a timer in place for farming dragon parts. After you get a dragon part — excluding shards of spikes — it takes 10 minutes for parts to drop again. This is indicated by the dragon losing its colorful glow. If you pause the game in any capacity, you’ll also pause this hidden timer, so be mindful of those bathroom breaks.

If you want to farm a multiple dragon parts in one encounter, you can just stay on top of a dragon and leave the game idle for 10 minutes. The risk of doing so is a surprise attack from an Aerocuda or passing through an electric storm, which can leave you vulnerable to lightning if you have any metal weapons, shields, or bows equipped.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Remember, Farosh, Naydra, and Dinraal all have hazardous conditions around them based on their signature element. If you don’t have the proper resistance to counter them, your best chance is to approach the dragon, grab the part you need, and make a swift escape.

Note the dragon’s location on your map and after the 10 minutes have passed, head over to the nearest Skyview Tower and jump on the dragon again. Dragons move fairly slow, which should make this easier. But if you can, let Link rest for a while on top of the creature, and you’ll be getting six materials an hour or so.

There may also be times when you have to leave the dragon’s back to retrieve the part you farmed. Using a close-range weapon will make it simpler to get the part while still riding the dragon. If that isn’t an option — or if the part simply falls off — a light trail will follow the dragon part, making it easy to find and retrieve it.

How to farm dragon scales

Here’s the list of dragon scales in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do when Fused with a weapon:

• Farosh’s scale: 16 Fuse attack power
• Naydra’s scale: 16 Fuse attack power
• Dinraal’s scale: 16 Fuse attack power
• Light Dragon’s scale: 12 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with a healing effect (restores a quarter of a heart per hit)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Dragon scales are obtained by hitting the dragon anywhere on the body — except the mouth, feet, or horns — with either a melee or a ranged weapon. But while you can farm scales with your bow, if you’re able to just hop on the dragon and do a quick hit with a melee weapon, it’ll be an easier method all around.

How to farm dragon spikes

Here’s the list of dragon spike shards in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do when Fused with a weapon:

• Shard of Farosh’s spike: 16 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with lightning
• Shard of Naydra’s spike: 16 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with frost
• Shard of Dinraal’s spike: 16 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with fire
• Shard of Light Dragon’s spike: 12 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with a healing effect (restores a quarter of a heart per hit)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Shards of spikes are manually picked up from the dragon’s back, near its spikes. There are around eight to 12 of them at a time. This is a new type of dragon part that wasn’t present in Breath of the Wild.

Unlike all other items, you can grab shards of spikes in bulk. That said, they won’t respawn after 10 minutes like the other dragon parts. For this, you’ll have to dismount the dragon, go somewhere else, and come back later. While the timing of the part’s respawn rate is uncertain, if you’re periodically checking on the dragons to farm their parts, it won’t take too long until you see them again.

How to farm dragon claws

Here’s the list of dragon claws in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do when Fused with a weapon:

• Farosh’s claw: 18 Fuse attack power
• Naydra’s claw: 18 Fuse attack power
• Dinraal’s claw: 18 Fuse attack power
• Light Dragon’s talon: 14 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with a healing effect (restores a quarter of a heart per hit)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Dragon claws are obtained by hitting any of the dragon’s feet or hands, which are on the sides of the body towards the lower end.

In order to get dragon claws, I recommend jumping on the dragon first. Then, you can drop off from its back and use your paraglider to stay afloat, using the wind currents around the dragon to help.

Using your bow in mid-air to activate slow motion, attack the legs or hands from the front. Make sure to get as close as possible, as there’s a chance for the arrow to hit the body instead. Dragon claws are by far the most tricky body part to farm, but it’s only a matter of practice.

How to farm dragon horns

Here’s the list of dragon horns in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do when Fused with a weapon:

• Shard of Farosh’s horn: 26 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with lightning
• Shard of Naydra’s horn: 26 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with frost
• Shard of Dinraal’s horn: 26 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with fire
• Shard of Light Dragon’s horn: 20 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with a healing effect (restores a quarter of a heart per hit)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Dragon horns are obtained by hitting the dragon’s horns with either a melee or a ranged weapon.

The best method is to jump on a dragon and then make your way toward the head. Once there, use any melee weapon to hit the horns. The part will drop on the spot, so you don’t even have to worry about it falling down to the ground. Of course, ranged weapons will also work if you have arrows to spare.

How to farm dragon fangs

Here’s the list of dragon fangs in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do when Fused with a weapon:

• Shard of Farosh’s fang: 20 Fuse attack power
• Shard Naydra’s fang: 20 Fuse attack power
• Shard of Dinraal’s fang: 20 Fuse attack power
• Shard Light Dragon’s fang: 16 Fuse attack power, imbues weapons with a healing effect (restores a quarter of a heart per hit)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Dragon fangs are obtained by hitting the dragon’s mouth. Now, there’s an intricacy at play here, as you’ll need to hit the lower jaw to farm dragon fangs. If you aim higher, you’re likely to get a dragon scale instead, since it’ll be considered an area of the larger body.

I recommend moving towards the dragon’s head, dropping into the air, and immediately aiming with your bow so you can slow down time. Then, aim at the lower half of the dragon’s mouth, and the item will drop.

The dragon fang will stay in place for a few seconds. If you don’t pick it up on the spot, it will start falling towards the ground. You can either skydive and pick it up in the air, or grab it once it hits the surface.

Dragon parts effects and uses

Weapon Fusing

Fusing a dragon part with a weapon increases its attack power, gives the weapon higher durability, and infuses the weapon with the element associated with the dragon: lightning for Farosh, frost for Naydra, and fire for Dinraal. All Light Dragon parts also imbue your weapon with a healing effect.

Below are some suggestions for Fused weapons using dragon parts:

• Master Sword and Light Dragon’s Horn: Adds +20 fuse attack power on top of the Master Sword’s base stats, and heals a quarter of a heart per hit.
• Farosh Hammer: Infuses a sword with lightning damage. Combining a Gerudo Claymore with a Shard of Farosh’s Spike led to a weapon with 42 fuse attack power.
• Naydra Spear: Infuses a spear with frost damage. Combining a Royal Guard’s Spear and Naydra’s Claw led to a weapon with 33 fuse attack power.

Cooking elixirs and food

Cooking food and elixirs with dragon parts provides great boosts to your recipe and often leads to a “Critical Success,” which will give the meal an additional bonus effect such as increased stamina recovery or effect duration depending on what you cooked.

Dragon horns are particularly useful for recipes, as they give you the biggest increases for heart recovery and effect duration.

• Dragon horns: +30 minutes effect duration, +3 ³⁄₄ heart recovery
• Dragon fangs: +10:30 minutes effect duration, +2 2/4 heart recovery
• Dragon claws: +3:30 minutes effect duration, +2 heart recovery
• Dragon spikes: +1:50 minutes effect duration, +0 heart recovery
• Dragon scales: +1:30 minutes, +1 ¹⁄₄ heart recovery

Below are some suggestions for recipes using dragon parts:

• Energizing meat and seafood fry: 1 raw meat, 1 bright-eyed crab, 1 Hylian shroom, and 1 Shard of Naydra’s Spike. Using a dragon part increases the amount of stamina you regain from the recipe.
• Fish and mushroom skewer: 1 hearty bass, 2 golden apples, 1 sunshroom, and 1 Shard of Light Dragon’s fang. Grants +13 2/4 heart recovery.
• Spicy elixir: 1 Bokoblin horn, 1 warm darner, and 1 Light Dragon’s Horn. Grants 30 minutes of cold resistance, as well as +3 3⁄4 heart recovery.
• Warding meat skewer: 1 raw meat, 1 dark clump, and 1 Naydra’s Claw. Grants 11:30 minutes of gloom resistance, as well as +4 heart recovery.

Upgrading armor

If you’re looking to deck yourself out with the best armor in the game, there are certain armor sets you’ll need dragon parts for when you go to upgrade at a Great Fairy Fountain. The Fierce Deity Armor and Wild Armor are the sets you’ll need various dragon parts for to upgrade.