How to get gloom resistance in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Finding the best method to gain gloom resistance is critical to survive in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Both the main story quests and side adventures will inevitably take you to the Depths, where gloom is inescapable.

Fighting enemies is already stressful enough on its own, especially if you are up against the dreadful Gloom Hands or Phantom Ganon. If you want to avoid having to climb on trees or sprint all the time to escape this hazard’s grasp, it’s important to prepare yourself with gloom resistance in Tears of the Kingdom. This page explains the items you’ll need, as well as how to recover the hearts you lose to the gloom if it gets you.

How gloom works in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Gloom is represented as a red, gooey liquid that is mostly found in the Depths, covering large patches of the environment. Your map showcases it as pink stains which, upon touched by Link, will gradually “lock” his hearts.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Here’s how it works. You’ll lose a heart if you stand in gloom for too long — the heart icon will turn gray, and you won’t be able to heal it with conventional methods. This debuff will continue for as long as you stay in gloom, gradually consuming more hearts, until you either manage to escape its grasp or you run out of health.

There is a brief period of time, usually a few seconds, in which you can be in contact with gloom and safely escape from it before it consumes a heart. But this window is rather short — only time enough for a quick jump or sidestep.

How to get gloom resistance

The Dark Clump item is critical in keeping Link’s hearts safe. Using it in cooking will add a gloom-resistant effect, which allows you to be in contact with gloom without suffering from the debuff.

If you’re wondering how to get Dark Clump in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you can exchange poe for the item at 10 poes a pop. There’s a statue at Lookout Landing just for trading in poe, which is found in Robbie and Josha’s research shack, underneath the balcony where Purah usually hangs out. You can also obtain it as loot for defeating certain enemies in the Depths.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Below are a few recipes to get you started:

• Meat Skewer (03:00 minutes of gloom resistance): 1 Raw Meat, 1 Dark Clump
• Meat Skewer (04:30 minutes of gloom resistance): 1 Raw Meat, 1 Dark Clump, 3 Hylian Tomatoes
• Simmered Fruit (04:00 minutes of gloom resistance): 1 Dark Clump, 3 Hylian Tomatoes
• Simmered Fruit (04:30 minutes of gloom resistance): 1 Dark Clump, 4 Hylian Tomatoes

You can get your hands on raw meat by hunting any animal you see out in the wild, as well as the occasional drop from enemies. For Hylian tomatoes, plenty grow on the road that leads to Kakariko Village, as well as the village’s surrounding areas. Of course, you can also experiment with other vegetables.

How to recover gloom hearts

Even if you’re doing all due diligence to try and avoid gloom, there is a chance that it may get you, especially when you’re exploring the Depths.

First, if you manage to get your hands on sundelions, an item usually found in the Sky Islands, you can use it in cooking to replenish hearts lost to gloom.

Below are a few recipes to get you started:

• Sunny Steamed Tomatoes (replenishes 4 normal hearts and 6 locked hearts by gloom): Ancient Arowana, 1 Hylian tomato, 2 Sundelions.
• Sunny Steamed Tomatoes (replenishes 7 normal hearts and 6 locked hearts by gloom): 1 Raw Prime Meat, 2 Hylian Tomatoes, 2 Sundelions.
• Sunny Steamed Mushrooms (replenishes 1 and a half normal heart and 6 locked hearts by gloom): 3 Skyshrooms (also found around Sky Islands!), 2 Sundelions.
• Sunny Fried Wild Greens (replenishes 9 locked hearts by gloom): 3 Sundelions.

If you don’t have sundelions on you, activating a lightroot anywhere in the Depths will reverse the damage caused by gloom. These are towers of sorts that will dispel the darkness around the area, thus revealing what’s on the map around them, while also giving you your hearts back.

Bear in mind that you’ll get the hearts back, but not Link’s lost health. At the least, you’ll be able to heal yourself once more. Another thing to watch out for: Gloom Spawn, which are the gloom hand enemies that sometimes appear around Hyrule. There are two ways to recover your hearts in this scenario. Either defeat them, or you escape from their reach long enough that they return to the ground and disappear.

In summary, make sure to always have one or two meals prepped before heading to chasms or the Depths themselves. Also, if you’re looking for some clarity when plunging through the obscurity of Hyrule’s underground, here’s how to find the Miner’s Armor set to light the way.