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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is packed with hidden armors and secret locations throughout the vast world of Hyrule. Royal Hidden Passage is one such secret. The location can be easily accessed, but it is packed with enemies — and fantastic loot.
The Royal Hidden Passage is also home to the Horned Statue, which Breath of the Wild players should recognize as granting the ability to exchange Heart Containers for Stamina Vessels. This guide covers how to gain access to the Royal Hidden Passage, as well as how to navigate its maze-like environment. Bring some crushing weapons!
Updated by Jeff Brooks on August 1, 2023: This article was updated to further clarify some directions while navigating Royal Hidden Passage and adding in more relevant links throughout, including links to how to find pristine weapons in the Depths and several new related links throughout.
How To Enter Royal Hidden Passage
After completing your first regional temple (usually the Wind Temple) head back to Lookout Landing and descend into the Emergency Shelter. Here, you can begin a side quest “Who Goes There?” from a Hylian named Jerrin. She accidentally broke a hole in the back wall, and she’s been hearing an ominous voice calling to her ever since.
This side quest leads you a very short distance to the Horned Statue, but it leads you into the Royal Hidden Passage, so it's good to pick up before venturing in.
Crouch and head in to begin your journey.
You’ll need to break quite a few rocks along the way. You will find several rusted weapons, rocks, and Bomb Flowers along the path, so as long as you bring a few demolition tools to start out, the path should keep you well-stocked.
Once you’re through the first rock barrier beyond the entrance, you’ll come to two more rock barriers; one straight ahead, and one to the right. You can see a quest marker showing a voice down the rightmost passage.
The Horned Statue
The passage to the right leads to an immediate dead-end with a small Horned Statue inside. The Horned Statue is a bit sinister, but it will allow you to exchange a Heart Container for a Stamina Vessel or vice versa.
Veterans of Breath of the Wild will recognize this statue as having previously been located in Hateno Village.
Path To The Soldier’s Greeves
Leaving the ominous Horned Statue behind, continue down the other passage. You’ll have quite a few rocks to destroy, so be ready for some broken weapons along the path.
Be careful swinging wildly down this passage; you’ll frequently find Bomb Flowers along the way, just behind some rock walls, which can put a quick end to your dangerous delve. They don’t take kindly to blunt force. Proceed cautiously, and save frequently.
Eventually, you’ll come to another fork in the path. The right blockage leads to a dead-end full of potential gemstone veins to break.
The left path here will lead toward a larger cavern with a Like Like on the ceiling. Defeat it for an Opal.
Ignore the rock wall passage below the entrance to this cavern; it’s empty.
Past where the Like Like hung from the ceiling, you’ll spot a ledge leading into a rock wall passage. Use the Ascend Ability to reach the platform (or just climb it), then continue on your merry way.
The passage beyond has some more Bomb Flowers, so be careful swinging your stone weapon.
After this, you’ll run into a room with a couple Stone Pebblit enemies; make quick work of them. In this small cave, you’ll find a giant pile of rubble to the left and a smaller passage with blue rubble straight ahead (featured in the image above). Break up the giant pile of rubble first; this will lead into a small prison of sorts.
In here, you’ll face off against another Like Like on the left side of the room. After defeating it, loot the chest behind where it was located to acquire the Soldier’s Greaves.
Every item in the Soldier's Armor set can be found in Royal Hidden Passage.
Stalnox Boss Fight
Continuing on the passage through the blue rubble, you’ll reach a thin pathway over water, with a couple Stalkoblin and a Stalmoblin. After defeating these foes, you’ll see another passage straight ahead with more blue rubble, and a watery path below to the right. The swimming path will lead you toward a small side cave with a few fairies flying around. If you’re stealthy enough, you might be able to catch one or two!
Other than the fairies, there are a few glowing cave fish and tireless frogs you might want to snag, but this is a dead end.
Return to the walkway and continue toward the opposite blue rubble and start digging. Follow this down a winding path, which eventually leads to another blue rubble and another water section.
The blue rubble leads to a dead-end filled with a couple ore veins and a luminous stone vein. Break these up, then head over to the water. This passage will lead into a large underground cavern with some Luminous Stone deposits around the walls and a giant pile of stone in the center.
Destroying the giant pile of stone in the center will bring you face to face with a Stalnox — a skeletal Hinox — boss fight. It’ll take some effort to destroy all that stone, but you’ll find plenty of rusty weapons and small rocks to fuse together to get the job done.
You won’t have to destroy all the rocks. Once the Stalnox is uncovered enough, it will awaken, and battle will commence.
Tips For Defeating The Stalnox
- Remember to aim for its eye; shooting it in the eye will temporarily stun it, giving you great chances to deal damage.
- Watch out for its grab attack and for when it pulls off a large bone to throw at you.
As long as you keep on the move during this fight, you should have little trouble defeating this enemy. In this area, you’ll find quite a few Knight’s Halberds, Knight’s Broadswords, and Knight’s Claymores, so stock up if you’re low on gear. And maybe fuse a few to rocks while you’re at it.
This cavern has three exits:
- The one from which you entered
- A stone passage across from the Stalnox boss arena
- Another tunnel opposite the one from which you entered, leading to blue rubble
Path To The Soldier’s Armor
Head toward the path directly across from the Stalnox boss arena. You’ll need to bust up the rubble blocking the path, which can be tricky due to it being right on the water. Bomb Flowers are practically a must here. Once inside, you’ll end up in a similar prison to the one in which you found the Soldier’s Greaves. Within, you’ll encounter an Ice Like on the left side of the room.
After defeating the Ice Like, loot the chest behind it to acquire the Soldier’s Armor.
Path To The Soldier’s Helm
Return to the Stalnox boss arena and hook a right toward the blue rubble tunnel. Bust through the barriers, looting Luminous Stones, Bomb Flowers, and mushrooms along the way. You’ll eventually come across another big pile of stones in a room with a winding path.
Destroy this rubble, and duck into the next passage that leads into another small prison. No Like Like enemy here, though; just Stalkoblins. Once the enemies are defeated loot away; you’ll find some great soldier weaponry in this room.
To the left side of the room, where you’ve encountered the Like Likes previously, you’ll instead find a sealed gate with a Stalkoblin on the other side. To get to the other side, head into the cell in the back corner of the room you’re in — the one with the boulder on it. Use your Ultrahand ability to remove the boulder, revealing a hole to a path below.
Drop down, loot the Bomb Flowers along the path, and head to the far end of the passage. Climb up the next hole in the ceiling to pop up on the other side of the gate.
Defeat the Stalkoblin in this room, then loot the chest to acquire the final piece of the Soldier’s Armor set.
Path To The Bubbulfrog
Return to the winding path and continue upward. Along the path, you’ll eventually encounter an Electric Like, which drops a Knight’s Bow upon defeat.
In the next cavern beyond the Electric Like, you’ll find a Bubbulfrog lurking at the bottom of a pit. Slay the creature, collect your new Bubbul Gem, and revel in the fact that you’ve fully explored the Royal Hidden Passage!