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The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is loaded with references to its predecessor, but none of those references come close to the sheer comedy of Master Kohga and his dramatic reappearance. This great leader of the Yiga Clan, once fallen, is back, and it's your job to stop him once again.
The side quest Master Kohga Of The Yiga Clan will take you through a series of vehicle-based encounters with the Yiga head honcho, but it can be anything but straightforward at times. If you're having trouble figuring out where to go or how to beat Kohga's latest invention, here's everything you need to know about the Master Kohga Of The Yiga Clan quest.
Updated by Shane Black on August 2, 2023: This guide was updated to include the different items that can drop from each of the different fights you will have with Master Kohga. It also added more links to relevant guides and articles to provide more information.
Master Kohga's 1st Location
Your first encounter with Master Kohga comes as you unlock the Autobuild ability in the Depths. This quest will lead you to the Great Abandoned Central Mine which is located directly below the Great Plateau. As the quest tells you to do, follow the chain of large statues which will point you in the direction of the mine.
Here you'll find a couple of Yiga Clan assassins disguised as researchers, and after unlocking Autobuild and confronting them, you'll meet the man himself, Master Kohga. He'll challenge you to a fight, using powers he has discovered after hiding out in the Depths for so long.
How To Beat Master Kohga In The Car
The first time you fight Master Kohga, he'll use a car with spikes on the front as his weapon of choice. While it might seem intimidating at first, it has incredibly predictable attacks, and there's an easy way to land hits on Master Kohga.
The trick is to hit him with an arrow while he's in the vehicle. Doing so will knock him backward and stun him for a while, letting you get in a ton of damage. At the start of the fight, the car will rumble towards you slowly, so all you need to do to avoid his attacks is run directly to one side. He may try to throw a ball at you, but this attack is easy to dodge as well. Just, don't let your stamina run out. Prior to this fight, you might even want to think about exchanging heart containers for stamina vessels.
As you damage Master Kohga, he'll upgrade his vehicle until it has rockets to launch it forward and a blue shield blocking the front. When this happens, you'll have to be much more careful. Run to the side while you wait for the car to launch forward, and once it does, turn around to get a few shots off on Master Kohga. His back should be undefended by the blue shield.
Once you beat Master Kohga, he'll storm off to his next lair, leaving behind 100 Crystallized Charges and allowing you to activate the Forge Construct in the area. As a small note, each time you beat Master Kohga, you'll get this same reward, making it a great way to increase your Energy Cell charges at the start of the game.
Defeating Master Kohga here will net you a good amount of Crystallised Charges, along with a new schematic.
Master Kohga's 2nd Location
After Kohga runs off, the Steward Construct nearby will tell you about a base the Yiga leader set up under the Gerudo Desert. This base is in fact where you'll next find Master Kohga, but it'll be a bit harder to get there. You'll have to get to the Abandoned Gerudo Mine which is located directly beneath the Gerudo Shelter and southwest of the Great Abandoned Central Mine.
You can either follow the chain of large statues as the Steward Construct suggests, which will take you past tons of interesting locations, Lightroots, bosses, and small Yiga hideouts, or you could travel above ground and fall in a chasm much closer to your end destination. If you opt for the latter option, the chasm on the southern side of the Gerudo Highlands is likely your best bet.
However, there's something to be said for following the statues in the Depths. No only will you get to explore the dark cave under Hyrule more, but you'll also encounter plenty of Yiga Clan hideouts which contain Yiga Clan Rewards and Yiga Clan Schematics Yiga Clan Schematics, powerful Autobuild schematics that let you build certain designs with the ability.
Once you arrive, you'll see Kohga hopelessly trying to activate the constructs with his right hand, and once he notices you're there, he'll challenge you to another battle using a completely different vehicle.
How To Beat Master Kohga In The Plane
This time Master Kohga will take to the skies in a glider, and this time, he will much tricker to take down than in the last fight. While the general strategy remains the same, shoot Kohga off of his glider and then dish out the damage, the vehicle makes all the difference.
Not only will Kohga be moving much faster and further away from you, but his plane will also be equipped with a series of flamethrowers and at later stages, a rotating cannon. These weapons pack a serious punch and have a nasty habit of hitting you right when you had the perfect shot lined up.
To counteract this, you'll need to get creative. Use the floating platform Zonai devices or the Rockets around the edge of the area to stand on even ground with Master Kohga so that you can get a better shot. If you're still having a hard time hitting him on the glider, try attaching some Keese Eyes to your arrows so that they home in on the nearest target.
Taking down the Master, again, will give you a handful of Crystallised Charges as well as another schematic for your Schema Stone.
Master Kohga's 3rd Location
It'll take more than two bad fights to take Master Kohga out of commission. After beating him for the second time, a nearby Steward Construct will inform you that he has likely run to a base under the Lanaryu Wetlands. Specifically, you'll find Master Kohga at the Abandoned Lanayru Mine directly under Zora's Domain.
This time, the best way to reach Master Kohga is to travel above ground. The way there through even the best places in the Depths is long, winding, and doesn't have nearly as many statues to guide you. Travel to the Mount Lanayru Skyview Tower and fall into the nearby chasm. From the Lightroot at the bottom, you'll see a line of statues that'll guide you to Master Kohga.
When you arrive, he will once again be trying to activate the constructs to no avail, and as with the last time you found him, he'll challenge you to a vehicle-based battle when caught.
How To Beat Master Kohga In The Boat
This third battle will have the leader of the Yiga Clan take to the water in an effort to beat you. Kohga's latest vehicle is a fan-powered boat with spikes on the front and two Yiga archers on top.
While the boat itself is lumbering and slow, the Yiga archers and aquatic terrain make this fight a difficult one. You'll have to quickly patch together a boat of your own on the nearby dock, get close to Master Kohga while dodging arrows, and place a well-aimed shot before his boat gets too far from yours.
Getting close is the key to this fight since hitting Master Kohga from too far away won't give you enough time to close the gap and deal damage with your weapons. Instead, try ramming his boat, shooting him quickly, and then hopping onto his to take advantage of his stun duration.
Keese Eyes are again a great way to ensure you land your shots You can also shoot the Yiga archers if you're having trouble closing the gap, but don't do this too much. The archers will disappear as soon as Kohga is hit, so you should still focus on him as much as possible. When Kohga's boat gains the blue shield, you'll have to wait until he starts charging a ranged attack to shoot him.
Surprise, surprise: you will receive some Crystallised Charges and a Schema Stone schematic.
Master Kohga's 4th Location
After you beat Master Kohga for a third time, a nearby Steward Construct will inform you that he has likely gone to his hideout in the Hebra region, and this time, you'll even be given a quest marker. To be precise, Kohga has retreated to the Abandoned Hebra Mine which lies directly under Rito Village, but there's a catch. You can't reach this mine from the Depths; it's blocked off by tall walls on every side. Instead, you'll have to find a chasm that leads directly into the mine itself.
This chasm is located inside Rito Village, but it's quite hidden away. As soon as you visit the Gatakis Shrine, walk to the south until you find a researcher next to a small fire. Underneath this researcher is a small cave entrance on the side of the cliff face that you'll have to use your Paraglider to reach. Once inside, follow the cave until you reach the chasm itself. At the bottom of this pit, you'll find the Abandoned Hebra Mine and Master Kohga, waiting in quiet meditation.
How To Beat Master Kohga In The Mech
The fourth and final form of Master Kohga is a bespoke mech that is reminiscent of Mineru's Construct, and this is his most challenging fight yet. The mech itself is indestructible, and as in other fights, you'll have to shoot Master Kohga out of it in order to hit him with your other weapons. However, this time around, he has ways to deal with that.
After the first few shots, the mech will gain a shield ability similar to how Hinox will cover their eyes that will deflect any projectile you try to shoot at it. To get around this, you need to wait until the red symbol disappears before you shoot. But that's not the end of the countermeasures. Later in the fight, the mech will gain the same blue shield protecting Master Kohga that the other vehicles had. Unlike previous iterations, however, this shield will never drop, even while Kohga is attacking.
Instead of trying to shoot through the shield, wait for him to create three large projectiles and then use the Recall ability to send those projectiles streaming back toward him. The third projectile should connect through his shield and give you an opportunity to deal damage to him.
Rinse and repeat until Kohga has no more life left, and you'll have defeated Master Kohga for good. He'll even manage to blast himself off into space with a massive rocket gone wrong. However, this isn't the end for the Yiga Clan. There are plenty more adventure to be had involving them, and if you look hard enough, you'll even be able to learn some of their special techniques.
Be sure to grab your Crystallised Charges and new schematic before you leave the area.