Pre-Cook 5 Attack-Up + 5 Hearty Meals Before Any Temple

Gloom permanently reduces your max hearts (shown as dark, cracked hearts) until cured. Cook Sundelions (found on Sky Islands) into Sunny meals to restore gloom-damaged hearts. Returning to the surface also slowly restores gloom damage if you stand in sunlight. Stock up on Sundelions before entering the Depths.

Cold regions (Hebra, Mount Lanayru) require Cold Resistance — wear the Snowquill Set or cook Spicy Peppers into meals. Hot regions (Gerudo Desert daytime, Death Mountain) require Heat Resistance or Flame Guard. The Flamebreaker Set from Goron City provides Flame Guard. Two levels of resistance are needed for extreme zones.

During thunderstorms, metal equipment attracts lightning. If you see sparks on Link, immediately unequip all metal weapons, bows, and shields. Wooden and bone equipment is safe. The Rubber Armor set (found in Shrine quests) grants Lightning Proof when fully upgraded, making storms harmless.

Blood Moons occur roughly every 2 hours and 48 minutes of real-time gameplay, resetting all defeated enemies and uncollected items to their original locations. The sky turns red starting at 11:30 PM in-game. Use Blood Moons to your advantage: plan farming routes, cook during the Blood Moon for guaranteed critical cooks, and know that difficult enemies you killed will return.