Blood Moon Farming Guide — Maximizing Every Reset

The Blood Moon in TotK resets all enemies and replenishes resources — it's the game's global refresh cycle. Experienced players time their activities around Blood Moons for maximum efficiency. This guide covers how Blood Moon works, how to force it, and what to farm on each reset.

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What Blood Moon Does

Enemy reset: All defeated enemies respawn at their original locations. Camp compositions reset to their base state.

Resource reset: Ore deposits (amber, opals, gems), breakable rocks, and some material spawns refresh.

Does NOT reset:

• Chest contents (already-opened chests stay empty)
• Story progress
• Korok seeds (already-collected ones stay collected)
• Shrines (completed shrines stay lit)
• Named mini-bosses (Hinox, Talus, Molduga respawn; named story characters do not)

Blood Moon frequency: Approximately every 7–8 in-game days (roughly 2.5–3 real hours of continuous play).

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Blood Moon Warning Signs

Sky effects:

• Red tint appears on the horizon at dusk
• As midnight approaches, the moon rises full and blood-red
• Cut scene triggers at midnight: Zelda narrates a brief warning

Advance notice: The red sky effect begins approximately 30 in-game minutes before midnight. Use this window to:

1. Clear a major camp → get ready to fight it again immediately after reset
2. Start cooking batch recipes (critical hit rate elevated during Blood Moon)

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Forcing a Blood Moon

Method 1 — Inn sleeping: Sleep at any inn (pay for a room) → each sleep advances 12–15 hours. Sleeping twice covers a full day. Repeat until the Blood Moon triggers.

Efficiency note: This method costs rupees but is the most reliable way to force a Blood Moon on demand.

Method 2 — Wait at midnight: Simply wait at midnight in the open world → Blood Moon triggers when the cycle completes. Waiting near a cookfire passes time.

Method 3 — Extend play: Blood Moons happen naturally during extended sessions. If you've been playing 3+ hours without one, it's due soon.

Cannot force by: Completing shrines, fast traveling, or specific in-game actions — it's purely timer-based.

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Best Farming Cycles

Camp Farming Loop

Target: High-value enemy camps (Akkala Black Bokoblin, Lanayru Lizalfos, Gerudo Lizalfos)

Cycle:

1. Clear target camp → collect all drops + weapons
2. Identify that Blood Moon is approaching (red sky)
3. Do secondary tasks (shrine, cooking) during the Blood Moon window
4. Blood Moon resets → immediately return to camp → clear again
5. 2 camp clears per Blood Moon = maximum drop efficiency

Best camp targets:

| Camp | Enemy Type | Best Drop | |------|-----------|----------| | Akkala Citadel area | Black Bokoblin + Boss | Bokoblin Guts (high rate) | | Lanayru Wetlands | Blue/Black Lizalfos | Lizalfos Tails | | Eldin Canyon | Fire Lizalfos | Fire Lizalfos Tail (Fuse material) | | Faron Grassland | Lizalfos + Horriblin | Mixed drops, good loot table | | Necluda East | Blue Bokoblin clusters | Horn + Fang (volume) |

Floating Colosseum Loop (Lynel)

All 5 Lynels in the Floating Colosseum reset on Blood Moon:

1. Clear all 5 Lynels
2. Wait for Blood Moon (or inn sleep to force it)
3. Return → 5 Lynels reset → clear again

Each full clear drops: 5 Lynel Horns, 5 Lynel Hooves, 5 Lynel Guts + bows + weapons

Most efficient source of Lynel parts in the game.

Hinox Loop

All Hinoxes across Hyrule reset on Blood Moon:

1. Target Hinoxes closest to fast travel points (Necluda, Faron, Akkala)
2. Defeat via eye arrow stagger → melee → Sneakstrike combo
3. Collect necklace weapons + Hinox drops
4. Blood Moon reset → 3–4 Hinox clears per cycle

Best Hinox locations for fast resets:

• Rabella Wetlands (Necluda) — accessible fast travel point nearby
• Cape Cales (Faron coast) — two Hinoxes within 200m of each other

Molduga Desert Loop

All 4 Moldugas reset on Blood Moon:

1. Clear all 4 Molduga locations in Gerudo Desert
2. Each drops Molduga Fins, Guts, and Scales
3. After Blood Moon → repeat

Molduga Guts are the best elixir duration extender — farming these accelerates max-duration elixir production.

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Blood Moon Cooking Window

During a Blood Moon (red sky through midnight → reset):

• Cooking critical hit rate approximately doubled
• All recipes have higher chance of bonus hearts, duration, or tier upgrades

Protocol:

1. When red sky appears → open inventory → mass-cook all pending recipes
2. Priority: Endura Elixirs, Hearty Durian meals, long-duration protection dishes
3. Continue cooking through the midnight reset
4. Post-reset: cooking returns to normal rate

Batch cooking tip: Pre-stage ingredient sets in a logical order before the window. Cook without switching between recipe types — cook all Endura Elixirs, then all Hearty meals, then elixirs. Minimizes time between dishes.

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Ore Deposit Farming

Ore deposits also reset on Blood Moon:

Best ore farm locations (resets with each Blood Moon):

• Eldin Canyon: Dense Ruby and Sapphire deposits along the canyon walls
• Akkala Highlands: Opal and Topaz clusters near the ancient tech ruins
• Lanayru Mountains: Diamond deposits near high-altitude peaks (rare but present)

Mining speed: Any weapon swing breaks ore. Use low-durability weapons (weak ones from camps) to mine — preserves your combat weapons.

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Quick Tips

• Red sky = stop and cook — the moment you see the sky turn red, open the fire and start cooking everything you've been saving. The elevated critical rate window is 10–15 real minutes. Don't waste it.
• Camp → Blood Moon → camp again — clear the best camp you can access, do other activities, come back post-reset and clear it again. Double the loot per Blood Moon cycle.
• Hinox necklace reset — Hinox necklace weapons reset on Blood Moon too. A sleeping Hinox with 3 high-tier fused weapons on its necklace can be looted twice per cycle with Ultrahand (steal weapons while it sleeps, Blood Moon resets the necklace, steal again post-reset).
• Force Blood Moon before difficult camps — if you're about to attempt a hard camp or boss fight, force a Blood Moon first via inn sleep. Then clear the reset camp with full preparation and fresh enemy spawns.
• Floating Colosseum is the best Blood Moon farm — if you can clear all 5 Lynels in the Colosseum, no other farm in the game matches the drop value per Blood Moon cycle.

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See also: Blood Moon Guide | Lynel Tips Guide | Advanced Cooking Guide