Hinox Farming Guide — All Types, Bead Necklace Loot & Location List

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Hinox Farming Guide — All Types, Bead Necklace Loot & Location List

Hinoxes are the sleeping giants of Hyrule — massive cyclops-like enemies found slumbering in forests, beaches, and ruins. Every Hinox wears a bead necklace strung with weapons, and each tier drops progressively better gear. With a systematic farming route hitting 5–8 Hinoxes per Blood Moon cycle, you can maintain a near-infinite supply of mid-to-high tier weapons without ever visiting a shop.


Quick Stats

| Type | HP | Bead Weapons | Key Drops | Difficulty | |------|-----|-------------|-----------|------------| | Red Hinox | Low | Traveler/Soldier tier | Hinox Toenail, Hinox Tooth, Hinox Guts | Easy | | Blue Hinox | Medium | Knight/Royal tier | Hinox Toenail, Hinox Tooth, Hinox Guts | Medium | | Black Hinox | High | Royal/Royal Guard tier | Hinox Tooth x2, Hinox Guts, Topaz | Hard | | Stalnox | Medium | Traveler/Soldier tier | Hinox Toenail, Hinox Tooth | Medium |


Hinox Mechanics

The Bead Necklace System

Every Hinox wears a necklace of beads with 2–5 weapons attached. These weapons drop on the ground when the Hinox dies. The tier of weapons scales with Hinox color:

  • Red Hinox — Traveler's Sword, Traveler's Spear, Wooden Shield tier
  • Blue Hinox — Knight's Sword, Knight's Shield, Soldier variants
  • Black Hinox — Royal Sword, Royal Shield, Royal Guard weapons

You cannot steal the necklace mid-fight — you must kill the Hinox to access it.

Eye Weakness

All Hinoxes share a single mechanic: the eye is the critical weak point. Hitting the eye with an arrow stuns the Hinox, causing it to fall and remain vulnerable for 5–8 seconds.

Stun sequence:

  1. Aim carefully at the open eye (the Hinox's head sways — time your shot)
  2. Arrow hits eye → Hinox staggers and falls prone
  3. Sprint to the body and attack the necklace area or the eye itself for bonus damage
  4. Repeat after it stands

One eye shot per stun window. Higher-tier Hinoxes shake off the stun faster.


Red Hinox

The most common variant. Slow, predictable, and found sleeping in forests and near ruins throughout Hyrule. Excellent early-game farming target.

Attack Patterns

  • Ground Slam — raises both fists and slams; dodge sideways
  • Belly Flop — charges and throws itself forward; roll away or sprint out of range
  • Swat — single-hand sideways swipe; backflip for Flurry Rush

Strategy

Red Hinoxes are trivial once you learn the eye stun. Even without arrows, you can stay behind the legs and attack the ankles (ankles take bonus damage from slashing). Two eye stuns and sustained melee finishes most Red Hinoxes in under a minute.

Notable Locations

  • Faron Grasslands — multiple Red Hinoxes sleeping near the rivers south of Lake Hylia
  • West Necluda — near Dueling Peaks, sleeping in forest clearings
  • Akkala Coast — along the coastline northeast of Zora's Domain road
  • Eldin Canyon — near the road north of Goron Bridge, one confirmed spawn

Blue Hinox

Mid-tier variant. Faster, harder-hitting, and wears Knight/Royal-tier weapons on its necklace. Worth farming once you're comfortable with the eye stun mechanic.

Differences from Red Hinox

  • Higher HP pool — plan for 3–4 stun cycles
  • Faster attack recovery — less time to melee after each stun
  • Occasionally grabs boulders and throws them; sprint diagonally to dodge
  • Eye is smaller relative to body — harder to hit while it moves

Strategy

Fire arrows from elevation when possible. Hilltops, ledges, or paraglider height all give you a clean eye shot angle. After each stun, use a 2H weapon with a strong fuse material for maximum damage in the down window.

Notable Locations

  • Lake Hylia — on the island in the center of the lake (requires paraglider or Zora Armor to reach)
  • Akkala Highlands — northeast Hyrule near the coastline
  • Eldin — upper Eldin, one Blue Hinox near the hot springs area
  • Lanayru — East Lanayru coast, sleeping on rocky outcroppings

Black Hinox

The hardest standard Hinox variant. Wears Royal and Royal Guard tier weapons. High HP, fast attack recovery, and hits hard enough to two-shot Link without armor buffs.

Key Differences

  • Eye stun window is shorter — you have roughly 3 seconds of down time before it recovers
  • Regenerates HP slowly when not being attacked — maintain pressure
  • Uses all standard attacks at higher frequency with less wind-up
  • Throws boulders and tree trunks mid-fight

Strategy

Black Hinoxes reward preparation. Before engaging:

  1. Eat an attack food buff (Mighty Elixir or Mighty Meal for +3 attack)
  2. Equip your highest-damage fused melee weapon
  3. Pre-aim from high ground for the first eye shot before alerting it

After the first stun, burn your attack buff window hard. Two stuns with buffed attacks often ends the fight before the HP regen matters.

Notable Locations

  • Faron — deep Faron south of Lurelin Village, near the Floria River delta
  • Lanaryu East — coastal area east of Zora's Domain approach
  • Woodland — Korok Forest approach, one Black Hinox guards the path
  • Hebra — south Hebra near Tabantha Frontier boundary

Stalnox

The skeletal Hinox. Found exclusively at night or underground in caves and the Depths. Stalnox has a unique mechanic: its eye physically detaches in the final phase.

Stalnox Mechanics

When a Stalnox reaches low health:

  1. Its eye pops out of the skull and hops around the arena independently
  2. You must hit the detached eye to finish the fight — attacking the body deals no damage in this phase
  3. The eye hops quickly; use an arrow to stun it, then run in and melee it

Night Requirement

Stalnox only appears at night or in caves. If you find a Stalnox spot during the day, sleep at a campfire nearby until midnight, then the Stalnox will rise from the ground at its spawn location.

Notable Locations

  • Hyrule Field — multiple Stalnox spawn in the open field at night near Lookout Landing
  • Akkala — Rist Peninsula cave, one Stalnox inside
  • Depths — multiple Stalnox spawn throughout the Depths regardless of time of day
  • Eldin — Eldin Cave system, Stalnox spawns inside

Farming Route (Recommended)

For maximum weapon yield per Blood Moon cycle, combine these locations into a single route:

  1. Faron Grasslands — 2 Red Hinox (fast kills, warm up)
  2. Lake Hylia island — 1 Blue Hinox (Knight/Royal weapons)
  3. Akkala Coast — 1 Red + 1 Blue Hinox (weapons + Hinox Guts)
  4. Woodland / Korok Forest path — 1 Black Hinox (Royal Guard weapons)

That's 5–6 Hinoxes with a mix of tiers. The full circuit takes 20–25 minutes and yields 12–18 weapons plus 4–8 Hinox Guts.


Hinox Materials & Uses

  • Hinox Toenail — fuse to weapons: adds physical damage; sells for 12 rupees
  • Hinox Tooth — fuse to weapons: adds physical damage boost; sells for 18 rupees
  • Hinox Guts — fuse to weapons: adds significant damage bonus; sells for 40 rupees; used in some Great Fairy armor upgrades

Related Guides

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Nintendo Switch — pick up your copy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

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