Korok Forest Guide — Lost Woods, Master Sword & Hestu

Korok Forest is TotK's secret woodland sanctuary — home of Hestu, the Great Deku Tree, and the Master Sword's resting place. Reaching it requires navigating the Lost Woods, a puzzle-maze that filters out players who wander aimlessly. This guide covers the exact route through the Lost Woods and everything inside Korok Forest.

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Where Is Korok Forest

Location: Central Hyrule, Woodland region — north of Eldin, in the center of the Lost Woods

Korok Forest is surrounded on all sides by the Lost Woods — a magical forest that loops back on itself if you don't know the correct path. It does not appear clearly on the map until after your first visit.

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How to Reach Korok Forest — Through the Lost Woods

Two methods in TotK:

Method 1: Surface Approach (Classic)

The traditional BotW method — navigate through the Lost Woods by following the glowing Spores/wind direction:

1. Enter the Lost Woods from the north road out of Eldin (Woodland area)
2. Follow the glowing Spores — small golden particles drift in the wind, indicating the correct direction
3. At each fork: go the direction the spores move
4. Don't stray — moving against the spore direction teleports you back to the entrance
5. After 4-5 correct direction choices, the fog clears and Korok Forest appears

Tip for the surface approach: If the spores aren't visible, look for the wind direction blowing the leaves. Same indicator.

Method 2: Depths Approach (TotK New Route)

TotK's unique method — enter from below:

1. Find the Lost Woods Chasm (near the Lost Woods surface entrance in Woodland)
2. Drop into the Depths
3. Navigate through the Depths directly below the Lost Woods (use Brightbloom Seeds for visibility)
4. Ascend through the ceiling using the Ascend ability directly beneath Korok Forest
5. You emerge inside the forest — bypassing the puzzle entirely

Which to use: The Depths approach is faster once you know it. The surface approach is more atmospheric and unlocks the puzzle knowledge.

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Inside Korok Forest

The Great Deku Tree

• Location: Center of Korok Forest
• The ancient guardian of the forest and keeper of the Master Sword
• In TotK, the Great Deku Tree has a major role in the Master Sword questline
• His stomach: The Great Deku Tree has a dungeon inside him — clear it for a key reward

Hestu

• Location: Just inside the Korok Forest entrance
• Hestu is the giant Korok who upgrades your weapon/bow/shield slots using Korok Seeds
• See weapon slot upgrade costs below

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Hestu — Weapon Slot Upgrades

Hestu upgrades inventory slots in exchange for Korok Seeds:

Weapon slot costs (ascending price per upgrade):

| Upgrade # | Seeds Required | |-----------|---------------| | 1st slot | 1 seed | | 2nd slot | 2 seeds | | 3rd slot | 3 seeds | | 4th slot | 5 seeds | | 5th slot | 8 seeds | | 6th+ | 12+ seeds (increasing) |

Bow slots and Shield slots follow a similar escalating cost.

Priority: Weapon slots first (you'll find more weapons than bows early), then bow slots (multi-shot bows need storage), then shield slots last (shields last longer than weapons).

Full completion: 900 Korok Seeds total exist in TotK. You don't need all 900 — Hestu's upgrades max out well before that (roughly 441 seeds for all upgrades combined). The remaining seeds are for completionists.

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Master Sword — Location and Acquisition

Where Is the Master Sword

In TotK, the Master Sword is NOT at a fixed ground location. It is:

Carried by Zelda's Light Dragon — circling high above Hyrule at the sky layer.

How to Get the Master Sword

Prerequisite: Collect all 12 Dragon's Tears memories (from the Geoglyph questline — start with Impa in Kakariko Village).

After collecting all 12 memories, the true origin of the Light Dragon is revealed. The Master Sword is embedded in the Light Dragon's forehead.

To obtain:

1. Reach the Light Dragon (sky height — requires sky island chain or high-altitude launch)
2. Land on the dragon's back
3. Walk to the dragon's head
4. Pull the Master Sword from the dragon's forehead

Stamina requirement: Pulling the Master Sword requires holding the action for several seconds — requires at minimum 2 full Stamina Wheels (10 Stamina Vessels). If you have less, eat Enduring food before pulling.

Master Sword Stats

• Base damage: 30 (True Potential: scales higher)
• Fuse: The Master Sword can be Fused like any other weapon
• Unique property: Never permanently breaks — it has a cooldown/recharge timer instead
• Durability: After enough use, the Master Sword "runs out of power" temporarily — recharges after a set time

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Great Deku Tree's Stomach Dungeon

Inside the Great Deku Tree is a mini-dungeon — entered by being swallowed:

What's inside:

• Gloom-infused area (bring Sundelion meals)
• Multiple enemies to clear
• Puzzle elements (Recall + Ultrahand required)
• Chest reward: Guaranteed high-tier item (usually a top-tier weapon or key material)

Completion bonus: Clearing the Great Deku Tree's dungeon is required for full Korok Forest story resolution and restores the tree to health.

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Korok Seeds in Korok Forest

The forest itself has several Korok Seeds — worth collecting during your visit:

• Pinwheel Korok at the forest entrance
• Leaf pile Korok near the Great Deku Tree base
• Acorn Korok hanging from a branch above the Hestu area
• Race Korok on the western forest path (reach the second leaf pile in time)

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Quick Tips

• Depths approach for speed — if you just need to get to Korok Forest fast (to reach Hestu or the Master Sword chase), the Depths Ascend route bypasses the Lost Woods entirely.
• Master Sword stamina prep — eat 2× Enduring Meals before pulling the sword from the dragon. Running out of stamina mid-pull drops you off the dragon and you have to climb back up.
• Hestu = seed priority — every Korok Seed you carry that you haven't given Hestu is a wasted weapon slot. Visit Korok Forest and spend your seeds regularly.
• Great Deku Tree dungeon first — clear the dungeon before exploring the rest of the forest. It's story-relevant and the chest reward is worth it.
• Light Dragon spawn — the Light Dragon circles Hyrule at sky height on a consistent route. Use the map sky layer and look for the golden trail indicating its path. It crosses above Central Hyrule frequently.

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See also: Dragon's Tears Guide | Korok Seed Puzzles Guide | Beginner's Guide