Weapons and shields are constantly breaking in Tears of the Kingdom, so you need some perks attached to the one constant you have: clothes. The Great Fairies, giant ladies with magical abilities found around Hyrule, can help you with that. In exchange for some materials, they can make your armor more powerful. The trick is, you’ve gotta get them to come out of their plant-like houses. Seeking their help is an involved process because it ties into other questlines, but here’s a quick rundown of how to find them and take advantage of their particular set of skills.
How do I start the Great Fairy quest in Tears of the Kingdom?
Oddly enough, finding the Great Fairies requires you to start a completely unrelated quest. Potential Princess Sightings, which you can find as soon as you arrive in Hyrule at the Lucky Clover Gazette’s office outside Rito Village, follows Penn, a reporter for Hyrule’s local paper. Penn’s adventure also interfaces with a ton of quests and mechanics throughout its runtime. This includes the Great Fairy quest. It acts as a springboard for both reuniting the musical group The Stable Trotters, and drawing the fairies from their isolation. One of the 12 missions you’ll take on alongside Penn takes you to Woodland Stable in Eldin Canyon, and the game asks you to transport members of the band to the Great Fairies’ home so they can serenade her out of the Ganondorf-induced funk she’s in.
The simplest way to do this in the first quest is to use a horse and the Towing Harness to drag their cart up to the Great Fairy. Though you might feel inclined to use Ultrahand just to pick the cart up and carry it over, The Stable Trotters have weak stomachs and will complain if the cart stays off the ground too long.
How do I wake up the other Great Fairies?
The nice thing about this quest line is that once you talk to one Great Fairy, you’ll see the locations for each Great Fairy on the map. Each of them is close to one of the stables, which always have a fast travel point near them and you can see where their bulbs are from a distance thanks to the purple gas coming out of the top. So getting around to your destination is pretty simple, but each quest does require some jumping around the map. The problem is the other three quests all have an additional step on top of trying to get a member of The Stable Trotters to the Great Fairy’s doorstep.
How to do the Great Fairy Mija quest
You can approach these quests in any order, but first we’ll talk about is Mija, who lives in the snowy Herba Mountains and likes the sound of a horn. The Stable Trotters’ horn player is a fair way south in Tabantha Frontier. While he might be out of the Herba Mountain cold, he’s in a much worse situation: he and his cart have taken a tumble into a hole and he has no way out. But Link’s the Hero of Hyrule, so he’s contractually obligated to help him out.
Eustus says he need you to get him and the cart itself out of the hole, and luckily, there’s a bunch of Ultrahand materials that lift things off the ground that make that possible. I placed the slab on top, put a fire emitter facing upward on that, and then topped it off with a balloon. Once that lifted Eustus and his cart off the ground, I climbed up and used Ultrahand to pull him to safety. But feel free to try another method with all the tools down here. As a reward, he will give you three pieces of Courser Bee Honey, which, if you do this quest before the next one we’re gonna talk about, will help you skip a step in the process.
Head to Snowfield Stable and Ultrahand a roof onto the cart, then grab one of your horses and equip the Towing Harness again. Attach the harness to the cart and then it’s a simple strut up to Mija’s home between you and more powerful clothing upgrades.
What to do in the Great Fairy Cotera quest
Next up, we’re heading to the Great Fairy bulb near Dueling Peaks Stable. This is the home of Cotera, and she wants to hear the sound of a drum. To bring a percussionist to Cortera’s doorstep, you’ll have to complete the Honey, Bee Mine, which starts just south of Bonooru’s Stand near Kakariko Village. At the southern edge of the region, you’ll find a path in the mountainside signified by an archway. Pass through that and you’ll find Beetz playing his drum in a tent. If you didn’t get the Courser Bee Honey from Eustus, you’ll have to track down three combs of honey to get him to play ball. He says he heard we can find some near the chasm close to Kakariko Village. Fast travel to Kakariko and head toward the big scary hole in the ground and look for Courser Bee Honey hanging from the tree branches on the way. A swarm of bees will come after you if you take these, so the safest method is to shoot them down with your bow. Just don’t stand around too long after you pick it up.
Take these to Beetz and he’ll head to Dueling Peaks Stable to hang out with the rest of the band, and they’ll be ready for transport to Cotera’s home.This time, you’ll have to move the group across the river, so it’s time to come up with something seafaring. After you discuss your plan with the group at the stable stage, they’ll wait for you with their cart next to the river, but you should head over to the Hyrule Restoration Materials stand west of the stable. Use Ultrahand to grab one of the rafts and attach it to the bottom of the cart, as well as add some fans to give yourself some momentum. If you don’t have any on hand, look at the rock formation on the river next to the dock. There’s also a control stick to help you steer. If Mastro gives you any lip about using Ultrahand on the cart, just talk to him once and he chills out, for some reason. Then all that’s left is to drive the raft to Cotera’s bulb, then you’ll have another Great Fairy to help you out.
Handling the Great Fairy Kaysa quest
Last on our list is on Kaysa, who lives near Outskirt Stable southwest of Central Hyrule. Her instrument of choice is the flute, so now we’ve gotta find Pyper, The Stable Trotters’ flutist. Just like Beetz, he’s not anywhere near the corresponding Great Fairy’s home, so head over to Highland Stable, which is in the southern region of the map next to Haran Lake.
Our flute player is hanging out in one of the trees next to Highland Stable, so you’ve just gotta climb up and join him to see what it would take to get him back in the band. He tells you he’s looking for ten Sunset Fireflies. One method is to buy them from Beedle, the traveling merchant found at different stables around Hyrule. However, he will run out of stock, making this the more time-consuming method as you run around waiting for him to restock. The simplest way to find these little guys is the one Pyper points you toward: the woods north of the stable. You’ll have to wait until nightfall to see them, so if you need to kill some time, rest up at the stable before heading north to Pagos Woods. Here, you’ll find plenty of Sunset Fireflies for Pyper. Just keep in mind they will fly away if they hear you coming, so take off your pants for minimal sound and start sneaking.
Take the fireflies to Pyper and he’ll ask you to go to the stable and bring Haite to see him at night. Depending on what time you go to get her, she might be asleep already. If that’s the case, you can just check into the stable and ask to be woken up at night. Haite should be awake when you wake up, so you can continue the quest. But she will also get uppity about the weather if it’s raining. Not that we can control that. What’s the opposite of the “Song of Storms” in Ocarina of Time? Link needs that.
Once Pyper puts on his show, head over to the Outskirt Stable for your next Ultrahand Uber ride. Mastro will tell you there’s a bunch of rocks in the way of the group’s usual path, but if you put their cart on top of the giant rock slab with giant wheels directly next to it and attach the steering stick to it, you can drive over the rocks and up to Kaysa’s home.
And there you have it. You’ve reunited a band and restored four Great Fairies’ faith in humanity. Look at you on that Hero of Hyrule shit.
How do I upgrade my clothing in Tears of the Kingdom?
Once you’ve awoken all the Great Fairies, you’ll be able to upgrade some (but not all) of your clothing to higher levels. Upgrading your clothes will increase their defensive capabilities for a small fee, which goes up for each level you enhance a specific item. However, the fairies require certain materials, such as monster parts or certain plants. Thankfully, they take the guess work out of it by telling you what specific materials you need for each piece. So don’t worry about fumbling in the dark as to what a Great Fairy wants to bulk up your favorite outfit.
