How to beat Molduga in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

The Molduga is a fearsome foe in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, as Breath of the Wild veterans will well know. The boss buries itself under the sand, detecting any movement that Link makes, and hones in to strike with accuracy and speed.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t give Link plenty of Bomb Arrows to work with, and anyone knows how invaluable these items are. You’re going to want to bring at least a good few of them with you to face a Molduga, as well as having a good selection of melee weapons on standby.

Now you can read on for our info on how to beat the Molduga in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

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If you'd like to learn more about Link's adventure, visit our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.

How to prepare to fight the Molduga in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Here’s a few things we’d recommend doing before facing off against any Molduga in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:

• >Get Bomb Flowers - Anyone will know how handy these things will be, so we’d recommend stopping off in Gerudo Town and spending your hard-earned Rupees on some Bomb Flowers.
• Craft a Heat-Proof Dish - Since you’ll be fighting the Molduga in the desert, you’ll either want to cook dishes that guard against the heat, or buy heat-resistant clothing items from Gerudo Town.
• Collect Strong Weapons - Weapons don’t last forever in Tears of the Kingdom, but we’d recommend having a good selection of strong and fast weapons on hand for dealing with the Molduga.
• Get Some Bows - One powerful bow is usually all you’ll need against the Molduga, but it’s absolutely essential you have at least another bow on hand as a backup option should the first one break.
• Obtain Arrows - You’ll want to head to either Gerudo Town or Lookout Landing and buy up all the Arrows they have on offer with your Rupees.

After taking these steps, you should be right at home going face-to-face with the Molduga.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Molduga locations

In total, there are four Moldugas to find and fight in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. They’re all found exclusively in the Gerudo Desert region of the map, and you can find all four where we’ve placed the beacons on the map just below.

• The Molduga in the east can be found circling the Siwakama Shrine, in the very eastern edge of the Gerudo Desert.
• Just to the southeast of Gerudo Town, you can find a Molduga patrolling to the northeast of the Southern Oasis.
• To the north of Gerudo Town there’s a Shrine called Kudanisar Shrine, and you can find a Molduga directly between the Shrine and the town itself.
• The western-most Molduga can be found immediately north of Miryotanog Shrine, and it’ll be circling around some campfire smoke.

How to beat the Molduga in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Killing a Molduga is all about getting it to come up out of the sand. This was the same case in Breath of the Wild years ago, and it still holds true in Tears of the Kingdom. To this end, you’ll want to firstly find yourself some solid ground to stand on near the Molduga’s battle arena, provided that’s even possible.

No worries if that’s possible - it’s just a nice reassurance to have. If you’re on solid ground, shoot an arrow near the Molduga into the ground, and you’ll bait it into going to where the arrow landed. When it gets near the point, shoot a Bomb Flower into the ground, and you’ll basically blow up the Molduga, sending it sky high.

You now need to run in as quickly as possible to the head of the Molduga, where its eyes are. This is the beast’s weak point, and you need to give it a good whack with your strongest weapon as quickly as possible, before it retreats back into the sand.

This is the best way of beating a Molduga, and you’re going to need to repeat the process as many times as it takes to kill the monster. That’s why we recommended bringing multiple melee weapons and bows with you - you really don’t want to be stranded in this fight without a weapon in case it drags on.

But what happens if you don’t have solid ground to retreat to? In this case, the Molduga is going to be coming full force at you, and if it hits Link when it jumps out of the sand, it can kill him outright if you’ve got under 10 Hearts.

Again, you can fire a Bomb Flower where the Molduga is under the ground. Alternatively, a Time Bomb Zonai device can be great for firing at a point on the sand, as it’ll bait the Molduga towards it and donate after a certain time. Provided the Molduga is still there after three or four seconds, the bomb will catch the Molduga in its blast.

If you’re feeling like a sharp shot, you can even hit the Molduga out of midair when it jumps up, using a Bomb Flower. If your arrow connects, it’ll immediately knock the Molduga back down to the ground, where you can run in for some hits.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Molduga rewards

When you best a Molduga, you’ll get an assortment of Molduga-related items, just like you would for slaying Bokoblins or Hinoxes. The Molduga’s dropped rewards are the Molduga Jaw, Molduga Fin, and finally Molduga Guts. Unlike a Hinox, there aren’t any weapons to be gained from slaying a Molduga.

You can take the Molduga Jaw and attach it to a weapon using Fuse to give it a power boost, or you can use it in an Elixir to make the item’s effects last longer on Link. The Molduga Fin can also be attached to a weapon, but in particular, it can be used to make Arrows and Boomerangs fly further once fired.

Best of luck taking on the Molduga found throughout The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom!