The main attraction of the Akkala region is the third of the Sheikah who came up with the idea of dropping Link in the Shrine of Resurrection and preparing to help him when he woke up, Robbie. His tech lab is at the end of the road, near the far northeast corner of the region (Impa got to stay in Kakariko, and Purah settled in Hateno, leaving Robbie to go to the boonies). Like St. Thomas, Robbie refuses to be sure this guy with a Sheikah Slate and the Master Sword who braved Akkala to make it all the way out here is Link until he inspects the wounds from the first fight against Calamity Ganon, which requires Link to take off his clothes. After that’s done, he introduces himself properly, every now and then striking a pose while a guitar sting plays.
Then there’s a second problem; as with Purah’s lab, the ancient furnace powering the lab has gone out and Link needs to bring the fire back. It’s a little more complicated this time, as the path isn’t as easy and Hateno was all civilized while the areas around Robbie’s lab are monster-ridden. It’s possible to juggle a lit torch and an actual weapon, but much easier to clear the path of anything that might pester Link on the return journey before lighting the torch and hope the blood moon doesn’t pop up before he finishes. (I was sure I was due. I was wrong.) There was one part, near the end of the trip, where there was a tree fallen across the path that Link needed to climb over on his way out. Climbing means stowing weapons, which would extinguish the torch. There’s no way around without swimming. I’m not sure if there’s an intended solution here or what it is, but I was able to chuck the lit torch over the tree and it stayed lit while Link climbed over.
In addition to a teleport gate, Link’s efforts have brought the ancient oven “Cherry” inside the lab to life. Robbie gives Link three more Ancient Arrows. Outside the Trial of the Sword, these are the ultimate item that’s so powerful I’d rather save wastefully than use wastefully. (Furthering this status, if used on anything but a Guardian, everything it would have dropped is destroyed with it; this is why I fought the first Lynel in the Trial – I wanted its bow.) I figure I’ll use them when I go to Hyrule Castle, which is sure to be crawling with Guardians.
Link can purchase more ancient arrows and a bunch of other weapons and armor built with similar tech (not as devastatingly gamebreaking, but from “Cherry.” Aside from Ancient Arrows, the two things I found most worth the cost (both in rupees and guardian bits) are Ancient Bows that have a long range and the Ancient Armor set that looks ridiculous (especially the helmet) but provides a defense bonus against guardians and, once upgraded twice, improves the damage Link does with the Ancient weapons.
Robbie’s wife gives Link a shrine quest. Atop a pillar on one of the eye islands (eye-lands?) in Skull Lake (not the one with Kilton, she says) is a shrine. There are two main challenges getting there. First, the path I took led through Rok Woods which is absolutely teeming with Octoroks and in a game where I hate just about every enemy that’s not a Lynel or “Test of Strength” shrine Guardian, Octoroks manage to be the absolute fscking worst [1]. They only pop out of hiding to spit rocks at Link and are right back in immediately after, have incredibly good range and aim, and are relentlessly persistent. Those quarter-heart hits aren’t too bad at first, but they quickly add up, especially when there’s a bunch of them in the same area. Oh, and the only thing they drop that’s worth anything is the Octo Balloons, and there’s only so many of those I need.
The second challenge is climbing to the top. After getting the Master Sword, I traded a few hearts for stamina, and I was amazed at how big a difference having even a little over the base wheel made, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make this climb without stamina-restoring food, which I had thankfully replenished. The reward for all this is Zuna Kai Shrine, a blessing shrine with no further challenge.
Next: Amazingly, the motion control minigolf shrine wasn’t my least pleasant encounter with golf in Akkala.
[1] Closest rivals: Wolves. Good at recognizing the guy with the sword is probably going to hurt someone. Not so good at realizing the guy with the sword is probably more concerned with the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing with the big smashy stick than a few wild dogs. Bloody excellent at timing their lunges at the guy with the sword to be right when he needs to focus on not getting hit in the face by the giant fire-breathing lion centaur thing’s big smashy stick. I see wolves, I automatically shoot one, then the rest run off and leave me alone.
