Tracking down every fountain is the only reliable way to upgrade armor in Breath of the Wild, so most players end up searching for great fairy locations in BOTW within their first ten hours. Four great fairies hide in the wild, each sleeping in a different fountain until you pay the right price to wake her. Once unlocked, a fairy upgrades any compatible armor piece by one, two, or four tiers depending on the materials you bring and the amount you pay at the fountain.
This page collects every confirmed great fairy location in BOTW, the exact rupee cost to wake each one, the upgrade tiers she offers, and the practical steps needed to reach fountains that are easy to miss. It also covers the difference between a great fairy and the smaller fairy fountains scattered around Hyrule, so you know which NPCs you can safely ignore on the way to a full armor set. Everything below has been written for a single playthrough, with attention to the small edge cases that often cost players a wasted trip into the wrong clearing.
Great fairy locations in BOTW: the four fountains at a glance
Breath of the Wild hides four great fairies in fixed fountains, each tied to a region of the map. A fountain only activates after you drop a specific amount of rupees into the surrounding pool. Until that happens, the great fairy sleeps, the surrounding NPCs stay hostile, and the upgrade menu is locked. The fountains are also tied to a small environmental puzzle: each one is surrounded by enemies that respawn with every blood moon, which means the area has to be cleared every time you return.
The four fountains are spaced so that a player can usually reach the nearest one within the first few hours of play, and the others become available as the map opens up through towers, quests, and shrine teleports. The table below summarizes what every player needs to know before setting out: the region, the closest landmark for navigation, the activation cost, and the upgrade tiers the fairy offers once paid.
| Fountain | Region | Closest landmark | Cost to wake | Upgrade tiers offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mija | Great Plateau | Coy Pond, west of the Temple of Time | 100 rupees | 1-star upgrades |
| Tera | West Necluda | Forest clearing west of Mount Lanayru | 500 rupees | 2-star upgrades |
| Jolene | Gerudo Highlands | Rocky ridge south of Gerudo Town | 500 rupees | 2-star upgrades |
| Cotera’s sister (the Tabantha fairy) | Tabantha | Wooded hollow north of Tabantha Great Bridge | 500 rupees | 2-star upgrades |
The cheapest fountain is also the one most players find first, because it sits in the starting region of the game. The remaining three share a 500 rupee activation cost, which makes a basic rupee farm a useful early investment. After activation, the great fairy locations in BOTW all work the same way at the menu level, even though each fountain is wrapped in a different environmental puzzle and a different enemy layout.
What a great fairy actually does
Once a great fairy is awake, speak to her to open the upgrade menu. The great fairy offers three or four choices for a piece of armor, each requiring specific monster parts or gems. The cost to upgrade an item is rupees, scaled by tier, and each tier permanently improves the armor’s defense and, in many cases, adds a set bonus. There is no cooldown, no daily limit, and no per-fountain lockout, so the same fairy can be revisited as often as your inventory allows.
- First star: usually two low-tier monster parts such as Bokoblin horns or Chuchu jelly.
- Second star: usually two mid-tier parts such as Lizalfos tails or Keese eyeballs.
- Third star: usually two high-tier parts or a mix of one part and one gem.
- Fourth star (where supported): requires rarer parts like Lynel hooves, Molduga fins, or a gemstone such as a sapphire or diamond.
Not every armor piece reaches four stars. A piece that tops out at three stars will only show three upgrade rows, and the great fairy will tell you the current level after each successful upgrade. Some sets, including most DLC cosmetic outfits and a few story pieces, do not upgrade at all. The great fairy will simply say there is nothing to improve, and no rupees or materials will be charged.
How great fairies differ from small fairy fountains
Small fairy fountains are scattered across Hyrule and let you heal, increase your maximum hearts temporarily, or add an extra stamina wheel. They cannot upgrade armor, and they only accept common offerings such as fruit, fish, or a single monster part. Great fairies, on the other hand, are a separate NPC class tied to a single large fountain per region, and they exist purely for the armor upgrade system. The map shows small fountains with a small flower icon, while the great fairy locations in BOTW use a much larger flower marker that only appears after the relevant fountain has been discovered or activated.
Small fairy fountains also have a healing side effect that has nothing to do with upgrades. A fairy in a small fountain can revive Link once after a fatal hit, which is a useful safety net in the early hours of the game. Great fairies do not offer that, so it is worth knowing which kind of fountain you are standing in front of before you spend any rupees or materials.
Mija’s fountain on the Great Plateau
Mija’s fountain is the easiest of the great fairy locations in BOTW to find, because the Great Plateau is the game’s tutorial region and Coy Pond is right next to the Mount Hylia shrine. Head south from the Shrine of Resurrection, follow the road toward the woods west of the Temple of Time, and you will reach a pool surrounded by a flower ring. The approach is short enough that you can reach it inside the first hour of play, and the surrounding enemies are weak enough that the fight serves as a soft tutorial for the upgrade system itself.
To wake Mija:
- Drop 100 rupees into the pool. Any combination of red, blue, or purple rupees works, and the game does not require a specific denomination.
- Defeat the surrounding enemies. Two or three Bokoblins and a single Octorok usually camp near the pool.
- Speak to the glowing figure that rises from the water. Choose to wake her, and the fountain becomes a permanent upgrade station.
Mija offers one-star upgrades. That is enough to push an early armor set like the Hylian Trousers or the Soldier’s Set to its first defensive bump, which makes the very early shrines noticeably easier. The first 100 rupee cost is a small price for a permanent upgrade station on the plateau, and Mija remains available even after leaving the tutorial area through the four plateau exits. Because the plateau is technically a soft lockout region, she is also the only fairy you can reliably visit before any tower has been activated.
Tera’s fountain in West Necluda
Tera sits in a forest clearing west of Mount Lanayru, which is the snow-capped peak visible from Kakariko Village. The most reliable route is to fast travel to the Kakariko Village shrine, climb up the mountain road toward the Hateno region, and cut west at the high plateau. The fountain is marked by a giant ring of flowers and a shallow pool. Players often mistake the small forest shrine nearby for the fairy location, so look for the larger circular clearing rather than the small shrine, and listen for the faint fairy music that plays when you are within range.
Because Tera is in a region with frequent rain, the approach can be slippery. Bring a meal that grants one level of heat resistance or climb at midday when rain is less common on the southern slopes. The forest around the fountain is dense, so a torch or a fire weapon also helps at night. Tera’s activation cost is 500 rupees, and once paid she offers two-star upgrades, which is a meaningful jump from Mija’s one-star limit and covers the bulk of mid-game armor work.
| Step | Action | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travel to Mount Lanayru’s western foot | Use the Kakariko or Hateno tech lab shrine as a base |
| 2 | Find the giant flower ring in the forest | Aim for the clearing north of the road, not the small shrine |
| 3 | Drop 500 rupees in the pool | Sell gems first if your rupee count is low |
| 4 | Clear surrounding enemies | Bokoblins and a Wizzrobe may camp the area |
| 5 | Speak to the fairy and confirm awakening | The fountain becomes a permanent upgrade point |
Tera is the closest great fairy for most players once they leave the plateau, because Kakariko and Hateno are both in the same general area and offer the kind of merchant access that makes the 500 rupee activation fee easy to cover. Players chasing the Climbing Set, the Sheikah Set, or any of the early heat-resistant armors will find Tera’s location convenient for routine upgrades between shrine runs.
Jolene’s fountain in the Gerudo Highlands
Jolene’s fountain sits south of Gerudo Town, in the rocky highlands that border the Gerudo Desert. Most players reach it after completing the first Gerudo Town questline, because the surrounding area is full of Moldugas and the climate is hot. Bring heat resistance and either a sand seal or the Gerudo town elevator to handle the sandstorm on the way in. The path itself is mostly flat, so the difficulty is more about enemy density than navigation, but the heat bar can drain quickly if you forget a cooling meal.
The activation cost is 500 rupees. Jolene offers two-star upgrades, and her fountain is the closest great fairy location in BOTW for anyone who is grinding for the Gerudo armor set, the Desert Voe set, or the Thunder Helm. Lizalfos, Wizzrobes, and a pair of Black Bokoblins usually guard the clearing, and a Molduga sometimes patrols the southern sand channel below the rocks. Because the surrounding desert attracts heat-based enemies, a few ice arrows or a frost weapon makes the approach far less painful.
Jolene’s fountain is also the most useful of the four for any player who spends significant time in the southwest of the map. The closest shrine is the Gerudo Canyon or the one near the Kara Kara Bazaar, and either is a short ride to the clearing. The rocky terrain also doubles as a natural landmark, so the fountain is hard to miss once you know to look for the giant flower ring on a raised shelf above the desert floor.
The fourth great fairy in Tabantha
The fourth fountain sits in the Tabantha region, north of the Tabantha Great Bridge and within walking distance of the Rito Village area. The most efficient route is to fast travel to the Tabantha Tower, glide north toward the Hebra mountains, and look for a large flower ring in a wooded depression. This fairy is associated with Kass, the accordion-playing Rito bard, and her fountain is a useful waypoint during the questlines in the Rito Village area, especially the sections that require you to track down forgotten songs across the Hebra peaks.
Like the other late-game fountains, she charges 500 rupees and offers two-star upgrades. Because of the cold climate around Tabantha, players should layer up or eat a cold-resisting meal before the climb. Snow makes the slopes slow, so plan to reach the fountain during midday or in clear weather, and bring a fire weapon or a flame arrow for the ice-based enemies that camp the bridge. The fourth great fairy also offers a useful perspective on Kass’s side quests, since her fountain sits near several of the bard’s stations.
Players who already have the Rito armor set will find this fountain the easiest of the four to visit, because the snow is much less of a problem with two levels of cold resistance. The clearing is also free of the larger enemy spawns that show up in the Gerudo highlands, so the only real prep is a fire source and a stack of rupees. Readers who want more background on The Legend of Zelda can use the Legend of Zelda while reviewing this point.
How to afford the 500 rupee activation cost
Most players will already have 100 rupees before reaching the Great Plateau fountain, because the first Bokoblin camps drop a small handful of red rupees and merchants on the plateau sell cheap items. The 500 rupee cost is harder, and a poor run of random drops can leave a player short. The fastest farming methods at the start of the game are reliable, but they also depend on a few small details that often get overlooked.
- Hunting Blupees in the forest south of the Great Plateau tower. Each Blupee drops 50 rupees and respawns after a blood moon, and the same forest usually hosts two or three at a time.
- Cooking and selling five-meat dishes at a stable merchant. Meat skewers made from raw prime meat are the simplest version, and Beedle at any stable pays well for them.
- Selling gemstones to merchants. Luminous stones and amber can be sold in bulk for hundreds of rupees at Beedle or any town merchant, and they are common byproducts of ore farming.
- Completing shrine quests and mini-quests. Many shrine reward chests include a silver rupee worth 100 rupees, and a few side quests pay out in gemstones that can be resold.
A quick Blupee run usually clears the first 500 rupee cost, and a single round of ore mining at a deposit near Death Mountain is enough to cover the rest. The 500 rupee activation cost is the same across the three post-tutorial fountains, so plan to enter each location with at least 500 rupees plus a small reserve for the upgrade fees themselves. A practical target is roughly 1500 rupees of liquid funds before setting out on a serious upgrade run, because each fountain also charges a small rupee fee per star and that adds up quickly when you are pushing an entire armor set forward.
Upgrade tiers, costs, and what each tier adds
Each great fairy offers the same upgrade menu structure, although the number of tiers available depends on the piece of armor. Most armor tops out at four stars, but a few stop at three or have no upgrade at all. Each star permanently increases the defense value and, for many sets, unlocks the set bonus that defines the armor’s special effect. The defense gain is per piece, so a full four-star set is meaningfully tougher than a partial one, and the bonus can be the difference between a usable build and a difficult one in the later regions.
| Star level | Typical materials | Approximate rupee fee | Defense gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| First star | 2 low-tier monster parts | 10-50 rupees | Small, often 2-4 defense |
| Second star | 2 mid-tier monster parts | 50-100 rupees | Moderate, often 4-8 defense |
| Third star | 2 high-tier monster parts or a mix with a gem | 100-300 rupees | Large, often 8-12 defense |
| Fourth star (where available) | 2 rare parts or a gemstone | 300-500 rupees | Very large, often 12-20 defense |
Set bonuses are tied to the final star in many cases. The Climbing Set grants climbing speed boosts at the second star, the Snowquill Set reduces cold damage at the third, and the Rubber Set increases shock resistance with each tier. If a set bonus is your goal, plan to push the relevant set all the way to its highest possible star, because partial upgrades rarely unlock the full effect. A useful rule of thumb is to push the armor you wear most often to four stars first, and then work outward into the situational sets.
Practical upgrade path for new players
The simplest early plan uses the Hylian Set purchased in Hateno and the Soldier’s Set found in the castle. Both are cheap to acquire and forgiving to upgrade, which is why they are the first sets most players push forward. Mija can push them to their first star on the plateau, and a single visit to a 500 rupee fountain will move the rest of the set along. After that, a mid-game player usually has enough monster parts to push favorite sets to three stars and can reserve rarer drops for the final tier.
For players who plan to focus on a specific build, the most efficient order is usually one armor set at a time, all the way to its max. Mixing three sets at three stars each tends to feel weaker than a single set at four stars plus a backup at two, because the four-star set bonus is usually more impactful than partial bonuses on multiple sets. The extra rupees and materials are also easier to budget when they are going into one piece at a time.
Materials by region
Where you farm monster parts matters as much as how many you collect, because each region tends to spawn a different mix of enemies. The plateau is full of Bokoblins and Keese, which is why it is a good source of low-tier parts. West Necluda has Lizalfos and a few Octoroks in the rivers, which feed the mid-tier upgrade row. The Gerudo highlands and the surrounding desert are the natural source for Molduga fins, Lynel hooves, and the rarer tails, while the Tabantha and Hebra regions are the most reliable place to farm ice-based parts for shock and frost upgrades.
Planning a route that hits a farming region, a great fairy, and a merchant in the same loop is the easiest way to keep the upgrade pipeline moving. A typical loop is Hateno for the Hylian Set, a quick Blupee run for rupees, Tera for the two-star upgrade, and a swing through the Hebra region to stock up on ice-based parts for the next round. Doing the loop once or twice covers most of what a new player needs.
Common mistakes when visiting a great fairy
Even with a list of great fairy locations in BOTW, players often hit the same friction points. A few of these are worth listing because they cost time or rupees, and they tend to show up at the same point in every playthrough.
- Approaching the fountain with a weapon drawn. Weapons scare the fairy back into the pool and reset the encounter, which means you have to drop the rupees again or wait through another spawn animation.
- Dropping the wrong currency. Some NPCs accept only certain rupee values, but the fountains accept any rupees combined into the same total, so a stack of red rupees works as well as a single purple one.
- Forgetting to clear enemies first. Even after paying, hostile Bokoblins can knock Link into the pool and disrupt the awakening animation, which can force you to repeat the rupee drop.
- Trying to upgrade an armor piece at the wrong tier. The fairy will not skip a tier, and you cannot downgrade once a star is applied, so always read the material list before confirming.
- Assuming the fairy disappears after one upgrade. The fountain is a permanent waypoint, and the same fairy can be revisited as often as you have materials and rupees.
A few of these mistakes, like the weapon-drawn trigger, are easy to fix once you have seen them, but others, like the per-tier material scaling, are the kind of thing that wastes a run back to a far-off fountain. The simplest rule is to clear the area, sheathe your weapon, drop the rupees, and read every material line before confirming an upgrade. That single habit avoids almost every avoidable reset at the great fairy locations in BOTW.
Reading the fairy fountain environment
Each fountain has a small environmental cue that is easy to miss on a first visit. The most obvious is the size of the flower ring, which is much larger than the rings around small fairy fountains. The second is the sound. Great fairy fountains play a slow, low chime that is distinct from the high-pitched trill of small fairy fountains, and it carries surprisingly far in the wind. The third is the surrounding enemy layout. Great fairy fountains always have a fixed spawn pattern of roughly four to six enemies around the pool, and a few of them, like Jolene’s, include a higher-tier enemy such as a Black Bokoblin captain.
Once you have visited one great fairy, the others are easier to identify, because the visual style of the ring and the way the surrounding water reflects at night are both consistent across the four locations. Players who struggle to spot a fountain in dense terrain can climb to the nearest vantage point and look for the ring shape from above. It usually stands out against the surrounding grass or stone, especially in late afternoon light.
Planning a full upgrade run
A full upgrade run, in the sense of pushing a single armor set from zero to four stars, takes longer than most players expect. The bottleneck is almost always the rare materials for the final star. Lynel hooves, Molduga fins, and the larger gemstones are not common, and the enemies that drop them are dangerous enough that a single encounter can cost a heart container and a few weapons. The simplest workaround is to spread the run across two or three sessions and to keep a small stockpile of rare parts whenever a Lynel or a Molduga is in the area.
For players who prefer a more structured approach, the most efficient upgrade plan looks like this. First, push the Hylian Set or the Soldier’s Set to four stars using plateau and Necluda materials. Second, decide on a specialty build, such as the Climbing Set, the Rubber Set, or the Barbarian Set, and push that to four stars using materials from the matching region. Third, fill in situational sets like the Snowquill Set or the Desert Voe set to two or three stars for travel comfort, and leave them there unless a specific challenge requires more. The result is a small number of high-impact sets rather than a long list of partial upgrades.
This is also the point in the game where the great fairy locations in BOTW start to feel like part of the route rather than a destination. Each fountain becomes a checkpoint in a larger loop, and the rupee and material planning is the same for every loop. The four fountains also cover the four cardinal points of the map, which means a player is never more than a short glide from a great fairy once all four are unlocked.
What changes if you play the DLC
The two DLC packs add a small number of armor pieces that can be upgraded at the same fountains, and a few of them have unusual material lists. The Phantom Set, for example, uses Ganon-era boss parts and a few rare gems, while the Travel Medallion and the Korok Mask are cosmetic items that do not need upgrades at all. The DLC also adds a set of regional armor pieces that pull from the same monster part economy as the base game, so the four great fairy locations in BOTW remain the only places to upgrade them.
The Master Trials DLC in particular introduces a small change to the upgrade economy, because the toughest enemies in the game become more common after the DLC content is enabled. That means rare parts are easier to farm, but they are also more contested, since other players in the same area are often hunting the same camps. A practical tip is to mark the high-yield Lynel and Molduga spawns on the map, and to visit them in a fixed rotation rather than wandering between them at random.
Why the great fairy system rewards exploration
The reason the great fairy system feels rewarding is the same reason the rest of Breath of the Wild feels rewarding: the upgrade stations are tied to places you have to actually reach. Each fountain sits in a different biome, behind a different enemy layout, and on a different elevation profile. A player who learns the four fountain routes learns the four corners of the map at the same time, and that knowledge carries over into shrine hunts, korok hunts, and the larger quest lines tied to each region.
That is also the practical reason most players end up visiting all four great fairy locations in BOTW rather than just one. The fountains are not the fastest upgrade path in raw rupee terms, since a single fairy can technically handle every piece of armor, but they are the only upgrade path that also moves you across the map and into the kinds of side content that the rest of the game is built around. A player who treats the four fountains as a single project tends to learn the map faster than a player who only ever returns to the closest one.
The phrase “great fairy” has been used in fantasy media well before Breath of the Wild, and a few published works lean on the same idea of a single powerful fairy who grants upgrades or transformations. For an external comparison of how a fairy-themed fantasy character has been portrayed in other media, the entry on the Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Wikipedia page covers a very different franchise but illustrates how the “great fairy” label has been used in published works. For a sense of how a real-world review aggregator presents the same property, the Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue listing on Rotten Tomatoes shows how the title is catalogued for audiences outside of gaming.
Frequently asked questions
How many great fairies are there in Breath of the Wild?
There are four great fairies in the base game. One lives on the Great Plateau, and the other three are spread across West Necluda, the Gerudo Highlands, and Tabantha. Each occupies a unique fountain with its own activation cost, and the four together cover the four corners of the explorable map.
Do I need to find every great fairy to max out my armor?
No. A single great fairy can fully upgrade any armor piece she accepts. The reason most players unlock all four fountains is convenience. A fairy in the right region saves travel time and lets you upgrade on the fly during exploration, but the menu itself is identical between the great fairy locations in BOTW.
Can I wake a great fairy without paying rupees?
No. Each fountain has a fixed rupee cost that must be paid before the fairy will appear. There is no puzzle or quest that bypasses the cost, so plan to have at least 500 rupees ready for the post-tutorial fountains. The 100 rupee cost on the Great Plateau is the only exception, and that is set to match the limited resources available in the tutorial area.
What happens if I run out of rupees after paying the activation fee?
The fountain stays open and the fairy stays awake even if you have no rupees left. You can return later with a fresh rupee stack and upgrade armor on a later visit. The only effect of an empty wallet is that the upgrade menu will not let you confirm a new tier, so the fountain itself remains usable.
Do the great fairies respawn after a blood moon?
The fountains themselves never reset. Once a fairy is awake, she stays awake for the rest of the playthrough, even across blood moons. What does respawn are the surrounding enemies, so you may have to clear Bokoblins or Lizalfos again before you can use the fountain. The fairy herself, the upgrade menu, and any already-paid activation fee are all preserved.
What is the best early game armor to upgrade?
The Hylian Set from Hateno Village and the Soldier’s Set from Hyrule Castle are the most forgiving early sets. Both accept low-tier monster parts, and the set bonus from the Hylian Set in particular helps new players on uneven terrain. The climbing speed bonus on the Climbing Set is also a strong early pick, since it speeds up exploration across the whole map.
Do great fairies upgrade the Champion’s Tunic or other story armor?
Yes. Story armor, including the Champion’s Tunic, the Zora Armor, and the Desert Voe set, can be upgraded at any of the four great fairy fountains. The upgrade menu treats them like any other piece, with the same per-star rupee cost and material requirements. The only story pieces that do not upgrade are a small number of cosmetic outfits and the starting shirt and pants.
Are there any armor pieces that cannot be upgraded?
A few, including the starting shirt and pants and some DLC-exclusive cosmetic sets, have no upgrade path. The great fairy will simply say there is nothing to upgrade when you try to use them, and no rupees or materials will be charged. A quick rule is that any armor with a listed defense value of three or lower at base usually has at least one upgrade available, while cosmetic pieces with zero defense do not.
Is the order in which I wake the fairies important?
No. You can wake the great fairy locations in BOTW in any order, and each fountain works independently. Some players prefer to wake Mija first for convenience, then return to the others once they have enough rupees. Others save the more dangerous locations for after they have better weapons and armor, which is also a valid approach since the activation fee is the same regardless of order.
Do great fairies fast travel when I teleport to them?
No. You need to physically reach the fountain each time, even if you have already activated it. Fast travel to a nearby shrine is the easiest way to return, which is why unlocking the relevant towers and shrines early is a smart part of any upgrade plan. Most players end up with at least one shrine within a short run of each fountain by mid-game.
Can the same armor piece be upgraded at different fountains?
Yes. The four great fairies share the same upgrade rules, so a piece upgraded at Mija can be taken to Tera, Jolene, or the Tabantha fairy for further stars without losing progress. The only limit is the per-fairy upgrade ceiling, which is one star at Mija and two stars at the other three. To reach three or four stars on most pieces, you have to use a post-tutorial fairy.
What is the fastest way to farm rupees for the 500 rupee fee?
A Blupee run in the forest south of the Great Plateau tower is the most reliable early method, and a round of ore mining near Death Mountain covers any remaining shortfall. Selling cooked five-meat skewers at a stable merchant and trading gemstones to Beedle are also fast options. For most players, a single Blupee run plus a small ore run is enough to cover all four fountains.
