Exploring the Depths and finding the Autobuild Ability
Table of Contents
This is a step-by-step guide for completing the “A Mystery in the Depths” Main Quest in Tears of the Kingdom.
Speak with Josha and Return to the Depths
Return to Lookout Landing after investigating at least one of the four regional phenomena Purah told you about when you first met her. Visit Josha underneath Purah’s laboratory and speak with her. She will tell you that she’s learned the statue you took a photo of is actually part of a series of identical statues found in the Depths. And these statues all seem to form a trail.
Fast travel back to the Iayusus Lightroot and return to the statue you showed Josha. When you inspect it, you’ll see there is another statue nearby and that both statues are facing in the same direction. And if you look in that direction, you’ll see another statue. Head for that statue to begin your search.
Follow the Statues
There are 22 statues in total leading you south from the Iayusus Lightroot. As you follow the path, you can find three enemy camps, the Nihcayam Lightroot, the Nogukoyk Lightroot, and a Frox along the way. Activate the Lightroots, and engage the enemy camps and Frox if you wish. If you wish to avoid the Frox though, you will need to take a wide detour to avoid alerting it to your presence. Make sure you do not lose track of the statues if you do this.
When you reach the last statue, you will finally discover where they have been leading: the Great Abandoned Central Mine. There is a small gap between you and the mine – and the gap has some enemies at the bottom of it – so paraglide to the mine’s central area to reach your destination safely.
Investigate the Great Abandoned Central Mine
Walk to the direct center of the mine to find two members of the Zonai Research team and a deactivated Steward Construct. The researchers will tell you that a valuable ability to instability build objects is somewhere in the mine, but they aren’t sure how to access it. Thanks to Rauru’s hand, the ability will be yours upon activating the Steward Construct.
Once it is online and verifies your identity, the construct will give you the Autobuild ability. Autobuild allows you to recall and save Zonai Device constructions. You can either use devices you find nearby or Zonaite to instantly recreate useful combinations.
With Autobuild (literally) in hand, the researchers will ask you to show them how it works. There are two Zonai Device cars nearby, one that is mostly complete, and another that is completely disassembled. Walk over to their mostly-complete car and fix it with Ultrahand. Then, go to the disassembled car and use Autobuild. The blueprints for the first car will appear. Select that build to repair the second car.
This is when the researchers reveal their true identities as Yiga Clan members. They only wanted you to prove Autobuild works before they summoned their leader, Master Kohga.
When Kohga arrives, he will recognize Link as being the one who knocked him down into the Depths years ago (during the events of Breath of the Wild.) Kohga is eager for revenge and quickly traps Link in a battle arena so he can have his much-desired rematch.
Boss Battle: Master Kohga
When the fight starts, Kohga will craft a large assault vehicle and drive it around in hopes of ramming into you. You have a lot of freedom in how to approach this fight, but your primary objective is to strike Kohga from a distance to drop him from his vehicle.
The best way to hit Kohga is to use arrows. Two easy options are to fuse either eyes or bombs to your arrows. One will hone in on Kohga, and the other has a large blast radius that won’t miss him as easily.
When you finally hit Kohga, he will lie stunned on the ground for a moment, giving you the opportunity to approach and attack more.
Once some time has passed and you’ve done more damage, Kohga will get back up, disappear, and reappear with a new and improved vehicle. This process repeats two times, and each subsequent vehicle has better defensive capabilities. Once he builds his final vehicle, it becomes impossible to hit him from the front. You must find a way around his defenses to attack from the rear. Here are some standard suggestions:
- Use a rocket-equipped shield to fly above the vehicle and shoot him from the sky.
- If you have enough stamina or stamina-restoring items, evade the vehicle and run behind it.
- Allow Kohga to hit you. He will keep driving when he does, which will put you behind him.
- Use Zonai Devices to create your own vehicle, preferably a flying one.
Once you defeat Kohga, he will begrudgingly concede defeat before escaping on another Zonai craft. The prize for winning the fight is a Huge Crystallized Charge.
Speak With the Constructs
With Kohga out of the way, the Steward Construct will thank you for dealing with the trespasser. It will also provide clues for what to do next about Kohga. (This generates a new, optional side adventure.)
You can also talk to a different construct nearby to receive a Schema Stone, which provides you with the blueprints for combinations you’ve never made before.
Finally, there is a forge and a Forge Construct at the mine too. Similar to the Forge Construct on Great Sky Island, you can trade Zonaite to it for Zonai Charges and Crystalized Shards. And thanks to a fast-travel point that appeared in the mine after you activated the Steward Construct, return trips will be quick and simple.
Return to Josha
With your objective complete, return to Lookout Landing and speak with Josha again so Link can tell her about the Autobuild ability. Link will also tell her about the Schema Stones, which will cause Josha to remember she had discovered one of those. She will give you a hot-air balloon Schema Stone, which allows you to recreate the flying craft.
Similar to the fake researchers, Josha will ask for a demonstration of Autobuild. Right outside of her station are the parts to Robbie’s broken balloon. Use Autobuild to restore the balloon. Doing so will allow Robbie to travel back to his lab in Hateno Village, opening up the option to complete additional quests. Josha will also thank you for your help by giving you a piece of Large Zonaite, signaling your completion of “A Mystery in the Depths.”
