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If you’ve been exploring Hyrule and keep stumbling into those glowing orange structures scattered across every region, you’ve probably started wondering exactly how many of these puzzle chambers you need to track down for 100% completion. As a longtime fan who has personally cleared every single shrine across multiple playthroughs, I can tell you that this question comes up constantly in the community, and the answer is refreshingly simple even though finding all of them is anything but easy.
Breath of the Wild contains exactly 120 shrines scattered across the entire map of Hyrule, including the Great Plateau starting area, and each one rewards you with a Spirit Orb upon completion. According to Nintendo’s own game design and confirmed through countless completionist playthroughs by the community, this number has remained consistent since the game’s 2017 launch and applies whether you’re playing on Nintendo Switch or the original Wii U version. Unlike many open-world games where collectible counts can feel arbitrary or bloated, 120 shrines strikes a deliberate balance that Nintendo clearly designed around the game’s core progression systems.
Understanding why this specific number matters requires looking beyond just the raw count to see how shrines function within Breath of the Wild’s broader progression systems, what types of challenges they contain, how they’re distributed across the map, and what rewards await players who commit to finding every last one. Whether you’re just starting your Hyrule adventure or you’re a completionist chasing that elusive 100% save file, this guide breaks down everything you need to know about the shrine system.
The Exact Shrine Count and Why It Matters
Let’s get straight to the numbers that matter most for your completion goals and progression planning throughout your playthrough.
120 Total Shrines Across Hyrule
The complete shrine count breaks down as 119 shrines scattered throughout the main map plus one very special shrine tied to the game’s true ending. According to the game’s internal structure, most players will discover 119 shrines through normal exploration, quest completion, and puzzle-solving across Hyrule’s various regions including Central Hyrule, Akkala, Eldin, Faron, Gerudo, Hebra, Lanayru, and the Great Plateau. The 120th shrine, however, only becomes accessible after collecting all four Divine Beast memories tied to Zelda and defeating Calamity Ganon, unlocking a special reward shrine near Hyrule Castle.
This distribution according to design analysis wasn’t accidental. Nintendo’s development team structured shrines to appear roughly evenly across regions while ensuring certain areas like the Divine Beast-adjacent zones and major questlines naturally guided players toward specific shrine clusters. According to community mapping efforts and datamining, some regions like Central Hyrule and Hebra contain notably more shrines than smaller areas, reflecting their larger geographic footprint and greater density of points of interest.
Why 120 Was the Magic Number
The number 120 directly correlates to the Spirit Orb system that governs how you expand Link’s health and stamina throughout the game. According to the core progression mechanics, every four Spirit Orbs collected from completed shrines can be traded to a Goddess Statue for either a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel, meaning 120 total shrines provides exactly 30 upgrades split between these two essential stats. This deliberate mathematical relationship according to game design analysis ensures players have more than enough Spirit Orbs to max out both health and stamina completely, since the game only requires 20 upgrades total (assuming you split evenly) to reach maximum capacity in both categories.
This surplus according to completionist calculations means dedicated players will actually have leftover Spirit Orbs even after maxing out both stats, since 120 shrines produces 30 total trade-ins while only 20 are strictly necessary for full stat completion. According to player experiences, this generous surplus removes pressure to find every single shrine just for stat purposes, letting the remaining unclaimed shrines exist purely for completionist satisfaction and additional Rupee rewards from the Goddess Statue instead.
Types of Shrine Challenges You’ll Encounter
Not every shrine plays the same way, and understanding the different categories helps set expectations for what you’re walking into.
Puzzle Shrines Testing Your Problem-Solving
The majority of shrines in Breath of the Wild fall into the puzzle category, requiring players to use Link’s core abilities like Magnesis, Stasis, Cryonis, and Remote Bombs to manipulate the environment and reach a goal. According to shrine design patterns across the game, these puzzle chambers often center around one specific rune ability, teaching players creative applications of these tools before combining multiple mechanics in later, more complex shrines. Some of the most memorable puzzle shrines according to community favorites involve elaborate ball-rolling mazes using Magnesis, multi-stage Stasis launches that require precise timing, or intricate Cryonis ice-pillar platforming sequences.
According to difficulty progression throughout the game, puzzle shrines generally become more elaborate and multi-step as you progress, particularly in the post-game or higher-level areas like the Hebra mountains and Gerudo desert regions. Many players according to online discussions consider these puzzle shrines the true heart of the shrine system, representing Nintendo’s most creative and varied content within the entire 120-shrine collection.
Combat Trial Shrines
Combat shrines place Link in an arena against Guardian Scouts, mechanical enemies that scale in difficulty from basic models with simple weapons up to advanced Guardian Scouts IV wielding devastating attacks. According to enemy design across these encounters, these shrines strip away puzzle-solving in favor of pure combat skill, testing your mastery of dodging, parrying, weapon management, and tactical use of the environment. Some combat shrines according to player feedback also incorporate environmental hazards or require defeating enemies within specific constraints, adding tactical layers beyond simple sword-and-shield fighting.
Blessing Shrines Requiring No Combat or Puzzles
A smaller category of shrines, often called “blessing shrines” by the community, require no puzzle-solving or combat whatsoever, instead rewarding players simply for discovering and reaching a specific location, often after overcoming environmental challenges to get there. According to their typical placement, these shrines frequently sit atop mountains, across chasms, or in other geographically challenging spots where the true “puzzle” is figuring out how to physically reach the shrine’s location using climbing, gliding, and stamina management. Once you step inside, according to their design, the Monk simply grants your Spirit Orb immediately without further challenge.
Regional Shrine Distribution Across Hyrule
Understanding roughly how shrines spread across the map helps with exploration planning and completion tracking.
The Great Plateau Tutorial Shrines
Your very first four shrines are located on the Great Plateau, the tutorial region where the game begins, and completing all four is mandatory before you can leave and access the rest of Hyrule. According to the game’s opening structure, Oman Au Shrine, Ja Baij Shrine, Keh Namut Shrine, and Owa Daim Shrine each teach one of Link’s four core runes—Magnesis, Bomb, Cryonis, and Stasis respectively—ensuring every player understands these fundamental tools before the open world becomes fully accessible. These four shrines according to design intent also grant your Paraglider upon completion, the single most important traversal tool in the entire game.
Shrines Beyond the Plateau
The remaining 115 shrines (excluding the true ending shrine) are distributed across the other regions of Hyrule, with roughly similar density relative to each region’s size, though certain areas like Korok Forest and the Depths-adjacent zones feature unique environmental storytelling around their shrine placement. According to community-compiled interactive maps, Central Hyrule and Hebra tend to have the highest raw shrine counts due to their larger landmass, while smaller regions like Necluda still pack in a satisfying density of shrines relative to their size. Many shrines according to quest design are also directly tied to specific side quests, meaning simply following quest markers naturally leads you to a significant portion of the total count without needing to hunt blindly.
Rewards for Completing All 120 Shrines
Finding every shrine isn’t just about the number on your adventure log—there are tangible benefits waiting.
Spirit Orbs and Stat Progression
As mentioned earlier, every four Spirit Orbs trade for either a Heart Container or Stamina Vessel at any Goddess Statue found in Hyrule’s major towns, allowing players to fully customize whether they prioritize survivability or exploration stamina first. According to min-maxing strategies popular in the community, many experienced players prioritize stamina upgrades early to make climbing and gliding easier for continued exploration, then switch to hearts later for combat survivability, though this remains entirely a matter of personal playstyle preference.
The Hero’s Path and Completionist Rewards
Beyond individual Spirit Orbs, completionists who track down all 120 shrines earn bragging rights within the community and the satisfaction of a fully completed adventure log, though the game itself doesn’t lock any major story content behind full shrine completion. According to design philosophy discussions from the development team, Nintendo intentionally avoided gating critical story progress behind exhaustive collectible hunts, ensuring the main Calamity Ganon storyline remains accessible without needing all 120 shrines, making the full collection purely an optional challenge for dedicated players.
Tips for Tracking Down Every Shrine
If you’re committing to the full 120, a few strategies make the hunt considerably smoother.
Using the Sheikah Sensor and Purah Pad
The Sheikah Sensor function on your Purah Pad, unlocked early in the main questline, provides proximity-based beeping that intensifies as you approach nearby shrines, functioning similarly to a metal detector for shrine locations. According to practical gameplay experience, activating this sensor while exploring new areas dramatically increases your chances of stumbling onto hidden shrines that aren’t visible from a distance, particularly those tucked into caves, underwater locations, or obscured by dense forest canopy in areas like the Korok Forest.
Following Community Maps When You Get Stuck
For players determined to find all 120 without missing any, community-created interactive maps hosted on sites like Zelda Wiki provide comprehensive, verified shrine locations complete with screenshots and walkthrough videos for particularly tricky puzzle shrines. According to completionist community practices, most dedicated players use these resources sparingly, saving them for genuinely stumped moments rather than as a primary discovery method, preserving the joy of organic exploration while still ensuring 100% completion remains achievable.
Conclusion: 120 Shrines and Counting
Breath of the Wild’s shrine system represents one of the most thoughtfully designed collectible structures in modern open-world gaming, with 120 total shrines offering exactly the right balance of challenge, reward, and completionist satisfaction without ever feeling like padding. Whether you’re hunting down every last blessing shrine tucked atop a remote peak or grinding through Guardian Scout combat trials for that final Stamina Vessel, the journey to 120 remains one of the most beloved aspects of Link’s adventure across Hyrule. Happy hunting, and may your Sheikah Sensor never lead you astray.
References
Nintendo. Official The Legend of Zelda website. https://www.zelda.com/
Zelda Wiki. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild shrine database. https://zeldawiki.wiki/wiki/List_of_Shrines_in_Breath_of_the_Wild
IGN. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild shrine guide. https://www.ign.com/wikis/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild
Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild official game page. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-switch/