How to upgrade Energy Cells in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom adds a lot more features to the series, eclipsing Breath of the Wild with new abilities that let you make and use constructs like vehicles and weapons to your advantage. If you want to make the most of these new features, you'll need to increase the size of your battery, so you can power the various constructs for longer.
So, check out our rundown of upgrading Energy Cells in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and our explainer of Crystalized Charges.
How do you upgrade Energy Cells?
Upgrading your Energy Cell in Tears of the Kingdom requires you to go through a process of acquiring Zonaite ore, converting it into Crystalized Charges, and then trading it for Energy Wells.
Click to enlargeThis can be a lengthy process, but it's worth it to increase the size of your Tears of the Kingdom battery, so you can use Zonai constructs for much longer. We'll cover each step in detail below.
Getting Zonaite Ore
Click to enlargeThe first step in the process of upgrading your Energy Cells in Tears of the Kingdom is to collect Zonaite Ore.
You can grab this resource by destroying ore deposits located in caves, sky islands, and the Depths. There are a number of good Zonaite farm locations in the game you can head to for the resource, and it's worth noting that deposits also replenish after the Blood Moon, so you can go back and farm them repeatedly.
You'll need to collect 300 Zonaite Ore, or fifteen Large Zonaite Ore at least, for the process of upgrading your battery.
Getting Crystalized Charges
Click to enlargeOnce you've acquired enough Zonaite Ore, the next step involves turning them into Crystalized Charges. To do this, you'll need to locate Forge Constructs. There are two Forge Constructs you can locate easily during the early game:
- Great Sky Island forge Construct (0468, -1684, 1371)
- Great Abandoned Central Mine Forge Construct (-0856, -1936, -0522)
At a Forge Construct, you can trade in three Zonaite Ore for a Crystalized Charge, or three Large Zonaite Ore for a Large Crystalized Charge, which is worth 20 standard charges.
Each Forge Construct in the game has a limited amount of charges at a time, meaning you'll need to make your way between the ones you discover regularly to keep a fresh supply, so you can upgrade your Tears of the Kingdom Energy Cell.
You'll need 100 Crystalized Charges or five Large Crystalized Charges for the next step in the process of upgrading your Energy Cells in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
It's also worth mentioning the Great Abandoned Central Mine also lets you earn the Autobuild ability, so you'll want to head there quickly after reaching Hyrule.
Using the Crystallized Charges
So, you've collected your Zonaite Ore and transferred it into Crystalized Charges. Now you'll need to find a Crystal Refinery to turn the Crystalized Charges into Energy Wells, which will upgrade the size of your battery.
Click to enlargeThe easiest Crystal Refinery can be found just north of Lookout Landing at the coordinates -1214, 0194, 0031.
Head here and speak to the Zonai Construct, and select the 'get producing' dialogue option to upgrade your battery. Each Energy Well is worth a third of a full Energy Cell, so you'll need three Energy Wells for a full battery upgrade.
With your new Tears of the Kingdom Energy Cell upgrade, you can now use all Zonai constructs for longer.
If you're looking for the population hubs in Hyrule, check out all village map locations in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
