Lanayru Mine and Lanayru Desert walkthrough – Zelda: Skyward Sword HD guide (2024)

In this Skyward Sword HD Lanayru Mine and Lanayru Desert walkthrough, we’ll guide you through both the Lanayru Mine and Lanayru Desert with tips on finding items, rupees, Goddess Cubes, and collectibles and completing every quest and side quest. We’ll walk you through the mine and teach you how to use Timeshift Stones. We’ll give you tips on navigating the sinksand, and finding Tumbleweeds to upgrade your Banded Shield to a Braced Shield. After exploring all of Lanayru Desert, we’ll help you activate all three remote power nodes to turn on the Power Generator and reveal Lanayru Mining Facility.

Lanayru is full of enemies who attack with electricity, which means your Reinforced (Iron) Shield is bad news. If you stored your Banded Shield at the Item Check earlier, pick it up. If you sold it, buy a new Wooden Shield and upgrade it.

You’re also going to be using a lot of bombs. If you have any Seed Pouches, store those with Peatrice. Buy a Small Bomb Bag from the Gear Shop for 150 rupees.

Fly down to the new, yellow pillar of light. You’ll land on top of a tall tower.

Climb down the ladder, and circle to the back of the tower to find a Goddess Cube. Head back around to the front and save at the Lanayru Mine Entry bird statue.

Throughout the Lanayru area, you’ll find Bomb Flowers — you’ll use a lot to make progress, but you’ll also need them to blow up the piles of rocks you see everywhere. Most of the piles will have rupees or hearts.

Head forward until you come to a mine cart. Push it forward until it falls off the ledge.

Drop down, and push the mine cart to the end of the track. Climb on top and climb out of the pit.

Take a right to find another mine cart. Push it as far as you can, and then continue along the tunnel.

In the round depression, walk up and whack the purple stone with your sword. This is your first Timeshift Stone.

Hop into the cart to the south of the Timeshift Stone. Ride it along its rail and through the door. In the cave there, open the chest for a red rupee.

Head back out to the circular area.

Go retrieve the cart from the tunnel in the northwest — the one you pushed into the tunnel earlier. Ride it along its track as far as you can.

Hop out, and blow up the piles of rocks with bombs. One will be a Timeshift Stone. Hit it with your sword. Look at the statue on the wall. Throw a bomb into the cup it’s holding. This will knock it down, and you can pass into the tunnel behind it.

The next tunnel is full of sinksand (quicksand).

There are four more statues along the walls. Toss bombs into their baskets to knock them down. There’s a tunnel leading to a cave behind the first statue on the right. Inside, there’s a chest with a red rupee.

Continue along the tunnel to the west.

At the end, you’ll find a large, round cave covered in sinksand. Bomb (or ignore) the Electro Spumes, and cross the room heading north.

There’s a cart to the right, but you can’t move it far. Move it or don’t — we’ll be back for it in a second.

Head up the ramp to the north. Bomb all the piles of rocks, and face the tunnel leading west.

Roll a bomb along the tunnel to destroy the first pile of rocks. Roll a second bomb to break the piles of stones at the next intersection. Roll a third bomb to hit the Timeshift Stone you exposed.

A Quadro Baku will pop out of the ceiling. Roll a bomb to it. It’ll eat it and explode.

Follow the tunnel to the left, and open the chest for a Golden Skull. Drop down, and hop into the cart. Ride it through the door and out into the Lanayru Desert.

Before we go too much farther, let’s upgrade your Banded Shield — we’re going to find the last upgrade material in just a second.

In Lanayru Desert, walk forward and save at the Desert Entrance bird statue.

Head down the ramp to the north. Off to your left, there’s a cactus standing by itself. Go stand near it — you can rough it up with your sword if you want, but you’re really just killing time.

While there, a Tumbleweed will occasionally roll past. Use your Bug Net to snag two of them.

Head back to the bird statue, go to the sky, and fly back to Skyloft’s Bazaar. At the Scrap Shop, you’ll need 3 Amber Relics (we picked up a bunch in the Earth Temple), 2 Monster Claws, 2 Tumbleweeds, and 1 Ornamental Skull. These and 50 rupees will turn your Banded Shield into a Braced Shield, the best version of the Wooden Shield.

Back at the Desert Entrance bird statue, head north. You’ll encounter a new hermit crab-like enemy called an Ampilus. Rolling bombs at them from a distance seems to be a good way to deal with them.

Keep going north until you hit a (literal) wall. Over on the left side, climb the crumbled end to reach the chest on top for a Tumbleweed.

From that chest, turn left (north), and jump onto the closest cage.

Toss a bomb through the hole on the middle cage to expose a Timeshift Stone. Toss another bomb to activate it.

Take out the two Technoblins, and then speak to the LD-301 Series robot. They’ll upgrade your Beetle to a Hook Beetle.

Just west of there, there’s a couple of the bombable statues in a sinksand pit. The dead tree in the middle has a bomb on top. Fly your Hook Beetle into the bomb, and then drop it into each statue’s basket for a couple blue rupees.

To the southwest, repeat this process on the three statues and the Electro Spume in the next sinksand pit.

Cross to the west using the platforms you’ve made.

Before we go any farther, face north and look for the giant bird — it’ll either be circling or sitting on a tree in the middle of this area. Use the Hook Beetle to bomb it. It’s easiest to just crash the bomb and Beetle into it. This will save you some headache later.

Over to the west, there’s a wide sinksand area with a couple islands. Your job is to use the Hook Beetle to bomb the Ampiluses one at a time. When they die, their shells stick around for a bit, creating a temporary island where you can catch your breath.

Sprint to the first shell and the center island. Repeat this on the other Ampilus, and head to the souther island. There are a couple of dig spots and a Goddess Cube here.

Keep repeating the process until you can exit the area to the west. Visit the bird statue.

From the West Desert bird statue, keep heading northwest.

Use the Hook Beetle to bomb the Ampiluses and create rafts to ride along the sinksand. Your goal is the tunnel to the north.

You’ll enter the Temple of Time. Run forward and save at the Desert Gorge bird statue. Take a right and another right at the cart.

There are a couple Gerudo Dragonflies to catch here. When you’re ready, use the Beetle or your Slingshot to hit the Timeshift Stone on top of the rocks.

Hop in the cart and cross the gap. Face left (west).

There’s a huge tree stump with a tunnel through it ahead of you. Fly your Beetle into the tunnel and hit the purple crystal on the left.

Look for a bomb on top of the cactus next to you. Use the beetle to fly the bomb up and drop it into the huge tree stump. That’ll hit a big Timeshift Stone. Ride the cart through the tree stump.

Keep heading west to meet Gorko.

Look north from Gorko. There are some stone pillars with piles of rock on top, and a bomb cactus.

Beetle-bomb the piles of stones to find a Timeshift Stone. This will activate the cart to the north.

Speak to the LD-301 Series robot there to get an updated (downdated, really) map. They’ll also move out of the way of the cart.

Facing east along the track, hit the Timeshift Stone on top of the tunnel.

Hop in the cart and set off. Get ready for a Skyward Strike and face left. There’s a Goddess Cube right above the Timeshift Stone.

Continue east along the edge of the gorge and into the tunnel to return to Lanayru Desert.

Walk forward and Beetle-bomb the Hrok (the bird) waiting for you. Dash east across the sand to the island, and then turn left.

When you dash toward the overhang there, Fi will pop out and tell you to check your map — you’re safe to walk along the sunken walls.

Sprint around to the back of the next ruin, and up the ramp. There’s a spot to dig above the overhang. Head to the solid ground to the northeast.

Follow the wall a little to the northeast, and then dash up on top of the walls. Save at the North Desert bird statue.

Bomb the rocks nearby to reveal another Timeshift Stone. Hit it and deal with the Technoblins. Speak to the LD robot to learn that this is a power generator for the Lanayru Mining Facility Entrance. You’ll have to activate three (well, two, since we got one already) remote power nodes. Fi will add them to your dowsing menu.

Head back to the north and duck behind the pillar with a chest (we’ll come back for that later). There are some Bomb Flowers here.

Look along the north wall for a crack in the wall and bomb it. Head inside.

In the next room, ignore the Ampiluses as best you can and make your way along the right side of the room. Bomb the stones in the middle to reveal a Timeshift Stone. Hit it.

Your goal here is to get one of the larval Ampiluses into the … socket-thing in the northeast corner. Use the Hook Beetle to get one close — they’ll shock you every few seconds and it’s not worth the trouble to carry it.

Stand on the switch in front of the socket and hit the Ampilus with your sword to knock it into the hole. That’ll open the gate.

Continue to the room at the north and ignore the LD robot. Jam your sword forward into the device, and then turn it counterclockwise to activate Power Generator 1.

Back outside, head back to the North Desert bird statue. Facing the giant Power Generator switch, turn right and follow the wall to the end. Slide down the ramp, and you’ll land on a buried wall. Face west.

Use your Hook Beetle to bomb the two statues and the crack in the wall in front of you. There’s an Amber Relic on the right and a Timeshift Stone on the left.

Activate the Timeshift Stone, and run over to activate the second remote power node.

Getting to this one is a hike. Use the buried walls to navigate all the way around to the southeast of the map — not far from where you first entered this area.

As you approach the Stone Cache bird statue, look along the wall to your right for a switch. Jump up and grab it to unlock a shortcut back to the other side. Save at the bird statue, and head inside.

In this room, you’ll find the Timeshift Stone in the center.

Activate the Timeshift Stone, and clear out the Technoblins. Collect the blue rupee from the chest in the northeast.

Stand on top of a box and hit the Timeshift Stone again to deactivate it.

Take out an Ampilus, and ride its shell to the north end of the room.

Take a left, and climb onto the line of boxes. Follow it south to find a chest with some Eldin Ore. Shove the box off to open a shortcut. Reactivate the Timeshift Stone.

Use the Hook Beetle to fly an Ampilus larva over to the socket. Run down, stand on the switch, and knock the Ampilus into the slot. Head through to the back room.

Open the chests here for another blue rupee and a Monster Horn. Activate the remote power node.

Make your way all the way back to the North Desert bird statue. Activate the Timeshift Stone close to the Power Generator.

Insert your sword. Your job here is to set the three icons — that we’ll call water, electricity, and fire — on the dial the same way they’re laid out on the map.

Picture it like a clock:

The Lanayru Mining Facility will rise out of the ground in the center of the map. Head inside and save at the bird statue. We’ll pick up there in the next guide.