There are hundreds of different types of weapons, armor, shields, bows, plants, food items, and materials in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And, one subset of those materials is ores such as Amber, Opal, Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz, and Diamond.

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These ores all have a variety of different uses such as being used in armor or weapon upgrades, being fused onto weapons to bring out their elemental attributes, or just simply being sold for money. Diamonds, in particular, are the hardest of the ores and sell for the most. So, gathering Diamonds is an easy way to make a lot of Rupees very quickly. With that in mind, let's go over all the ways players can quickly find Diamonds in Tears of the Kingdom.

Updated October 12th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: While the lack of additional content added to Tears of the Kingdom since it's initial launch is a bit disappointing, there's still always so much more to do and find in the game. And, Tears of the Kingdom, especially compared to its predecessor Breath of the Wild, forces players to part with their hard-earned Rupees a lot more often. Thankfully, there are a ton of ways to make money in Tears of the Kingdom, and Diamonds happen to be one of the best ways. This ore is used in a couple of specific places and for some specific weapons, but for the most part, it's just a great money-making device, so let's go over exactly where players can find them.

The Significance of Diamonds

First off, let's go over exactly what Diamonds are in Tears of the Kingdom and why they're worth hunting down. The primary reason for farming Diamonds is they're a quick way to make a lot of Rupees, full stop.

They're by far the most expensive ore Link can sell among all the Opal, Ruby, Topaz, and Sapphire he'll find. Diamond sell for 500 Rupees a piece, which is a hilariously high amount for a single item and is only beaten out by Exilirs or Meals making use of the most expensive end-game type of resources. But, they're not only used for selling, as Diamonds are also mandatory for crafting Champion weapons such as the Lightscale Trident, Boulder Breaker, the Great Eagle Bow, and Scimitar of the Seven.

Weapon Name

Diamonds Needed

Lightscale Trident

3 Diamonds

Boulder Breaker

3 Diamonds

Great Eagle Bow

3 Diamonds

Scimitar of the Seven

4 Diamonds

Lastly, they can also be fused with weapons (or shields) to add a lot of offensive or defensive power, but this is the least beneficial way to use them considering Diamonds don't have any elemental attribute and there are much better materials to use in making weapons of a similar strength that don't sell for nearly as much as a Diamond does (or break as quickly).

Most Of The Methods Of Finding Diamonds

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Finding A Diamond From An Ore Deposit

Now, there are actually quite a few ways to gather and find Diamonds throughout Link's long adventure in Tears of the Kingdom, but some methods are a lot easier or more reliable than others. Anyone familiar with hunting down ores in Breath of the Wild should know that a lot of the old tricks still work in the sequel, and the most general methods will also be the most familiar:

Method

Short Explanation

Ore Deposits

Basically, they hunt down and break Ore Deposits in the hopes of Diamond being inside.

Purah Pad Sensor+

Using the Purah Pad Sensor+ players can either set Diamonds themselves to be the target of the Sensor or Ore Deposits.

Feeding Dondons

Giving Luminous Stones to Dondons in the Bronas Forest causes them to eat the stones and then 'produce' random ores sometime later, including Diamonds.

Chest Rewards

Certain Chests, Shrine Reward Chests, or random Chest Rewards found in Caves (using Satori to hunt them down) may have Diamonds inside.

Stone Taluses

Stone Taluses of all different types will drop different Ores while players are breaking (or exploding) the Deposits on their back, which may include Diamonds.

Item Duplication

Most Item Duplication Glitches have been patched out by Version 1.2.1 of Tears of the Kingdom, but not all of them, and as long as players have one Diamond, they can usually duplicate it.

Let's go a bit more in-depth into each of these methods, how viable they are compared to the other methods, and how exactly players can utilize these methods to find Diamonds more often.

Rare & Regular Ore Deposits

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Image Of Both A Regular And Rare Ore Deposit

Ore Deposits and Rare Ore Deposits are where players will find the vast majority of their Diamonds over the course of their playthrough, provided they're not using a guide or duplicating items. Both types of Ore Deposits are commonly found in certain areas of the map such as the immediate area of Death Mountain, the larger Eldin Mountain area, the Hebra Mountain range, the Gerudo Highlands, and deep within all the sprawling caves and underground passages of Hyrule.

Players can visually tell the difference between all four 'types' of Ore Deposits (Regular, Rare, Zonaite, and Luminous) by slight differences in the visual structure of the Deposit's texture. Regular Ore Deposits have a solid black obsidian-like shape and texture, Rare Ore Deposits have the same appearance as Regular Deposits but with bits of goldish ore sticking out at the ends, Zonaite Deposits have little holes spread across them with the Zonaite teal-colored glow coming from the holes, and Luminous Deposits glow bright blue.

Purah Pad Sensor+

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Unlocking Sensor+

This next method is by far the easiest overall for finding Diamonds in Ore Deposits, but it does require that players unlock the Sensor+ feature of the Purah Pad (and by extension the Camera and Autobuild features) by completing the following Main and Side Quests in order:

Quest Name

Short Description

To the Kindom of Hyrule

Dive from the Great Sky Island to Hyrule Below and start the search for Zelda.

Camera Work in the Depths

Find Robbie in the Depths at the Iayusus Lightroot and unlock the Camera ability of the Purah Pad by taking pictures of the Depths statues.

1x 'Regional Phenomena' Quest

Basically finish the Mainline Story quest for any one of the four main zones that Purah assigns Link showcasing the Gerudo Desert, Death Mountain, Zora's Domain, and the Rito Village.

A Mystery in the Depths

Follow the way the Statues are pointing in the Depths and reach the Great Abandoned Central Mine.

Hateno Village Research Lab

Find Robbie at the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, and progress his research until Link's given the task of bringing Robbie 5 pictures of different monsters.

For the last step, just show Robbie 5 pictures of different monsters to unlock Sensor+. After this, immediately go and take pictures of both Regular and Rare Ore Deposits to add them to the Hyrule Compendium. After they're added, players can set either of these Deposits as the target for the Sensor+ and they can now follow it at all times to lead them directly to said Deposits which may (or may not) hold the Diamonds they're looking for.

Less Common Diamond-Farming Methods

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Link Staring Down Satori

While hunting down Ore Deposits and using the Sensor+ Function are the most common and reliable ways players have been gathering Diamonds in Tears of the Kingdom, it's not the only way. In fact, some players swear that a few of these methods actually work better than hunting down Ore Deposits. So, here are a few of the other methods players can use to mine Diamonds.

Feeding Dondons In Bronas Forest

Dondons are a new creature in Tears of the Kingdom that Zelda apparently discovered and created a sanctuary for in the interim between Breath of the Wild and TotK. Their sanctuary is in Bronas Forest directly north of the Lakeside Stable at the fringes of the East Necluda region. Once players find the Dondons, there's just one more step they need to follow to have these creatures work on spawning Diamonds for them, and that's to feed each of them a Luminous Stone.

It turns out these glowing-horn buffalo-type creatures actually eat Luminous Stones and 'convert' them into ores when they come back out of their bodies. The chance of them 'spawning' Diamonds from this process is rare, but they'll still spawn other ore in the meantime, which still sell for a hefty bundle of Rupees. And, this process is one that players can always have in rotation in the background while using other Diamond-hunting methods at the same time.

Basically, players just need to drop a Luminous Stone in front of each Dondon and make sure to wait until they fully finish chewing it. After that, come back to check on them every once in a while (the exact time it takes is still unknown, but it's a pretty sizeable amount of time) and eventually there will be ores on the ground near where they were fed. Also, while this has never been fully confirmed, some fans swear that feeding a Dondon multiple Luminous Stones at a time increasing the chances of it creating rare Materials.

Specific Chests & Shrine Rewards

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Finding A Diamond In A Raurus Blessing Chest Reward Shrine

This next method is one that will become more and more reliable as Zelda fanatics document the entirety of Tears of the Kingdom, and that's hunting down specific 'secret' Chests or Chests in Shrines that have Diamonds in them.

Right now, there are only a couple of Chests that players know Diamonds are in, such as one Chest in the Hidden Royal Passage underneath Hyrule Castle or in the Abandoned Hebra Mine in the Depths (make sure to activate the nearby Lightroots). So, while it's not worth dedicating all of the player's time to this method since the full list of Chests holding Diamonds is still in the works, it's worth keeping in mind that Diamonds can even appear in Chests at all.

Using Satori To Find More Caves

On its own, Cave-Spleunking isn't a method worth mentioning for Diamond hunting. Caves are a bit hard to actively spot unless players stumble across their entrance, and it's not like Link can set a 'Cave' as the target for his Sensor+.

But, if players use Satori to mark all the nearby Caves in the area, pin all those Cave locations, and then go spelunking, then this method becomes a lot more reliable. Most TotK players aren't even aware that this is what Satori does, but yes, when players offer fruit at any of the Cherry Blossom Trees and that glowing horse (Satori) appears, those are the pillars of light that it's marking. And, once Link stumbles upon Koltin and finds out that the guy is trying to 'become a Satori' by eating the Bubbul Gems found in Caves, it suddenly makes a lot more sense that Satori knows where all the Caves are.

Farming Stone Taluses

And finally, for the last in-game method of hunting down Diamonds, let's talk about Stone Taluses. The Stone Talus (of all types and varieties) is one of the 'field boss' type Monsters players can encounter across Hyrule alongside others like the Hinox, Frox, Gleeok, Moldugas, and technically even Lynels. But, unlike all those other creatures, Taluses are defined more as 'sentient objects' than living creatures.

These stone giants, when killed by breaking the Ore Deposit somewhere on their body, will drop a couple of ores randomly, and this can include Diamond. And, the more 'rare' the Talus, the higher the chance for those Diamonds to drop. So, whenever players encounter a Talus, mark the location with a Stamp (or just use the interactive map online), and rotate fighting these Talus each time a Blood Moon causes them to respawn. If players are lucky and have an efficient route for farming a lot of Taluses in a short span of time, this is actually the best way to farm Daimonds overall.

Duplication Glitch

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Putting A Diamond On An Arrow To Use The Duplication Glitch

And, for the last trick in total, let's talk about duplicating items. Currently, at the time of writing this (October 2023) the duplication glitch is still in Tears of the Kingdom.

So, for players who don't mind exploiting immersion-breaking glitches, Diamonds can absolutely be duplicated using this glitch, which essentially means players have an easy way of getting pretty much infinite amounts of Rupees. Throughout the updates and patches Tears of the Kingdom has received since its release, Nintendo has put a lot of work into patching out each and every method of item duplication. However, as of Version 1.2.1, there's still a method of two of achieving this and creating more Diamonds from thin air.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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Released
May 12, 2023
Developer(s)
Nintendo
Publisher(s)
Nintendo