You've spent hours wandering the lush fields of Central Hyrule, dodging Guardians that want to laser your face off, and then you see it. Way up in the northeast, perched on a cliff like a lonely lighthouse, is the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. Most players stumble upon the Hateno lab early on because the game basically shoves you toward Purah. But Robbie? Robbie is different. His lab is a trek. It's isolated. It's surrounded by Decayed Guardians and some of the nastiest terrain in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Honestly, the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab is the most important location in the endgame, yet so many people treat it as an afterthought. They shouldn't.
If you’re looking to turn Link into a literal tank, this is where the real work happens. While Purah focuses on your Sheikah Slate runes, Robbie is the guy who builds the hardware. He's the eccentric "rock star" of the Sheikah researchers, and his "wife," Cherry—the Ancient Oven—is the only reason you’ll ever stand a chance against a Stalker Guardian without breaking every sword in your inventory.
Getting to the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab Without Dying
Getting there is half the battle. Seriously. If you’re coming from the south, you have to navigate the Akkala Highlands. It’s beautiful but deadly. You’ll probably pass the Akkala Citadel Ruins, which is a nightmare of Skywatchers and Guardians. If you aren't ready for that, hug the coast.
Once you reach the lab, you’ll find Robbie. He’s... a lot. He’s a Sheikah scientist who’s obsessed with the "Power of Rock" and his own past glory. But before he’ll even talk to you about gear, you have to prove who you are. He demands you "show him your wounds." It’s a bit weird, but once he sees the scars Link earned during the Great Calamity, he opens up.
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Then comes the real chore: the Blue Flame.
You did this in Hateno, but this time it's harder. The pedestal is located down at the bottom of the hill in the East Akkala Plains. You have to light a torch and carry that blue flame all the way back up to the lab. Sounds easy? It’s not. The area is crawling with Blue Moblins and Octoroks that love nothing more than spitting a rock at you the moment you think you’re safe. Plus, the weather in Akkala is notoriously fickle. If it starts raining, your torch goes out. You’ll be standing there in the downpour, holding a damp stick, questioning your life choices.
Pro tip: Use a horse. You can carry a lit torch while riding. It makes the run significantly faster and lets you bypass the Moblins before they even realize you’re there. Also, light the stone lanterns along the path. They act as checkpoints. If the rain starts, you only have to backtrack to the last lantern instead of going all the way back to the source.
Cherry and the Ancient Oven: The Best Gear in Hyrule
Once the furnace outside is lit with that glowing blue fire, the lab "wakes up." Inside, you’ll find Cherry. She’s not a person; she’s a massive, repurposed ancient furnace that Robbie treats like a spouse. Cherry is where you trade your hard-earned Guardian parts and Rupees for the most powerful equipment in the game.
The Ancient Armor set is the big prize.
Each piece of this armor provides "Ancient Proficiency." When you wear the full set and upgrade it at a Great Fairy Fountain, your damage output with ancient and guardian weapons skyrockets by 80%. That is a massive multiplier. You become a Guardian-shredding machine. But it's expensive. To get the full set, you need:
- 6,000 Rupees
- 60 Ancient Screws
- 45 Ancient Springs
- 15 Ancient Gears
- 6 Ancient Shafts
- 3 Ancient Cores
Those Ancient Cores are the bottleneck. They don't drop often. You usually have to hunt the walking Stalker Guardians or the flying Skywatchers to find them. It’s a grind, but the payoff is the best defense-to-offense ratio in the entire game.
Why the Ancient Arrow is the Ultimate Equalizer
If the armor is the shield, the Ancient Arrow is the nuke. Robbie sells these in packs, and they are the only reason some players ever manage to clear the Hyrule Castle interior.
An Ancient Arrow will one-shot any non-boss enemy in the game. Gone. Deleted. If you hit a Lynel with one, it doesn't just die—it vanishes into a blue puff of pixels. The downside? You don't get any loot. It’s a "panic button" for when you’re overwhelmed. However, if you hit a Guardian in its glowing eye with an Ancient Arrow, it’s an instant kill, and you do get the loot. This is the most efficient way to farm the very parts you need to buy more arrows. It’s a self-sustaining cycle of destruction.
Robbie’s Lore: The Man Behind the Goggles
Robbie isn't just a merchant. He's one of the few living links to Link's past. Along with Purah and Impa, he survived the Calamity 100 years ago. While Impa stayed in Kakariko to lead her people and Purah stayed in Hateno to work on the Slate, Robbie headed to the furthest reaches of the map to keep an eye on the "Eye of the Calamity."
If you read his diary—which is tucked away in the lab—you get a much more somber picture of the man. He spent decades alone, fixing Cherry and waiting for Link to wake up. His rock-and-roll persona is clearly a coping mechanism for a century of isolation and the weight of failing to stop Ganon the first time.
His relationship with Jerrin is also a point of interest. Jerrin is a younger Sheikah woman who traveled to the lab to assist him. They eventually married and had a son named Granté. If you’re looking for Granté, he’s not at the lab; he’s off in Tarrey Town, selling rare armor pieces you might have lost or missed. The Akkala Ancient Tech Lab is a family business, in its own weird way.
Essential Items You Can Only Get Here
While the armor gets the headlines, the weapons are the workhorses. The Ancient Bladesaw is arguably the coolest weapon in the game. It’s a chainsaw-sword. When you swing it, the "teeth" of the blade rotate. It’s terrifyingly effective against Guardians.
- Ancient Short Sword: High durability, fast strikes.
- Ancient Spear: Great for keeping distance, though durability is lower.
- Ancient Shield: This is the hidden gem. It automatically reflects Guardian scouts' lasers back at them without you even needing to parry. Just hold the shield up. It’s a literal lifesaver if your timing is bad.
- Ancient Bow: This bow has almost zero gravity drop. You can snipe targets from incredible distances because the arrow travels in a nearly straight line. It’s perfect for hitting those pesky dragon scales or sniping enemies from across a canyon.
The costs are steep. You’ll find yourself constantly hunting Guardians just to keep your inventory stocked. But once you have a full kit from the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, the power dynamic of the game shifts. You’re no longer the prey. You’re the predator.
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Actionable Strategy for Master Mode
If you're playing on Master Mode, the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab isn't optional; it's a requirement. The health regeneration of enemies makes traditional combat a slog. You need the high-DPS output of the Ancient Proficiency set just to keep up.
- Farm the "Guardians" in the basement of the Lomei Labyrinth Island. It's just north of the lab. There are several stationary Guardians there that are easy to pick off for early parts.
- Save your Ancient Cores. Never sell them for Rupees. You will regret it when you're three cores short of the Ancient Greaves.
- Use the "Cook-off" method. If you're short on cash for Robbie’s gear, hunt the "Prime Meat" in the snowy regions of Hebra, cook five at a time into skewers, and sell them to merchants for 210 Rupees a pop. It's the fastest way to fund your ancient technology addiction.
- The "Medallion" Hack. If you have the DLC, place your Travel Medallion right inside the lab. Since it's so far from any shrine, having a direct warp point to Cherry saves you hours of climbing.
The Akkala Ancient Tech Lab represents the peak of Sheikah ingenuity. It’s a testament to the idea that even when the world ends, someone is going to be in a shed somewhere, tinkering with a giant oven and trying to build a better chainsaw. Go find Robbie. Light the fire. Gear up. Hyrule isn't going to save itself, and you’re going to need more than a rusty broadsword to take back the castle.