Rain. It is the absolute bane of every The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild player. You’re halfway up a sheer cliff in the Dueling Peaks, your stamina wheel is flashing red, and suddenly the sky turns grey. One slip and you’re tumbling back to the shrine you started at twenty minutes ago. Honestly, it’s frustrating. But that is exactly why the climbers gear breath of the wild set exists. It’s not just a fashion choice for Link; it is a fundamental mechanical shift in how you explore Hyrule.
Most people think they can just chug stamina elixirs and get by. You can, sure. But once you feel the sheer speed of a Tier 2 set bonus on a vertical face, you won’t ever go back to the Hylian Tunic. Finding the pieces, however, isn't exactly intuitive. The game doesn't hand them to you on a silver platter. You have to earn them through shrine trials that vary wildly in difficulty.
Where the Climbing Gear is Hiding
You’ve probably seen the bandana first. Most players stumble upon it early because it’s tucked away in the Ree Dahee Shrine. This one is right in the middle of the Dueling Peaks, sitting on the floor of the canyon between the two massive mountains. It’s a basic physics puzzle involving pressure plates and orbs. The chest is just sitting there on a platform you can reach by using Magnesis on a metal barrel or just timing your jumps right. It’s the easiest piece to grab, giving you that initial 20% boost to your base climbing speed.
The chest piece is a different story. The Climbing Gear (the shirt) is located in the Chaas Qeta Shrine. This is a "Major Test of Strength." If you’re a new player wandering out to Tenoko Island in the Necluda Sea, you’re going to get wrecked. The Guardian Scout IV inside has 3,000 HP and hits like a freight train. You need to be prepared with ancient weapons or at least a decent stack of shock arrows before you even think about stepping foot in there. It’s a literal gatekeeper for one of the most useful items in the game.
Then there are the boots. The Climbing Boots are stashed in the Tahno O'ah Shrine. This one is hidden behind a destructible rock wall on the eastern slopes of Mount Lanayru. It’s a "Blessing" shrine, meaning the challenge is just finding the damn thing in the first place. You’ll need some cold resistance—either the Snowquill set or some spicy peppers—because the cedar forest where it's hidden is freezing.
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Why the Set Bonus Changes Everything
Let's talk about the math for a second because it’s not just about moving faster. Each individual piece of the climbers gear breath of the wild set increases your climbing speed by about 20%. When you have the full set on, you’re moving 60% faster than "naked" Link. That is significant. It means you spend less time on the wall, which means you consume less stamina over the same distance.
But the real magic happens at the Great Fairy Fountains.
If you upgrade every piece of the set to at least two stars, you unlock the Climbing Jump Stamina Str Up set bonus. This is the holy grail of exploration. Normally, jumping while climbing consumes a huge chunk of your stamina bar. It’s a desperate move. With the set bonus active, that stamina cost is slashed in half. You can literally leapfrog up a mountain. It turns Link into a vertical sprinter.
Upgrading the Set: The Grind is Real
You can’t just find the gear and be done. To get that set bonus, you need materials. A lot of them.
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- Level 1: You’ll need 3 Keese Wings and 3 Rushrooms per piece. Easy.
- Level 2: This is where it gets annoying. 5 Electric Keese Wings and 5 Hightail Lizards.
- Level 3: 5 Ice Keese Wings and 10 Hot-Footed Frogs.
- Level 4: 10 Fire Keese Wings and 15 Swift Violets.
Swift Violets are a nightmare to farm. They grow on the sides of cliffs, mostly in the Tabantha Frontier or near the Thundra Plateau. It’s ironic, really. You need to do a ton of climbing to get the materials required to make your climbing gear better. If you see a purple flower on a cliffside, grab it. Don’t think. Just grab. You’ll thank yourself later when you're staring at the upgrade screen needing 45 of them to max out the set.
Common Misconceptions About Climbing
I see a lot of players complaining that the climbing gear doesn't stop you from slipping in the rain. It doesn't. Nothing in the base game completely negates the slip mechanic except for the Froggy Armor in the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. In Breath of the Wild, the climbing gear just helps you cover more ground between the slips.
Here is the trick: Link slips every five "steps" he takes in the rain. If you count your movements, you can time a jump right before the fifth step. You’ll still slip back, but because you jumped, you’ll end up slightly higher than where you started. The climbing gear makes this viable because your jump covers more distance and costs less stamina (if upgraded). It’s a workaround, not a cure.
Another thing? Don't bother wearing the gear if you’re just running on flat ground. It does absolutely nothing for your horizontal sprint speed. Use the Sheikah Set or the Dark Link Set for that. This gear is specialized. Use it for its intended purpose.
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The Strategy for Early Game Acquisition
If you’re starting a new save, go for the bandana first. It’s on the path to Kakariko Village anyway. Don’t rush for the shirt on Tenoko Island until you have at least 5 or 6 hearts and some decent food. The Guardian Scout IV will one-shot you otherwise.
The boots are actually easier to get than the shirt if you know where to look. You can glide down toward Mount Lanayru from the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Look for the cluster of trees near the peak’s base. Use your sensor if you have the Shrine Sensor+ upgrade; it’ll save you an hour of wandering in the snow.
The Impact on World Design
Nintendo designed Hyrule with these upgrades in mind. Early on, the world feels massive and impassable. The mountains are barriers. Once you have the full climbers gear breath of the wild kit, the world flattens out. You stop looking for paths and start looking for the most direct route. It changes the game from a survival experience into a true sandbox.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours in this game. I’ve done the speedruns, I’ve done the permadeath challenges. Every single time, the climbing gear is my first priority. It is the single most important utility set in the game, beating out even the Zora Armor because, let's face it, there is way more rock in Hyrule than there is falling water.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
- Pin the Locations: Mark the Ree Dahee Shrine (Dueling Peaks), Chaas Qeta (Necluda Sea), and Tahno O'ah (Mount Lanayru) on your map immediately.
- Farm the Frogs: Start collecting Hot-Footed Frogs whenever you pass a shallow pond. You need 30 total for the Level 3 upgrades.
- Visit the Fairy: Make sure you’ve unlocked at least two Great Fairy Fountains. You cannot get the stamina-reduction bonus without the two-star rating on all three pieces.
- Watch the Weather: Even with the gear, keep a fire-starting kit (flint and wood) handy. If it starts raining, you can often find a small overhang, start a fire, and wait until the weather clears. The gear makes you fast, but it doesn't make you a god.
Stop treating climbing as a chore. Get the gear, upgrade it twice, and start treating the vertical cliffs of Hyrule like your personal playground.