Honestly, we've all been there. You’re staring at a mostly blue-filled version of Hyrule, your loading screen says 118 or 119, and you are losing your mind. You've checked every botw all shrines map on the internet, but somehow, that last little orange diamond just won't show its face.
It’s not just you. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has a way of hiding things in plain sight that makes you feel like a total amateur, even after 200 hours. Finding all 120 shrines (or 136 if you’re a completionist with the DLC) is basically a rite of passage. But here’s the thing: most maps just show you dots. They don’t tell you why you can’t see the shrine when you’re standing right on top of the coordinates.
The Numbers Game: What Are You Actually Looking For?
Let's get the math out of the way first. You have 120 shrines in the base game. If you've got The Champions’ Ballad DLC, that number jumps. You get 16 more, though four of those are "One-Hit Obliterator" trials on the Great Plateau and the others are tied to the Divine Beast pilots.
People always ask: "Can I max out everything?"
The short answer is no. Even with every single spirit orb from the base 120, you’ll be short either two heart containers or about a third of a stamina wheel. It's an annoying design choice that has fueled forum wars for years. Most people (myself included) go for the full three stamina wheels because, let’s be real, climbing in the rain is a nightmare and those extra hearts don't matter as much once you have the Ancient Armor.
The "Invisible" Shrines That Break Every Map
If you're looking at a botw all shrines map and the icons match but your total doesn't, it’s probably because of the "Shrine Quests." There are 42 of these in total. The problem is that many of these shrines don't actually exist in the world until you trigger a specific event or talk to a specific NPC (usually a bird-man playing an accordion named Kass).
The Eventide Island Trap
You probably found this one, or at least saw the island in the far southeast. It’s called Korgu Chideh. It’s basically "Survival Mode: The Shrine." You land, you lose all your gear, and you have to scavenge for crabs and rusty swords while a Hinox tries to sit on you. If you leave the island before finishing, you have to start all over. It’s brutal, but it’s one of the few that actually feels like a mini-adventure.
The Twin Memories Logic
Over in the Dueling Peaks, there are two shrines—Shee Vaneer and Shee Venath—that literally require you to look at the floor of one to solve the other. If you’re just blindly following a map and entering them, you’re going to be stuck staring at blue orbs wondering what went wrong. You’ve gotta take a picture of the floor layout or, you know, just use your brain and draw it. Or use your phone. We all use our phones.
The Hidden Ones Under the Ground
This is where the Sheikah Sensor becomes your best friend and your worst enemy. It’ll beep like crazy, but you’re standing in a field of grass.
- Hebra Mountains: There are at least three shrines hidden behind breakable ice walls or tucked into caves that start half a mile away.
- The Shadow Riddle: Sasa Kai shrine only appears if you stand on a pedestal and shoot an arrow at the sun during a specific time of day. A static map won't tell you that; it just shows a dot in the middle of a cliff.
Regional Breakdown: Where the Clusters Are
If you want to systematically clear your map, it helps to know how many are in each region. It’s not an even split.
- Hebra: 13 Shrines. It's the densest area and also the most annoying because of the snowstorms and verticality.
- Gerudo Desert & Highlands: 12 Shrines. Half are buried in sand or behind "test of will" quests involving hot rocks.
- Dueling Peaks: 9 Shrines. Most are early-game stuff, but don't sleep on the ones tucked in the river canyons.
- Central Hyrule: 8 Shrines. Good luck getting these without a Guardian parrying you into oblivion.
- Akkala: 8 Shrines. Home to the Lomei Labyrinth, which is a whole thing on its own.
Why Your Sensor Is Lying to You
The Sheikah Sensor + is great, but it has zero vertical awareness. It tells you something is nearby, but not if it’s 500 feet below you in a cavern or at the top of a peak you can’t see through the fog.
The most common "missing" shrine is actually in the Forgotten Temple at the end of Tanagar Canyon. It’s huge, it’s filled with about a dozen Guardians that all want to laser your face off, and it sits at the very end of the massive crack in the earth. If you stay on the surface, your sensor might pick it up, but you'll never find the entrance.
The Reward (Is it actually worth it?)
Once you finally clear all 120, you get a side quest called "A Gift from the Monks." You head to the Forgotten Temple, and there are three chests waiting for you.
Inside? The Of the Wild armor set. It’s the classic green tunic look. Is it the best armor in the game? Not really. The Ancient Armor or the Barbarian Set usually beats it for utility. But it’s the flex. Wearing that hat says "I spent weeks looking at a botw all shrines map so I didn't have to."
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Actionable Steps for the 119/120 Club
If you're stuck, do these three things right now:
- Check the labels: On your in-game map, look at the shrine icons. If the icon is orange in the middle, you found it (activated the fast travel) but didn't finish it. If it’s blue with a small chest icon next to the name, you’ve got all the loot too. No chest icon? You missed a secret room.
- Find Kass: If you haven't finished all his songs, you haven't finished all the shrines. He’s usually near a stable or an odd rock formation. If he’s back in Rito Village, you’ve finished his questline.
- The Hero’s Path Trick: If you have the DLC, turn on Hero's Path mode. Look for "blank" spots on your map where you haven't walked. Shrines are almost never in places you've already thoroughly explored. If there's a giant mountain you haven't climbed, guess where the shrine is?
The hunt is the best part of the game, honestly. Once they're all found, Hyrule feels a little bit smaller. Enjoy the beep-beep of the sensor while it lasts.
Check your map against a high-res interactive version, zoom all the way in on the Hebra region, and look for the caves. That's usually where the last one is hiding.