Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
A few hours in, you’ll come across first of many Tears of the Kingdom blood moon cutscenes, and wonder what it’s all about. It’s something you’re going to come across multiple times in your journey through TotK’s Hyrule, so it’s important to make sure you know the ins and outs of it.
If you’re exploring the new Tears of the Kingdom map and come across a Tears of the Kingdom blood moon, we have all the info you need to know so you can get right back to killing those new Tears of the Kingdom enemies.
What is a Tears of the Kingdom blood moon?
Just like Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom does feature blood moons. Blood moons are a random event in Tears of the Kingdom which occur at midnight after 168 in-game minutes. If that seems like a weird time period, it’s because it takes 168 minutes on the in-game clock for a week to pass.
In the hour of a blood moon, in the hour or so before midnight, the moon and night sky will turn red. You’ll also start noticing red mist appearing around you. During this event, a cutscene will play with Princess Zelda talking about ‘aimless spirits of monsters’ coming back to life.
There are a few effects of the bloom moon. The first is that all monsters you’ve already defeated will come back to life, except story bosses. This means anything from a Bokoblin to a Talus will respawn in the overworld, but not the final bosses of each of the major temples. This is so that even in the late-game, you will still have some combat to deal with in the form of these fallen monsters.
As well as previously defeated enemies, it also respawns items in the overworld. This means you can restock your supply of bomb flowers, Zonaite, or even ore deposits to do some rupees farming
A less known effect is blood moon cooking. When you cook a meal during the blood moon, it will always get a ‘critical cook’ effect, boosting the power of the dish. This means your meals will have extra hearts recovery, as well as increasing the power and duration of any bonuses.
In BotW, Zelda reveals that Ganon’s power reaches its peak during blood moons, allowing him to resurrect these enemies. This means that, even though you may have explored a certain area, and cleared it of monsters, every time a blood moon occurs, the area will repopulate. This is to ensure that at any point in the game, there will be monsters available for Link to fight.
While a blood moon will bring defeated enemies back to life, this doesn’t affect certain major enemies, such as bosses. So if you struggled to beat a particular boss, don’t worry, you won’t have to fight them again.
That’s all you need to know about the Tears of the Kingdom blood moon mechanic. No matter how many times Link’s enemies come back, his new Tears of the Kingdom abilities will make short work of them. And if you’re interested in who you’ll be meeting in your journey, our Tears of the Kingdom characters list has you covered.
