BOTW’s Hardest-To-Reach Impossible Treasure Chests (& What’s In Them)

Treasure chests have been an iconic part of the Zelda franchise since its inception, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild completionists face the incredible challenge of opening every single one. These chests contain a number of useful and valuable items that Link needs for his adventure, and while some are easily found in Shrines and villages throughout Hyrule, others require that players solve puzzles, defeat monsters, and even follow dogs to uncover. However, the most difficult treasure chests to find in BOTW are so well-hidden, it’s possible that Nintendo never even intended for them to be found.

After upgrading the Sheikah Slate, players can use their Sheikah Sensor+ to track and find hidden chests throughout Hyrule, but some quickly noticed that the sensor would go off when there was seemingly nothing around. This led to the discovery that there were treasure chests in BOTW that, due to various glitches and mapping issues, were actually impossible to open, buried deep under the map of Hyrule in inaccessible locations. As of this year, however, every impossible chest in Breath of the Wild has finally been opened, revealing the secrets within over four years after the game’s initial release.

To get to these chests, players will have to rely on a variety of glitches, runes, and creative tactics that require a lot of patience, as well as flawless execution that requires a synergy of Link’s skills and abilities. In addition, several of the chests require the use of the Travel Medallion, so players will only be able to get them if they’ve purchased BOTW’s The Master Trials DLC . Players should also have a fully upgraded stamina wheel and plenty of food and elixirs to replenish their stamina before attempting most of these as well.

BOTW’s Hateno Village Hides An Impossible Chest

Breath of the Wild’s first impossible chest is located in the pond just east of the Ton Pu Inn in Hateno Village. In order to reach it, players must perform a glitch known as an Ollie Clip that allows them to clip beneath Hyrule’s map by entering Bullet Time while shield surfing and mashing the X button a frame about the ground. After entering the space beneath the world, players can paraglide down to a ledge near the water and use the Cryonis rune to make their way down the river towards the waterfall. The impossible chest will spawn when Link gets close enough, at which point players can catch it with BOTW‘s Magnesis rune. This chest requires a lot less effort than most of the other impossible chests and rewards players with a shiny Purple Rupee.

The Impossible Chest At Aris Beach Requires Patience In BOTW

Off the coast of Aris Beach, Breath of the Wild players can come across two treasure chests beneath the surface of the water. However, while one can be easily retrieved by yanking it out of the sand with the Magnesis rune, the other is hard-locked in the ground and won’t budge no matter how much players may attempt to dislodge it. In order to knock it loose, players will have to use the Stasis rune to freeze it, then grab the other chest with the Magnesis rune and begin slamming it into the stuck chest repeatedly. While this method is relatively straightforward compared to the other impossible chests and doesn’t require any glitches in BOTW, it requires players to be persistent as it can take over an hour of repeating this process before the chest will actually come loose from the sands. However, patient players will be rewarded with an Opal once the chest has been recovered.

There’s An Impossible Chest In BOTW’s Zorana

Northwest of Breath of the Wild’s Toto Lake in the Zorana area of Hyrule, there’s an impossible chest waiting to be found in an open area beneath the map. In order to get it, players will need to Ollie Clip under the ground and paraglide down to a ledge near the waterfall. After placing the Travel Medallion here, players can use the Cryonis rune to climb down the waterfall to the river below. The chest will float up out of the water once Link is close enough, and since it’s made of wood, players with the Zora Helm will be able to open it by spiraling into it while swimming. Players who don’t have the helm will be able to lift the chest out of the water with another Cryonis pillar, revealing the Soldier’s Bow inside. Depending on how strong Link is when this chest is opened, players may find a Royal Bow instead thanks to Breath of the Wild’s weapon scaling system.

Rassla Lake’s Impossible Chest Requires Tons Of BOTW Glitches

The impossible chest at Rassla Lake is a major test of skill and patience for Breath of the Wild players that are up for the challenge as getting this chest not only requires a lot of setup but also demands perfect execution of its many complicated steps. Before players can attempt to retrieve this chest, they’ll have to find a Royal Guard’s Bow with quick shot and perform the Durability Transfer glitch to increase the number of shots it can fire. From there, Link will have to clip through the ground beneath Rassla Lake and place the Travel Medallion on an invisible ledge before teleporting out to find a horse in order to activate the Moon Jump glitch. Once all of this is complete, players will have completed the necessary setup to reach this BOTW impossible chest.

After warping back to the Travel Medallion, Link will have to step off the hidden ledge and catch himself with a Cryonis pillar. At this point, the chest will already be falling from the surface, so players will have to freeze it with the Stasis rune so it doesn’t disappear before they’re able to grab it. From here, players will have to carefully line the chest up with a Remote Bomb before firing about 40 arrows at it and detonating the bomb in Bullet Time to knock the chest toward Link. If everything has been done correctly, players will be able to snag it with the Magnesis rune and recover the Knight’s Shield or Royal Shield inside, depending on weapon scaling.

BOTW’s Last Impossible Chest Was Opened This Year

The last of Breath of the Wild’s impossible chests, which is located in the Aris Beach area, was finally opened in June of 2021, over 4 years after the game’s initial release. This chest stumped completionists and glitch-lovers as the chest couldn’t even be spawned into the game since it was so deep beneath the ground, meaning that no one had ever even seen it prior to its discovery. However, a YouTuber known as Kleric was finally able to reach the chest and reveal its contents, but the process is extremely difficult and time-consuming and requires players to not only utilize most of Link’s skills but also to intentionally die and respawn beneath Hyrule’s map.

After clipping beneath the ground at Aris Beach and swimming to an air pocket between two rocks, Link must place the Travel Medallion before teleporting out and activating a Moon Jump. Once players teleport back to the Medallion and step off the ledge, they can catch themselves with a Cryonis pillar, jump off the pillar while activating a shield surf, then fall for 5 hours and 35 minutes of Breath of the Wild’s in-game time, which is about 5 minutes and 35 seconds in real-time. At this point, they should be able to hear the sound of wind rushing if everything has been done correctly, and players can cancel the shield surf and activate Moon Jump to reach the bottom layer of water below Breath of the Wild’s map.

After reaching the water, players will be able to swim extremely fast in the opposite direction they’re moving in. The camera will reset to above the surface, at which point players begin to float up, so they can eat a speed-boosting food and begin moving toward the chest to get it to spawn. Once the Sheikah Sensor detects the chest, they’ll have to wait 1 second before making a mad dash toward it, eating one stamina-boosting food just as they reach a group of trees on the way. Placing another Cryonis pillar will allow them to see the chest as it falls, and they’ll be able to catch it with the Magnesis rune before swimming back toward the Travel Medallion and drowning from lack of stamina, which will respawn them at the Medallion.

By jumping off the ledge and catching themselves on another Cryonis pillar from the Travel Medallion, players will be able to see the chest falling nearby. They’ll have to use the Stasis rune on the chest and throw a Remote Bomb toward it, and after entering Bullet Time to fire about 40 arrows at the chest, they can detonate the bomb to launch Breath of the Wild’s final impossible chest toward Link. At this point, they’ll have to use the Fall Damage Cancel glitch to return to a standing state, which will allow them to finally snatch the chest with the Magnesis rune and drag it over to open it. However, the chest only contains a piece of Amber, which is an extremely common material found in the game. Perhaps the real reward for finding Breath of the Wild’s hardest-to-reach impossible chest is simply the pride of being able to say that it’s been done.

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