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The first set of armor you can find to give Link some extra defense in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the Archaic Armor, and you’ll find it before you’re finished with Great Sky Island. As you work to find all the Shrines and receive your powers, look a bit off the beaten path for some early-game armor. It doesn’t offer much protection, but anything is better than nothing!
But the Archaic Armor Set can be a bit tricky to find, especially with so much to take in. Let us help you find the Archaic Armor Set!
This guide contains spoilers for early parts of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
How To Get The Archaic Legwear
The Archaic Legwear is the first piece of the Archaic Armor Set you’ll find in Tears of the Kingdom, and it’s pretty early on in your adventure.
While learning about the dive mechanic as you’re leaving the Room of Awakening, you have three platforms from which you’ll be diving.
The third dive in this area is the largest, but dive into the pool below as instructed.
Water will soften your landing, no matter the height from which you’ve jumped. Keep this in mind throughout your Tears of the Kingdom playthrough.
After emerging from the pool, before going through the door to your right, you’ll notice a treasure chest within the rubble. Inside is the Archaic Legwear.
The Archaic Legwear in Tears of the Kingdom offer Link only one defense point, but it's certainly better than nothing this early on!
How To Get The Archaic Tunic
The Archaic Tunic is probably the easiest to miss from the Archaic Armor Set in Tears of the Kingdom.
It's inside Pondside Cave, which you'll find in the Southwest side of the Great Sky Island. You head through the area after finishing the In-Isa Shrine, in which you got the Fuse ability.
After finishing the Shrine, head East toward the Zonai encampment, and handle the Zonai Constructs and Chu Chus here.
You can avoid this fight if you're low on health or not ready for combat quite yet.
At the back corner of this area is a cave, right past the Zonai Construct with the piece of wood for its weapon.
Inside the cave, there are plenty of Keese and your first Bubbulfrog of the game, which you'll need to defeat in order to safely move through the cave.
Once these enemies have been defeated, it's tempting to continue on through the exit, but don't leave this cave after you've defeated the Bubbulfrog.
Instead, there's another opening toward the North side of the cave.
Use the compass position of your map if the fight turned you around - now, and for the rest of the game.
Head into this opening, and the Archaic Tunic is inside a chest in the rubble just inside, beside the Brightbloom seeds.
The Archaic Tunic in Tears of the Kingdom grants Link plus one defense.
How To Get The Archaic Warm Greaves
The final piece of the Archaic Armor Set in Tears of the Kingdom is the Archaic Warm Greaves, which can be found after completing the Gutanbac Shrine in the Southwest of the Great Sky Island.
In order to get the Archaic Warm Greaves to complete your Archaic Armor Set, you need to have the Ascend ability unlocked, meaning you need to finish Gutanbac Shrine first.
After finishing the Shrine and speaking to Rauru, look Eastward toward a large tree stump nearby as soon as you've left Gutanbac Shrine.
Drop down from the ledge the Shrine exited you onto, then use Ascend through the piece of bark overhanging off the cliff by the tree stump.
Once up there, head into the tree stump, where you'll find a treasure chest containing the final piece of the Archaic Armor Set, the Archaic Warm Greaves.
Not only do the Archaic Warm Greaves offer two defense, but they're also your very first piece of cold-resistant armor.
Equip them immediately to provide some warmth from the cold on your back to the Temple of Time - no more Spicy Peppers for you.