The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom introduces never-before-seen new abilities for the Hero of Time, Link, but players will need to beat the Sky Island Shrines – including the Gutanbac Shrine – before unlocking these new powers. The Sky Island Shrines serve as an early-game tutorial, not only unlocking abilities like Ascend, but also serving to show players the types of Shrine puzzles they might encounter on the surface of Hyrule.
Link’s Ascend ability is one of the most useful tools in TOTK, allowing players to easily reach new places. Unlike Revali’s Gale, which serves a similar purpose in Breath of the Wild, Ascend doesn’t create a gust of wind for Link to glide using, but instead lets Link travel through solid surfaces, vertically.
How To Solve The Gutanbac Shrine
After discovering and entering the Gutanbac Shrine, Link will learn the Ascend ability after a short cutscene. This ability will let Link ascend through objects, as seen in a recent Zelda: TOTK trailer. Next, walk towards the wall in front of you that should also have a patterned ceiling right above. Once underneath the ceiling, enable the Ascend ability to make Link go through the ceiling.
Link will come out into a room with two blocks on the right-hand wall (one short and one long). The small block will have a chest on top, which Link can access using the Ascend ability. Unlock the Chest to collect a Stone Axe. Then, drop back down and use the Ascend ability on the longer block to go to the next section of the Gutanbac Shrine in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
In this next section, there will be a small enemy you can defeat using the newly acquired Stone Axe or any other weapon from your inventory. On the right side of the room, you should see a wall with two wooden boxes embedded at the bottom. Break the two boxes with a weapon and use the Ascend ability to open the Chest right above to get a Construct Bow. Next, head down and use a bow or a weapon to cut the rope holding the bridge above. Once you’ve cut the rope using your bow and the bridge has fallen down, go right underneath the bridge and use the Ascend ability again. This will let you cross the gap onto the next section of the Gutanbac Shrine in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Once across, you will see a moving platform on the left wall. Once you’re underneath this platform, wait for the platform to come towards you and use the Ascend ability once the ability’s casted grid becomes green. Once you’re up on this moving platform, another platform should be above you. Repeat the process once the moving platform enables you to use the Ascend ability to reach the end of this Shrine. Interact with the Shrine, and Link will be rewarded with another Light of Blessing.
