The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a big game, with lots of stuff to see, do and find. More than ever before, players have a ton of freedom in how they approach each situation using Link’s impressive new abilities along with the items, materials and gear they find out in the world.
Eventually though, you’re going to want to spend a bit of money. Whether to acquire a shiny new outfit, stocks of essentials like arrows or just to stash for a rainy day, rupees make Hyrule go ’round. You’ll come into an okay amount of rupees over the course of your adventures, but if you’re looking for ways to get rich quick, there are a couple that players have already identified as early and easily-accessible methods.
Before we get into any big-time scheming, it’s helpful to have some quick rupee-making tips in your back pocket so that you’re maximising opportunities when you’re out adventuring. Here are some things to look out for:
(Slight, early-game location/quest spoilers below)
One early area that’s rich in a particular resource for money-making is around the Hebra region, near the location of the “first” major dungeon/temple that the game gently nudges you towards. That resource? Meat.
You’ll have to complete questline here and assist the Rito to rid the area of a major blizzard before you start to see the area populated with meaty animals, but once you do you should start to see Moose hanging around the fields surrounding Rito Village near near the Lucky Clover Gazette.
Slaughtering (sorry) these moose will earn you Gourmet Meat and Prime Meat, which can be cooked into skewers and sold for fairly hefty sums. Five gourmet meat on a skewer goes for 315 rupees while five prime meat will get you 135 rupees. You can hunt the old-school way with bow and arrow or get as inventive as your stomach will allow with other tools of moose destruction.
If wanton slaughter of Hyrulian fauna goes against your sensibilities, another tried and trusted method that works similarly is to find a particular Shrine near Satori Mountain, due West and slightly South of Lookout Landing (coordinates around -1921, -0357, 0228).
Here, there’s an absolute abundance of apple trees crowded around the shrine. Enough for you to pick upwards of 100 apples within minutes, including a good number of the more valuable Golden Apples. You will have to contend with some tree enemies attempting to ambush you but they’re incredibly easy to deal with using any kind of axe weapon.
Once you’ve amassed a stockpile of apples you can go ahead and start cooking them five-at-a-time into Simmered Fruit, which will sell for 27 rupees a pop. Golden Apples, while useful on their own as ingredients, will also sell for 8 rupees apiece if you end up amassing quite a lot of them over time. Doing this, each visit to the trees around the Sonapan Shrine (when they replenish) can net you 700-800 rupees for a few minutes work.
Due credit to u/Flonkers and a since-deleted user on Reddit for originally flagging these farming spots.
If you’re just starting out on your Tears of the Kingdom adventure, check out our other guides to unlocking all of Link’s new abilities, creating the most useful recipes and using amiibo figures to score some great unique gear.