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Critters in Tears of the Kingdom are used in Elixirs and armor upgrades. Unfortunately, they're fast-moving and quite skittish, which makes them tricky and frustrating to farm. Some critters and insects like the Thunderwing Butterfly only spawn in very specific habitats or during a thunderstorm.
Players will have better luck farming Thunderwing Butterflies if they look to the southern regions of Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom. Thanks to The Upheaval, some of their habitats have been changed from Breath of the Wild. It's likely that players won't see Thunderwing Butterflies in the wild until they've made some heavy progress in TotK's main story.
Thunderwing Butterfly Location (TotK)
According to their Hyrule Compendium description, Thunderwing Butterflies will only flock in places when it rains. Players can find them in the Faron Grasslands or the Thunderhead Isles. Those that have the money to spare can also purchase 3 of them from Beedle at certain Stables.
Faron Grasslands
The Faron Grasslands is the region near the Ishokin Shrine (-0565, -3524, 0129) and the Highland Stable (0534, -3433, 0047). Thunderwing Butterflies are likely to crop up anywhere in the Faron Grasslands as long as it's raining. Players can "speed up" the rain by waiting at a campfire or staying at an inn or Zelda's House (Hateno Village).
How to Unlock Thunderhead Isles
The Thunderhead Isles is high up in the sky at the very south of Hyrule. If players haven't completed the "Crisis at Hyrule Castle" main quest, then the Thunderhead Isles will be obscured by a giant black cloud. When it's like this, it'll be impossible to get in. Players will instead need to do the following:
- Awaken all Four Sages.
- Find Zelda at Hyrule Castle ("Crisis at Hyrule Castle").
- Start the main quest "The Fifth Sage."
- Go to Kakariko Village and start "Secret of the Ring Ruins," which then leads Link to Dracozu Lake.
- Get the Charged Armor, which then clears away the thunderclouds swarming the Thunderhead Isles.
Once all of this is taken care of, Link can safely glide towrads the Thunderhead Isles without getting hurt (as long as he's not wearing metal).
The Thunderwing Butterflies appear all over the small islands (near 0719, -2615, 0744) that make up Thunderhead Isles. It's constantly raining here, so this is arguably the best place to farm them for future armor upgrades. However, because of the rain, Link will slip if he tries climbing, so it's recommended to have the Froggy Armor Set and have it upgraded to level 2. Players can also use Slip-resistant Elixirs if they don't want to do the Lucky Post Gazette side adventure.
Thunderwing Butterflies will only spawn on the Thunderhead Isles and not the Dragonhead Island.
Beedle (Thunderwing Butterfly)
As mentioned, Beedle sells Thunderwing Butterflies for 10 rupees per butterfly at the Tabantha Bridge Stable and the Lakeside Stable. He only has 3 in stock, so players can get 6 at most from both Stables. Just as any other general store, Beedle will restock his wares every Blood Moon.
Thunderwing Butterfly Farming Tips
Since Thunderwing Butterflies only come out when it's raining, players should avoid wearing metal when farming for them. They are also very timid and will fly away if Link makes too much noise. The best way to avoid this is to enhance Link's stealth. Players can take a Sneaky Elixir or they can equip stealth-enhancing armor such as the Stealth Set from Kakariko Village. Approaching them while crouched (press down on the L-stick) will make them less likely to respond to Link's movements.
Because Thunderwing Butterflies tend to fly above Link, it may be easier to paraglide towards them. If players do this, then they may want to disable the Vow of Tulin from the Key Items tab in the Inventory (+). Tulin's Gust won't scare away butterflies or other timid creatures, but it will propel Link forward, making it easy to miss the Thunderwing Butterfly. It's also easier to have Tulin's Vow disabled so that players don't accidentally trigger it when tapping A-button to grab the butterfly.
Where to Use Thunderwing Butterfly
Like any other critter, Thunderwing Butterflies can be used to craft Elixirs. Cooking these little guys will produce an Electro Elixir, which makes Link resistant to Shock. For those that don't know, Shock is what causes Link to drop his weapon (or shield) when struck by lightning-based attacks. Having an Electro Elixir active won't make Link immune to lightning damage, but at least he won't be dropping weapons any time soon. Electro Elixirs are good to have when exploring areas that have thunderstorms or when battling a Thunder Gleeok.
Some may argue that a better way to use Thunderwing Butterflies is to upgrade their armor. Players will need a total of 15 Thunderwing Butterflies (and Electric Lizalfos Horns) to upgrade the entire Charged Armor Set from level 1 to level 2. At level 2, armor sets gain a Set Bonus. Thus, if players want the Charged Set's bonus, they'll want to hold onto the Thunderwing Butterflies.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for Nintendo Switch.