One of the Shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the Noya Neha Shrine or A Minor Test of Strength. As the shrine’s title suggests, this shrine requires Link to prove his strength by defeating a Guardian Scout and completing the shrine. This shrine may seem intimidating, but it is relatively easy to assemble. In this guide, you will learn how to complete the Noya Neha Shrine, get the chest, and claim the Spirit Orb.
Link will be rewarded with Spirit Orbs for completing Shrines. The Spirit Orbs obtained can be exchanged for more Heart Containers or Stamina Vessels. As there are 120 Shrines all over Hyrule, Link will get a total of 120 Spirit Orbs. You get to decide whether you want Link to have more Hearts or more Stamina.
Location
The Noya Neha Shrine can be found hidden inside a huge rock mountain on the southwest part of an island west of Hyrule Castle (southwest of Castle Town Prison).
Upon reaching the huge rock mountain, go to its left side, and you will see a breakable wall surrounded by spikes and leaves. To get through, burn the spikes by using a fire arrow, a Flameblade, or dropping flint and wood, then striking it with a metal weapon to create fire. Then, after all the spikes and leaves have burned out, use the Remote Bomb Rune ability to destroy the breakable wall, and just like that, you will find the Noya Neha Shrine.
The Noya Neha Shrine is one of eight shrines in the Central Tower region of Hyrule.
A Minor Test of Strength
Before descending to the Noya Neha Shrine, make sure Link has enough weapons (especially Guardian weapons as they are very effective against Guardians), shields, bows, arrows, and food for health (cooked or not) to use.
Upon entering Noya Neha Shrine, you will see an entrance to a vast room just ahead of Link. In this big room are big concrete pillars. To complete this shrine, this is what Link must do:
- Proceed to the entrance and after going through the door, a Guardian Scout will emerge on the ground after the gate closes behind Link. This Guardian Scout is armed with an Axe.
- Now you must kill the Guardian Scout. At the beginning of the battle, the Guardian Scout will come towards Link with slow attacks. It will attack with slow slices with its axe which you will see because it winds up before hitting. You can simply dodge this attack or dodge at the perfect time to perform a Flurry Rush to inflict major damage. The Guardian Scout may also shoot lasers but this can be evaded by dodging away or deflected using the shield.
- After taking enough damage, the Guardian Scout will eventually jump back and start spinning rapidly towards Link. Before it charges towards Link, hide behind a pillar so that when it does spin towards Link it will hit the pillar which will cause the Guardian Scout to be stunned and will then be an opportunity to deal damage.
- After depleting its health to around half, the Guardian Scout will start to jump back and fire a constant laser in a large arc around it which will inflict damage if Link is hit. Fortunately, the spinning laser will also cause an updraft. You can jump towards the updraft and quickly use the Paraglider to go high up in the air. Once Link is up in the air, aim the bow and arrow to slow down time and fire an arrow on its eye to stun it and deal damage. If you do not want to do that, you can simply stand out of the laser’s range then aim and fire an arrow at the right time to hit the Guardian Scout’s eye and stun it and deal damage (but, come on, that first method is just cooler to do).
- When its health is nearly depleted, the Guardian Scout will turn blue and will start absorbing energy while targeting Link with a red laser (just like Guardian Stalkers and Decayed Guardians). After absorbing enough energy, it will fire several blasts towards its target which can inflict major damage. To evade this, simply sprint or close the distance by running towards it and dodging the blasts or you can fire arrows on its eyes and deal some damage. It is worth mentioning that you can also attack it while the Guardian Scout is still absorbing energy.
- After defeating it, the Guardian Scout will drop its Ancient Battle Axe for the taking along with a couple of Ancient Shafts and Screws.
- Continue up ahead towards the altar where you will see a chest just before the altar. Open the chest to obtain a Knight’s Shield.
- Finally, continue up the stairs and talk to the monk to claim your Spirit Orb.
The Noya Neha Shrine, or A Minor Test Of Strength, is one of eight shrines in the Central Tower region. The other shrines are the Wahgo Katta Shrine or the Metal Connections, the Rota Ooh Shrine or the Passing of the Gates, the Kaam Ya’tak Shrine or the Trial of Power, the Dah Kaso Shrine or A Minor Test in Strength, the Katah Chuki Shrine or A Minor Test of Strength, the Saas Ko’sah Shrine or A Major Test of Strength, and the Namika Ozz Shrine or A Modest Test of Strength.
