One of the Shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the Sasa Kai Shrine or A Modest Test of Strength. This shrine requires Link to, as the title of the shrine suggests, prove his strength by defeating a Guardian Scout and complete the shrine. Before Link can access the shrine, however, he must first complete the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest. This shrine and shrine quest may seem a little intimidating but it is actually fairly easy to complete. In this guide, you’ll learn how to complete the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest, complete the Sasa Kai 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 a total of 120 Shrines all over Hyrule, Link will be able to get a total of 120 Spirit Orbs. You get to decide whether you want Link to have more Hearts or more Stamina.
Location
Link won’t be able to immediately find and access the Sho Dantu Shrine but it will emerge from the ground at the top of a cliff just southeast of the Gerudo Tower (southwest of Birida Lookout or northwest of the Great Cliffs).
The Sasa Kai Shrine is one of six shrines in the Gerudo Tower region.
Sign of the Shadow
Before trying out this shrine quest, make sure that Link has enough bows and arrows on hand as these would be needed to complete the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest.
In order to start the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest, head to the top of Gerudo Tower and there you will find the Rito bard named Kass. Talk to Kass and he will tell Link that he did not hear him approach as he was lost in the song written by his late teacher which is about the hero who fell to the Calamity 100 years ago. Kass will then tell Link that the hero has not yet returned after so many years (even though he’s actually talking to the hero he is talking about) but his teacher always kept faith. He will tell Link about an ancient verse passed down in the region:
“As the light shines from the northwest skies,
From the tower’s shadow an arrow flies.
Pierce heaven’s light to reveal the prize.”
Additionally, while reciting the ancient verse, Kass will point to an Ancient pedestal on top of a cliff on top of a cliff just southeast of the Gerudo Tower (near where the Sasa Kai Shrine will emerge).
The ancient verse means that Link must shoot an arrow on the Gerudo Tower from the Ancient pedestal when the Gerudo Tower’s shadow is on the Ancient pedestal. This can be done with the sun at around 3 to 4 PM. So, in order to complete the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest, this is what Link must do:
- Jump and glide from the Gerudo Tower to the cliff with the Ancient pedestal southeast of the tower.
- If the time is almost 3 PM, then just wait for 3 PM. However, if it’s still a long time before 3 PM in game, pass the time near the Ancient pedestal by setting up a campfire which can be done by dropping Wood and Flint then striking it with a metal weapon. After that, wait until noon then wait for it to be 3 PM (the wait is only three minutes in real life).
- At 3 PM, the shadow of Gerudo Tower’s tip will be on the Ancient pedestal. During this time, stand on the Ancient pedestal, ready Link’s bow and arrow, aim on the top of Gerudo Tower, then shoot an arrow.
- After that, the Sasa Kai Shrine will emerge just ahead of the Ancient pedestal.
Finally, after the Sasa Kai Shrine appears, the Sign of the Shadow Shrine Quest is completed!
A Modest Test of Strength
Before descending to the Sasa Kai Shrine, make sure that 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 Sasa Kai Shrine, you will see an entrance to a very big 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 a sword and a spear.
- 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 stabs with its spear and slow attacks with its sword which you’ll know because it will wind up. 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 don’t 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 Guardian Sword+ and Guardian Spear+ 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 Frostblade.
- Finally, continue up the stairs and talk to the monk to claim your Spirit Orb.
As mentioned above, the Sasa Kai Shrine or A Moderate Test of Strength is one of six shrines in the Gerudo Tower region. The other shrines are the Kuh Takkar Shrine or the Melting Ice Hazard, the Sho Dantu Shrine or the Two Bombs, the Joloo Nah Shrine or the Joloo Nah Apparatus, the Kema Kosassa Shrine or A Major Test of Strength, and the Keeha Yoog Shrine or the Keeha Yoog’s Blessing.
