A handful of enemies in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can send shivers down the spines of even the bravest players. Gleeoks are one world boss type that cause problems for players of all skill levels, unlike the Lynel which many players have figured out reliable strategies to take down since they were included in Breath of the Wild.
However, one other returning enemy in Tears of the Kingdom is arguably just as rough of a fight as the Gleeok if Link isn't prepared. Indeed, Molduga are a vastly different fight without the use of Link's Bomb ability. But with the right materials, devices, and strategy, completing the WANTED: Molduga bounty quest is as easy as players want it to be.
WANTED: Molduga Quest Location
WANTED: Molduga can be picked up in Lookout Landing once players have completed all of the introductory quests for the Purah Pad and are set loose on their adventure. Once Regional Phenomena has been added to your quest book, head to the Emergency Shelter in the middle of town.
Beneath the Emergency Shelter players can talk to a variety of monster control crew members and Zonai researchers in the area. Talk to the monster control crew captain, who hands out bounties for monsters around Hyrule. Here, Link will learn about a Molduga in the East Barrens of the Gerudo region.
Its location should be marked on your map, but depending on the state of the storm around Gerudo Town, it can be easier to head to the Gerudo Skyview Tower and jump directly to the marker than to mess around in the desert.
How To Beat a Molduga in Tears of the Kingdom
When approaching the East Barrens, the Molduga won't be immediately obvious as other world bosses are. In fact, it should barely be visible at all unless players are lucky enough to see it jump out of the sand from a distance. Instead, look for movement underneath the sand as Link gets close to see the Molduga's current location. Maintain high ground away from the sand at all times Link isn't attacking, as it can spring out of the sand practically from nowhere and annihilate his Hearts in a single attack.
Molduga are a bit tougher to beat in Tears of the Kingdom than they were in Breath of the Wild because Link doesn't have nearly the same ease of access to explosives as he used to. However, players can bring a hoard of Zonai Time Bombs to serve the same purpose, albeit in a much more clunky way.
Bring out one of these Time Bombs when the Molduga approaches, activate it, and if it was timed correctly, the beast will be blown out of the sand. Molduga will sometimes eat these, like a Dodongo in Ocarina of Time, if they are placed directly in their path.
Players can also use Bomb Flowers attached to arrows to achieve the same effect, but they must hit the Molduga when it jumps out of the ground for it to be incapacitated.
If it's charging towards you, don't panic, just sprint in the opposite direction – as long as Link is running he shouldn't get hit, and can turn around for a ranged rebuttal. Movement speed buffs don't hurt, though.
When the Molduga reaches about half its health, it will stop burying itself completely under the sand while zooming around, which allows Link to get hits in much more reliably. Once again, either with Zonai Time Bombs or Bomb Flowers attached to arrows, watch the Molduga's movements carefully and place or shoot the Bombs to blast it skyward.
On the other hand, if the Lightning Temple has been completed, Riju's sage ability can be used as an alternative to Bomb Flowers in blowing the Molduga out of the sand.
Once the Molduga has been blown out of the ground, swap to a heavy, two-handed weapon with a high attack stat. The charge attack for these weapons lets Link swing it around and around, hitting enemies faster than he could if he were to just attack normally.
Another easy way to lots of powerful hits quickly is to attach a high-attack material to a Zora-type weapon, preferably a Spear. When Link activates Sidon's sage ability, he will count as wet and the weapon's overall damage will be doubled. Fuse something with at least 20 attack to a Zora Spear, get wet, then use its multi-strike charge attack or Flurry Rush ability to make short work of a vulnerable Molduga.
WANTED: Molduga Quest Reward (& Molduga Drops)
Molduga are valuable enemies to hunt down, as they drop a Chest as well as a host of mighty ingredients for Elixirs and for Fusing to weapons. Molduga drop the Molduga Guts and Fin ingredients, and the Molduga Jaw, which is a powerful material to Fuse. The chest that each Molduga drops can have a variety of different weapons, shields, or bows.
After killing the Molduga specifically at the East Barrens, return to the captain at Lookout Landing to turn in the bounty. For his efforts, Link is rewarded a Silver Rupee, which is worth 100 Rupees. The captain can also tell him of the locations of other world bosses, like Hinox and Talus, if Link is looking for something else to do.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available on the Nintendo Switch.