What Are Shrines? (The Legend Of Zelda Breath Of The Wild The Complete Official Guide)

Shrines are miniature versions of dungeons, challenging you to solve all sorts of physical or logical  puzzles. Much like towers, shrines are high-priority targets in terms of exploration. Not only do they offer valuable rewards on completion, but they also turn into fast travel positions the moment you first interact with them. As the game features over a hundred shrines, these soon form a network that enables you to warp to virtually anywhere on the map.

All shrines feature an altar --- your goal. Examining the altar both completes the shrine and returns you to its entrance. The first four shrines you will encounter, all found on the Great Plateau, are mandatory and introduce key gameplay concepts. All future shrines, on the other hand, are technically optional. Finding and clearing as many as you can is extremely important, though, as the spirit orbs you obtain from altars can me exchanged for additional heart containers (that extend your health gauge) or stamina vessels (that add segments to your stamina wheel.