As a passionate Tears of the Kingdom gamer and content creator, I live for moments like this – finally defeating a Stone Talus after an epic battle and claiming its ultra rare luminous stone heart prize. Infusing this heart into your weapons unleashes glowing devastation, making all your questing and exploring much spicier.
So come along as I provide a detailed walkthrough for taking down these stony foes and harnessing the power of their radiant hearts!
All About Stone Taluses
Before we get into battle tactics, let‘s cover some backstory on these unique enemies. Stone Taluses have appeared in multiple Legend of Zelda games, but they seem especially prolific in the wide open world of Tears of the Kingdom.
What Are They?
Stone Taluses are essentially golems – animate rock creatures given life through magic. They remain dormant as ordinary boulders until awakened. These stony beasts are incredibly strong and durable.
Where Do They Come From?
Their origins are shrouded in mystery, but the commonly accepted theory is that they were created centuries ago through an ancient spell. The wizard who crafted them made them to guard the wilderness…and to hoard valuable ore.
Why Defeat Them?
Beyond gaining loot like gems and rare weapons, Stone Taluses also drop luminous stone hearts when defeated – and these hearts dramatically enhance whatever weapon you fuse them with!
Upgrading my armory drives me on every new quest. Now let‘s get to the juicy tactics!
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
To take down a Stone Talus and claim its heart, follow these key steps:
Locate Your Rocky Foe
Stone Taluses spawn in mountainous areas, usually at night. I‘ve marked some prime locations to search on this map:
They favor cliffs, plateaus, and peaks. If you explore these areas at night, you‘re likely to discover a still dormant Stone Talus.
Pro Tip: Unexplored areas show orange on your map if you survey them with Link‘s telescope. Use your Scope to scour uncharted mountains and flag any Stone Talus spawn points!
Once located, here is how to engage them:
Initiate Combat
Walk right up to the stony hulk and let Link call out to it – this awakens the Stone Talus! It will then lumber up with a rocky roar, ready for battle.
Ascend Its Body
Use your paraglider to float onto the Stone Talus‘s back as it stands up. Run up to its head and equip a strong 1-handed weapon before it starts thrashing around.
Destroy Its Weak Point
You‘ll spot a Luminous Ore Deposit protruding from the back of its stony head – this crystal growth is the mini boss‘s weak point! Smash it with 12-15 focused strikes from your equipped weapon to shatter it completely.
I recommend swords, spears or rods for precise strikes on its weak spot crystal. Battling atop a moving Stone Talus takes finesse!
Evade Its Fury
As soon as you destroy its Luminous Ore Deposit, the enraged mini boss will rear up and flail wildly, attempting to buck you off. When it thrashes, jump off immediately and bust out your paraglider to avoid taking damage.
Repeat The Process
Once it finishes its tantrum, float back onto its head and destroy the respawned Luminous Ore Deposit again. Repeat this entire process several times…
Finish It!
After its weak point is destroyed 2-3 separate times, the Stone Talus will shed all its rocky layers and expose the glowing core on its head.
Equip your most powerful weapon and unleash 5-8 furious strikes directly on this core – it will then collapse into rubble! Victory!
Claiming Your Luminous Prize
Bask triumphantly atop the fallen rubble of your conquered foe. Along with precious gems, ore chunks and other items, it drops an extra special upgrade material – the Luminous Stone Heart!
You can‘t pick up the heart directly – it gets added as a fusion ingredient for weapon enhancements.
Open your inventory‘s upgrades menu, select a weapon, and choose the "Fuse" option. The mighty Luminous Stone Heart will be waiting!
Enhancing Your Arsenal
Fusing the Luminous Stone Heart with different weapons creates some spectacular effects. Check out this preview:
Luminous Greatsword
I upgraded an Iron Sledgehammer into this beast! Beyond a sizable attack boost, it delivers bonus damage on charged spin attacks – enemies get smacked by a whirling vortex of energy!
Luminous Storm Spear
My Zonaite spear transformed into a torrential force of nature after fusing in a heart! Each thrown strike calls down an electrical storm upon your hapless foes. Epic!
But the satisfaction goes beyond boosted abilities – these luminous weapons are mesmerizing to wield, shimmering with otherworldly energy slashes and releasing cascades of glowing particles.
My inner magic warrior revels in the dazzling effects! I hunger to track down more Luminous Hearts and upgrade my entire armory into a suite of enhanced mystical arms.
Analyzing Weapon Changes
To demonstrate the power spike weapons receive, check out these stat changes after I fused my gear with Luminous Stone Hearts:
Great Frostblade
| Stat | Before | After | % Boost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 28 | 60 | +114% |
| Durability | 32 | 68 | +112% |
| Charged Attack DMG | x2 | x3 | +50% |
Royal Halberd
| Stat | Before | After | % Boost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 18 | 48 | +166% |
| Durability | 16 | 48 | +200% |
| Spin Attack DMG | x3 | x4 | +33% |
As you can see, fusing the Luminous Stone Heart provides massive upgrades across damage, durability and bonus attack multipliers!
It‘s by far the most valuable crafting material for weapon enhancements. Even legendary weapons can be pushed to insane new levels with the luminous fusion process!
Final Tips & Wrap Up
And there you have it – the ultimate walkthrough for defeating Stone Taluses and harnessing Luminous Stone Hearts! Here are my parting tips:
- Search mountainous areas at night to increase odds of spawn
- Use swords/spears for precise strikes on its weak crystal
- Fuse Luminous Hearts into your strongest weapon types
- Enjoy unleashing oodles of glowing energy attacks!
I‘m obsessed with this upgrade loop – locate Stone Taluses, conquer them in epic showdowns, claim their hearts, then infuse my armory into spectral greatness! It‘s an amazingly satisfying progression for a wandering adventurer.
Hopefully you‘re also bitten by the lust for luminous power. Now get out there and start your Stone Talus hunts! Wishing you glorious victory and weapon fusion success!
Let me know which weapons you infuse the hearts into and how you utilize their enhanced forms. I could talk all day gushing over the visual splendor of my powered up luminous gear. This is the pinnacle for a passionate explorer that loves partaking in such unique quest battles!
