Kena: Bridge of Spirits - How to Clear Taro’s Shrines

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In Kena: Bridge of Spirits, you will find yourself searching for a way to help Beni and Saiya find their brother Taro. There is more to this story than first appears but without spoiling too much, you will need to complete a few tasks to do with Taro's Spirit before you can help Taro. One of the more complicated tasks is clearing Taro's Shrines, so we're going to show you how.

Read More: Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Could Come To Xbox

Kena: Bridge of Spirits - What Are Taro’s Shrines?

Taro's Shrines are a set of 4 Forest Shrines within Forgotten Forest. Taro's Spirit has corrupted the Shrines and closed the door of the Guardian Tree. It's your job to clear all 4 Shrines and their immediate areas from corruption. Once all 4 Shrines are cleared, you will be able to get into the Guardian Tree.

In this guide, we're going to take you through how to find each Shrine, how to clear them and we have even put them in the order that they're the simplest to find.


The Woods Shrine

Finding the Woods Shrine

Where you begin the Shrine quest and you meet Rusu at the start of Forgotten Forest, there will be a Warp Shrine. Walk to it and then face Rusu.

From here, look around and you should see a body of water on your right. Walk to the water's edge then look slightly to your left. Follow the body of water until you see a forest path on your right. It looks blocked at first glance but all you need to do is jump up.

Kena in Forgotten Forest looking for forest path to follow.
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The path looks blocked on your right, but you just need to jump.



Follow the path around until you come to a clearing and you should see a large infected area in front of you. As soon as you enter this area, enemies will start to appear so be ready.

Kena looking at the infected area of Forgotten Forest near the Wood Shrine
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Clearing the Shrine

The first set of enemies will spawn on the ground level where you are. There will be one big enemy and an evil Moth. Take out the large enemy first with either your arrow or heavy Staff strikes.

The evil Moth can actually be taken down by your Rot. Command them to go to the Moth as if you were going to blind it and they will destroy the moth.

Two enemies will appear on the fallen tree at the rear of the area and another evil Moth will spawn at ground level where you are.

Deal with the Moth how you want to and use your bow to take down the twins on the tree.

 Kena pointing bow at evil moth in Wood Shrine
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After they've gone down, head to the path leading up a slope on your right. When you reach the top of the slope you will see more enemies spawning.

 Kena standing in Wood Shrine Clearing forest path on right
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The path will be leading up to the fallen tree.

This time, take care of the enemies however you want to but be careful not to fall off into the poisoned waters below you.

The final set of enemies will appear on the other side of the fallen tree, this is where the Shrine is. Take out the enemies however you see fit whilst still being mindful of the poisoned waters below you.

When the enemies have been cleared out, the Heart of the Deadzone (the big red flower) will open.

Aim at it and command your Rot to go to it.

The Heart of the Deadzone is covering the Wood Shrine
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The Heart of the Deadzone is covering the Shrine

Once they turn it blue, shoot it with an arrow or use your Pulse ability to destroy it.

The area and the Shrine are now clear when Rusu appears.

The Water Shrine



Finding the Shrine

From the Wood Shrine, look around until you see a big blue flower on a tree. Stand underneath this and look out over the edge of the area.

You should see a small group of unhealthy trees sitting on an Island below you with corruption around them.

Kena looking at the infected trees that mark the location of the Water Shrine.
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The trees on the island look dead, they don't match the environment



If you're not sure if you're looking at the right thing, use Taro's Mask. The Island should have a blue circle on it.


Jump down here and swim around the edge of the small island until you come to the slope that lets you get onto it.

The Shrine should be directly in front of you now:

Kena in front of the infected Water Shrine.
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Clearing the Shrine

When you're on the Island and looking at the Shrine in front of you, look around at the ground below you. You should see what seems like unimportant crystal fragments on the floor:

Kena looking at crystal fragments in the floor by Water Shrine
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These are extremely important.

Do not move, simply look to your right and you will see a blue boulder that you can send your Rot to.

Aim at the boulder and command your Rot to pick it up. Once they have picked it up, get them to move it onto the piece of ground with the fragments in it on the right of the Shrine.

When they have done that, look at the Shrine again then look to your left.

You should see a piece of stone sticking out from the Island and it will have another blue boulder on it.

Get the Rot to move it onto the other piece of ground with fragments in it.

Kena is in the foreground with Water Shrine behind her
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Cross to the other side of the body of water until your view is the same as the image above and stand on the blue piece of the stone circle on the ground.

Face the Shrine again and use your Pulse ability to ignite the crystals. If you've put the boulders in the right place, they will complete the chain and the Heart of the Deadzone will open.

Once it is open, send your Rot to it and once they turn it blue you can shoot it with a charged arrow.

Kena pointing a charged arrow at Heart of Deadzone
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You can use Pulse, but an arrow means you don't need to move...


The Shrine will now clear, a Forest Tear will grow and Rusu will appear again.


The God Tree Shrine

Finding the Shrine

Buckle up, this Shrine takes a little bit of time to find and a tiny bit of exploring.

From the restored Water Shrine, look around you until you see a stepped cliff in the distance. It should look like this:

 Kena is facing the stepped cliffs leading to God Tree Shrine.
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Once you've found it, head over to it and climb up it.

When you reach the top you need to stop and go left.

Follow the path until you come to a bit that drops down slightly. (It will have a fallen statue on it that the Rot can pick up).

Stand at the fallen statue and look around until you see a gigantic tree with platforms around it.

It will look like this:

Kena is facing the God Tree Shrine platforms.
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Jump down into the water below you and head onto the shore of the big tree.

When you hit land, stop and look around you for a blue vase. It should be on your left and all you need to do is get your Rot to interact with it.

After they interact with the vase, the big blue flower on the side of the tree will open. It will be easy to spot as it should be directly in front of you.

Kena looking at Blue Flower on God Tree Shrine climbing path.
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Shoot the flower with your arrow and it will pull you up onto the lower platform.

Walk to the end of the platform and look up until you see a climbing ledge. Jump up and climb up this then instantly turn around.

You should see another climbing ledge on a slightly higher platform and all you have to do is jump to this, then climb up it.

Keep scaling the platforms until you come to the platform with the Rot Fruit on it.

Look around you and you should see another blue flower on another tree across from you.

Shoot the flower with an arrow and it will pull you over to the platform on its side.

Walk around this platform until you come to a lift contraption. Stand on the contraption and look across from you.

You should see a crystal embedded into a piece of the tree and you need to shoot this with an arrow.

 Kena is aiming the Bow at the lift trigger switch.
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Once you've shot this, it will trigger the lift to move and it will carry you to the other side.

Get off the lift and walk around the platform to your right until it drops you down to a climbing trail.

Follow the climbing trail and use it to scale the tree.

At the end of the climb trail, you will be brought to a platform where you can finally see the Shrine.

Kena is looking at the God Tree Shrine
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Clearing the Shrine

When you see the Shrine, it will be on another platform on the other side of a broken wooden bridge. The enemies will start to spawn.

The first enemy will be on the side of the Shrine and it will have purple eyes. This enemy will throw exploding purple crystals at you. The crystals will deal a lot of damage to you or knock you off of the platforms and kill you. If you die, the enemy cycle starts again so try to avoid this.

Take out the purple-eyed enemy with charged arrows.

Once it's down, use the blue flower on the side of the Shrine to pull yourself over to that side.

Evil Moths will spawn on the side you arrived on. You can use your Rot and arrows to take them out, but watch your back as more enemies will spawn quickly.

On the side, you're on (the Shrine side) two enemies will spawn. Take care of them first and then use the blue flower above the platform you arrived on to pull you to that side again.

The evil Moths will have multiplied so you need to get rid of them or they will try to headbutt you off of the platforms.

Other enemies will have spawned on the third platform so try to avoid being in the range of and hit by purple crystals.

When the Moths have been dealt with, use the blue flower by the shrine to get to the Shrine side and then turn around to face the third platform.

Kena pointing Bow at enemies on the third God Tree platform.
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Take the one out in the tree first! Exploding crystals are not good at this height.


In the trees of the third platform, there will be the other purple-eyed enemy that has been throwing crystals at you. Use charged arrows to take them out first and then turn your attention to the remaining enemies.

Use the blue flower on that platform to pull you to it and you will find a health restoration flower. At the flower, turn around and look at the platform you arrived on.

In the trees, there will be a well-hidden enemy with purple eyes.

You need to take this out quickly with arrows as it's in the prime spot to knock you off of the platform with a crystal.


Once you've cleared the area of enemies, the Heart of the Deadzone will open. Send your Rot to it and use your Pulse or an arrow to destroy it.

The area will be restored and Rusu will pop up again.

Getting Down


Getting down from here isn't as easy as jumping and aiming for the water. You will die if you do this.


Instead, follow the platform around to the left of the Shrine and it will bring you to another lift. Stand on the lift and face the tree, you should see another crystal switch.

Kena aiming at lift trigger switch to get down from God Tree Shrine
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Shoot this with an arrow and it will take you down to ground level safely.

The Fishing Shrine

Finding the Shrine


From the point that the lift brought you to ground level at the God Tree Shrine, head down the steps to your right until it brings you to a path.

Use your map to make sure you're facing in the direction of the Fishing Shrine.

Map view of the Fishing Shrine.
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Use your Map to locate the path leading to the Shrine.


When you're facing the right way, follow the path around. Keep to your left and you should come upon the Shrine.

Kena looking at the Fishing Shrine on her right.
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The Shrine will be sat in the middle of water. It's kind of fitting for a Fishing Shrine.



Clearing the Shrine

This one is more of a puzzle than the others. Stand facing the Shrine and pan the camera to look around you.

You should see 4 flame plinths with crystals on the front of them.

Look back at the Shrine. The candles in front of the shrine match the positioning of each of the Plinths and they hold the answer to the puzzle.

The number of candles on each piece will show you which plinth you need to shoot and in which order.

Kena facing The Water Shrine
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Follow the order the candles tell you to, it's that simple!

The one with 1 candle will be first, the one with 2 candles will be second, and so on.

All you need to do is shoot the crystals on the plinths in the right order and the corruption will clear.

If you hit them in the wrong order, you'll need to fight off evil Moths before trying the puzzle again.

Once the area is cleared, Rusu will appear and you can make your way to the Guardian Tree.



Getting to the Guardian Tree


Head back down the path you used to get to the Fishing Shrine and it will take you directly to the Guardian Tree.

When you're at the Tree, the 4 flames in front of the door will be alight now that all 4 Shrines are clear.

Stand on this spot:

Kena is standing on the trigger for the Guardian Door.
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Face the door and use your Pulse to trigger the door opening, but all is not as it seems.

Get ready for a fight because Sprout Captain appears through the door but fortunately we have tips for defeating Sprout Captain.

Once it has been defeated, head through the door and send your Rot to the Heart of the Deadzone. Use your Pulse or arrow to destroy it and you will have finally cleared all of the Shrines.


Helping Taro is really important to Beni and Saiya in Kena: Bridge of Spirits, so taking your time to do a rather long quest for them is worth it. Along the way, you may even discover some cool hats to purchase for your Rot now you know how to unlock the Hat Cart.



For more articles like this, take a look at our Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Guides page.