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Rupees
Rupees
The currency in the Legend of Zelda series is known as Rupees, colored gems that can be found in pots, treasure chests, by cutting grass, breaking rocks, received in the mail, or won in mini-games and sidequests, as well as taken from enemies.
The color of the Rupee signifies its worth:
- Green Rupee: 1
- Blue Rupee: 5
- Yellow Rupee: 10
- Red Rupee: 20
- Purple Rupee: 50
- Orange Rupee: 100
- Silver Rupee: 200
Naturally, green rupees are more plentiful, whereas Orange and Silver Rupees are usually only found in treasure chests.
Since you will eventually come to a point in the game where you will need a lot of Rupees to have your charts translated by Tingle, here are some tips on making money:
1. Get the Upgrades: Get the Rupee Bag upgrades from C-1: Northern Fairy Island and B-7: Outset Island as soon as you can. You will need to get the Bombs?first, though. The fairies will increase your carrying capacity to 5,000.
2. Know when to stop collecting: Don't waste money. If you're close to your limit, don't go out hunting for sunken treasure chests. Nothing is worse than finding a Silver Rupee and only getting 20 Rupees' worth out of it. Spend your money at Beedle's ship or on map translations whenever you're full.
3. Play Mini-Games: The Boating Course (F-7), Spectacle Island (C-2), and Windfall (D-2) house lucrative mini-games that can make you plenty of cash. Just make sure that you're actually good at them.
4. Orb Timing: Hit the orbs you get from defeating enemies when the color is green. This will yield more Rupees.
5. Light Rings: Look for light circles on the water's surface while traveling with your boat. Almost all of them yield at least 20 Rupees, and many get you 50. Look for clusters of light circles -- you can consult the Light Ring Chart (use Treasure Chart 21 near Cyclops Reef) to find them.
6. Sunken Treasures: Use your Treasure Charts to track down all the sunken treasure chests that contain Silver Rupees. Here are the locations of these chests (and the corresponding maps):
- A-1: Forsaken Fortress (Treasure Chart #25)
- B-1: Star Island (Treasure Chart #7)
- C-1: Northern Fairy Island (Treasure Chart #24)
- B-2: Mother & Child Isles (Treasure Chart #29)
- C-2: Spectacle Island (Treasure Chart #22)
- F-2: Dragon Roost Island (Treasure Chart #39)
- A-3: Western Fairy Island (Treasure Chart #8)
- C-3: Tingle Island (Treasure Chart #10)
- E-3: Eastern Fairy Island (Treasure Chart #3)
- F-3: Fire Mountain (Treasure Chart #37)
- G-3: Star Belt Archipelago (Treasure Chart #27)
- D-4: Six-Eye Reef (Treasure Chart #6)
- E-4: Tower of the Gods (Treasure Chart #14)
- F-4: Eastern Triangle Island (Treasure Chart #34)
- A-5: Needle Rock Isle (Treasure Chart #28)
- B-5: Islet of Steel (Treasure Chart #35)
- E-5: Private Oasis (Treasure Chart #1)
- G-5: Bird's Peak Rock (Treasure Chart #36)
- B-6: Five-Eye Reef (Treasure Chart #12)
- C-6: Shark Island (Treasure Chart #16)
- E-6: Ice Ring Isle (Treasure Chart #17)
- A-7: Horseshoe Island (Treasure Chart #9)
- C-7: Headstone Island (Treasure Chart #40)
There is also a dud: If you use Treasure Chart #18 near Windfall Island, you will find a chest with a measly 1 Rupee inside.
7. Special Pots: Some pots contain lots of Rupees. For example, use your Grappling Hook on the sparkling pots in the Private Oasis cabana to get lots of rupees.
8. Tingle Power: Hook up a GBA and you can make more money with Tingle's help. For example, you get 50 Rupees each on Tingle Island for finding a hidden Tingle Statue in a dungeon. And once you get them all, you receive 500 Rupees.
9. Bottomless Pot: Collecting all Tingle Statues will give you hints how to find a bottomless pot on Outset Island. You can of course also get it without the statues, but you still need a GBA hooked up. To find this pot, which is on the "western tip" of the island, use Tingle's map to find the question mark and bomb it. You will get your hands on 100 Rupees. You can return to this location whenever you need more cash and repeat this procedure.