How do Zonaite and Zonai-based materials work together?

Question

I am very confused about Zonai-based materials and how they work together to produce bigger/larger things. Specifically:

• Zonaite
• Zonai Charges
• Energy Cells
• Zonai Devices
• Autobuild & Zonai-tech based vehicles
• Zonai Forges
• Anything else that I may be missing (???)

I believe at the root of everything is Zonaite which needs to be mined from Zonaite Deposits. Somehow I believe these are used to make Zonai Charges and Energy Cells, but I'm honestly not sure about that.

Can someone please give me a rundown of what each of the things in my list above are, how they are built what they are used for, etc.? And if I missed anything, please consider including a description of it as well.

Answer 1

You're correct in thinking the root is zonaite ore. Collecting Zonaite should always be a priority because of how useful it is.

Number one being it's the "currency" used in Zonai Forges which, other than fixed events, is the only way to get Crystallized Charges. Crystalized Charges are then used to upgrade your personal Energy Cells. A forge restocks after every blood moon so its a good idea to 'refine' your zonaite regularly. You will need several hundred Zonaite to fully upgrade.

Number two importance of Zonaite is it is used as "replacement" currency when performing auto-build and the required item is missing. The cost is relatively low per item... but it really adds up if you are making a larger build and have none of the requirements.

Lower importance is back at the Zonaite Forge, you can also exchange zonaite for Zonai charges. While helpful to have since they are used at Zonai Dispensers and can help supplement your own battery, these charges can be pricy... and it's just easier to 'farm' zonai constructs instead.

And the least important use for Zonaite is fusing. While you can fuse the ore directly to zonaite gear and devices for larger boost than other items, there's still better choices out there. For example, instead of fusing a zonaite to a zonaite sword, you can fuse a construct horn instead for an even larger boost

Answer 2

• Zonaite is a currency obtained from zonaite deposits, found mainly in the depths. It is used to buy crystalized charges and zonai charges from forge constructs. It can also be used with Autobuild.
• Large Zonaite is a currency found in the same places as zonaite, but somewhat rarer. It is used to buy large crystalized charges and large zonai charges.
• Crystalized charges are a currency used to upgrade your energy cell. There are also large and huge crystalized charges, which are worth more:
  • Large crystalized charge: 20 crystalized charges, obtained from forge constructs and dropped by minibosses in the depths.
  • Huge crystalized charge: 100 crystalized charges, obtained by defeating bosses in the depths
• Forge Constructs manage shops where you can spend zonaite. One is found on the Great Sky Island, and the others are found at mines in the Depths. The following items are sold at them:
  • 3 zonaite --> crystalized charge
  • 2 zonaite --> zonai charge
  • 3 large zonaite --> large crystalized charge
  • 1 large zonaite --> large zonai charge
• The shops restock at midnight, and have the following stock:
  • Great Sky Island shop: 10 crystalized charges, 5 zonai charges
  • Depths shops: 30 crystalized charges, 15 zonai charges, 5 large crystalized charges, 5 large zonai charges
• Crystal Refineries are found by the fourth shrine on the Great Sky Island and beside Lookout Landing. You can upgrade your energy cell here, at a rate of 100 crystalized charges for 1/3 of a battery.
• The Energy Cell is the battery device that you obtain after completing the Fuse Shrine on the Great Sky Island. It holds Energy Wells and is used to power Zonai Devices. It is upgraded at Crystal Refineries by spending crystalized charges.
• Zonai Charges are used at device dispensers, or (in a pinch) to refill your energy cell, like how eating an energizing mushroom skewer refills your stamina wheel. There are also large zonai charges, which are like golden stamina foods - they restore and overfill your energy meter.
• Zonai devices are found around, above, and beneath Hyrule, and the term refers to a large variety of things, from flame emitters to the wing gliders used to fly around to small and large wheels. They can be carried around as zonai capsules (see next), or found laying around in shrines and around Hyrule. Most devices can be activated, and draw power from your energy cell to create some kind of effect, from shooting flame (flame emitter) to spinning (wheel) to blowing wind (fan).
• Zonai capsules are zonai devices compressed to fit inside small bubbles and are a way of storing zonai devices in your inventory. They are mainly obtained through device dispensers but are also dropped by flux constructs and found in various chests. Once you take out a zonai device from its capsule, you can't put it back in, so don't waste them. Note that you cannot use zonai capsules in shrines.
• Device dispensers are places where you can trade zonai charges and construct parts for zonai capsules. Each device dispenser has its own set of drops, and hovering over its icon on the map will show you which items you've seen it drop. Construct horns trade in at a 1:1 ratio, but you can get better deals for zonai charges. While one zonai charge only gives one zonai capsule, putting in five at once will give you a whopping 12 zonai capsules, so make sure to do five charges at a time. Large zonai charges are worth five times as much, so five large zonai charges are worth 60 items. You can put any items into device dispensers, but anything that isn't a construct part or zonai charge will just spit back out the bottom.
• Batteries and Big Batteries are zonai devices used for building machines that need extra power. When a battery is attached to a device, it will drain instead of your energy cell. A normal battery lasts as long as one battery (3 segments), and a big battery lasts much longer. Normal batteries can be obtained through device dispensers, but big batteries (in zonai capsule form) can only be found in chests and dropped by flux construct IIIs.
• Flux Constructs are new minibosses that weren't in Breath of the Wild. There are three tiers: I, II, and II. They drop zonai charges, zonai capsules, and a core of their tier. Their bodies are made up of Ultrahand-compatible blocks, and you damage them by attacking the core. The core has some kind of ability similar to Ultrahand and manipulates the blocks to form several shapes that it tries to crush you with.
• Zonaite weapons are a set of weapons, somewhat like the ancient weapons from BotW. The weapons do extra damage if they have a zonai-type item fused to them. The shield "lowers the energy consumption of an attached Zonai device". The bow does 30 damage and charges up using your energy cell to fire a more precise projectile.
• Soldier constructs are enemies that drop zonai charges and construct horns of their tier. They will attack any non-construct creature they see, and in some cases will wage a war with bokoblins.
• Captain Constructs are more powerful versions of soldier constructs that can use Fuse on their weapon and shield.
• "Zonai-tech based vehicles" are just vehicles that are made with zonai devices.
• Autobuild is the final hand ability, found in the depths. You can get to it by following the statues found through the 'Camera Work in the Depths' main quest. It saves:
  • Your last 30 creations
  • 8 creations that you've saved as favorites
  • Schematics that you find in the Depths.
• Autobuild is useful for two reasons:
  • Convenience: it recreates items quickly instead of forcing you to build them by hand.
  • Fabrication: if you don't have enough parts to make your creation laying around, you can spend zonaite to fabricate those parts out of a strange green material. However, these parts can't be used for other things, such as cloning materials or cloning zonai devices for Fusing weapons or shields. Usually, it costs 3 zonaite per item fabricated.