tl;dr for impatient people: each icon / name on your map is worth roughly 0.08% regardless of importance, and everything that isn’t on your map doesn’t count. Approximately ¾ of the total are just Korok Seeds.
Now for the in-depth version:
After you have defeated Ganon, you might notice some changes: you have a star icon on your save file, the quest log has a new tracker, and there is now also a “completion percentage” on your map.
Most people assume that this is game completion - but BotW does not have such a feature. It’s solely for MAP completion, so the only things that increment the counter are the icons and named locations on your map.
Each item is worth approx. 0.08285 % of the total regardless of importance … and this makes for an awkward overall count. An additional weirdness is that the Divine Beasts count twice[1] - one time after activating it, and one time after completing it.
On top of that, the game only displays the last 2 digits and doesn’t round up - if you’re at 99.91 % then it seems as if you need +0.09% to reach your goal, but you’re actually at 99.91715 % which would normally get rounded up to 99.92% but will make a nice even 100 with the additional 0.08285 % from your last map item. It only looks “off” because we don’t see more than the last two digits.
Full breakdown:
The Divine Beasts are listed twice because they DO count twice - explanation in the “Additional Information” part further down.
What does NOT count for the completion percentage:
The story, all quests, minigames and their rewards, minibosses (Talus, Hinox/Stalnox, Molduga) and the Monster Medals, treasure chests, inventory upgrades and the Golden Turd™ (Hestu’s Gift), amiibo items, armor upgrades, unique armor like the Champion’s Tunic or Thunder Helm, the Master Sword, the Hyrule Compendium and the Classified Envelope, Sheikah Slate / Rune upgrades, discovered memories, Trial of the Sword, the Spirit Orbs you have obtained and/or spent, the length of your Hero’s Path, the house in Hateno, or whether or not you defeated Ganon more than once.
All of those things are worth a combined total of zero percent. If you’re trying to figure out what you’re missing to reach 100% and people start suggesting things like “maybe you didn’t defeat all minibosses yet?” … no, that plain and simple does not count.
What happens if you buy the DLC?
Installing the DLC will instantly lower the overall counter[2] by 1.39 % to “make room” for the 16 new shrines (4 on the Great Plateau + 3 for each Champion) and one new location (the “Beast Tamer” Temple beneath the Shrine of Resurrection[3]), so you’ll have to complete the additional content as well to get to 100%
The overall percentages do not change that much (only ~ 0.001 % per item), but for the sake of completion I’ll still list them:
Additional information:
Discovering(!) a shrine awards you +0,08% and makes the icon appear. Activating and completing the shrine are optional. The same applies to towers: you don’t need to activate them.
The Divine Beasts are a weird exception and work the opposite way: Discovering them (orange icon) does NOT increment the counter, but both entering them (blue/orange icon and unlocked travel gate) and completing them (completely blue icon) increment the counter by 0,08% each. As far as the game code goes, these two “different” icons count as different locations, probably because they move across the map. (Example: Vah Ruta is in the East Reservoir after activating it, but moves to the mountaintop to the southwest after completing it, creating a new fast travel point)
The “Beast Tamer” dungeon from the DLC technically counts as a Divine Beast despite not having an overworld model, and works similar: You have to complete it to make it count (defeat Maz Koshia)
The “illusory realm” of the Trial of The Sword does NOT count because it doesn’t appear on the actual map, despite being a location you can visit. (Tested and verified by me.)
Tarrey Town only counts as a location after Hudson moved in. If you visit that place before buying the house in Hateno, it will not increment the counter. Likewise, the Fairy Fountains (including Malanya Spring) only count after you paid the fairies - the flower bud has to be open.
It doesn’t matter whether you spend or hoard the Korok Seeds, as long as you discovered the hidden Korok. They will still count for the loading screen counter, map counter and Hestu’s Gift.
It is perfectly possible to reach 100% with a completely blank map, no upgrades whatsoever, without the Master Sword and with less than half of the actual game content completed[4]. On the other hand, if you do literally everything there is to do in the entire game but don’t collect a single Korok Seed, then the absolute best you can achieve is around 25% “completion”. Most people finish their first playthrough with around 30-35%
Helpful links:
Here is a good map for the discoverable locations in the base game - every blue dot is one. Clicking on the dots turns them pink, so it’s easy to keep track of which ones you’ve already visited. You can ignore the dot called “Hyrule Kingdom” since you automatically obtain that one by leaving the Great Plateau. You can also ignore the extra dots in Tarrey Town since the entire town is just ONE location. (Hint: if you zoom in on your in-game map and a location name does not appear, then the location is not yet discovered)
If you rather want a list: Here is a google spreadsheet I made. Feel free to create a copy for personal use. This list already contains the 15 Sheikah Towers and 4 Divine Beasts on top of the 164 actual locations, for a total of 183 locations + Maz Koshia (DLC), so on top of that list you only need the shrines and Koroks.
Here is an interactive map for Hyrule: The settings can be used to make it show ONLY Korok Seeds and also hide the ones you have ticked off as “completed” which makes it easy to keep track. Personally I think this is the best map for Korok Seeds, since the map also provides you with hints/tips for the puzzles if you click on the icons.
If you rather like a non-interactive map for the shrine locations, use this instead. The green icons are part of the Champions’ Ballad DLC.
Word of caution:
Do NOT use the list on IGN. That list contains a ton of locations that don’t count (like every single shop and building in Kakariko despite “Kakariko” being ONE location), contains things that aren’t even locations in the first place (like Kilton) and even has a couple of locations that don’t exists (like “Hyrule Castle Underground” or “Hyrule Castle Laboratory”- there are no places with those names on the actual map). Their list has a total of 651 “discoverable locations”, and 468 of them are bullsh*t.
Example:
Only 8 out of 23 locations actually count, the rest is useless. Trying to visit all of the other locations on that list to find the “missing 0.08%” will only make you waste your time, since none of them increment the counter.
Likewise, do NOT use the “Complete Official Guide” - despite its name, it is neither one. The guide lists bosses as part of the percentage (they do not count) but does not include towers (which DO count) and also claims that you need to complete the shrines, when you only need to discover them.
Notes:
Achieving 100% is entirely optional. There is NO reward … besides bragging rights. Only 441 Korok Seeds are used for inventory upgrades, and all others are a mere “buffer zone” so the player doesn’t HAVE to collect them all.
Hey great post, thanks for all the info !
