How to Unlock Automatons
You first meet Dampé in Hyrule Field, where a crow has stolen his key; this starts the side quest Automaton Engineer Dampé. Defeat the crow and he marks his home on your map. His workshop, Dampé Studio, is in Eastern Hyrule Field. On your first visit he gives you 5 twisted pumpkins and describes the automaton he wants to build.
For his first automaton Dampé wants “a creature with the big eye—the sort that’s always jumping around” and “something that shoots hot smoke out of its backside to blast forward.” Summon a Tektite and then a Mothula on the pedestal in his studio, and he builds the Techtite. He then gives you the clockwork key, the item you need to use automatons, and the quest is complete.
After that, read Dampé’s journal on his desk to start each new commission: Explosions Galore! (Tocktorok), Endless Stomach! (High-Teku Baba), Performance Artist! (Gizmol), Chop ’em in Two! (Roboblin) and finally Get Rich Quick! (Goldfinch). Each time, show Dampé the echo he describes on the pedestal. Most also need a part from elsewhere in the world (a steel trap, a prismatic music box, an heirloom katana or a golden fan). The Tocktorok needs only two echoes: an Octorok and a Firework.
Winding: Dampé says the clockwork key is what you “use to wind ’em up.” Hold the summon button to wind an automaton, then release it and it goes. Automatons run until they wind down. Dampé also says you can wind up the clockwork key while holding the Goldfinch to glide.
Damage & repair: if an automaton breaks, take it back to Dampé and pick “I need some repairs.” He says he’ll “need rupees to cover the cost of repairs,” but straight afterwards adds that he’ll take Monster Stones for repairs instead of rupees.
Every Automaton and Its Ability
Techtite
Ability: Dampé calls it “a flashy automaton that can launch high into the sky with a huge jump,” and when it jumps “it blasts away any nearby monsters.”
Echo blueprint: a Tektite (the “creature with the big eye”) and a Mothula (the thing that “shoots hot smoke out of its backside”); this playthrough showed him a Tektite Lv. 2 and a Mothula Lv. 2.
Part: none; it’s the first automaton, from Automaton Engineer Dampé, and Dampé also hands over the clockwork key you need to use automatons.
Tocktorok
Ability: “A snappy automaton that shoots fireworks with relentless glee”; its notebook entry says fireworks “pour continually out of this dangerous automaton’s mouth.”
Echo blueprint: a Firework and an Octorok (Dampé asks for “a creature that spits stones out of its mouth”).
Part: none beyond the Firework echo, which comes from The Fireworks Artist in Goron City (quest: Explosions Galore!).
Gizmol
Ability: “This cute’n sings and dances, scattering groups of monsters with its playful antics”; the notebook calls it a “clockwork cutie” whose sparkling songs break “hearts and enemies.”
Echo blueprint: a Zol (Dampé wants “a jiggly monster with cute little eyes”).
Part: Prismatic Music Box (quest: Performance Artist!; prize for first clearing the goal time on the Flag Races middle course at Hyrule Ranch).
High-Teku Baba
Ability: Gobbles up nearby monsters. Dampé says “it chomps pretty mindlessly,” so it also munches up the rupees and anything else a monster is carrying.
Echo blueprint: Deku Baba (this playthrough showed Deku Baba Lv. 2).
Part: Steel Trap (quest: Endless Stomach!; part from the acorn game in Western Hyrule Field).
Roboblin
Ability: Shreds monsters with its blade and, in Dampé’s words, “cuts right through their defenses.”
Echo blueprint: Sword Moblin.
Part: Heirloom Katana (quest: Chop ’em in Two!; part from the Slumber Dojo in Kakariko Village).
Goldfinch
Ability: Dampé’s “flashiest automaton to date”: it attacks enemies and sends their rupees flying. Wind it up with the clockwork key and you can also hold it up and glide.
Echo blueprint: Crow.
Part: Golden Fan (quest: Get Rich Quick!; part from Mango Rush at the Tough Mango Plant Lab in the Gerudo Desert oasis).
Where to Find Automaton Parts
Steel Trap
one-time bonus prize of the acorn game in Western Hyrule Field (10 rupees a try): pick up all 16 acorns in the rocky maze, goal time 1 minute. A fast run (this playthrough: 32.36) earns “You got a steel trap!” Replays only pay smaller prizes.
Golden Fan
the researcher at the Tough Mango Plant Lab (Gerudo Desert oasis) gives it after you help with Mango Rush. This playthrough won it on a vibrant-seeds round, harvesting 50 or more mangoes in the field downstairs.
Heirloom Katana
the Slumber Dojo‘s “ASTOUNDING” reward in Kakariko Village, handed over after you pass enough trainings (this playthrough: each of the six starting trainings once).
Prismatic Music Box
prize for clearing the 25-second goal time on the Flag Races middle course at Hyrule Ranch for the first time (5 flags in order).
Firework
echo learned at the end of The Fireworks Artist in Goron City. Basa needs blastpowder soil, found among golden flowers higher up Eldin Volcano.
Using Automatons
Gizmol; Dampé’s “cute’n” that “sings and dances, scattering groups of monsters with its playful antics.” This is the one automaton the walkthrough actually summons. In Hyrule Castle Town, Zelda calls it out beside the Zol-loving boy, who is amazed it isn’t in his encyclopedia. That finishes An Out-There Zol and earns a Piece of Heart. The boy is after a Zol no one has ever seen, and the Gizmol is the one he accepts.
Tip: Automatons run on the clockwork key, not on echoes. Select one, press Y to summon it, then hold Y to wind it up and release Y to set it off. If one breaks, take it back to Dampé to be repaired; he takes Monster Stones instead of rupees. The walkthrough finishes the final dungeon and the Null fight without any automatons, so you don’t need them to beat the game.
