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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes you on a wild ride across many regions. Naturally, there are countless things you’ll want to learn and discover. Here’s our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom beginner’s guide with tips and tricks for various activities in the game.
Table of Contents [hide]NavigationExplorationUltrahand crafting and Zonai DevicesSurvival and inventory itemsCombat
We’ve split up our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom beginner’s guide/tips and tricks article into several categories. We’ve included a few suggestions and tidbits that you can try as you play.
Navigation
Surface, Sky, and Depths – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is divided into three major “worlds” (as we call them). The Surface region is the good ol’ land of Hyrule and nearby surroundings. The Sky region, meanwhile, is made up of floating island chains. It’s actually where you’ll start your journey, as we’ve noted in our Great Sky Island guide.
As for the Depths, it’s a dark and foreboding region with its own challenges. In a way, it mirrors what you see on the Surface world, meaning it’s just as huge as the land of Hyrule. You can learn more in our Depths and Chasms overview guide.
Tag those Skyview Towers – The Skyview Towers give you a fast travel point for easy teleportation. Moreover, activating one’s launch pad reveals landmarks in surrounding areas. You can learn about their locations and related tasks in our Skyview Towers guide.
Pins and markers – Speaking of Skyview Towers, as Link is launched into the air, you might see points-of-interest in the distance. You can open your binoculars by pressing the right thumbstick, then press the A button to place a pin. Alternatively, you can open your map and place the pin there as well.
Shrines and Lightroots – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has over a hundred Shrines for you to discover in both the Surface World and Sky World. Not only do they act as fast travel points, but they’ll also reward you with Blessings of Light if you complete their respective challenges. The Depths, however, lack Shrines. Instead, you’ll find Lightroots down below.
Here’s the important tidbit: Shrine locations correspond to Lightroot locations – they’re basically mirror versions. As such, if you see a Shrine named “Gatakis” on the Surface, you can open the Depths map to see the “Sikatag” Lightroot below it. The same is also true if you find a Lightroot first. You’ll know that there’s a Shrine above that. In any case, you can learn more in our Shrine locations guide.
Exploration
Getting around with mounts and vehicles – Early on, you should be able to acquire your own horse mount. You might even find Epona, too. However, if you’re tired of traditional mount controls, you can always turn to makeshift vehicles by way of the Ultrahand. We discuss this feature in the section below.
Use the Shield Surf – If you’re not using mounts or vehicles, you could try Shield Surfing. Basically, you’ll want to do this either when Link is jumping (X button) or while falling from a great height. Simply hold the ZL button, and press the A button. You’ll use your equipped shield to get around, which is quite useful if you’re making your way down an incline or steep hill.
Chase down shooting stars – If you see a shooting star in the distance, head to where it landed. You might find a material, such as a Star Fragment.
Oddly curious scenery might have Koroks – If you see something that looks a bit odd, chances are, you’d find a Korok hiding there. These include puzzle blocks with missing pieces, tree trunks with hearts, floating leaves with a sparkle, and small stones arranged in a pile. There are hundreds to find, so keep your eyes peeled.
Visit the Geoglyphs – Geoglyphs are large patterns on various terrain. The patterns themselves aren’t noticeable if you’re just exploring on the ground. However, they’ll be quite visible when viewed from the sky. You can learn more in our Geoglyphs guide.
Ultrahand crafting and Zonai Devices
Get creative with the Ultrahand – You’ll receive the Ultrahand early in the campaign. With it, you can grab objects so they can be lifted, rotated, realigned, and attached. While there are some obvious solutions to problems, you could always try to get creative when coming up with your own solutions.
For instance, if you have to cross a gap, you might think that the only way is to glide, grab onto a ledge, then climb up, all while eating stamina food in the process. Then again, it might be possible to just cut down some trees, attach the logs end to end, all to have a makeshift bridge. You can learn more in our Ultrahand tips guide.
Bring out those Zonai Devices when needed – There are times when you’d see Zonai Devices lying around. In others, you might even pick them up while they’re still in containers. Try to make the most out of them. You’ve got everything from Zonai Fans that blow gusts of wind, Flame Emitters that cast jets of fire, Hover Blocks that can be suspended in mid-air, Stakes that can be driven into walls, and so on. We’ve got an article that discusses all the Zonai Devices in the game.
DIY vehicles – We mentioned vehicles a while ago, but it really goes without saying that a common Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tip is to design your own vehicle. Here are some examples:
Combine a Hot Air Balloon with a Flame Emitter, and you won’t need to hold a torch or set wood ablaze with flint.A Plane with a few Fans can hover and fly. You may also launch from a Skyview Tower, and drop a Plane so you can ride one in mid-air.Place a Fan on a few logs, and you’ve got yourself a boat. Alternatively, you can do these same for a Cart.Any object that has Big Wheels can be turned into an all-terrain vehicle.Rotate a Rocket and align it toward a certain direction. Any movable object that it’s attached to will get launched toward that direction. You could make your own Rocket-powered vehicles in this manner.
Upgrade your Energy Cell or use Batteries – While Zonai Devices are being powered, Link’s Energy Cell will slowly get drained. You could always find the resources to upgrade its capacity. Alternatively, just attach a Battery or Big Battery to keep that contraption running.
Survival and inventory items
Pick/respec hearts or stamina – Most of the Blessings of Light that you obtain will come from Shrines, though there are other sources which we won’t spoil here. You’ll then need to talk to a Goddess Statue, such as the one in Lookout Landing, your main hub in Hyrule. You can exchange four Blessings of Light for either one heart or one stamina segment. You may also respec from hearts to stamina, or vice versa, depending on your needs.
Increase your inventory slots via Korok Seeds – You have very limited inventory space for your melee weapons, bows, and shields. However, the Korok Seeds that you’ve found can be traded to Hestu. You’ll then be able to choose which inventory type gets another slot.
Cook food for buffs – Ideally, you’ll want to cook ingredients in a pot, as opposed to an open fire, as the former will let you turn the combined ingredients into a meal. Try to bring meals that aid you in a given situation, such as attack-boosters when you’re about to fight a boss, or meals that use Spicy Pepper as an ingredient if you’re heading to snowy regions.
Farm ingredients and materials using the Purah Pad Sensor – Since we’ve talked about food, now would be a great time to mention that you’ll likely farm ingredients. To make the process easier, get the Purah Pad Camera and Sensor+ upgrades. You’ll be able to take a picture of a particular plant, ingredient, or material, so you can track it later.
Combat
Managing weapon degradation via the Fuse system – Yes, weapon degradation can be annoying, but there’s really not a lot we could do about it. Thankfully, the Fuse system can alleviate this issue. Basically, some items have a “Fuse attack power,” which essentially denotes their DPS. You can then Fuse these items (or even actual weapons) onto your weapons. As such, even a weak club or stick can be viable, especially if it has a Fused material with decent DPS. You can learn more in our best early-game Fuse options guide.
Use Gloom weapons as Fuse Materials – Gloom weapons are dropped by a particular boss, which we won’t spoil here. Needless to say, you’ll see a few of these much later in the campaign. They do high damage, but you’ll be affected by Gloom with each strike. This debuff locks out your heart, preventing it from being healed (sort of like lowering your max HP). But, if the Gloom weapon is the one that’s being Fused onto an equipped armament, that debuff itself is negated.
Sneakstrikes, parries, and Flurry Rush – There are many concepts to learn as you’re fighting foes in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Here are some examples:
Sneak behind enemies then press the Y button for a Sneakstrike (aka. stealth attack), which does extra damage.Lock-on an enemy by holding ZL, then jump sideways or backwards just as they’re about to hit you. Link will dodge, and you can follow up with a Flurry Rush, a vicious series of slashes and blows.Parrying also works in the same way in that you’ll hold the ZL button to bring your shield out. Then, you can press the A button to deflect an opponent’s attack. Even better, this will often cause your foe to get disarmed. With the Fuse mechanic in mind, you can quickly Fuse their previously weapon and smack them around with it.
Attach materials to your arrows – Instead of just firing a boring ol’ arrow, you can attach various materials. Some examples include Keese Eyeballs, which will home in on your target, Fire/Ice/Shock Fruits, which have their own elemental effects, and even some monster body parts, which tend to do decent damage.
Slow down time by aiming while in mid-air – If you draw your bow while in mid-air, Link will slow down time (though stamina will gradually get depleted). This, however, allows you to do accurate headshots, often stunning the enemy.
This can be used in conjunction with various Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tips and tricks. For instance, if you Fuse a Zonai Spring or Time Bomb with your shield, the aforementioned Shield Surf will cause you to bounce instantly. With this in mind, you’ll have a way to do slow-time air shots at will.
There are numerous mechanics and facets to learn in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. For more information, you can visit our guides hub.
