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Put a coat (protective water bubble) on that baby (hero)!

May 12, 2023, 12:00 PM UTC|

Now that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of all there is to do and see. To guide you through the new and exciting early days of discovery, we’ve assembled a list of tips and tricks to help you get through the wide and wonderful world of Hyrule and beyond.

• It may seem tedious or unnecessary, but pick up every brightbloom seed you find in caves. They will come in handy.
• You can Ascend through grated platforms and wooden planks, too.

• There will be lots of times when you need to get up in the air but don’t have a falling sky rock or a nearby observation tower handy. In that case, build a fire and throw a hylian pine cone at it to create an updraft. (But try not to stand in the fire!)
• Always carry at least two of some kind of sword+rock weapon for smashing through rocks and fighting sudden onset taluses (tali??). Bomb flowers aren’t that plentiful.
• Always have a stock of portable pots and spicy peppers for a cold-resistance elixir on the go.
• With open-world games, there’s a tendency to, after you think the tutorial island is finished, go explore the world. For ToTK, the tutorial is not finished until you have completed the Purah Pad power wheel. Keep doing the intro quests until you get the camera and the Autobuild power to save you the headache of manually building things later in the game.
• Remember that the Rewind power exists, has unlimited range, and immediately stops all movement in case you’ve messed something up.
• SET THE GIBDOS ON FIRE WITH FRUIT, NOT LIGHTNING.
• Elemental weapons are your friends. We strongly consider fusing rubies, sapphires, and topazes to your weapons.
• Counterpoint: rupees seem to be difficult to come by in sufficient enough quantities. Sell your gems and weaker pieces of armor to build a bank.
• Sidon’s special water ability will protect you if you don’t have the funds to purchase the flameproof armor for your questing in Death Mountain. You will have to refresh the ability often, but that’s better than trying to amass 600 rupees only to blow it all on armor you’ll use for a very small part of the game.

• Perfect is the enemy of good, so don’t worry about slapping together a perfect build for a bridge or ramp, which can be very time-consuming. You won’t be graded on beauty — if it works, it works.
• Find those towers and shrines. Just like in Breath of the Wild, filling out your map and populating it with places to fast travel between makes life a heck of a lot easier.
• Don’t forget to sneak. There isn’t always a benefit to combat, so if you’re not in the mood to battle, in a lot of cases, you can just tiptoe your way past (with the help of an elixir).
• Yes, the animals are very cute in this game, but don’t feel bad hunting them: that meat is a necessity for staying alive. (The foxes are an exception. Only a monster would kill one.) Ash: Yes, Andrew, but I’m hungry, I’m in Hebra, and foxes are the only thing around.
• Farm gibdos for arrows.
• Turn on the “Pro” HUD mode if you want screenshots without the UI clutter. Ash: Goddess, I wish I had known this sooner
• Always spring for the deluxe night’s sleep at inns — that extra stamina wheel comes in handy.
• You have a cookbook now if you can’t remember recipes. And if you have all the ingredients in your inventory, the game will put them all in your hands to make cooking easier.