After years of anticipation, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out now, and million will be jumping into its vast, majestic world on yet another epic adventure. From its massive open world to the oodles of content it houses to the bevy of interactive systems and mechanics that the game boasts, there’s quite a lot going on in Tears of the Kingdom, even more so than Breath of the Wild, so there’s always plenty to keep track of. To make that process a little smoother for you in your early hours with the game, here, we’ve compiled a few tips and tricks that you should keep in mind as you journey through Hyrule, its skies, and its depths.
ULTRAHAND
Tears of the Kingdom replaces Breath of the Wild’s Runes with a completely new set of abilities for Link to play around with, and of these, Ultrahand is obviously the most prominent one, and probably the one you’ll be using most frequently throughout the game. And just as its predecessors encouraged players to get creative and think outside the box, to an even greater extent, so too does Tears of the Kingdom, thanks in large part to Ultrahand. See a big gap that you need to cross? Maybe you can cut down trees and stick a lot of logs together to make a bridge. Need to get a specific item to a location far away? Attaching fans and rockets to it might help you save some time. Need to get through a camp full of enemies? Perhaps with a custom flying machine, you could just bypass them. Always keep the many, many different uses for Ultrahand in mind, because it can come in handy in a variety of ways.
SCANNING WITH ULTRAHAND
In addition to all the new gameplay mechanics that it brings with it, Ultrahand also retains some of the uses of Magnesis, like being able to lit and manipulate objects freely. Another use is being able to scan environments. When Ultrahand is active, essentially anything that you can use the ability to interact with gets highlighted, so any secrets like chests or loot that’s, say, hidden within breakable walls, inside bodies of water, or in the darkness get revealed to you.
ULTRAHAND AND RECALL
Link no longer has access to Stasis in Tears of the Kingdom, and though Recall, which rewinds objects in motion, does do similar things, making sure that objects remain completely stationary rather than moving back in time isn’t possible. Or, well, not through any straightforward means. Combining Ultrahand with Recall, however, lets you do just that. If you want an object frozen in time at a specific spot for a while, just use Ultrahand on it, take it to that spot, and then keep it there for a few seconds before using Recall on it to ensure that that’s where it remains for at least a short window.
ULTRAHAND AND ASCEND
Ultrahand can creatively be used in conjunction with other abilities as well. Take Ascend, for instance, an ability that lets you go through any ceiling or surface above you and emerge on top of it. But what if you find an outcropping or a cliff that’s too distant to use Ascend on? Well, just cobble together your own contraption with Ultrahand that puts a ceiling above you and then you Ascend through it, and then keep doing that again and again until you reach your destination.
Or, you know, just make a plane and fly over there.
FUSE EVERY WEAPON
Fuse is the other big new ability in Tears of the Kingdom, and even though it’s not as versatile and all-encompassing as Ultrahand, it does have its uses. Every weapon can be Fused with one object- and every weapon that you have should be Fused to something. You don’t have to be particularly picky about what it needs to be Fused with either. A rock, a tree log, a Moblin horn, another weapon, whatever- just make sure every single weapon you have is Fused, because not only does that increase their damage output, it also increases their durability.
CAVES
The skies of Hyrule and the islands scattered throughout them are a big deal in Tears of the Kingdom, but so, too, are the depths of Hyrule. The surface world is now scattered with caves, wells, and more, and though the critical path will obviously take you through a number of them, a vast amount are completely optional. Our advice is to not ignore the optional ones, because caves are frequently a treasure trove for precious loot and resources.
ZONANITE
One particular resource that you’re going to want to keep an eye on and ensure you keep stocking up on is Zonanite. Found by smashing mineable rocks in caves and mines, Zonanite is an item that you’ll need in vast quantities to upgrade Link’s Energy meter, which remains a crucial resource throughout the game. One upgrade costs you 100 pieces of Zonanite, so make sure you’re always keeping an eye out for this resource in particular.
BREAKABLE ROCK WALLS
Scattered throughout Hyrule (especially in its caves), you’ll spot several rock walls that are breakable, which, if you’ve ever played a Zelda game before, you’ll likely almost immediately spot. Make sure you break every one of these, because from mining spots to hidden chests to secret rooms and paths, they’re usually hiding plenty of stuff. And if you don’t have a bomb flower to break them with (or have one but want to save it), just hit the ball with a blunt, large weapon to break it. A weapon fused with a boulder or something similar usually does the job.
PORTABLE STOVES
There are plenty of Zonai devices in Tears of the Kingdom that you’ll be using frequently throughout the game, from fans to rockets and much more. One in particular that can come in handy in tight spots is portable stoves, which are one-time stoves that can be used to cook a dish anytime, anywhere. Find yourself in a weather-effected region but don’t have the proper clothing for it? Just whip out a portable stove to cook a meal that can help you deal with that.
Speaking of cooking meals…
RECIPEES
Cooking in Tears of the Kingdom works very similarly to how it did in Breath of the Wild, though it now comes with some quality-of-life improvements. For instance, any time you cook a new meal, you save its recipe, allowing you to go back at any time and check what ingredients you need to cook it again and what buffs it provides. Thanks to this new feature, it’s a good idea to keep experimenting with new combos and ingredients when you’re cooking dishes, because you never know when you might stumble onto something useful.
PURAH PAD
Breath of the Wild’s Sheikah Slate is gone, but Tears of the Kingdom replaces it with a very similar device called the Purah Pad. No, it doesn’t control your abilties, anymore, but it does come with a lot of the same features, which can be upgraded in similar ways as well. The Sensor and Sensor+ upgrades, for instance, enable your Pad to alert you when you’re close to a Shrine or a specific object that you’ve taken a picture of respectively. Both upgrades come in very handy, so try and get them as early as possible.
SCOPE
Just like BotW’s Sheikah Slate, Tears of the Kingdom’s Purah Pad also lets you use its scope feature to study the lay of the land, zoom in on distant objects, place pins, and more. You can use the scope when Link is freefalling through the sky as well- in fact, if you open the scope while skydiving, you’ll freeze Link in place, which means you’ll be able to freely look around, spot points of interest in the distant, and place any pins you want to place.
INVENTORY
There’s plenty in Tears of the Kingdom that’s changed things up from Breath of the Wild, but the Koroks are definitely back. There are hundreds of seeds to find once again, and once again, you’ll want to ensure you don’t ignore that side of the experience. Though largely optional, turning in seeds lets you expand your inventory slots for weapons, bows, and shields, and given how small your inventory is when the game starts out, you’re definitely gonna want to get those additional slots.
EARNING RUPEES
There’s plenty of ways to earn money in Tears of the Kingdom, just as there were in its predecessor, from Bluepees to hidden chests, but once again, the quickest and most effective way to do that is by selling mined materials (not including Zonanite and flint). Resources like opal, rubies, sapphire, and the like go for plenty of Rupees at vendors, and though you can use them for Fusing purposes as well, we’d recommend saving and selling them whenever possible.
ACTIVATING SHRINES
If you’ve played Breath of the Wild, this is something that’ll probably be second nature to you right off the bat anyway, but it certainly bears mentioning for newcomers. Anytime you see a Shrine in the open world, make sure you make your way to it and activate it. Even if you don’t head inside and solve it, at least activate it, since doing that enables it as a fast travel spot. And if you don’t intend to solve an activated Shrine, make sure you mark it on your map so you can come back to it later.
Share Your Thoughts Below (Always follow our comments policy!)