Getting started in Tears of the Kingdom can feel pretty daunting… It’s not long before you’re left at a locked door by a friendly ghost guide who gives you no real direction beyond “use the scope and find your own way”.

It’s right there that you know it – you’re going to need some top tips and tricks if you’re ever going to conquer the latest Legend of Zelda game.

And you’d be dead right! Even if you’ve played Breath of the Wild extensively, this open-world Zelda game is so expansive, and so different from traditional Zelda games, there’s no shame in gobbling up some top beginner tips to get you started on the right foot.

In fact, it’s pretty much the smartest thing you could do…
 

Early game tips

The first shrines

When Rauru leaves you at the door of the Temple of Time with instructions to power-up your new hand at the shines, you’ll only be able to see and drop a pin on two of the three shrines you need to find.

One is nearby, the other is farther away (and much higher up) – ignore that one. Getting to and completing the nearby shrine is simple enough, and doing so grants you the Ultrahand power. You’ll need to use this power a lot to build things that get you to the next shrine.

In fact, you’ll need to use each power that each shrine gives you to get to the next.

Just keep pressing forward, building things to get you across the gaps in the islands. Don’t try and backtrace and reach the other shrine you saw earlier – it’s in the mountains and you’ll need cold-resistant gear and food to get there.

Hand powers

You get a bunch of hand powers in fairly quick succession in the early days of TotK, and it can be easy to forget to use them with all that’s going on.

If you’re ever stuck and wondering how in the name of Zelda and the Triforce to proceed, think about your hand powers. Chances are one of them is the answer you need.

Pro tip: you can Ultrahand most things in your environment – including Koroks (essential if you want to help out those little dudes!)
 

Don’t explore Hyrule… yet

After the sky-based tutorial, you touch down on Hyrule’s soil without any guidance on where to go or what to do. Avoid the temptation to explore too much. Use your scope to locate the Skyview Tower up ahead – that’s Lookout Landing. Head there.

Head to the giant telescope, talk to Purah, and focus on completing the main quests with her until you receive the Paraglider and unlock the Skyview Tower.

Doing this gives you super important navigation equipment, fills in the local map, and adds another quest with some markers to direct you beyond Central Hyrule.

Potential Princess Sightings

After completing Lookout Landing, the Regional Phenomena quest points you at the surrounding regions. You’re best off taking the advice to head northwest towards Rito Village first for a few reasons.

Firstly, on your way, you can start the Geoglyphs quest (which ultimately gets you the most legendary weapon in Zelda: the iconic, unbreakable Master Sword).

And second, you can join the 12-part quest with the Lucky Clover Gazette, which is a great way to tour Hyrule, activate more Skyview Towers to fill in your map, and get yourself the Froggy armor, which makes climbing slippy surfaces easier.

It’s a win win (win).

Save. Often!

Autosaves are unreliable, and Tears of the Kingdom can be pretty punishing at times (like most Zelda games!).

Even crossing a field can be hazardous in this game (lightning, anyone?). Saving often will save you a lot of frustration.

Getting around tips

See shrine, activate shrine

There are loads of shrines dotted around in Tears of the Kingdom, and even if you’re not ready to complete one you come across, it’s worth at least reaching them to add another fast-travel spot on your map.

Of course, since shrines give you light blessings, which you’ll trade for more heart containers, shrines should definitely be a priority for you still.

Drop map markers

TotK isn’t always super helpful with directions. Sometimes you get a clear destination marker, other times… not. Thankfully, you can always drop markers on the map yourself – it’s a super helpful way to stay on top of things.

Don’t forget, you can also use your scope to drop markers, too! This is another handy way to navigate.

Use Ultrahand and Recall to launch the wings

The Zonai wings are super helpful for traversing the skies in TotK without draining your stamina… but they’re not always easy to launch safely. Unless you use your hand powers, that is.

1. Use Ultrahand to lift a wing to a spot where you could let it go and it’d comfortably start its drift, then return the wing to the ground beside you.
2. Stand firmly on the wing.
3. Use Recall to rewind the wing until it’s back in your chosen spot, then stop the ability.

That’s easily the best way to safely and effectively launch the wings when there’s no ramp or rail to do it for you.

Ice ice bridgey

A great way to cross water easily is to fuse an icy material like White Chuchu Jelly to your weapon. When your weapon hits the water, it’ll create an ice platform for you to walk on. 
 

General gameplay tips

Recipe effects don’t stack

A Construct warns you of this during the tutorial… but if you didn’t chat to it, or skipped the dialogue, you’d have missed this crucial tidbit.

Eating a new meal will overwrite any active effects from the last meal you ate. Even if the effect of the new meal is the same as your existing effect – they don’t stack! Don’t waste your meals and ingredients.

Only eat more food if you’re happy to lose any existing meal effect, or if the new food is only going to heal you. Healing-only meals won’t overwrite effects from previous meals.

Check your creations carefully

It’s easy to make mistakes, whether you’re tired because it’s 3AM or your Switch is on handheld mode and you can’t see as well. Either way, check your creations before you use them.

Is that Flame Emitter facing the right way? Did you put that rocket in the right place, or is it about to blow up in your face?

A quick check can save you a lot of grief (though it might cost you some gut-busting laughs!).

Reset before you rotate

Ultrahand can be tough to get the hang of at times, especially rotating the materials you’re using. Get in the habit of using ZL to reset the material before you start trying to get it in the right position – it makes things much easier.

And always pay attention to where the item is sitting on the blue and red x and y axes. That’ll help you get your rotations right.

Go pantless

Yes, you read that right. Dropping trou when you need to go stealthy is one of the best ways to cut back on the noise you’re making.

Whether you’re sneaking up on an enemy or a wild horse, removing your leg armor makes a big difference to how much sound you make. Just remember to put them back on if you find yourself in the thick of a tough fight!
 

Use Ultrahand to reveal secrets

Activate Ultrahand and everything you can grab with it becomes easier to spot. That includes hidden treasure and items you might otherwise have missed!

Save your arrows, throw instead

Sure, you could attach a Bombflower or a Brightbloom Seed to an arrow… but why waste the arrow?

Hold R, press up on the D-pad, select the item using the right stick, then release R to throw it. Same effect, but you keep your arrows stocked. Trust us, the last thing you want to do in TotK is run out of arrows – you’ll need them to solve some puzzles, or hit certain enemies.

Just be sure you throw those bomb flowers from far enough away from your target... or, errr... well. Y'know.

Boost your stamina

In some ways, stamina is as important as health in Tears of the Kingdom, so don’t just focus on stocking up on heart containers. Sure, you can build your way to some areas that’d otherwise take a full stamina wheel, but you will need more stamina to master this game.

Our helpful hint? Aim to have at least two full stamina circles as early in the game as you can.

The goddess statue in Lookout Landing lets you trade hearts for stamina and vice versa – super helpful when you need a certain amount of hearts or stamina to progress in the story.

Follow the Blupees

Those little blue creatures? They’re Blupees,  and they’ll lead you to nearby cave entrances. You’ll also get Rupees if you manage to peg the nimble little critters with an arrow.

Pro tip: aiming the bow while mid-air causes time to slow down, letting you shoot more arrows and, hopefully, get more Rupees.

Avoid the Depths (for now)

Between harder enemies, no natural light, and the Gloom damage, the Depths are tough, to say the least. Best avoid exploring down there until you’re a bit further into the game!
 

Combat tips

Always fuse your weapons

Base weapons in TotK are all in dire need of improvement, thanks to the Gloom. Be sure to use your Fuse ability to enhance any weapon you get before you use it. Doing so will usually increase the weapon’s damage and durability, and may even give it special effects.

Fuse weapons to other weapons, rocks, mushrooms, construct horns – literally anything you can think of.

Pro tip: fuse a weapon to a boulder – it’s not the best in combat, but it’s great for mining rare materials in caves, which will create strong combat-ready weapons.

Complete the Kyononis shrine

It’s just outside Lookout Landing. Inside, you’ll learn how to block, dodge, parry, and all those useful combat tricks that any master swordsman will need to cut down their enemies.

Once you get the hang of this combat mechanic, you’ll feel infinitely better prepared for the challenges ahead.

Hold ZL (even if you don’t have a shield)

Yes, it’s the block button. It’s also how you lock on to enemies, and that’s wildly useful in most combat scenarios! Plus, it’s how you dodge and counter. You’ll learn all about this kinda stuff in the Kyononis shrine, so don’t skip that one!

Aim well

A well-placed arrow that hits the head or neck (for example), especially when the enemy hasn’t spotted you, can be lethal.

It’s also a major tactical advantage to shoot enemies from the air, as it slows down time while you still have stamina. This is an excellent way to land numerous headshots.

Pro tip: look out for updrafts –see those wisps of air wafting up from that burning grass? You can use them to get airborne and rain pain down on your enemies.

Use the right weapons

There’s no getting around it, some weapons are better suited to certain enemies than others. Next time you come across one of those pesky Evermeans (you know, the walking trees with anger management issues), you’ll find a bladed weapon more effective than even your thickest, sturdiest stick.

Don’t forget your powers

Ascend is especially useful against certain larger foes, giving you a shortcut to their otherwise hard-to-reach weak spots.

Ultrahand can create all kinds of makeshift weapons, like this outrageously awesome flamethrowing machine…