Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides, walkthroughs, and FAQs

By Sam Hill May 25, 2023

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally here. Already one of our favorite Zelda games of all time and a confirmed spectacular sequel to 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this is a Hyrule adventure that players are going to spend hundreds of hours completing. While hunting down Ganondorf, Link will have to find hundreds of shrines, explore the Sky Islands and a massive underground world beneath Hyrule’s great fields, and fight off enemies of all kinds while mastering new abilities and skills.

Contents

Before you start playing
Guides
FAQs

It’s dangerous to go alone! Take these guides.

With a game this massive, everyone is going to run into spots where they need a little help. We’re publishing guides on everything under the Hylian sun — from where to find the game’s best weapons and how to boost your health to Link’s finest outfits and special horses. This guides hub will grow as we play the game more, so be sure to return when you’ve run into tough spots or have questions.

Before you start playing

Zelda with the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom. — Nintendo

There’s plenty you can do to prepare for an epic Hyrule adventure before you even start playing Tears of the Kingdom. Check out these guides to get a feel for the game, find the best deals, and learn more about this entry’s place in the Legend of Zelda franchise before you start playing.

Guides

Purah in Tears of the Kingdom. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Tears of the Kingdom is all about exploration and finding your own path — but sometimes it’s a lot easier just to look up the answer. If you’re stuck and need a bit of help finding a specific weapon or horse, or solving a challenging puzzle, we’ve got your back. Check out our complete list of walkthroughs and how-tos below:

Stats

Weapons and armor

Zonai

How to upgrade and increase Zonai battery

Horses

Ingredients and materials

Get money

Locations and quests

Collectibles

FAQs

Hetsu in Tears of the Kingdom. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are going to be a lot of questions regarding playing Tears of the Kingdom as more players get into the new story — we’ll tackle those as best as we can here as questions pop up.

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Gaming Guides Editor

Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…

Gaming

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom DLC is not happening, says Nintendo

Link and other characters from Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the year's most successful games, but a developer from Nintendo has confirmed that it doesn't have plans to make any DLC for it. Speaking to the Japanese publication Famitsu, series producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed this was the case because the development team had already explored all of the ideas they wanted to in the base game and is now looking to the future.

"At this time, we are not planning to release additional content. We feel like we have already fully explored and exhausted the gameplay possibilities in this world," Aonuma said in comments translated by Video Games Chronicle. "Initially, the reason we decided to develop a sequel was because we believed there was still value in experiencing new gameplay within that particular Hyrule. If, in the future, we find a compelling reason, we may revisit that world once again. Whether it’s another sequel or an entirely new title, I believe the next game will offer a completely new experience."
While Aonuma's explanation is sound, it's still a pretty surprising move by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild received two expansions after it came out in 2017. Some fans expected that Tears of the Kingdom would follow in that game's footsteps, especially as it would make sense for Nintendo to find more ways to capitalize on a game that has already sold 18.51 million copies. Still, it's probably best for Nintendo to move on from Tears of the Kingdom and create something new rather than making underwhelming DLC for the sake of having post-launch content.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now for Nintendo Switch.

Gaming

The best Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mods

Link giving a thumbs-up with a smile.

With the addition of the Ultra Hand and Fuse abilities in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it might feel like you're already playing the game with mods enabled. This power lets you pick up, connect, build, and combine nearly every item in Hyrule. We've already seen people push the boundaries with what they can create using the default tools, but there will always be some things just out of reach for players. Well, that is until mods are entered into the equation. Because Tears of the Kingdom is a Switch game, mods take a bit more work to not only make but play as well. Unlike PC games, you can't just download a file, plop it in your game, and go. If you're willing to put in a little work, there are some amazing mods out there to add another couple dozen hours to your playtime. Here are the best mods in Tears of the Kingdom.
How to mod Tears of the Kingdom
If you are just looking to play mods, not create them, then the process isn't terribly complex. There is a nice tutorial laid out you can follow here, which also includes a link to the Tears of the Kingdom modding Discord where you can go if you need to ask more specific questions.
Rinkuru v0.5.3/Rinkuru Pronouns and Dialogue

For those a bit out of the loop, Rinkuru is the Japanese name for the female Link we know as Linkle from the Hyrule Warriors games. It has since been adapted to simply be the female version of Link. If you were disappointed that you couldn't play as a female in Tears of the Kingdom, these two mods effectively add in a female option. Rinkuru v0.5.3 is a complete model swap from Link to Rinkruru, including new outfits and even some weapons. The companion mod, Rinkuru Pronouns and Dialogue, changes all instances of game dialogue from referring to your character as Link, he, sir, and all other male pronouns are swapped to Rinkuru, she, lady, and so on to fully immerse you as the heroine of Hyrule.
Yet Another Better Sages Mod - With Voices
Yet Another Better Sages Mod

Gaming

The worst Zelda games ever made are getting a spiritual successor

A shopkeeper that looks a lot like Morshu in Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.

The Legend of Zelda series inspires tons of indie games every year. They just usually don't take inspiration from the bad ones. That's exactly what we're getting with Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, a new indie that draws inspiration from Zelda's infamous Philips CD-i era.

During Limited Run Games' third annual showcase, Seedy Eye Software and Limited Run revealed Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, an "animated adventure" game inspired by Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon that will release later this year. If you don't know about Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, they are two infamously terrible The Legend of Zelda games that were officially licensed by Nintendo for the Philips CD-i. These side-scrolling adventure games played terribly and featured ugly full-motion video animated cutscenes with terrible voice acting. You've probably seen some memes featuring the characters and animation from these games. Because of how bad they are, these titles aren't really ones most developers look to for inspiration.
The developers of Arzette did, though.
Arzette | LRG3 Reveal Trailer
Its reveal trailer establishes that the titular Princess goes on a quest to defeat an evil being named Daimur. It's a 2D action platformer that looks like those two CD-i Zelda games, albeit one that looks a bit more fun to play. Its similarities to The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon become inescapable during cutscenes, as the characters, animation, and voice acting all look like they came straight out of those games.
In general, the Limited Runs Games Showcase this reveal was at was a wild one, with remasters for classic Jurassic Park games, Gex, Clock Tower, Plumbers Don't Wear Ties, Tomba!, and more announced. While we see odes to bad movies with films like The Disaster Artist and Ed Wood, we don't see that nearly as often with bad games.
That should make Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore enjoyable and terrible (in a good way) when it launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam in 2023.