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.

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.

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.

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

All weapon Passive Abilities in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Zelda holding the decayed Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom.

Thanks to the weapon durability system returning in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Breath of the Wild, you will be swapping out weapons all the time. At first, you will only be concerned with having something to defend yourself with, but eventually, you will acquire a nice stash of tools to dispatch your many foes. At this point, you will start comparing damage numbers, but that's not the only factor you should consider when deciding which weapon to wield. Passive Abilities are granted to some weapons that give them a special trait that can make them more useful than they seem at first. To better understand your arsenal, here are all the Passive Abilities in Tears of the Kingdom and what they do.
All Passive Abilities

Passive Abilities are buffs that a specific weapon can come with to give it an edge of some form. You can see the name of a Passive Ability under a weapon when you're quick-switching, or examining a weapon in your inventory. There are 15 possible Passive Abilities in Tears of the Kingdom that are well worth learning about. Also know that if you fuse a weapon with a Passive Ability, it will transfer over to your new fused weapon, so don't worry about losing any buffs by fusion.
Breaking Point
- Damage increases when the weapon is close to breaking.
Charged Attack Stamina Up
- Consumes less stamina for charged attacks.
Demolisher
- Weapon is usable for breaking cracked walls and rocks.
Desperate Strength
- Damage increases when you only have one heart.
Extra Durable
- Weapon does not break easily.
Fuse Recycling
- Materials fused with the weapon can be reused again and again.
Gloom Toll
- Weapon Contains Gloom.
Improved Flurry Rush
- Increases the power of Flurry Rush.
Quick Charge
- Enables quicker charged attacks.
Revitalized Sword of Legend
- Exclusive to the Master Sword - allows the Master Sword to regain durability over time.
Strong Fusion
- Enhances the fused Material's power but does not add as much durability.
Water Warrior
- Increases attack power when the weapon gets wet.
Wind Busrt
- Weapon produces a strong wind.
Wind Razor
- Creates vacuums when performing an attack
Zonaite-Powered
- Increases attack power if the weapon is fused with a Zonite device.

Gaming

Zeldas: Tears of the Kingdom players are creating an industrial revolution

Link with a created mining rig in Tears of the Kingdom.

I expected a lot of cool contraptions to be built when Nintendo revealed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the long-awaited sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, was going to have a full crafting system. What I didn't expect, though, was that fans would bring a full-on industrial revolution to Hyrule using Ultrahand.

In this new open-world Zelda title, players are given the ability to put together doohickeys of all shapes and sizes. Whether you're making a caveman-style hammer by attaching a simple rock to a stick or a flying boat with a turbo-fan engine to take flight, there seems to be something for every class of player to mold from their imagination. But some players are going even further, creating machinery that calls back to history's own evolution.

Gaming

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s story and ending explained

Link and Zelda under Hyrule Castle.

The Legend of Zelda series has always been known for its heroic fantasy stories, even if some of those tales follow a simple hero’s journey structure. But Tears of the Kingdom takes the franchise’s narrative ambitions to a new level. It tells a sprawling epic that spans eras, digging into the lost history of Hyrule. It’s an important installment for the series -- one that’s sure to confuse the heck out of anyone who fancies themselves a “Zelda timeline” historian.

With all the time-jumping shenanigans and the heaps of lore, it can be a little hard to keep the events of Tears of the Kingdom straight. Whether you’re looking to clarify some story beats or are just interested in seeing where the tale goes, we’re here to help with a rundown of both the basic story and ending of Tears of the Kingdom.