Beginner Tips and Tricks for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Whether you're a long-time Breath of the Wild veteran or are stepping into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as your first Zelda game, you're going to see plenty of new stuff in Nintendo's latest sandbox extravaganza. Hopefully, this list of some beginner tips and tricks can help you out a little bit without spoiling any of the experience.

Tip No.1: Use the new abilities to your advantage

This one will seem super obvious, but it's worth reminding everyone out there that you have some great abilities this time around, and they can be used to great effect in combat and the open world. Ultrahand will likely be your go-to ability, as it's how you make those supercars and great flying devices you've seen in the trailers, but the other abilities you get shouldn't be ignored either and have some great uses right off the bat. Especially in the early game when you're going to be a lot weaker, they can really come in handy.

Fuse will let you combine a weapon and pretty much any object you can grab with Ultrahand, meaning you can even make a tree branch a viable weapon by adding a rock to it. With Fuse, you can also make something that can break up rocks to get valuable materials, or even a makeshift fan to knock enemies back and push forward any raggedy boats you might put together with Ultrahand. As a side note, don't worry if you're not making transformers immediately with Zonai devices and Ultrahand, as a lot of the more important and cooler devices will be found later or through exploration, which is when you'll really be able to get creative.

Recall can knock things thrown at you back to their sender, and Ascend's usefulness is in its name, really. Now you won't need reams of stamina to climb a mountain, as you can shoot up through it or Recall a rock fallen from the sky archipelagos before jumping off of it and gliding to your destination.

Tip No.2: Get the glider ASAP

This brings us onto tip #2. Unlike in the first game, Tears of the Kingdom doesn't pass you the glider once you're out of the tutorial area, and you'll have to complete a tiny bit of your first main quest before you get your hands on it. When you drop down to Hyrule, it might feel as if the open world is immediately calling your name, but I must recommend that you grab the glider first, otherwise you won't be able to register any towers, and you'll be doomed to a death by falling if you slip from a great height.

Tip No.3: Don't bite off more than you can chew early

Speaking of the open world, when you do get to exploring, try not to bite off more than you can chew straight away. There are a lot of tough enemies fairly close to where you start, and rather than charge headfirst at them and the main quest, it might be best to get a few hearts under your belt first. There's no harm in taking your time with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It's a game that wants you to drink it in rather than try and hit your head against a wall as many times as it takes to knock it down.

Tip No.4: Get to the combat training shrines as soon as you can

This one is more for the newbies, but if you do need a refresher on some of the combat mechanics, like in Breath of the Wild you can head to the combat training shrines. If you're looking for basic training, head to the Kyonosis Shrine near Hyrule Castle. For thrown weapons, you'll want to go to Teniten Shrine, which can be found East of Lake Kolomo. Archery training is in the sky, as Taunhiy Shrine, located above Ludfos Bog. For sneakstrikes, head north of the South Akkala Stable to Sinatanika Shrine. Even if you're versed in all of this, you might as well head to these shrines for easy blessings.

Tip No.5: Get a horse and take it to some towers

While there are a bunch of traversal options in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you'll still need a trusty steed at your side to get around. When you might not be able to take to the skies or you don't have enough stamina to glide over long distances, a horse has your back. Having a horse will also let you go to faraway towers early on, meaning you can get a better lay of the land and see what's around you. Finally, in my last piece of horse advertising, getting a mount will lead you towards the stables, where you'll be able to find some extra interesting quests and meet some familiar faces.

Tip No. 6: Experiment with arrows

In the final tip of this introductory list of things to do early in the game, I have to recommend that you keep as many materials as you can, primarily to test out what they can do when attached to your arrows. Archery takes a huge role in Tears of the Kingdom, and a big part of it is to do with what kind of arrows you use. Of course, there's the usual fire and bomb arrows that you can get from attaching certain flowers and fruits, but there are a load of other effects to try out. While you're lining up Bokogoblins to test out your latest experimental arrow, you might also want to turn off the motion controls for aiming. If, like me, you're spending a lot of time playing in handheld mode, it can be a pain when you miss a shot because you moved your arms at the wrong time.

Apart from the tips above, of course explore as much as you can, collect spicy and chilled foods to survive in the harsher climates of Hyrule, and remember that your weapons will break. If you've got all that down, I see no reason why your early hours shouldn't be a blast in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.