The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - How to get the Master Sword

The Master Sword is one of the most iconic weapons in gaming history, and so of course it was bound to be included in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. You even start with the Master Sword this time around, but as you'll see, you don't get that privilege for long.

There is a way to get the sword back in your hands, though, and we'll take you through how to do just that here. It's quite a process to get the weapon again, but there aren't as many requirements as there are in Breath of the Wild, so you might be able to get it earlier than on your first adventure. If you're looking to avoid spoilers, we won't give you any direct story content here, but be warned that some gameplay elements will be spoiled in order to give the best guide possible.

Getting to the Korok Forest

First thing's first, before we can even think about getting that big shiny sword, we need to reach the Korok Forest and have a good chat with our old friend the Deku Tree. We don't get a free pass into the Korok Forest in Tears of the Kingdom, however, and even though we're a hero of Hyrule, we're still going to have to figure away around the mist of the Lost Woods.

As The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is all about verticality, of course this plays a role in getting through the Lost Woods. Following the path to the forest from the Woodland Stable, you'll see an entrance to the Depths on your right. Jump down there, ensuring you have the paraglider to make a safe descent into the Depths' Minishi Grove. From there, follow the path North until you reach a point where you have to navigate forwards using treetops. From there, you should be able to see a tower in the distance to the West. Reach the bottom of the tower and use Ascend to shoot upwards through it. There you'll find yourself in the heart of the Korok Forest.

Relieving the Deku Tree of his Tummy Troubles

When you do enter the Korok Forest, you won't be able to talk to any of the Korok's or the Great Deku Tree either. The massive arboreal face will only mumble something about his stomach feeling awful. Here we recommend that you check how many hearts you have and how strong your armour/weapons are, as when you enter the lower chamber of the Deku Tree and glide down into the depths of his stomach you'll find a pretty tough fight. I beat the fight quite comfortably with 10 hearts, and so I'd recommend somewhere around then for anyone who wants a bit of legroom with the upcoming boss.

There is a cooking pot set up just before you go in, and even if you're confident with the amount of health you have, we also recommend that you cook up some dishes that revert the effects of gloom. Anything with a sundelion is a good shout, but you'll want to make sure you've got as many active hearts as possible.

When you dive down into the Deku Tree's stomach, you'll be met by five of those annoying Gloom Hand enemies that you may have seen before in a cave or around the map. Avoiding their grabs as much as you can, use AoE damage to take a few of them down at once and bring plenty of arrows for critical shots at their eyes. These guys are enough of an annoyance alone, especially when they catch you with their chain grab attacks, but once you're done with them, a new enemy appears, with a boss' health bar.

Phantom Ganon is surrounded by a puddle of Gloom, but hit him a few times and you'll get rid of that. You'll want to be careful when you're giving him a good slap, though, as he can dish out a bunch of damage too. This is where the food you've prepped comes in handy, as you can tank a few hits if you need to. Luckily enough, Phantom Ganon's attacks are quite slow, and can be dodged or parried fairly easily if you get the timing down. It may take a few tries, but keep your cool and learn his moves and you will bring him down. Once that's done, the gloom will be gone from the Deku Tree and the Korok Forest, letting you talk to the little guys and the massive tree.

Getting the Master Sword

With the toughest part of collecting your favourite letter opener out of the way, now we can head back to the Great Deku Tree, who thanks us for our hard work in getting rid of his extreme indigestion. He then tells us where the Master Sword is, giving us some vague hints at how we'll need to use the sky to find it. You'll get a main quest marker here to find the sword, but when you see it move around the map, you'll probably figure out what's going on here.

The Master Sword is lodged into a dragon's head. If you want to know why that is, you'll have to find some of the memories dotted around Hyrule. Luckily enough, we did a guide on that, too. Check it out here. But, if you don't care about the story behind the sword's whereabouts, you'll want to teleport up to a Sky Island near the marker and dive on top of its head. The ability of the Avatar of the Wind Sage is useful here, as it can give you some extra mileage on your gliding. What's vital for pulling the Master Sword out of the dragon's head is a minimum of two stamina wheels. That means you'll need 5 Stamina Vessels from shrine upgrades to get the Master Sword. It's not that much of an ask, but you'll need it to hang on as the dragon tries to throw you off.

Once that's done, however, you'll be treated to a cutscene telling you some story details around the Master Sword and you'll have the weapon in your inventory to fight off the darkness in Hyrule.