Breath of the Wild was the best game in the entire Legend of Zelda franchise — until the release of Tears of the Kingdom. The massive sequel somehow packs in even more to do than its predecessor – allowing players to you explore the land of Hyrule, a network of sky islands, and an expansive underground area.
Tears of the Kingdom is a mostly freeform experience that gives you free rein to tackle the story and exploration however you see fit. It can be overwhelming at the beginning, so we’re here with a few crucial tips on what to do first to make your gameplay the best.
1. COMPLETE RITO VILLAGE AND THE WIND TEMPLE
Like its predecessor, The story of Tears of the Kingdom is split into four main objectives that you can tackle in any order, with each about a different village. Before you explore too much, you should follow the story and complete the Rito questline in the Hebra area (top left of the map).
Following the story gives you some Shrines on your path, so you can get a couple of Heart or Stamina upgrades. What’s really crucial, however, is the Sage ability you’ll unlock by completing the Wind Temple.
Each Temple gives you an item to summon the spirit of a Sage to accompany you — the Wind Sage can use his Gust ability to propel you forward on your paraglider. As you might expect, this is very useful for exploration, especially as you explore more of the sky.
2. COMPLETE “CAMERA WORK IN THE DEPTHS”
Lookout Landing is the first settlement you’ll visit in Hyrule, and it’s there you’ll learn about the main story setup. After you get your primary objective, however, it’s also very easy to miss an important quest called “Camera Work in the Depths.”
After talking to Purah about Zelda, ensure you go to the bottom of the building and talk to Robbie, who’ll talk to you about unlocking the camera and investigating the depths. This quest is the only way to unlock the camera, which is needed to complete multiple other questline, so make sure to do it before you head off into the world at large.
3. STAY AT THE WOODLAND STABLE
Though Tears of the Kingdom has all of the stables found in Breath of the Wild, your first stop should be at the Woodland Stable.
The Woodland stable allows you to learn about Pony Points, a new system that rewards you for finding and sleeping at stables. Important stuff about Woodland Stable, however, is the quest you’ll find called “Serenade to the Great Fairy.”
This is the first in a long line of quests where you help a musical troupe play for the Great Fairies, thus inspiring them to come out of their flowers, which lets you upgrade your armor by using Rupees and monster parts.
It’s a quick little quest that has you building and pulling a wagon, but once completed the troupe will move onto another stable, which lets you continue playing for more Great Faries.
Upgrading your armor can be very beneficial as enemies in Tears of the Kingdom cause great damage.
4. STOCK UP ON ZONAI DEVICES
Zonai Devices are important in playing Tears of the Kingdom. They serve a wide array of purposes; from rockest that send you skyward to wheels, that you can strap on a board to make a ramshackle car.
You can find the devices scattered across the world, and also store them in your inventory. You can get them by using the Zonai vending machines scattered around the world, mostly on the islands in the sky.
5. UNLOCK ALL THE SKY TOWERS
The towers of Breath of the Wild are also available in “Tears of the Kingdom” though they function a little differently. Here, using a Sky Tower reveals a piece of the map, which is vital for exploring, but it also launches Link into the sky.
This lets you access the islands in the sky, which hold new Shrines, Zonai Devices, and chests containing Old Maps, which reveal the locations of treasure chests in the underground area.
6. FUSE ALL YOUR WEAPONS
One of the first things you need to do is to understand the game’s new mechanics. Ultrahand lets Link stick two items together, while Fuse lets you combine nearly any material with your shield, weapon, and arrows.
This allows you to change your approach to attack and defense, weapon degradation, and can result in some unexpected effects.
NB: Never have unfused weapons or shields in your inventory – it’s simply a waste.
Also, experimentation is the best as there are many options here. Then make a habit of fusing something onto each piece of equipment. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You can fuse a Bokoblin horn to your sword for a damage boost, put a boulder on a spear to break open crates or put a mushroom on your shield to repel enemies when they hit it.