Welcome to the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guide walking you through how to approach this massive game and get a solid start.
Game Stats
- Difficulty: 3/10
- Time to Completion: Estimated 150+ hours
Recommended Playthrough
- Stick to the main quests until you have unlocked the first skyview tower.
- Grab the Climbing Set as early as possible to help speed up scaling walls and surfaces. Also, pickup some pieces of the Glide Set and the Champion’s Leathers to help with the early game. See the Zelda Armor Guide for details.
- Explore the world, targeting each tower to reveal more of the map while activating as many shrines as possible for fast travel, and stopping by all stables. Complete some shrines along the way and unlock heart/stamina containers at Lookout Landing for every 4 shrines cleared.
- Complete enough shrines early on to acquire a full ring of extra stamina (5 containers) and a few more hearts. The stamina is essential for getting around and is required for an important quest.
- Additionally, make sure you complete Camera Work in the Depths to learn how to map and survive the land below while activating all Lightroots for fast travel and much needed illumination.
- Play the remainder of the game your way.
General Tips
- Keep cooked food and elixirs in your inventory to help with healing and special situations. Refer to the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Recipes Guide for a list of known recipes.
- Use hot springs when you need to heal and have time to travel.
Useful Links:
Skyview Towers
Skyview Towers are essential to exploring the surface and skies of Hyrule. Early in the game, focus on locating and activating all 12 Skyview Towers. Doing so will give you fast travel points in each of the regions of Hyrule. Plus, launching from each tower also gives you quick access to other locations surrounding them, including the sky.
Shrines
Shrines make up the backbone of the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom experience. While exploring the vast world, activate each of the shrines to add fast travel locations to your map. Additionally, completing each shrine will earn Lights of Blessing. Turning 4 of these in to statues in the towns (Lookout Landing’s is inside the Emergency Shelter) will grant new heart or stamina containers.
Shrine Guides
- In-isa Shrine Guide
- Gutanbac Shrine Guide
- Nachoyah Shrine Guide
- Jiukoum Shrine Guide
- Additional guide may be found on YouTube.
Armor Sets
Armor pieces are scattered throughout Hyrule on the surface, in the sky, and below. While traveling and exploring the world, enter and fully traverse every cave you find. Inside every cave is a glowing frog that will drop Bubbul Gems which can be traded for gear and items. Additionally, many caves also contain chests under small shrines which will reward armor pieces.
Some pieces of armor are tied directly to quests, like the Potential Princess Sightings side adventure for the Lucky Clover Gazette. Many special gear pieces are found in the Depths while exploring the darkness below.
Be sure to complete the Serenade side adventures to unlock the 4 Great Fairies who aid in upgrading armor. Upgrading may begin as soon as the first Great Fairy leaves her bud and additional levels are added as each fairy is serenaded.
Refer to the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Armor Guide for armor set locations and upgrade requirements.
Exploring the Depths
The Depths area doubles the size of the world to explore, but it is significantly more difficult to do so. Gloom and gloom-covered enemies will break hearts preventing you from fully healing until cleansing at one of the Lightroots (fast travel points in the Depths and light the darkness).
Understanding the Depths Map
As you explore the Depths, you will notice the map is different than the map for Hyrule’s surface. The dark pink colors on the map indicate gloom and should be avoided unless you are in a vehicle, on a mount, or have the full Depths Armor Set. Lighter colored areas indicate higher elevation, while darker colored areas represent lower terrain. Black areas are impassable and are often located under rivers and lakes above.
Chasms are the gateways between the surface of Hyrule and the Depths. Small brown octagons represent building materials. Mines are a great place to gather resources and often have special armor or schematics. Large enemy encampments also provide schematics after defeating all enemies in them. Coliseums provide challenging battles while rewarding armor pieces. Forests may also hide a chest containing armor. When you see massive skeletal remains, always follow them to the skull for a chest containing armor.
Exploring the Depths
After completing the quest, Camera Work in the Depth, start exploring the area. If you see a Lightroot in the distance, tag it. You can also access your surface map, highlight a Shrine, and press down to look at the same spot in the Depths. Most Lightroots are connected to Shrines above. Use every chasm on the surface to efficiently find Lightroots nearby, reducing how much time is spent exploring in the dark and in the gloom.
In dark areas, wear the Miner’s Set or attach Brightbloom Seeds to arrows and shoot the off into the distance to get a better idea of the terrain in your path. Utilize building materials to quickly gain altitude and cut back on how much climbing you need to do. Large roots are often great ways to reach higher terrain with more of a gradual incline.
Useful Gear
- Depths Set: The Depths Set will reduce permanent damage taken from gloom.
- Miner’s Set: The Miner’s Armor Set provides light near you while exploring in the dark.
- Climbing Set: The Climbing Set is essential to exploring the Depths as there are many steep cliffs to ascend during your adventure.
That’s it for the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guide. Please post any questions or comments below. Thanks.