Tips & Tricks

12 advanced tips for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players!

11 September 2023

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If you’re already well into your The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom adventure, we’ve got a new batch of tips just for you! From discovering caves, navigating the Depths and mastering Link’s abilities – let’s take a deeper dive into Hyrule!

Still early on in your adventure? Here are 12 spoiler-free tips for new players, plus 12 additional tips for those who’ve just reached Hyrule’s surface.

1: How to find nearby caves

If you spot a Blupee in the wild, chances are there’s a cave nearby! When approached, these easily-spooked spirits will dart off towards the nearest cave entrance, so chase after them and you might make a new discovery!

Bonus tip: want to keep track of which caves you’ve already explored? Look for a cave icon on your map which indicates if you’ve visited it before.

2: What to do with Bubbul Gems

Bubbulfrogs love lurking on the walls inside caves. Defeat them and they’ll drop a Bubbul Gem. If you’re wondering what do these gems do exactly, the answer awaits you at a cave near Pico Pond.

Bonus tip: your map shows if you’ve slain a cave’s Bubbulfrog. Just look for a tick mark next to the cave’s icon on your map.

3: How to find objects hidden nearby

The Ultrahand ability has more uses beyond simply grabbing and attaching objects. While activated, it’s easier to spot seemingly hidden objects, such as dropped weapons, materials to forage, or buried treasure chests that can be yanked out of the ground.

4: How to upgrade your Purah Pad

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Check in regularly with Robbie while he’s stationed at Lookout Landing. After helping him with a few quests, he’ll ask you to meet him at the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, located on the outskirts of Hateno Village.

Once there, Robbie will offer to upgrade your Purah Pad to include a nifty sensor that’ll ping to let you know if there’s a Shrine of Light nearby.

Bonus tip: continue helping Robbie with his research and he’ll add more features to your Purah Pad, including the Travel Medallion, a mysterious tool allows you to place travel gates almost anywhere in Hyrule that you can fast travel to.

5: How to use Ascend against enemies

Ascend has some surprisingly useful applications in combat, especially against larger foes. When squaring-off against a Stone Talus, run underneath it and try using Ascend to emerge on top of the Talus, near its weak spot. This tactic can also be effective when dealing with Flux Constructs, too!

6: How to exchange Heart Containers for Stamina Vessels

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Got plenty of hearts but you’re lacking in stamina? There’s a horned statue somewhere in Hyrule that trades Stamina Vessels for Heart Containers, and vice versa! You’ll have to be on the lookout if you want to find this mysterious statue.

7: How to make weapons using Ultrahand

Try combining Zonai Devices in different ways to create experimental weapons, such as this flame-throwing machine! Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to build it.

You’ll need: 2x Big Wheels + 4x Flame Emitters

Stack two Big Wheels on top of each other and attach them together.
Attach Flame Emitters to the side of the wheels
Place your creation near enemies and activate it!

8: How to create elemental weapons and gear

By now, you’ve probably got your hands on at least a few rare gemstones, such as Rubies, Topazes and Sapphires. These can be sold for a large amount of rupees, but they’re also valuable materials for fusing thanks to their elemental properties. For example, fuse a Ruby to your weapon and it’ll shoot out balls of fire, whereas fusing a Sapphire to your shield will freeze any enemies caught in its icy blast.

Bonus tip: fuse these gemstones with Magic Rods, Staffs and Sceptres to unleash even more powerful elemental attacks!

9: How to create your own light sources in the Depths

Before heading into the Depths, be sure to stock up on Brightbloom Seeds. These glowing flowers can be found in caves and wells around Hyrule, and they’ll light up on impact. Once you’re in the Depths, try throwing it – or fusing it to an arrow – to light the way forward while navigating through the darkness. You could also try attaching some Giant Brightbloom Seeds to any vehicles you’ve created in the Depths to add some headlights to it!

Bonus tip: using materials like Brightcaps and Glowing Cave Fish in your recipes can yield tasty meals that give Link a temporary glow effect!

10: How to locate Lightroots more easily

There are a lot of similarities between the layout of Hyrule’s surface and the depths. For example, did you know that Lightroots are always situated directly beneath Shrines of Light found on the surface? That means that you can use your map to work out where a nearby Lightroot might be based on the shrines you’ve visited so far.

Bonus tip: this works the other way too if you’re trying to figure out where to find shrines on the surface.

11: How to heal Gloom-damaged hearts

Being in contact with this dark substance for too long or being attacked by a gloom-infested enemy will not only eat away at your heart meter, but also reduce your max hearts while exploring the Depths. Returning to the surface or the sky will restore your heart meter back to normal, but there are a couple of other ways to cure this nasty affliction:

Use Sundelions in your cooking to create meals that’ll help restore your heart meter. These flowers are most commonly found on the Sky Islands.
Make your way to the nearest Lightroot. Activating one will restore your Gloom-damaged hearts, as will taking a short breather beneath one you’ve already activated.

12: What to do with Poes

If you happen across groups of glowing souls called Poes while traversing the Depths, don’t hesitate to fill your boots! These spirit orbs can be traded for all sorts of useful materials and armor at strange-looking Bargainer Statues around Hyrule.

Bonus tip: there’s a Bargainer Statue located at Lookout Landing. In exchange for some Poes, it’ll share the location of fellow Bargainer Statues as well.