10 Tips and Tricks for Your First Hours in Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can feel slightly overwhelming at first. Here are ten helpful tips to get you started safely in Hyrule.

If you’ve just begun The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you may be caught up in an overwhelming sense of, “What do I do first?” This game is enormous, and while almost nothing is permanently missable (and what is gives you fair warning before it locks forever), you may still be struck with an intense desire to do everything at once. Relax. Breathe. No one can tell you how to spend your time in Breath of the Wild, but there are some things you can do in the tutorial area of the Great Plateau and the surrounding countryside to give you an edge later on.

I’ve compiled a list of ten tips I think will help you maximize your enjoyment of Breath of the Wild, especially as you venture into more challenging content:

Get a feel for weapon types

Your battles in Breath of the Wild will feature a constantly changing cycle of new weapons as old ones break and new one appear. Fear not, for weapons are plentiful; you’ll never be without something to swing around. That said, you may find yourself armed with a collection of weapon types you’re not used to or comfortable using only sometimes, so it’s best tp get used to all your options now.

Weapons are classified as swords, clubs, rods, lances, and two-handed versions of swords and blunt weapons. You can only use a shield in conjunction with the first three. Swords (also includes clubs and other similar one-handed weapons) are quick and can do damage anywhere in the range from total garbage to amazing. They are also sharp so that they can cut through things like trees. Clubs are similar, but can’t cut, though they can be used to knock things around like apples off trees you don’t want to chop. Rods do weak weapon damage when striking, but can shoot magical energy in the form of fire, ice, or lightning. They break easily.

Lances are light, quick, and have a longer range than swords and clubs, but you cannot use a shield with them. Two-handed weapons are heavy and slow, but generally, they do very high amounts of damage. As with one-handed weapons, sharp two-handers can chop trees and blunt weapons such as hammers can knock rocks around when used with the Stasis Rune.

There are plenty more weapon effects (torches can be lit on fire and carried, korok leaves blow gusts of wind) to discover. Experiment a lot early on to determine what’s available to you and what you’re most comfortable with.