The Nintendo Switch 2 is here, and one of the first Switch 2 Editions available on day one is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Serving as a follow-up to 2017’s Breath of the Wild, the sequel Tears of the Kingdom is far more expansive, immersive and has a whole lot more to do in it.
It can be overwhelming finding yourself back in Hyrule but with so much more to do, new systems in place and new ways to explore. As such, whether you’re practically a Hyrule native or it’s your first time playing The Legend of Zelda, we’ve got five tips to get you started with your Switch 2 Edition playthrough!
1. Prioritize stamina over hearts
Just like in Breath of the Wild, completing Shrines in Tears of the Kingdom will award the player with a Light of Blessing, and four of those can be exchanged for either an additional heart contained for more HP, or an increase to your stamina. You may be torn on which to progress first, but we’d strongly recommend prioritizing stamina at the start.
Stamina is key to exploration in Tears of the Kingdom, and you’ll want as much of it as you can when you’re battling monsters, exploring caves or making your way to shrines. There are plenty of recipes and methods to give yourself additional hearts temporarily, so giving yourself the permanent stamina boost first will set you up better to explore further and farther, and then later you can invest those new Light of Blessings into your heart container count later on.
2. Use the map, remember the caves
Tears of the Kingdom is even more expansive than Breath of the Wild, with caves scattered across the entire map, as well as plenty of new areas to find in the sky and underground. As such, it’s more important than ever to make the most of your in-game map on the Purah Pad. As this is the Switch 2 Edition, you’ll also have access to the map on your phone via the Zelda Notes section of the Nintendo Switch App too.
Whenever you find a cave you can’t make any progress in, or a weird mechanism or item you’re unfamiliar with, just mark it on the map. You might not know how everything works now, or you might not have the skill required to beat that area just yet, but you’ll want to find it again eventually so mark things down plentifully. Caves are especially useful for their secrets, loot and Bubbulfrogs which you’ll want to find many of, so don’t forget to keep a pin on your caves.
3. Fuse everything you can
One of the new mechanics in Tears of the Kingdom is the ability to fuse together items to give them new properties or abilities. This is a game changer from the first few minutes of the game, so don’t hesitate to fuse often, and fuse everything you can. In the early game, just fuse together those useless items like boulders, rocks and sticks to make a stronger weapon that will get you through some of the starting areas a lot easier.
As you progress, your familiarity with the fusion system will eventually lead it to being like second nature, and you’ll be all the better of a Zelda player for it. A special tip is to fuse arrows with Keese eyeballs as much as you can for homing shots, making it far easier to hit your enemies in a rush from a distance without the need for accuracy.
4. Use the night
Hyrule really is a living, breathing world in Tears of the Kingdom, and you’ll want to use it for your advantage. Whilst night time may be much scarier for venturing out into the wilderness, it’s also a time of rest and relaxation – even for monsters! If you’re struggling with a camp of monsters in the early game, wait until the night time and you’ll find many of them are tucked in for a good rest, and blissfully unaware of your presence.
You won’t even need to defeat them to steal all their loot if they’re asleep, and robbing them of their weapons also means if they do wake up then they won’t be able to put up much of a fight! Just be wary of potential late-night monsters watching over their sleeping fellow beasts, they won’t hesitate to wake the whole camp up if they catch you.
5. Stock up on Zonai devices
The Zonai may be a mysterious ancient race that we know little about at the start of your journey, but their technology sure is helpful. Whenever you find capsules containing mechanical devices like wheels, fans and more, you’re going to want to hoard these. Don’t waste them randomly when you only have a few, just keep them in your inventory until you have plenty to waste, and that’s when the real experimentation begins.
Once you’re feeling more familiar with the world of Tears of the Kingdom, and you’ve found plenty of Zonai devices, choose a few you’ve got plenty of and stick them together to see what you can create. One of the most popular combinations to experiment with at the start is Zonai Wings mixed with Fans, to create a high-tech, speedy glider to soar through the skies of Hyrule. It takes some time learning exactly how to position each piece, but with the Zelda Notes app on the Switch 2 you can find QR Codes online to download others’ creations and study exactly how they made it work.
Those are our five tips we’d give to anyone first diving into Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and they’re also important reminders for returning players on the Switch 2 to use the new functionality of the Zelda Notes app!
Are you playing any Zelda games on your Nintendo Switch 2? Let us know in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more gaming news, guides and Nintendo Switch 2 coverage every day.
