Cheats and Tips

    
                               

Breath of the Wild has no cheat codes, but it's full of tricks that make Hyrule easier: quick ways to make Rupees, upgrades worth chasing, gear you can get early, and handy moves the game never really explains. For game-breaking tricks like item duplication, see our Breath of the Wild glitches.

Easy Rupees

  • Mine ore and sell gems. Ore deposits and Talus mini-bosses drop gems that sell for good money. The coast near Hateno Village is lined with ore deposits, and a cave you can swim to nearby is full of them. Mark good spots on your map: ore comes back after a Blood Moon.
  • Gamble in Lurelin Village. In the far south-east, on the beach, Cloyne runs the Treasure-Chest Game in the hut with Rupees over the door. Bet up to 100 Rupees, pick a chest, and the best chest pays 300. Save before each go and reload if you lose.
  • Snowball Bowling at Pondo's Lodge. North-east of the Hebra Tower, Pondo lets you bowl for 20 Rupees a game. Your first strike wins a Blizzard Rod (if you have room for it). After that, every strike pays 300 Rupees, and a spare pays 100. With practice you can get a strike almost every time.
  • Shoot the dragons. Farosh, Dinraal and Naydra fly set routes around Hyrule. Shooting their horns, claws and scales knocks off parts that sell for a lot of Rupees, and the dragons keep coming back.
  • Cook and sell. Meals sell for more than their ingredients. Collect apples and meat as you travel and cook them into dishes to sell at shops.
  • Sell monster parts. Horns, guts and fangs add up, and your materials pouch never fills up. Kilton (see below) also buys them for his own currency.

Hearts, Stamina and Upgrades

  • Swap hearts for stamina (and back). The Horned Statue in Hateno Village lets you trade a Heart Container for a Stamina Vessel or the other way round, for 20 Rupees. Handy if you need more hearts for the Master Sword or more stamina for climbing.
  • The Master Sword needs 13 hearts. It's in the Korok Forest, in the middle of the Lost Woods. Try to pull it with fewer hearts and Link loses health as he struggles.
  • Korok Seeds expand your inventory. Take them to Hestu to add weapon, bow and shield slots. There are 900 Korok Seeds in all, and finding every one wins Hestu's Gift.
  • Great Fairies upgrade armour. Each of the four Great Fairy Fountains asks for Rupees to wake her up, then upgrades your clothing with materials, up to four stars.

Gear Worth Getting

  • The Hylian Shield is in the Lockup below Hyrule Castle, guarded by a Stalnox. It's one of the strongest shields in the game.
  • Ancient gear (armour, arrows, weapons and shields) comes from Robbie at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, in exchange for Guardian parts.
  • Rock Octoroks fix rusty gear. Around Death Mountain, drop a rusty weapon or shield near a Rock Octorok. It sucks the item up and spits it back out in better condition.
  • Kilton's Fang and Bone sells monster masks and armour. Wearing a monster mask lets you walk up to that type of monster without it attacking. He pays in Mon for monster parts.
  • Elemental arrows on the cheap: fire an ordinary arrow through a campfire or torch and it catches fire, just like a Fire Arrow.

amiibo

  • Use the amiibo rune to scan an amiibo for food, materials, weapons and sometimes Rupees. Each amiibo works once a day.
  • The first scan of the Super Smash Bros. Link or Twilight Princess Link amiibo gives you Epona, Link's horse from Ocarina of Time.
  • The Wolf Link amiibo summons Wolf Link as a companion who fights beside you and hunts.
  • Other Zelda amiibo unlock outfits from past games, such as the Tunic, Cap and Trousers of Twilight.

DLC Extras

  • The Master Trials (Expansion Pass, Pack 1) add Master Mode, a harder game where enemies are stronger and slowly regain health; the Trial of the Sword, which powers up the Master Sword; and the Travel Medallion, which lets you set your own warp point.
  • The Champions' Ballad (Pack 2) adds a new story with the One-Hit Obliterator and, at the end, the Master Cycle Zero motorcycle.

Handy Moves

  • Slow down time: draw your bow while in the air (jumping, gliding or after a shield jump) and time slows down while your stamina drains.
  • Shield surfing: hold ZL to raise your shield, jump with X, then press A to ride it like a sled down snowy and grassy slopes.
  • Launch with Stasis: freeze a boulder or crate with Stasis, hit it lots of times, and when the timer runs out it flies off in the direction of the arrow. Stand on it or grab on for a ride.
  • Stay dry while climbing: rain makes cliffs slippery. Wait it out at a campfire, or find another way up.

More help: our walkthrough, shrine guide and interactive map.

Looking for another game? See all our Zelda cheat codes, secrets and glitches.