Thunder has a similar paralysing effect, without the extra damage that you can deal at the end – but to make up for it, it can cause enemies to drop their weapons entirely. Ice-infused weapons and arrows will freeze monsters solid, giving you a few seconds to reposition yourself, but more importantly allowing you to do a load more damage if you hit them again before the ice thaws, shattering it. But there’s still a lot you don’t get told.Įlemental powers will be key to defeating some of the game’s harder enemies. The combat mechanics are the most documented in BotW, with most of the game’s tutorial text devoted to teaching you how to use each of your weapons and abilities. The strength value of each weapon isn’t everything. If you need fire resistance right now, and have two thousand rupees, why not just buy the right hat? Combat and weapons If you’re used to open-world RPGs, you may dismiss the armour for sale in shops as inferior to that which you’ll get in chests and loot drops, but that’s often not the case – and even if it is, there’s no guarantee you’ll find the right loot drop at the right time.

You can boost a bunch of your Sheikah Slate runes, as well as buy some less-permanent, but extremely powerful, weapons.įinally, don’t discount the value of just buying armour. All of these are significant improvements to Link’s combat prowess, which means if you’re juggling whether to tackle a divine beast before or after some exploration, it’s useful to take out the big thing first, giving you the power boost.Ī third source of permanent upgrades can be secured from the Ancient Tech labs in the east of Hyrule, using the items dropped by Guardians and found in Shrines. You’ll get a second tranche of permanent upgrades as you set about finding the divine beasts that form the game’s main questline. If you really need to climb a gigantic cliff, you have the option of pausing the game just as you’re about to fall off, eating a stamina-recovering meal, and continuing upwards. Stamina, on the other hand, always drops steadily.

Chest symbol on divine beasts