Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Beginner Guide: Abilities, Shrines and Upgrades

New to Tears of the Kingdom? How the four abilities work, what to do after Great Sky Island, hearts vs stamina, Korok seeds, the Depths and cooking.

This guide covers The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom only. Many ideas carry over from Breath of the Wild, but the abilities, upgrades and map are different, so we treat it as its own game.

Tears of the Kingdom gives you more freedom than almost any open-world game. That freedom is the point, but it can also leave a new player wondering what actually matters. This guide explains the systems you will use for your whole playthrough, in the order you meet them, plus the habits that make the early hours smoother. We keep story spoilers light: you will see the names of early areas and abilities, but not the plot.

Quick version: learn all four abilities properly, unlock Skyview Towers to reveal the map, do shrines for Lights of Blessing, collect Korok seeds for inventory space, and cook before every big trip.

Your four starting abilities (and how to actually use them)

On the Great Sky Island, the opening area high above Hyrule, you earn four abilities. Each one comes with its own shrine or puzzle area: Ultrahand in Ukouh Shrine, Fuse in In-isa Shrine, Ascend in Gutanbac Shrine, and Recall, which you receive at the Temple of Time and then practice in Nachoyah Shrine. Rather than repeat the tutorials, here is what each one is really for.

Ultrahand: build your way past problems

Ultrahand lets you pick up, move, rotate and stick objects together. The tutorial shows you bridges and rafts, but the real value is that almost any obstacle has a building answer.

• Gaps: stick two long planks end to end and lay them across.
• Water: a few logs or planks stuck side by side make a raft. Add a fan device to push it.
• Heavy objects: you can lift and carry things you could never push.
• Undo: if something sticks in the wrong place, shake it loose by wiggling the control stick while holding it.

Do not worry about building perfect machines. A clumsy raft that floats is a winning raft.

Fuse: your answer to weapon durability

Weapons, bows and shields break after use. Fuse lets you attach an object to a weapon, shield or arrow to change how it works and, in many cases, how much damage it does.

• Monster parts such as horns and fangs are among the best things to fuse onto melee weapons for more damage.
• Rocks make a weapon heavier and better for breaking ore and rock walls.
• Arrow fusions turn ordinary arrows into tools: fuse a fire fruit for fire, an ice fruit for ice, or a Keese eyeball for an arrow that homes in on targets.
• Shield fusions can change how your shield behaves, so experiment with what you have.

Because durability is part of the design, treat weapons as consumables. Use them, let them break, and pick up the next one.

Ascend: the shortcut button

Ascend lets you pass straight up through a solid ceiling and pop out on top. It is easy to forget, but it saves huge amounts of climbing:

• In caves, Ascend through the roof to escape quickly.
• Under a ledge or overhang, Ascend instead of climbing around.
• When climbing a tall cliff, look for a ledge above you that you can Ascend from below.

If you are standing under something and wondering how to get on top of it, the answer is very often Ascend.

Recall: rewind an object

Recall sends an object back along the path it just moved. It is used in puzzles, but it is also a travel and combat tool:

• Ride falling debris back up to reach the floating islands above.
• Send projectiles back at the enemies who threw them.
• Retrieve a raft or platform that has drifted away.

Leaving the Great Sky Island: what to do first

After the tutorial, you leave the island and head down to Hyrule. You do not have a paraglider at this point, so long drops need to end in water. The main quest soon sends you to Lookout Landing, where you get the paraglider and learn how Skyview Towers work.

From there, a good opening plan is:

1. Follow the main quest until the game opens up. It introduces systems you need, like Skyview Towers and the Purah Pad map.
2. Activate Skyview Towers as you find them. Each one reveals part of the map and launches you high into the air so you can glide toward new areas.
3. Do shrines as you pass them, even if you are not looking for them. Each one is also a fast-travel point.
4. Pick a direction and go. The game does not force a strict order, so let the map and your curiosity guide you.

Shrines and Lights of Blessing: hearts or stamina?

Each completed Shrine of Light gives you a Light of Blessing. Bring four Lights of Blessing to a Goddess Statue and you can choose one of two upgrades:

• A Heart Container, which adds one heart to your maximum health.
• A Stamina Vessel, which adds a fifth of a stamina wheel.

The very first exchange at the Temple of Time gives you a heart. After that, the choice is yours. There are 152 Shrines of Light in total, so you will have plenty of upgrades over a full playthrough.

Which should you pick first?

There is no correct answer, but a common, practical approach is:

• Take a few hearts early if you are dying often in combat. More health is the most forgiving upgrade.
• Then add stamina once you are comfortable. Stamina lets you climb farther, glide longer, and sprint, which makes exploration much faster.
• Mix them as your playstyle settles. Players who explore a lot tend to value stamina; players who fight a lot tend to value hearts.

Goddess Statues appear in several towns and locations, and some quests and bosses also give heart containers.

Korok seeds: more room for weapons

Koroks are small forest spirits hidden all over the map. Each one you find gives you a Korok seed. Finding them often involves a tiny puzzle: lifting an odd-looking rock, completing a circle of stones, or helping a Korok reach a friend.

Give your Korok seeds to Hestu, a large, friendly Korok you can find on your travels. He expands your inventory slots for weapons, shields and bows. More weapon slots mean you can carry more options and worry less about durability.

You do not need to find all of them. The number of seeds required for every slot upgrade is far lower than the total number of Koroks in the game.

The Depths: a second world below

Beneath Hyrule lies the Depths, a dark underground map reached through large chasms. It is not a side area; it is a big part of the game.

Key things to know:

• It is very dark. Throw Brightbloom seeds to light up an area, or use any light source you can find.
• Lightroots light up large areas and act as fast-travel points. Each one is linked to a shrine on the surface above.
• Gloom is the red, sticky substance you will see. It damages your hearts in a way that normal healing cannot fix right away. Leaving the gloom, resting at a Lightroot, or returning to the surface helps restore them. Some cooked dishes can also help with gloom damage.
• Bring preparation. Go down with healing food, light sources and decent weapons. The Depths reward careful players.

Cooking: the most underrated skill

Cooking pots appear in towns, stables and camps. Hold ingredients, drop them in a lit pot, and cook. Good cooking makes almost every challenge easier.

• Healing: meat, fish and many mushrooms make strong healing meals.
• Hearty ingredients (with "hearty" in the name) can fully restore your health and add extra temporary hearts.
• Effects: spicy peppers help with cold, chillfin or chillshrooms help with heat, and other ingredients boost attack, defense, stealth or speed.
• Elixirs: combine critters (like insects and lizards) with monster parts.
• Keep it simple: combine ingredients with the same effect. Mixing two different effects usually cancels one of them.

Cook a batch of healing meals and a few weather-resistance dishes before any long trip.

Combat basics for new players

• Lock on to an enemy to circle and dodge around it.
• Perfect dodges (a well-timed jump or sidestep as an enemy attacks) open a window for a rapid counterattack.
• Shield parries (pressing the shield button just as an attack lands) can stun enemies and reflect certain attacks.
• Use the terrain. Rolling boulders, explosive barrels and high ground are all weapons.
• Run away. Some enemies are simply too strong early on. There is no shame in coming back later.

Getting around: Zonai devices and the paraglider

Zonai devices, such as fans, wheels, rockets and flame emitters, come from dispensers you will find around the world. Attach them to your builds with Ultrahand to create vehicles and tools. They draw power from your battery, shown when devices are active, which recharges over time.

Your paraglider uses stamina, so more Stamina Vessels mean longer flights. Combine glides from Skyview Towers with sky islands to cross large distances quickly.

Common beginner mistakes

• Hoarding weapons and never using them. Weapons are meant to break. Use your good ones when it matters.
• Ignoring shrines. They give upgrades and fast-travel points, both of which make everything else easier.
• Climbing in the rain. Wet surfaces are slippery. Wait it out, cook something, or find another route.
• Forgetting Ascend. Many "impossible" climbs have a ceiling you can pass through.
• Exploring without food. Cooking takes a minute and can save a twenty-minute walk back.

Where to go next

Explore our Zelda hub for more guides as we add them. If you also play other games, our Minecraft survival guide and Fortnite fundamentals guide take the same practical approach.

How we checked this guide: ability names, shrine counts and upgrade rules were cross-checked against Nintendo's own tips page and several public game references in November 2026. We describe the game as released and do not cover glitches or unofficial modifications.