With Tears of the Kingdom being as epic of a game as it is, it’s only natural to want to make sure if there are things you should know before starting Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. And the answer is a resounding yes. These helpful tips will make sure that after you’ve been playing the game for a while, you don’t regret not properly using these gameplay features later. So read on and learn about these spoiler-free tips that will prepare you for the grand adventure ahead.

Focus on the Story Until You Get the Paraglider

You might be thinking this open-world game is yours for the taking, but before you can get to the point of complete freedom of exploration, you’ll need to stick to a narrow path at first. Early on, your patience will be tested, just like if you were to preload your Tears of the Kingdom game. You can either try and progress as fast as possible or take the time to enjoy the early grind to complete the necessary plot points as you get acclimated to the new Hyrule.

Eventually, you’ll get to the Central Hyrule Sky Archipelago and after talking to an NPC, you’ll have access to the paraglider. From this point on, it will be a lot easier to explore and reach new limits. You might say it’ll be a breeze.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fuse & Destroy

You might be worried about using up materials and items too fast and finding yourself completely empty-handed. But that’s not the case at all. The basic materials you’ll need are abundant and you won’t have to worry about fusing wrong or incorrectly. Experimenting is what makes the new fuse mechanic fun. You can also constantly use and break items because you can’t carry much in the beginning so you’ll be ditching plenty of unused materials anyways. So keep fusing, using, and breaking, because there’s plenty more to gather and make–so fuse away!

Get As Many Zonai Charges As You Possibly Can

Again, let’s reiterate that; get as many Zonai Charges as you possibly can wherever and whenever you can. These key materials are very valuable and used for many important elements. You can use this with random gacha machines to get materials, and they also power up your vehicles for a one-time boost. And some puzzles and tasks can only be completed with these Zonai Charge boosts, so this is the one item you want to use sparingly and be very conservative with. It’s Zonai charge for the win!

Use Recall Multiple Times in a Row

When you try to get up onto a Sky Island, you’ll want to start by trying to jump on the stones that fall from them, and then Recall them back up onto the island. Depending on how long since the stone fell from the Sky Island and landed, you might use Recall once and find that the stone stops in the air without going all the way back up onto the island. But that’s okay, just use your Recall ability again to rewind the stone from that mid-air point to keep going back up. We know, time-travel is confusing for us too.

Ascend Whenever You Can

This one might be obvious, but it can’t be stressed enough— take full advantage of this new mechanic and you’ll find your adventure to be easier, more enjoyable, and less frustrating. Before you ascend, all you need to do is position your cursor until it turns from red to green, signaling a point where you can ascend into. It’s great for many reasons including helping you to save stamina, having an additional fast travel option, and if you fall down from a height, you won’t have to annoyingly climb your way all the way back up. It must be great to be able to power word: ascend, at your will.

Master the Ultrahand Trick

When it comes to manipulating objects in Tears of the Kingdom, having the Ultrahand makes a world of difference. But don’t stress out on trying to carefully plot out how to rotate and twist objects perfectly before combining them, instead, just grab an object and move it to the area you want to place it. Next, keep rotating the object horizontally and vertically in succession, and you’ll find that it seems to automatically line up exactly how you want it after several rotations. Voilà!

Carefully Hit Vehicles

You’ll need to hit vehicles (and objects for that matter) often in order to get them going or move them. But when you need to hit a vehicle to get it moving, use a weapon that won’t damage or destroy it. For example, if you try to hit your wood raft with an axe, you’ll end up chopping it instead and it will disappear. Make sure to keep a spare stick or hammer so you won’t find yourself in a dicey situation when you need to move your vehicle in a sketchy situation.

Bubbulfrogs Rule

When you start exploring the new large caves in Hyrule, you’ll want to hunt the bubble frogs that lurk at a rate of one per cave. These bright effervescent creatures are small and fast and can shoot bubbles at you. They’re hardly dangerous, but you’ll want to snipe them whenever you see them. When you hit one, it will produce a Bubbul Gem that has a special secret use later on in the game, making you wish you were collecting Bubbul Gem since the beginning of the game if you haven’t been already. Sometimes, a Bubbulfrog will be wandering outside of a cave, and if you chase it, it will run back to its cave and drop rupees in the process. Get these every time you’re in a cave and you’ll be jumping for bubbul joy later.

Now you’re aware of all the things you should know before starting Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This means you can boot up your new Zelda game and start adventuring through Hyrule without any inhibitions. Make sure to also prepare yourself by understanding what’s new in Tears of the Kingdom, the set forth on your adventure as Link, the hero of time!