Here are some guidelines that you can follow to have a head start in Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo has packed so much into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that it might be challenging to figure out where to begin and how to progress. Plenty of Armor, shields, and other essential materials are abundant early on in the game if you know how to find them quickly. So here are some guidelines that you can follow to have a head start in the game.

Early Useful Armor Piece: The Archaic Warm Greaves

So, how to find The Archaic Warm Greaves in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? There is something you can acquire when traveling through Hyrule before even reaching the Mainland. The Archaic Warm Greaves are cold-resistant armor that can be obtained during the Great Sky Island tutorial. In contrast to the short-term benefits of eating hot peppers, which can provide some resistance to the cold, the permanent benefits of wearing gold-resistant armor are not dependent on a timer. One of the shrines that grants you access to your powers can be found on the eastern side of the island.

In fact, you should do that first to gain access to Ascend, as you can use that to climb underneath the section of tree bark and onto its top, at which point you can easily access the chest containing the warm greaves. The problem with these is that they are not upgradeable. The Snowquill Headdress armor may be purchased in Rito Village, which can be seen on the map. You should go to the store regardless because they have a great unlock that will make getting around a lot simpler. You’ll need your Paraglider to use it, and you should grab your power glider as soon as possible.

Best Shield In The Game: The Hylian Shield

So, how to find The Hylian Shield in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? The Hylian Shield is undoubtedly one of the best shields in Tears of the Kingdom, and you can get it once you have the Paraglider. Go to Purah at Lookout Landing if you haven’t gotten your power glider yet. She’s up here on the north side of camp, on the platform.

Follow the road until you reach the enormous gatehouse; she will direct you there. Then you can use Ascent to get on top of it and talk to the captain, then head back to Lookout Landing, talk to Purah again to learn about the town sanctuary, and after that, you can find her at the foot of the Skyview Tower where she’ll hand you the Paraglider.

Then, either use the tower to glide back to Hyrule Castle or retrace your steps down the path to get there after passing through the initial gatehouse where the captain was waiting. You need to glide across to the opposite side, cross the ledge, and then descend down here and here. You’ve found the entrance to a tunnel that’s been cleverly concealed; from here, keep going until you reach a group of torches.

If you use this to ignite one of your arrows and shoot the large brazier in the center, the Hylian Shield chest will appear. Its defensive rating of 90 is far superior to anything in the game’s opening hours. Keep in mind that the Hylian Shield is formidable but not impenetrable. Fortunately, Hateno Village, located at the base of Mount Lanayru, is where you can pick up a replacement. A new Hylian Shield can be purchased for 3,000 rupees if you finish a series of quests.

Make Easy Money: Find The NPC Addison

So, where to find the NPC Addison holding the signpost in Tears of the Kingdom? On your way out of Hyrule Castle, you may have seen an NPC named Addison standing at the signpost. He is the simplest way of earning rupees thus far in the game. You’ll see him in the same condition repeatedly around Hyrule, usually by the side of the road.

He needs your help to let go of the signboard of his company’s president. Use the materials around to build a sturdy base for the signpost wherever he is found. In most cases, simply placing a wooden bar under the sign will do the trick, but you’ll need to get inventive in others.

Tell Addison to let go of the post when you’re sure it’s stable, and if the sign remains upright, have another conversation with him. Each time you assist him, he will reward you with 20 Rupees, a dinner, and a handy item like a Bomb Flower, Hasty Veggie Rice Balls, or a certificate for a free night’s stay at a stable. Again, the challenges to aid Addison have been quite simple, making each encounter with him worth roughly 20 rupees. Considering how frequently you’ve been running into him, this helps to buy some new armor.

Useful Unlocks For Traversal: Sage of Wind

So how do you unlock Sage of Wind power in Tears of the Kingdom? Well, the Rito Village has several incredible unlocks for Traversal, including some new pieces of equipment. While you are free to wander Hyrule however you like, the game suggests you begin your primary quest here. I would suggest starting with Rito. It’ll be freezing, but the Warm Greaves you found earlier should help keep you warm.

From there, it’s just a matter of following the way points on the map to the settlement. Then, Tulin will ask you to go on a long journey to one of the game’s key temples to unlock the Sage of Wind’s power. This allows you to generate a windstorm whenever needed, which is great for boosting your power glider’s speed.

With this improvement activated, exploring Hyrule is a lot more fun, so make sure to do so as soon as possible. But regardless of the route you follow, you should still activate any shrines you come across. Because an activated shrine will get you instant access to it no matter where you are, even if you don’t intend to complete them immediately.

The inside icon of a shrine is colored yellow to indicate that the challenge has not yet been fulfilled, while it is colored blue to indicate that the reward has been obtained. Keep an eye out for a shrine if you wish to quickly return to a city or stable; such key locations nearly always have a shrine nearby as they don’t have their own dedicated fast travel spots.

Make Cooking Easier: Follow Recipes

So how can you make cooking easier in Tears of the Kingdom? Well, the fireplaces at the fast-travel locations are convenient for making meals, so you’ll want to go back there as often as you can. And unlike in Breath of the Wild, here you can use the new cooking skill with a recipe. If you have a specific meal in mind, you can spare yourself the time of manually selecting all the ingredients to stock up on meals regardless to restore your hearts.

The recipes you’ve created in the past that called for that ingredient will be displayed when you click the pick for recipe button. If you have all other ingredients in your inventory, selecting the recipe immediately places all required ingredients in your hand so you can drop them in a pan. Elixirs, or concoctions made from animal and monster parts, can be used in the same way.

Cook the Perfect Meal & Elixir

If you want to cook meals with a specific buff in mind in Tears of the Kingdom, like spicy dishes, to give you more cold resistance. Adding more peppers will extend the effect for a longer period. The cold resistance buff from preparing a dish with four mushrooms and one pepper lasts only 4 minutes and 30 seconds, but the one from preparing a dish with four peppers lasts 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Your guidebook will also include these as individual recipes, saving you even more time and effort.

Faster Weapon Fusion: Make Weapons Stronger

So how do you make weapons stronger in Tears of the Kingdom? Since most of the game’s starting weapons aren’t particularly powerful, you can shorten the time it takes to Fuse them with this little trick. Even so, you can swiftly craft the most effective weapon imaginable by using your fuse power on a variety of components that boost its damage.

To select an unfused weapon with the right D-pad button, hold Up to select the material and press Y to shorten by Fuse Attack Power. This will help you quickly find your most powerful Fusion materials, which you can then drop on the ground with X and attach to your current weapon to make something even stronger.

Incredible Armor: The Barbarian Armor

So how to find the Barbarian Armor in Tears of the Kingdom? You can get an early-game piece of armor that will increase your attack strength by a significant amount. You can find the Barbarian Armor chest piece in a cave northeast of Lookout Landing, which boosts your attack power. You need to go to the Orsend Brider, which is to the right of Romani Plains, and then locate the cave entrance, which is to the left.

You’ll need to smash some rocks to get to the armor, so don’t forget your hammer or explosives. Avoid the cave’s central pool unless you wish to engage a boss in combat for the chess piece. Locate this group of rocks high up on the wall, detonate a nearby explosive device, and then crawl into the cave behind them to retrieve the armor.

Alternatively, you can find an NPC named Meeshy on Woodland Stable left to Eldin Canyon to find this armor. You needn’t tell her about the armor, but doing so could be helpful if you want to have their locations marked on the map.

Climb Faster: Find The Climbing Gear

So how do you find the Climbing Gear in Tears of the Kingdom? Since you’ll be doing a lot of climbing while adventuring, Meeshy who revealed the Barbarian Armor locations, also reveals the location of an additional piece of climbing-oriented armor. Wearing armor that grants a permanent increase in climbing speed is a wonderful perk. You may find this part by traveling to the north-northwest of Lookout Landing.

The cave’s entrance is visible on the map as soon as you pass Carok Bridge. There’s a Hinox on the bridge, so sneak past it or, if you’re feeling brave, give it a go in a fight. Two of these spooky worms will be waiting for you inside the cave. If you can get near them, you can easily kill them by striking their exposed weak place. When they reveal it, fire it and destroy it with a melee weapon.

The Climbing Gear is hidden in a chest near the top of the waterfall, and acquiring it will greatly improve your rate of Ascend. You can extend your vertical range and prevent fatigue while worming. Since Link’s base climbing speed isn’t exactly stellar, this is not the case, at least not with a single piece of the armor worn. It’s still great that you have the option to boost it.

You can also check out my other Tears of the Kingdom guides if you need more help with the game.

• Tears of the Kingdom Beginners Guide
• Tears of the Kingdom Guide: Tips & Tricks And 10 Common Mistakes To Avoid
• Tears of the Kingdom: How To Get The Glide Suit | Eliminate Fall Damage