There's so much cool content in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that it's easy to overlook some unique features, and one we're been guilty of ignoring in the Nintendo Life office is the ability to surf on your shield.
The game doesn't make a big song and dance about this ability, outside of two characters who give you rather vague instructions on how to do it, so you'd be forgiven for having made your way through the entire quest without having used this skill even once. However, the moment you discover its existence, it's impossible to venture down a hill in Hyrule without the urge to catch some sweet, sweet surf.
You can shield surf pretty much anywhere there's a gradual angle on the surface, but it works better on grassy hills, sandy deserts and snow-covered slopes than rocky mountains, as a rule. It's also worth noting that the process of surfing will gradually wear down your shield's durability - so you might want to carry a few basic shields to use for this, rather than messing up your best ones. Also, surfing on softer surfaces is kinder on your shield.
Once you've found a hill you want to surf down, hold the ZL button to activate your defensive stance and pull out your shield, then tap X to jump followed immediately by the A button - Link will launch off with his shield under his feet. Pressing Y will cause Link to perform a 1080 degree spin, and it's possible to use your bow to take out targets whilst surfing. To dismount, simply press B.
Between your paraglider, horse and shield, you can therefore travel around Hyrule with a lot more pace than on foot. Just keep an eye out for any suitable slope and surf on down; it's the coolest way to get from A to B, dude.
This is part of our Zelda Breath of the Wild walkthrough, which includes All Shrine Locations And Maps and help with specific shrines, including the Keo Ruug Shrine Puzzle Solution, Mirro Shaz Shrine Puzzle Solution, Sha Warvo Shrine Solution, Shae Loya Shrine Puzzle Solution, Eventide Island - How To Beat The Hardest Shrine Quest, and Shee Vaneer And Shee Venath Shrine Answers and Solutions.
If you're just starting out, Getting Started And Beginner Tips will be useful. We also have BOTW guides to help you with the Tarrey Town Quest, how to get equipment such as the Hylian Shield, the Master Sword, the Green Tunic, and the Radiant Set, plus advice on the Best Clothing And Armour Sets and How To Find Every Item in the Master Trials DLC. We can help you find key places such as All Captured Memory Locations, All Great Fairy Fountain Locations, and Where to find The Lord of the Mountain, too.
If you're looking for general advice on various topics, you might want to check out the Best Recipes And How To Cook Food, How To Farm Star Fragments, How To Farm Dragon Parts, How To Defeat Guardians, How To Shield Surf Like A Pro, and How To Get Unlimited Korok Seeds. And if you're wondering what amiibos work with the game, our guide to All amiibo Unlocks lists them all.
Comments 32
@BensonUii I didn't even know how to do any of this until today, hence the guide - and I've been playing it since before launch!
I have found two distinct NPCs that introduce the shield surfing - one on grass and one on snow. Go have a look around the northwest of the map for something fun...
Also, you can paraglide with the shield still attached to your feet and carry on when you land. Gnarly 🤘
Shield surfing is cool, but I always forget about it. The side mission in the mountains was the only time I went surfing besides the korok seed challenge also in the same region.
I like the korok seeds that require shield surfing. This game has so many neat details like this that add to the experience.
Shield surfing (without a sand seal) is also surprisingly viable in the desert. You have to use the gentle slopes of dunes to your advantage and stay in the troughs between dunes, but it's a surprisingly fast, challenging, and fun method for navigating the desert.
This game is just so awesome
Does snow or sand use up shield durability? My shields never broke on sand, and even stayed in perfect condition.
Shield surfing has been a major letdown for me so far. The durability wears out far too quickly and the payoff in speed is often very low. I end up forgetting it exists most of the time tbh. Faster shields and shield surfing skatepark DLC plz? xD
@Damo There's one woman is Hebra who's known as the queen of the slopes, and she gives you a very thorough rundown in the art.
Also, I think it's worth noting that surfing on sand and snow is not only quick (I think quicker than grass, and definitely than rock), but also far less taxing on your poor shield (in fact I don't think it affects the durability at all).
Hebra (and to an extent Gerudo) are are way more fun once you learn to shred.
Stay rad.
I never shield surf unless with a sand seal because it wears your shields down extremely fast, but I might try it on snow now.
@Naustix @EverythingAmiibo Are you early on in the game? Some of the later shields can take a beating, and there's a lot to pick from. I end up throwing away many <50 shields. Also, surfing in the sand, snow or while raining drastically reduces how much the shield is damaged. I think its possible sand doesn't damage it at all, and in the rain and snow you can go really fast.
Surfing like a pro.
Mick Fanning eat your heart out.
"surfing will gradually wear down your shield's durability"
not quite what I'd call gradually.
i tried it on a grassy hill where an npc explained it, and the moment i reached his friend at the bottom of the hill i got a damaged shield warning.
i would like to see a surfing shield, with incredibly low defence but won't wear down from surfing.
Everybody makes such a big deal about it but after I figured out how to do it, I haven't done it again. Honestly, I don't see the big deal.
@nab1 Seal surfing doesn't damage it, shield surfing does.
A good tool for speedrunners, that's for sure.
If anything, Nintendo was justified in taking as long as it did to polish this game. These last four years of development were very well spent.
And, best of all, no game-breaking bugs. Actually, let me rephrase that. No bugs whatsoever. At least none that I've seen.
@nab1
I don't think sand damages it as all because after sand surfing in that spoilers place for a while my shield still had the perfect durability shine on the inventory screen.
I had to look up shield surfing when I first got to Selmie's Spot in Hebra because I didn't run into the guys you're supposed to learn the technique from first (I actually went west instead of east when I left the plateau...I obviously missed a bunch of basic stuff in the beginning while doing that). Only when I followed someone's online instructions and started to surf, the tooltip finally popped up on the screen. I was like "you're a little late, dude".
I find it funny and awesome that even Guardian Shields work for surfing!
@dudujencarelli I've accidentally trapped a Hinox on some rocks on Eventide Island, and I've seen a dying Octorock phased partway into a mountainside but the parts still came out, that's about it. Oh, and once, I dropped a bunch of stuff to take pictures of but only a few came out! I freaked for a second and loaded a recent autosave. It only happened once in the many times I've tried. For a world as open as this and as many items that can be put into play, I was expecting tons more clipping and issues than that. Kudos to the Zelda team for a 99.7% stable game world, which is far better than many other open world games I've played!
Q: Can I cook in this game ?
A: Yes, you can.
Q: Can I surf in this game ?
A: Yes, of course.
Q: Great. Now, can I Dance too ?
A: ................................(insert your answer)
XD
I went for so long without knowing how to do this. I even made it to this surf champion's place in the mountains, and even she didn't tell me how to do it!
Does anyone know if they're gonna introduce proper fishing (with fishing rods, lures, etc) as dlc, maybe? There's a staggering number of different fishes in the game, but no real fishing mechanics to speak of. Unless it's introduced later in the game (I still have 3 divine beasts to deal with).
@nab1 100 shrines and 3 dungeons in, shield surfing just never really appealed to me.
@Anti-Matter you can dance if you want to.
@andrea987 No it never does show up, but I bet it's being considered in one of the DLC packs. I mean, fishing has shown up in several Zelda games in the past, how could it not make an appearance here?
I do wonder though: If you hit the water, can you also surf on the water? Didn't try it yet...
Man, the graphics in this game are great, albeit a little muddy. Am I doing this right?
Arguably my favorite mechanic in the game. It feels like it's own little game, but unlike most tacked on mini-games these days it's just SO damn satisfying to ride down a mountain side, narrowly avoiding cliffs and bokoblins. The aspect of shield-durability degeneration doesn't even bother me when the reward is so much better than the risk.
Stupidly fun little stuff like this in games always jives with me for whatever reason.
Sandy or Snowy areas doesn't effect your Shield durability. I tested this with a new shield and lost no durability as it still sparkled after surfing.
Only way to get around in the desert
@Anti-Matter @Naustix
Sometimes if you stand on an incline on a mountain or whatever Link's legs get jiggly wit it. Kinda looks like dancing. Anybody else seen that?
That's the closest to a bug I've seen.
@Other-Brother
Eh, really ?
Wiggle dance ? XD
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