If you think it's late to make this thread, you're right!😆 However, for several years now, it seems like every 1-3 months, we still consistently get someone new in the forum that mentions struggling with botw, and there's been a common set of things they missed that can make the game breezier. I'm going to cover those common things.
Breath of the Wild's Quest Log!<33
Did you take a long break from the game and forget what was going on? Lost in the game?
Breath of the Wild's Quest Log is a great, simple in-game guide to help keep you on track, and it makes this the EASIEST Zelda game to resume after taking a long break, or just review your current status. Press (+), then L, to open The Quest Log. You'll see Main Quests & Side Quests. Each entry has a brief description saying where you were, who you talked to, what you're supposed to do, and where to go. After you select a quest, a golden pin on your map will show you where to go. Easy Peasy! (side note: In case you put off beating a divine beast, it is in your interest to beat divine beasts. You will get helpful things & advance the story.)
Breaking weapons solutions:
Solution 1 - Maximize/upgrade your bombs at Hateno Village Lab (scientist girl). If you maximize your bombs rune, you increase their damage & reduced their cool-down, and you can do A LOT of your fighting with bombs alone. It's not a sexy way to fight, but it is effective for saving good weapons for bosses or big enemies.
Solution 2 - Farm arrows. Bokoblins on horseback practically give arrows to you when they miss. This Austin John video is the simplest, least-spoiler way to get yourself some arrows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8UiBbDE7Lg
Solution 3 - You still haven't snuck into the castle? The castle isn't just the final boss, it's a whole area. The sooner you sneak in there, the sooner you'll have A LOT more fun, and find helpful things - It's a good place to stock up! ....Yes Ganon is in there..... but he's not easy to find. IF you can find him, his location is fairly obvious and easy to avoid triggering him. Worst case scenario, if by some chance you blunder in and trigger the ganon fight, you can pause & reload a previous save. Or die fighting him.😆 It's not a big deal, you do have unlimited lives.
Solution 4 - Finding the Master Sword helps. The master sword charges & glows while fighting guardians and bosses. While it glows, it won't break. However, you can't wield the master sword until you've gotten 13 health hearts (temporary hearts don't count).
Cooking/Health boost:
Cooking a single hearty radish (edit: or Hearty Durians) gives full health + temporary hearts that last until you get hurt. You can also try cooking multiple radishes to see what it does.
Armor:
You can make Link fairly of OP if you maximize upgrading your armor set. The max number of times you can upgrade your armor is limited by the number of Fairy Fountains you've found/unlocked. Since there are only four fairy fountains in BOTW, you can upgrade your armor a maximum of 4x. The first fairy fountain is on the north side of Kakariko Village.
Easy money:
Sell gourmet meat skewers. Where to find good meat: There's a snowy region in the northwest part of the map where you can slay wild animals that drop the highest quality meat.
Grind those Shrines. If any are too hard, don't feel bad about skipping them. You can always come back later when your smarter or stronger.
Easier Mode:
If you bought the DLC, you can get Majora's Mask, which makes you invisible to enemies. Technically, it makes enemies think you're one of them, which can make for some interesting interactions. Enemies won't hurt you unless you hurt them. I don't think you can get majora's mask until after you leave the great plateau. If you bought the DLC, you'll see special quests for the DLC in the in the side quest section of the quest log, marked "EX", and one named "Ancient Mask" is the clue to find majora's mask.
There is also the Infinite Rupee exploit - Farm the snowball bowling near the base of Hebra Tower. There are a few spots you can stand that gets you a strike 95% of the time.
You can also farm the Major Test of Strength shrines after a blood moon. If you swap between an Ice & Electric sword you can get each one done in seconds.
Having a pile of amiibos handy gives lots of useful drops, especially in early game. Sheik gave me daily weapon drops. The Wolf Link amiibo made for a great hunting and battle companion, especially after powering up in the remastered Twilight Princess. Really handy having wolf Link constantly providing meat drops as I explored.
The Faron Woods tower was a big deal to me. That gives you vast supplies of hearty durian (in one direction) and mighty bananas (other direction). Cook 5 of each and you can max your hearts and combat power. Big game changer for me.
@cwong15 With 200 hours in BOTW, after I found that cooking radishes by themselves gives temporary hearts, I've never tried anything else. I didn't realize hearty durians give hearts too.🤣 That's funny on my part. But I guess that kind of shows just how much depth there is in Breath of the Wild.
Unlimited stamina - Much like with the Hearty meals, cooking one of anything with Endura in the name will give you a full stamina restore. Endura carrots can be found around all the Fairy Fountains, to get you started. Since you can eat in mid-flight/climb/swim, you can go practically anywhere on the map without upgrading your stamina this way.
Freeze enemies with Stasis - Alongside upgrading your bombs, the upgraded Stasis rune allows you to freeze enemies, allowing you to hit them multiple times or run away to a safe place.
Guardians - They're quite vulnerable to the master sword, which powers up in their presence, ancient weapons or just anything that's durable and does a lot of damage. Ways to interrupt the lock include shooting the eye with an arrow, cutting off a leg, the upgraded Stasis, or just dashing behind an obstacle. An ancient arrow to the eye will one-shot any guardian. Just running away from them in the early game is fine though.
Hinoxes - They really don't like getting shot in the eye either, and you can stun them for several seconds this way, allowing you to rush in for some free damage. You can use the upgraded Stasis on them if they try to cover it up with their hand.
Stone Taluses - You can climb on the back of them and attack the crop of ore sticking out to quickly defeat it. They're particularly vulnerable to hammers and similar weapons. of all the mini-boss enemies, I think they're the easiest to beat.
Lynels - The toughest enemies in the game, arguably even more so than Ganon and the blights. Don't be a hero, just run like hell if one sees you. OK, OK, if you really want to fight one, you've got several options. Firstly, an elemental arrow to the face can stun them briefly, you can then climb on their back for a few free hits; rinse, repeat and you'll eventually win. It's a bit slow, but predictable. If you're feeling more adventurous you can dodge and parry their attacks for flurry rushes, but this takes practice. If all else fails, an ancient arrow can one-shot them, but you will not receive any dropped items that way.
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Topic: BOTW Easy Mode: Solutions to most common mistakes/complaints: breaking weapons, getting lost, money.
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