How To Get The Master Sword In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

The Master Sword is Link's iconic weapon throughout the Legend of Zelda series. But in Tears of the Kingdom, it ends up looking a bit different. At least for the short amount of time you have it, anyway.

Getting the Master Sword is entirely optional, but you can actually get it at any time during the game — if you know how.

Here's where to find and how to get the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Warning — while we've done our best to minimise spoilers here, but it is a guide! We'll avoid massive story spoilers, but if you want this to be a complete mystery, then this is your final heads-up.

How To Get The Master Sword In TOTK

Where to find the Master Sword

The Master Sword isn't in a static location like it was in Breath of the Wild. You might be tempted to go to the Lost Woods and Korok Forest — which is worth doing, for reasons we'll explain in a bit — but you won't find the legendary weapon there.

Instead, the Master Sword is embedded in the head of the Light Dragon, a new dragon roaming the skies of Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom. You might spot the Light Dragon in the distance and think nothing of it as Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra are all back, but it's worth taking a chance and following the dragon if you spot it.

Can you get the Master Sword early?

You can indeed! While the main story will eventually suggest you try to find the Master Sword, you can actually get the sword before you do any of the Regional Phenomena quests if you really want.

What do I need to get the Master Sword?

So, while you can get the Master Sword whenever you want, there's one fairly big requirement you'll need to fulfill before you attempt to reclaim your weapon.

To pull the sword from the dragon's head, you'll need to have two full wheels of stamina. You can't use stamina-increasing or restoring food, this has to be naturally obtained stamina. You can increase your stamina by spending the Blessing of Lights you get from completing Shrines.

Four Blessings equals one-fifth of a stamina wheel, so you'll need to beat a minimum of 20 Shrines to get the correct amount of stamina.

How to get the Master Sword

There are two different quests that tell you where the Master Sword is. These are probably the most natural ways you'll come across the sword. But of course, you could also just jump onto the Light Dragon's back when you have two full wheels of stamina and get it without context.

Method #1 - Find all of the Dragon's Tears

The way we got the Master Sword was by finding all 11 geoglyphs and collecting the 11 Dragon's Tears associated with them. Once you've collected all 11, you'll be told the location of a final 12th Tear, in the Akkala region.

Head to the Rist Peninsula, and get the final Tear, which will reveal the location of the Master Sword. If you're struggling to find all of the Dragon's Tears, check out our location walkthrough for all Dragon's Tears and memories.

Method #2 - Save The Deku Tree

The Lost Woods is completely closed off to you from the Surface of Hyrule. but if you go to the Depths, you'll be able to access Korok Forest and talk to the Deku Tree.

Once you reach Korok Forest, speak to the Deku Tree to find out that he's not feeling well. You'll need to head inside the Deku Tree and dive into a chasm inside of him. Once you're at the bottom of the chasm, you'll need to fight some Gloom Hands. Depending on when you do this, this could be quite tough — make sure you bring food that can heal and resist gloom.

Once you've defeated the Gloom Hands — which have an extra surprise once you fell them — go back to Korok Forest, talk to the Deku Tree, and he will give you the Recovering the Hero’s Sword quest, which will mark the location of the Light Dragon on your map.

Method #3 - Just go for it!

Seriously, if you manage to find the Light Dragon flying through the sky, you can climb on top of her and go and get the Master Sword without doing either of the above quests.

Finding her is the tricky part, however. The easiest way to spot her is by using the Skyview Towers throughout Hyrule, or by jumping from any of the Sky Islands. We've spotted her near a number of locations, namely above the Akkala Region, near the Great Sky Island, and above the Gerudo Desert.

Unlike the other dragons, the Light Dragon doesn't fly down into the Depths either, so you won't have to follow her underneath Hyrule if you're looking for the sword. When you spot her, you'll need to get on her back and walk up to her head to find the sword embedded there. Then, pull it out.

Can the Master Sword break?

Nope. Just like in Breath of the Wild, the Master Sword does not break. Instead, it will run out of power after you use it for a certain amount of time. The game will warn you when the sword is low on energy, and will be unusable for a time when it runs out.

Don't worry though, as the Master Sword will only take around 10 minutes to regain its energy. Then you can use it once again.

What is the Master Sword good for?

It's the flippin' Master Sword, the sword of Link, the hero of Hyrule. But in all honestly, the Master Sword is a pretty decent weapon, plus it has some added benefits when traversing the depths.

The Master Sword is effective against gloom-inflicted enemies — that's enemies covered in the black and red sludge. You'll know this because the sword glows when it's near these types of enemies. It's also effective against the final boss of the game, which is pretty handy.

Can you Fuse with the Master Sword?

We're happy to report that yes, you can indeed use Fuse on the Master Sword. If you really want to, you can fuse a beehive to the sword, or a rock, or a bomb, or a topaz. It will pick up the elemental properties of whatever you Fuse to it, and it'll look ridiculous in the process. Beautiful.

With the Master Sword in hand, you can finally call yourself Link, the real hero of Hyrule. For more help on your journey across Hyrule, check out our full Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough for more hints, tips, tricks, and maps.