There are plenty of unique weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and even more so when you consider all of the combinations of fused weaponry you can make. But, there’s one weapon combo to rule them all — the iconic Master Sword and Hylian Shield, a staple for The Legend of Zelda series. And, just like in the previous games, obtaining the Master Sword in TotK requires a bit of legwork before Link can wield it in all its glory.
Note: There are some major story spoilers included in this article. Proceed at your own risk!
How to Get the Hylian Shield in Tears of the Kingdom
The Hylian Shield is the best defensive shield you can obtain in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Thankfully, this one is a bit easier to obtain than the Master Sword. You’ll find the Hylian Shield located north of Hyrule Castle, inside the Hyrule Field docks.
Just west of Hyrule Castle, you’ll find a small wooden dock where you can set sail using a nearby boat, or by building your own creation. Sail towards the north side of Hyrule Castle until you reach a cave. Once inside the cave, head up the staircase near the back wall. But, beware, you’ll need to defeat a cluster of Gloom Hands before you can obtain the Hylian Shield.
After defeating the Gloom Hands, you’ll need to light the large brazier in the center of the room. You can toss in a Fire Fruit or Torch, or simply carry the flame from one of the smaller braziers to light the large brazier in the center. Once lit, a chest will appear containing the Hylian Shield.
How to Get the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom
In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the Master Sword is located atop the Light Dragon, a new entity that soars through the skies of Hyrule. The Light Dragon follows a static path around Hyrule (see the map below), and can be spotted by looking up towards the sky at any point during your journey.
Link can reach the Light Dragon’s location by utilizing one of the many Skyview Towers scattered across Hyrule to reach the sky. Then, simply fall down and land on the Light Dragon and make your way towards its head to reach the Master Sword’s location.
But, before you go expecting to get the Master Sword so easily, there is a prerequisite that you’ll need to consider. In order to retrieve the Master Sword this time around, you’ll need to have two full stamina wheels. This requires finding at least 20 Light of Blessings from any of the Shrines scattered across Hyrule — which are traded in to a Goddess Statue to expand your Stamina wheel. Once you have the necessary amount of stamina, apporach the Master Sword and press and hold the A button to retrieve it from the Light Dragon’s head.
While Link can theoretically retrieve the Master Sword at any point (assuming you have the required stamina), there are other ways to retrieve the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom. The most straightforward option is to complete the main quests up until Guidance from Ages Past and Find the Fifth Sage, which will naturally lead you to recover the Master Sword in the main quests Trail of the Master Sword and Recovering the Hero’s Sword.
If you’re feeling eager enough, you can instead get the Master Sword early in TotK without doing the aforementioned main quests by simply collecting all The Dragon’s Tears.
For even more help in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, check out our guide for tracking down the best TotK armor sets, guidance for finding all TotK Shrine locations and solutions, and even how to get to the final boss in TotK early (if you’re feeling up to the challenge, of course).
Matthew Adler is a Commerce, Features, Guides, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.