Quick Links
Zelda fans have been anticipating the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and now, we’ve got our hands on Link’s newest and biggest adventure yet. And like any new main-series Zelda game, we’re introduced to plenty of new mechanics that help us make use of the new Hyrule we’re trying to save.
Tears of the Kingdom gives Link several new powers that allow you to manipulate the world around you as you see fit. Our guide offers a full breakdown of all Link’s powers in Tears of the Kingdom, helping you find and use them effectively.
As we go through the entirety of Link's powers in TOTK, this guide contains major spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom.
How To Use Link's Powers In Tears Of The Kingdom
When you first begin your adventure in Tears of the Kingdom, you'll unlock Link's bevy of new powers and skills during the game's introduction.
The majority of your new skills are given to you in the shrines on Great Sky Island. You cannot proceed into the game without finishing these, so don't worry about missing anything you need for your gameplay.
The shrines for each skill offer a helpful tutorial on how to use your new powers, requiring you to successfully use your powers to finish these shrines. Once you've proven that you can handle the ability, you're able to move on.
Once you begin unlocking your new Tears of the Kingdom abilities, Rauru will appear for the majority of them to transfer power into your Zonai Arm.
When you're ready to use any of your powers, hit the L button to bring up your Ability Wheel. While this menu is on your screen, use the right joystick to toggle to the ability you'd like to use.
Once it's selected, hit L again to begin using the power - most of the time, the A button will allow you to then use the power to interact with the world around you.
Ultrahand - Grab Just About Anything
Where To Get | |
|---|---|
Power | Grab onto items in the world and move them, attaching them to one another |
Remember in Breath of the Wild when you could use Magnesis to grab metal items and manipulate them in the world of Hyrule as you saw fit?
Ultrahand is what feels like the spiritual successor to Magnesis, as now, you're no longer limited to metal items. By activating the Ultrahand ability, you'll notice that several items around the world glow when you look at them with Ultrahand active.
Anything that glows can be picked up using Ultrahand! You'll initially see this with rocks, tree trunks, and mine carts in the game's opening area after you unlock the ability, but once you get down into Hyrule, your options expand.
Not only can you pick up items, you can also attach the items to other items. Need to get across a body of water? A few tree trunks attached together with a Zonai fan attached to the back will do the job.
Don't limit yourself to just the most basic technology, though - later in the game, Ultrahand is how you make some of the things fans were most excited for in this highly-anticipated sequel. Just use your power responsibly.
Fuse - Make Weapons, Vehicles, And More
Where To Get | |
|---|---|
Power | Combine items from the overworld to make all manner of new things for Link to use |
Fuse is one of the primary abilities you'll find yourself using as you dive into Tears of the Kingdom.
In this game, you'll find yourself making more weapons than you find, because your Fusion ability allows you to make some really cool, never-before-seen weaponry - even if it looks ridiculous.
After finding a regular item in the overworld - like a rusty sword or standard tree branch, for instance - check your surroundings to see all the fun ways you can enhance your gear before taking off.
With Fuse, you're able to make anything from axes to hammers to advanced elemental weaponry. Whether you're looking for a little more power behind your swings, protection from elements, or additional Zonai tech added on, the options are relatively limitless.
But it's not just weapons you'll Fuse - you can also make all kinds of vehicles with which to navigate the world.
On Great Sky Island, for instance, you'll find yourself crafting plenty of rafts, cars, and minecarts, and this mechanic will carry on with you into the meat of the game.
If the solution to a puzzle isn't immediately obvious, you may need to fuse something in order to carry on. Keep an open mind and check often for things you're able to combine.
Ascend - Heading Skyward
Where To Get | |
|---|---|
Power | Warp directly upwards and emerge onto a new level of your current area |
No, we're not actually playing Skyward Sword here - the motion controls are way better in TOTK - but you are going to take to the skies fairly often.
Using the Ascend ability, Link is now able to morph through ceilings to emerge again on the top part of what he was Ascending. Simply click the L button to use the ability, line up the dot on the ceiling until it turns green, and hit the A button to use the ability.
After a short cutscene of Link swimming that plays almost every time you use Ascend, our hero will emerge on top of what he Ascended, making this a wonderful shortcut through platforms, caves, rooms, and more.
If you ever find yourself "stuck" in an area throughout Tears of the Kingdom, look up - your exit may just be through the ceiling.
Recall - Turn Back Time
Where To Get | |
|---|---|
Power | Rewind an object for the ability to use the world in reverse to your advantage |
One of the most important tools for traversing through Hyrule - and it's sky-high second areas - will be the use of your Recall ability.
Through the power of Recall, you're able to focus on one object and rewind it back through time. It's the final ability you unlock in the game's introduction, and you'll find yourself using it often in the missions ahead.
You'll have a set window of time through which the object will rewind. While the object is being manipulated, you can climb onto the object to allow Link to move with it.
Use Recall to get back up to the sky easier when you hop on some of the rubble that's fallen across Hyrule, or to reverse the mechanics of a machine so that you can cross an otherwise-innavigable path.
Link has long been the Hero of Time, and now, he can directly control it.
Autobuild - Blueprints Be Damned
Where To Get | "A Mystery in the Depths" quest |
|---|---|
Power | Tracks and immediately rebuilds previous creations made with the Ultrahand ability |
After you've played Tears of the Kingdom for a while, you'll likely grow tired of the time it takes to assemble things with Ultrahand. No worries - enter, Autobuild.
Once you've unlocked the Autobuild ability a bit later into the game than the rest of your new Tears of the Kingdom abilities, it will keep track of things you build with Ultrahand.
When you're ready to make the structure again later on, don't worry about doing it manually - simply use Autobuild to immediately recreate past Ultrahand projects.
If you have space, save basic designs that you can rebuild immediately.
If you've made something helpful like a bridge or basic raft outline, for instance, save it to favorites and save the time you'll spend assembling it each time you need one of these commonly-used combinations.
This is how you can quickly assemble more complex builds like your vehicles, instead of spending the time manually building a boat every time you need to cross a body of water.
Once you unlock Autobuild, the ability begins to remember what you're making with Ultrahand - up to 30 Ultrahand designs are stored at once. You can even favorite ones you use most often for quicker access.
The quest to unlock Autobuild will see you battling Master Kohga of the Yiga Clan time and again in order to unlock more Schema to use, allowing you to build more complex machinery in an instant.
Any time you see a Yiga Clan stronghold as you go through Tears of the Kingdom, be sure to fight your way through to unlock new schematics for use with Autobuild.
If you don't have all the requisite building materials, you can use Zonaite to make up for missing materials when crafting with Autobuild.
These materials do not remain in the world if detached from the larger machine, and will be green instead of the usual purple to note the difference.
Minor Skills In Link's Ability Wheel
In Tears of the Kingdom, some of your more normal abilities from a Switch game have been added to Link's wheel of powers for easy navigation in addition to his TOTK-exclusive skills.
You'll have access to the camera before long, which, similar to the camera in Breath of the Wild, can be used to log items or take selfies of Link with the citizens of Hyrule.
There's also include a shortcut option for your map, which is a faster way to bring up where you currently are and examine your immediate surroundings.
And finally, this menu is how you connect and use Amiibo to earn all sorts of cool bonuses in-game. You can use them to unlock new costumes, weapons, and more.