Best weapons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – early & late game options
Master Sword, here we come.
Much like Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a game of skill. You'll have to sharpen your mind to solve those puzzles and work on those reflexes to beat the tough enemies scattered around Hyrule. However, your equipment can help you, too.
In fact, there's only so far these skills will get you. Some equipment is absolutely essential when it comes to certain locations – especially elemental resistance in armour.
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But what about weapons? There are so many to choose from – some more expensive and harder to get than others – that it's fair if you're stumped.
To help you out, we'll share our favourites. We'll recommend ones for those of you just starting out, and a few for the seasoned players.
Best early game weapons
As you're probably aware, in Tears of the Kingdom you can fuse materials to your weapons to improve stats. This can also give you those very practical elemental effects. Get used to doing this early on! For example, if you find an Opal and fuse it to your sword, it'll make your attacks water based.
As for the actual weapons, we'll list a few below.
Royal Claymore Sword
You can find this pretty early on (jump down the well in Lookout Landing) and its stats aren't half bad for your starting quests.
A two-handed sword with an impressive strike and a decent flurry rush if you pull off a perfect dodge. Go to Lookout Landing, the main base to the south of Hyrule Castle, jump down the well and you should find it in a chest. It has an attack power of 14, and that's before you start fusing things to it.
Construct Bows
Time for a long range weapon. While you can't fuse anything to a bow, you can fuse items to arrows. This is pretty useful. However, that doesn't mean you should forget about the quality of the bow itself.
Construct Bows are more durable than others, inflict more damage, and they're fire resistant. You can grab one by beating those rogue robotic Constructs on the Sky Islands! There are also stronger Constructs, with stronger bows, near the temples/dungeons (the four 'Regional Phenomena' that the main quest will point you towards).
Rock Hammer
This is one for the cavemen among you. The Rock Hammer is made by fusing a sword with a rock (of course), and it's a handy means of destroying boulders.
Plus, it looks pretty metal! You can find the rocks pretty much anywhere, but caves are your best bet if you don't happen upon one naturally.
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Best late game weapons
And now for the best weapons when you really mean business... You'll want a decent and durable sword for the game's finale, trust us.
Master Sword
Let's get the obvious one out of the way. Link's iconic sword has been in almost every game, and it's the weapon everyone craves. It's the only sword in the game that won't break and it's base stats are nice and high, too.
Check out our guide on how to get it! You'll need to do some dragon hunting, and build up your stamina at shrines (you need two full rings of stamina), before you can claim it.
Royal Guard's Bow
And now for the best long range weapon in the game. The Royal Guard's Bow has massively high stats (5o attack power), and it rapid-fires arrows like a machine gun.
You'll be able to find it high on a ledge in the Sanctum part of Hyrule Castle, just above the main entrance. See this video guide if you need some more help to find it.
Gerudo Scimitar
This single-handed sword might not look particularly badass, but it's one of the best weapons in the game. Its attack stats are pretty high, and fusing materials will make it much stronger.
If you head to the Gerudo region, they're pretty easy to find. Check out the video from Gamers Heroes below to see exactly how you can grab one!
White-Maned Lynel Blade
You're sure to find loads of swords and weapons in the game, but the best way to find powerful ones is to take on powerful enemies. If you kill them, they'll drop loot, often containing a strong weapon or an item you can fuse to your existing weapons.
If you're capable of taking on a Lynel, the brutal centaur-like baddies that stalk the map, you could be rewarded with a very powerful blade. The White-Maned Lynel Blade, for example, comes with a base attack stat of more than 100. See our guide to Lynel locations to try your luck against them!
And that's our list. We're sure you'll soon find out what your favourite is, what with the endless combinations available through fusion. Have fun experimenting – we sure did!
Read more on Tears of the Kingdom:
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Shrines - key locations
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Skyview Tower locations - fill in the map
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Master Sword - how to get it back
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Hylian Shield - where to find it
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Green Tunic - get the look
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Paraglider - location revealed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Geoglyph locations - memories found
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Korok Seed locations - seeds unearthed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Great Fairy Fountain locations
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Lynel locations - they're back
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Dungeons - key details
- How long is Zelda Tears of the Kingdom? Hours needed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom review - our final verdict
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom cast - voice actors revealed
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch - custom console
- Zelda timeline explained - series order
- Zelda Netflix series - rumours explained
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Authors
Ben Huxley is a freelance contributor to Radio Times, with bylines also in TechRadar, WhatCulture, GAMINGbible, and Live Science. A writer of fiction, too, he has a few short stories published and a novel on the way. He has a BA in English Literature, and an MA in creative writing.