The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Character Progression — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Guide

Learn character progression in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Master shrine conquests and gear acquisition to increase health and stamina.

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Character Progression

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link's progression isn't tied to traditional experience points or leveling. Instead, your strength and resilience are directly linked to the resources you gather, the shrines you conquer, and the gear you acquire. Mastering these systems is crucial for overcoming Hyrule's challenges.

Increasing Health and Stamina

The most fundamental aspects of Link's character progression are his Heart Containers (health) and Stamina Wheel. These are upgraded by offering Spirit Orbs at Goddess Statues.

  • Spirit Orbs: You earn one Spirit Orb for successfully completing each of the 120 Shrines scattered across Hyrule.
  • Goddess Statues: These can be found in various towns and settlements, including:
    • Temple of Time: On the Great Plateau, one of the first you'll encounter.
    • Kakariko Village: Near Impa's house.
    • Hateno Village: In the central plaza.
    • Zora's Domain: In the main hall.
    • Goron City: In the center of town.
    • Rito Village: On the lower level.
  • Upgrade Process: Approach a Goddess Statue and select whether you want to exchange four Spirit Orbs for either one additional Heart Container or one-fifth of a Stamina Wheel segment.
  • Strategy: Early in the game, prioritize increasing your Stamina Wheel. More stamina allows for longer sprints, climbs, and glides, which are invaluable for exploration and escaping dangerous situations. Once you have at least two full stamina wheels, you can start balancing between health and stamina based on your playstyle.

Weapon and Inventory Expansion

While Link's base stats don't change, his carrying capacity for weapons, bows, and shields can be significantly expanded, allowing him to hold more powerful gear.

  • Hestu's Gift: The large Korok, Hestu, is your go-to for inventory upgrades. He appears in several locations:
    1. Kakariko Bridge: His initial location, just east of Kakariko Village.
    2. Riverside Stable: After a few upgrades, he'll move here.
    3. Korok Forest: His permanent home after you've upgraded your inventory several times.
  • Korok Seeds: These peculiar seeds are the currency for Hestu's upgrades. There are 900 Korok Seeds hidden throughout Hyrule, often found by solving environmental puzzles.
    • Common Puzzles: Look for rock circles, lone rocks to lift, ice blocks to melt, pinwheels with balloons, and patterns of objects to complete.
  • Upgrade Cost: The cost in Korok Seeds increases with each upgrade for a specific inventory slot type. Prioritize expanding the slots for the weapon type you use most frequently.

Armor and Gear Enhancement

Armor pieces provide crucial defense and often come with unique set bonuses. Enhancing them at Great Fairy Fountains is a key part of character progression.

  • Great Fairy Fountains: There are four Great Fairies in Hyrule, each requiring an increasing amount of Rupees to awaken:
    • Cotera: Kakariko Village (100 Rupees)
    • Kayasa: Tabantha Frontier, near the Tabantha Great Bridge (500 Rupees)
    • Mija: Akkala Highlands, east of Tarrey Town (1,000 Rupees)
    • Tera: Gerudo Desert, in the far southwest (10,000 Rupees)
  • Enhancement Materials: Each armor piece requires specific monster parts, ores, or other collected items to be upgraded. Higher-level enhancements demand rarer materials. For example, the Hylian Tunic might require Bokoblin Horns for its first upgrade, but later stages could ask for Hinox Guts or Lynel Horns.
  • Defense and Set Bonuses: Each enhancement level increases the armor's defense rating. Some armor sets, when fully upgraded to level 2 or higher, unlock powerful set bonuses (e.g., the Climbing Set grants a Stamina Up bonus, the Stealth Set provides a Night Speed Up bonus).
  • Strategy: Focus on upgrading armor sets that complement your playstyle. If you prefer stealth, prioritize the Stealth Set. If you're exploring cold regions, upgrade the Snowquill Set.

Cooking and Elixirs

While not a permanent stat increase, mastering cooking and elixir crafting is vital for temporary buffs and immediate health/stamina recovery, effectively enhancing Link's capabilities on demand.

  • Cooking Pots: Found at stables, villages, and enemy camps.
  • Ingredients: Experiment with various food items (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish) and monster parts/critters.
    • Health Recovery: Apples, mushrooms, meat, fish.
    • Stamina Recovery: Stamella Shrooms, Endura Carrots, Staminoka Bass.
    • Attack Up: Mighty Bananas, Razorshrooms, Bladed Rhino Beetles.
    • Defense Up: Armored Porgy, Armorshrooms, Fortified Pumpkins.
    • Speed Up: Swift Carrots, Rushrooms, Hot-Footed Frogs.
    • Elemental Resistance: Spicy Peppers (cold), Sunshrooms (cold), Hydromelons (heat), Chillshrooms (heat).
  • Elixirs: Combine a monster part with a critter (e.g., a Bokoblin Horn with a Fireproof Lizard for a Fireproof Elixir).
  • Critical Cooking: Occasionally, a cooking pot will glow, indicating a "critical success," which boosts the effect or duration of the cooked dish. This often happens during a Blood Moon.
  • Strategy: Always carry several cooked meals and elixirs for different situations. Prioritize dishes that offer full health recovery or significant temporary buffs for challenging encounters.