Weapon Damage, Elements and Types

Learn about weapon durability, damage multipliers, elemental effects (Fire, Ice, Electric), and weapon types (One-Handed, Two-Handed, Spears, Bows, Shields) in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Weapons and shields in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have a durability mechanic and will break after a certain amount of use. Link can carry multiple weapons to switch between them as needed. Weapons generally deal damage equal to their attack stat, with bonuses applied for critical hits, sneakstrikes, and thrown attacks.

Attack Type Damage Multipliers:

• Normal attack: 1x attack power
• Critical Hit: 2x attack power
• Sneakstrike: 8x attack power
• Thrown Weapon: 2x attack power

Some weapons are imbued with elemental properties (Fire, Ice, Electric) that add bonus damage and can inflict status effects. These elemental bonuses are in addition to the weapon's base attack strength, unless the weapon is used against an enemy of the same element.

Elemental Weapon Bonuses:

• Fire/Flame Weapons: +10 base damage, chance to set enemies on fire (causing them to run until flames stop), instantly kills ice-element enemies.
• Ice/Frost Weapons: +10 base damage, chance to freeze targets (shattering the ice deals 5x weapon attack power), instantly kills fire-element enemies.
• Electric/Thunder Weapons: +20 base damage, chance to electrocute targets (causing them to drop equipped weapons/shields).

Weapons can also have special traits that grant bonuses to base damage, durability, or throw distance.

Weapon Types:

• One-Handed Melee: Fast, can be dual-wielded with a shield, good for blocking.
• Two-Handed Melee: High damage but slow, cannot be used with a shield simultaneously, best against stunned or unaware enemies.
• Spears/Polearms: Long range, fast attack rate but lower damage, cannot be used with a shield simultaneously, useful for keeping enemies at a distance or applying elemental effects.
• Bows: Used for ranged attacks with various arrow types (standard, Fire, Ice, Electric, Bomb, Ancient, Light).
• Shields: Used to block incoming attacks, can be dual-wielded with One-Handed melee weapons.