Addison is, without a doubt, one of Tears of the Kingdom's best new NPCs. This loveable oaf can be found all across Hyrule and is eternally stuck holding up a sign promoting President Hudson (who is dealing with his own issues in Tarrey Town) as he just can't figure out how signs work. And, there are a lot more of these Sign events around the game than people might think, as some maps are counting 70+ different times Link can help Addison out.
So, let's go over exactly how players are meant to help Addison out in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as well as some of the best tricks players have found, and how each Sign Addison holds in each new location differs slightly from one another.
How To Help Addison Out
So first off, helping Addison is a series of small tasks that Link can contribute to while roaming around the fields, deserts, and tundras of Hyrule. Each time he does so, Addison will reward him with a variety of different foods, one-time-use items, or even materials.
As far as what players actually have to do to help Addison out, it's simple, use Ultrahand to construct something that will keep his sign from falling so that he can quickly build a support stand for it. Essentially, Link will interact with Addison, tell him to 'Let Go', and the sign will fall over. So, to fix this, use the nearby Hudson Construction Materials (which are almost always right near where Addison is found) to build something to keep the sign steady for at least a couple of seconds.
After Addison lets go and the sign remains standing, wait for a second or two to see him react with an 'H-he's standing?' before talking to him to have him show his immense surprise and delight with Link. The screen will then fade to black as Addison quickly makes a stand for the sign and right afterward he'll shower Link with all sorts of minor rewards.
Sign Support Tips
Now, as it was mentioned previously, every President Hudson sign that Addison holds differs slightly in why it's unable to stand on its own. Some are more 'top-heavy' and will need more support near the top, some are attempting to be placed on an incline so they'll fall perpendicular to Addison instead of parallel, and many are just basic signs without supports at their base that fall away from Addison as soon as he lets go.
So, players will need to take a closer look at the sign when they walk up to Addison before they start building something to support it. They'll want to look at the base of the sign, the actual signboard itself (the part where Hudson is painted on), and the back of the signboard.
Each President Hudson is different from the others in some way, whether it's how they're put together, the nearby materials, or the terrain they're attempting to be placed on.
For the most part, just building a two-pronged 'wall-of-planks' around the side and back of the sign will do the job, but there are plenty of other building ideas that will do the job most of the time, too many to list in fact. But, there are some general tips to keep in mind:
- Zonai Devices are fair game, so using a Stake or a Stabilizer to make it almost impossible for the sign support to fall over is absolutely a welcome strategy.
- The Stake especially is a real 'cheat' item, as it makes any support pretty much unmovable.
- Using one of the wooden boards as a 'foundation' to attach everything else onto usually gives players a nice flat starting area that allows them to technically 'attach' the support itself to the ground.
- It doesn't need to support the sign forever, it doesn't even need to support it for a long time. As long as the support keeps the sign standing for 3-4 seconds, that's long enough to impress and talk to Addison so he builds the permanent support.
- For players with Autobuild, finding a construction configuration (whether it's wacky or not) that seems to work for most signs and then just 'saving' it to their favorites is an easy way to knock these tasks out when Links stumbles upon them.
- Tears of the Kingdom's physics engine is incredibly advanced, so proper balancing and weight distribution absolutely matter.
Rewards For Helping Addison
And finally, what's the actual incentive for Link to help Addison out so many times other than sheer goodwill? Well, Addison has a variety of rewards he'll give the Hero of Hyrule after the sign is secured. He almost always gives 20 or so Rupees, some food item, and then some extra reward. Basically, his list of possible rewards are:
- Rupees
- Cooked Food (usually Rice Balls of all types)
- Puffshrooms
- Bomb Flowers
- Sleepover Tickets
All in all, it's not really 'worth' searching for all the different President Hudson sign locations unless the player has already done everything else and wants to 100 percent Tears of the Kingdom. But, they're still absolutely worth doing if players happen to be walking by (in the rare instances they're not driving or flying) and spot Addison struggling with his sign.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.