The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released to rave reviews across the board, with a lot of particular praise given to the game's nearly-perfectly-implemented suite of abilities. Despite players' newfound ability to create complex machinery that somehow just works, the game did release with a few glitches. One glitch, discovered on day one, allows players to duplicate any shield, bow, or melee weapon that they haven't already acquired.
The glitch was reportedly first found by Twitter user Modoki_returns the same day that Tears of the Kingdom was released. It's pretty easy to replicate, but there are a few steps to follow in order to get it to work. Given Nintendo's track record of not updating Breath of the Wild's glitches, it's possible this duplication glitch could stay in the game well past launch.
How To Duplicate Weapons and Shields in Tears of the Kingdom
To duplicate a weapon, shield, or bow in Tears of the Kingdom, players must first find one out in the world that fulfills two requirements: it must be an equippable item that Link has not picked up yet, and it must be stronger than anything he currently has in his inventory. Players will know if the item they want to duplicate will work if it appears in the world as "???" with a green up arrow next to the question marks.
Before attempting the dupe, ensure that Link doesn't have any weapons or shields equipped. Players will need to have at least one of the same type of items they want to duplicate in their inventory, and it must be weaker than the target item. So, if a player wants to duplicate a shield, they must already have a shield that has worse stats than the one on the ground.
Once the player has nothing equipped except armor, and once they have correctly identified the item on the ground as an un-acquired upgrade, the process can begin. Pick up the item to trigger the new item popup window. Don't exit; press the + button to instead open Link's inventory directly from this pop-up.
Sort the inventory according to Strength with the Y button, which should put the new item on the far left. Then, equip another weapon or shield you don't mind losing, as it will be replaced with a copy of the one on the ground. Exit this menu, and confirm the pop-up window.
Link should appear to be holding the weapon or shield that was on the ground despite it not actually being equipped. Open up Link's inventory to find that the currently equipped weapon or shield shares the same model as the duped item but retains its original name.
Finally, drop the equipped item onto the ground, and it will permanently transform into another copy of the freshly-discovered weapon or shield – all stats and properties are the same with no strings attached, except losing the item that was replaced.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.