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The Master Sword has appeared in just about every Legend of Zelda game ever made and is one of the most iconic weapons in gaming. However, with the sword breaking at the very beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, some may have wondered whether they'd swung the legendary blade for the last time. Thankfully, that's definitely not the case.
Players will be able to get their hands on a fully repaired Master Sword very early on in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with the sword technically available immediately after players have made their way down to the surface. There are actually a few different methods for getting the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom, though some are a lot trickier than others.
How to Get the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom
There are three ways to get the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom. The first is to go through the lost woods to the Korok Forest and defeat Phantom Ganon to reveal the sword's location on the map. The second involves finding all 12 Tears of the Dragon, which will again point players toward the location of the sword. The final method sees players finding the location of the Master Sword by themselves and is arguably the trickiest of the bunch due to the sword being constantly on the move. Whichever method players choose, Link will need two full wheels of stamina to get the Master Sword.
How to Get the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom: Defeat Phantom Ganon
The easiest method of obtaining the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom sees players venture through the Depths to reach the Korok Forest. If they do so, they'll be able to drop down to the Great Deku Tree Chasm, where they'll need to defeat some Gloom Hands and then take down the sword variant of Phantom Ganon. The former can be defeated with a few Bomb Flower arrows, but the latter is not so simple and will likely cause the average player a lot of trouble. Luckily, there is a way to cheese the fight.
In order to beat Phantom Ganon easily, players should use the item duplication glitch to get themselves a bunch of rare stones like Sapphires and Rubies. If they'd rather not rely on exploits, Bomb Flowers and Gibto Bones can also work, though will deal a lot less damage. Once they have a decent amount of ammunition stockpiled, players should start the encounter as they normally would and take out the Gloom Hands. As soon as Phantom Ganon spawns, they'll want to head to the spot with coordinates 0415, 2167, -0587 and use Ascend to get onto the ledge above them. Then, after taking a few steps forward, they should use Ascend again to get onto the ledge above that.
After taking a moment to compose themselves, players should jump from the ledge and pull out Link's Paraglider. Next, they'll want to activate slow motion by drawing their bow and then fire off as many fused arrows at Phantom Ganon as they can manage before hitting the ground. Once they do, they should head straight back up onto the highest platform and jump off again, repeating this process as many times as necessary until Phantom Ganon is defeated.
Sometimes, Phantom Ganon will teleport up onto the first of the two ledges, but this actually makes life easier as players will know exactly where to aim after jumping from the ledge above. He never seems to teleport up to the second ledge, though, and will usually teleport back down from the first one as soon as players land back on the ground.
After defeating Phantom Ganon, players should make their way back to the Korok Forest and talk to the Great Deku Tree. Following a short conversation, it will share a memory with Link, after which, the "Recovering the Hero's Sword" main story quest will begin and the location of the Master Sword will be marked on the map. To get to the Master Sword, players should check the "Recovering the Master Sword" section down below.
How to Get the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom: Find the 12 Tears of the Dragon
In addition to defeating Phantom Ganon, players can also learn the location of the Master Sword by finding the 12 Tears of the Dragon that are scattered around the map. The first 11 tears can be found in any order, but the one in the Rist Peninsula area will only appear once the other eleven have been examined, meaning that players will need to view this memory last. After doing so, they'll be shown the location of the Master Sword.
- Tear of the Dragon #1: Where Am I? (-1413, 0966, 0124)
- Tear of the Dragon #2: An Unfamiliar World (-2551, 1889, 0306)
- Tear of the Dragon #3: Mineru's Council (1828, 0738, 0076)
- Tear of the Dragon #4: The Gerudo Assault? (0695, -1309, 0040)
- Tear of the Dragon #5: A Show of Fealty (-3178, -1700, 0406)
- Tear of the Dragon #6: Zelda and Sonia (-3096, -0077, 0198)
- Tear of the Dragon #7: Sonia is Caught by Treachery (3326, -3566, -0008)
- Tear of the Dragon #8: Birth of the Demon King (-1864, 3622, 0224)
- Tear of the Dragon #9: The Sage's Vow (4468, -0305, 0062)
- Tear of the Dragon #10: A King's Duty (-0649, -2683, 0055)
- Tear of the Dragon #11: A Master Sword in Time (0892, 2952, 0349)
- Tear of the Dragon #12: Tears of the Dragon (4535, 2144, 0000)
Recovering the Master Sword (How to Jump on the Light Dragon)
The reason that it's so difficult to find the Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom is that it's embedded in the head of the Light Dragon, meaning that it is constantly on the move. Of course, being able to see its exact location on the map helps quite a bit in this regard, which is why most players opt to complete one of the two aforementioned tasks. It is technically possible to find the Light Dragon without beating Phantom Ganon or finding the 12 Tears of the Dragon, but it requires either a large stroke of luck or a lot of hard work.
Whether by using their instincts or the minimap, once they've located the Light Dragon, players will need to find a way to get on top of it. If they're lucky, it will be near one of Tears of the Kingdom's Skyview Towers or beneath one of the floating islands that can be fast-traveled to. If not, players can use Zonai Devices or Link's Recall ability on a falling rock to get up into the sky. It doesn't really matter how they do it, but players will need to find a way to get above the Light Dragon.
Once they have the Light Dragon beneath them, players should glide along the length of its body toward its head. Though it's possible to walk along the body of the Light Dragon, it's very easy to fall off, so players will want to aim to land as close to the dragon's head as possible. If they do accidentally fall off, they should pull out the Paraglider as quickly as possible, as they'll usually be able to catch a small updraft when gliding in the area immediately beneath the dragon.
After they've reached the dragon's head, players should press A to pull the Master Sword out and then press and hold A again when prompted. As mentioned earlier, players will need at least two full wheels of stamina to be able to pull the Master Sword out of the dragon's head. Stamina granted through food and potions doesn't count here, meaning that players will need to have upgraded Link's stamina at least five times. Assuming they did so, they'll be able to hold on long enough and a cutscene will play out, after which, Link will be holding the Master Sword.
How Does the Master Sword Work in Tears of the Kingdom?
"Does the Master Sword break?" is a question that a lot of players might be asking, and, sadly, the answer to this question is "kind of." After a certain amount of usage, the Master Sword will run out of power and will need to be recharged, which will usually take around five minutes or so. As in previous Zelda games, players can fire a beam attack with the Master Sword by attempting to throw it, though this will only work while Link is at full health. The Master Sword cannot be fused with other weapons, meaning that there's no way to make it any stronger than it already is.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.