Breath of the Wild is a massive open-world game that is built around players freely exploring its environments and mechanics. There are countless hidden interactions and details across the game from shrines to Korok seeds and smaller references. Finding hidden details is what many players love about playing Breath of the Wild. Exploring the game's world and finding its secrets is rewarding, while many players also remember stumbling on one of the game's more subtle systems, like lighting striking the player during a storm if they have a metal weapon equipped.
However, Breath of the Wild is so big that it is no surprise there are some secrets most players never come across. While many players take the time to hunt down all of Link's memories in Breath of the Wild, there are still secrets many players don't know they should be hunting for. Thankfully, the game's community has come together to share their discoveries across the game so that new and returning players who want to see everything Breath of the Wild has to offer can see as much of it as they can on their next playthrough.
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There are many times in Breath of the Wild where players can see runes from ancient Hyrule. While the symbols don't mean much to general audiences, dedicated players have taken the time to translate the runes with a key and found a variety of secret messages. The runes appear whenever a player accesses a shrine for the first time, climbs a tower, or drops pins on their map. Most of the time the messages are little more than directions of what the player should do next, but sometimes they are more. One of the easiest-to-find examples occurs when players look at a pin they placed through the Sheikah Slate. When the player does this they can see runes that translate to "it's dangerous to go alone" in reference to one of the biggest Legend of Zelda memes.
The Legend of Zelda has a pretty strong history of having some disturbing moons featured in its games, and Breath of the Wild's Blood Moon is no different. Many players meet Blood Moons with groans of frustration as they mean that enemies all over Hylia will respawn, and be stronger than they were before. However, players who are prepared for them can turn Blood Moons into a quick advantage for themselves.
To do this players simply have to cook recipes in the minutes leading up to midnight the night of the Blood Moon. Breath of the Wild doesn't explain this, but doing so provides the player with food that has strongly increased stat bonuses, which can be huge in some of the game's tougher encounters. It also is a great way to make some of Breath of the Wild's best recipes even stronger.
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Some of the most fun players can have in Breath of the Wild comes from toying around with the game's various systems and seeing how they interact with one another. This has led to some great player discoveries in the game, such as flying across the map on a cutdown tree or baiting Guardians into erasing difficult fights from the game. However, players can also use this to weaponize one of the most iconic creatures in The Legend of Zelda: cuccos.
Cuccos are effectively chickens with a cute nickname, but they can be very vengeful when players damage one. Doing so causes all nearby cuccos to attack the player in unison, which can be a lot more devastating than some might expect. However, players can also weaponize this to breeze through fights in Breath of the Wild. To do so, players simply have to carry a cucco or two over to a group of enemies and throw it into an enemy attack. This causes the cuccos to become enraged at the enemy, which will leave them pecking the enemies to death. It may take some time, but it is a great show, and isn't a bad strategy for tackling fights early on in a new master mode save in Breath of the Wild.
Guardians are one of the fiercest enemies in Breath of the Wild. Their lasers can make short work of players even late into the game, and they never quite stop being imposing when one is seen in the distance. However, players can make Guardian fights, or fleeing from them, much easier as long as they have a steed. If a player uses a horse's rush into the Guardian they will get knocked down, either making it easier for the player to run away or for the player to attack its exposed underbelly. Either way, it is a trick with Guardians that very few Breath of the Wild players know, and makes them much less intimidating.
Weapon degradation is one of the more controversial features in Breath of the Wild, seeing players have to swap to new weapons frequently. However, many of the game's weapons are simply no good, especially early on. Many Breath of the Wild players would be happy never having to swing a tree branch, club, or rusty weapon again in their entire lives, but there is a way to make all of the game's rusty weapons just a bit more useful. Even better, it isn't very hard to do.
To do so, players have to head to Death Mountain, which isn't scary as it sounds. There, players can find Rock Octoroks. These enemies use an attack that sees them sucking in objects before spitting them back out. If that item happens to be a rusty weapon thrown in their direction by a player, when it is spat back out it will no longer be rusty, making it much more effective. The secret is extremely useful but is also one of the more odd things players can do in a Legend of Zelda game across the whole series.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available now on Nintendo Switch.
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