The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom may look like the same game on the surface. Quite literally, the surface world has not changed that much between this game and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. For exploration, the sky has opened up along with a vast underground cavern system.
Perhaps the biggest new addition to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom though are the new powers. Link can now build machinery by combining items together from rocks to trees to metal sheets. Players can get creative, and these archetypes are just some early examples. With time, assuredly the community will wow and impress us with elaborate vehicles. For now, let’s focus on vehicle archetypes that will help with exploration instead of combat.
7 Balloons
One of the newest additions to this game is the sky islands. Getting up to them can be tricky at first, but eventually, all of the possibilities will become second nature. Various chunks of the floating earth will crash land on the surface. Players can hop aboard them and reverse time to shoot back up.
Players can climb up Skyview Towers in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and then glide over to adjacent sky islands. Finally, there are balloons. Place a balloon on any surface from a metal grate to a wooden plank, add some fire, and players will shoot right up. Players can add fans or a steering stick to these constructions, but the best usage for balloons is just a vertical escape to the sky.
6 Hovercrafts
Fans are one of the most versatile Zonai devices in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As they use wind, they can propel any device forward be it on the ground, water, or air. One of the simplest contraptions that will get Link around quickly only requires two fans and a steering stick.
Angle the fans at a slant, add them to a steering stick and then take off onto the air. It sort of looks like a hovercraft bike. It’s not going to go fast and the battery situation can be troublesome. However, this example shows that even the simplest invention in the game can have value.
5 Cars
Players are probably going to come across the giant wheels with the arrows on them first. There are other wheels in the game, but the giant ones are the most useful. They can go through lava which is how a majority of Shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are solved.
All players have to do is attach four wheels to a slab of metal, place a steering stick on top, and then ride through that liquid-hot magma like it was nothing. These big-wheeled vehicles are also great against rocky terrain and can scale pretty treacherous cliffs. Players seem to love using these big wheels to create tanks too for battle situations.
4 Boats
As many sky islands as there are in the game, there are also a lot of surfaces of water. Players can consume potions to increase their swimming speed but it’s not going to help with stamina depletion. That’s why it’s necessary to find a good water vehicle until they upgrade their stamina at statues in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
In the tutorial, players can construct a decent raft made up of logs and a sail. Adding fans and a steering stick to that combo is one to upgrade the experience. Sometimes the balancing can be off on the raft, causing the vehicle to flood. Making an elongated boat with four walls is one way to avoid disaster. If one is having trouble thinking of an idea, simply make a car, but don’t add wheels. Add fans instead and players will get themselves a boat car.
3 Aircrafts
Players will get introduced to the wing toward the end of the tutorial. All players can do is ride on top of it since there are no fans around. It should become clear quickly that adding a steering stick and fans to the wing will create a neat little plane. Because the wings rely on the wind below to guide them, they can be tricky to steer.
Also, they’re not going to last in the sky forever as they are best used as a temporary upgrade to the Paraglider in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. They are one step above balloons and can help players get around the sky islands. Also, attaching a rocket to any of these setups will give players a good head start in their given direction before the fans take over.
2 Sleds
There are solid sled bodies in the game like the wing that are good on their own. Taking a sled down a snowy mountain is a great feeling. Sleds can also be upgraded to become cooler devices. Like most vehicle combos, all it needs are some fans and a steering stick.
Snow isn’t that hard to traverse though as it behaves like normal terrain. The thing players have to worry about is their cold resistance in the snow which can be fixed via various armor combos in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The terrain that is tricky to navigate is the sand. A sled is necessary in the desert sections and some places will even sink players. A hovercraft sled is a quick and easy solution to prevent drowning in sand.
1 Shield Combinations
Shields surprisingly make a decent vehicle in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Players may not even realize that they are sitting on a gold mine of opportunities with shields. For example, sleds can be attached to shields to make gliding down snowy hills or sandy dunes easier. Also, players can attach a mine cart to a shield to create a makeshift skateboard.
This skateboard can even grind on rails along with grassy terrain. Finally, one of the best ways to break the game is rockets. Attach one of these bad boys to a shield and Link will shoot up into the air. It’s a great way to bypass a lot of puzzles in the Fire Temple, as one example, as that place is one of the most frustrating dungeons to navigate.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12, 2023, and is available on Switch.