Link has always been a wielder of many abilities across The Legend of Zelda franchise. And in modern games, what he is able to achieve on his adventures has opened up the game to even more possibilities and ways to navigate specific situations.
In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, this remains true as Link has five core abilities that he is able to wield while traveling the lands of Hyrule. Each of these tools has its general use and likely won't be neglected by Tears of the Kingdom players. However, the utility of these powers can range depending on circumstances.
Updated September 30th, 2023 by Paul Woodward: The abilities that players unlocked in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are easily some of the most unique mechanics in a Zelda game ever. With abilities like Ultrahand, Recall, and Ascend, the possibilities are endless both in combat and in exploration. Since Nintendo has no plans to make any DLC for Tears of the Kingdom, there will not be any new abilities for players to utilize. While there may not be any new abilities coming, the ones in the game, and the utility they provide, will keep players entertained for many hours and many playthroughs.
5 Autobuild
Between all the powers on the ability wheel, Autobuild is the power that Link is likely to get last. This is because he will have to travel into the depths and find the Great Abandoned Central Mine as part of a main quest. It is here where players will also learn about how to use the ability and find zonite stores.
Autobuild gives Link the chance to recreate a previous build with a simple click of a button. As long as all the parts needed to build something or present, Link just needs to hover the Autobuild over all the necessary parts, and it will be fully assembled for him to use. This is perfect for those making the same machine over and over again.
Overall, the Autobuild ability is a nice quality-of-life feature that is appreciated by many who don't want to keep using Ultrahand to create the same thing they already have. And while it may not be helpful all the time since Tears of the Kingdom tends to task players with creating new things constantly, it's nice to have when a machine built before is needed again.
4 Ascend
Traveling through the world of Tears of the Kingdom can be absolutely delightful. But it can get particularly difficult at times when reaching dead ends or not having enough stamina to overcome great barriers along the way. This is why it was nice to see the introduction of Ascend.
With the Ascend ability, Link is able to look up at a platform above him and shoot himself upward. He will then phase through the world and appear to be swimming in the terrain or structure. He'll then come out the other side at the top, all without having to do much legwork.
Ascend is very circumstantial, as not every ceiling will allow Link to pass through it. That said, it is a critical ability when looking to escape The Depths or a cave system where there's no easy way out. It also can allow the player to get out of doing some difficult challenges if they can carefully use Ascend and some other abilities together. Not only that, but Ascend can be used to get to the top of enemies like a Talos and a Flux Construct.
3 Recall
Previously, Link had an ability that involved freezing items in time. Now, in Tears of the Kingdom, Link has a new ability that also deals with time. However, instead of staying in place for a short period of time, anything affected by Link's Recall ability will rewind its previous movements.
The Recall ability lets Link select most objects in the game that are either actively moving or have moved previously and force them to recreate those motions backward. For instance, a wheel that is turning clockwise can go counter-clockwise when the Recall ability is activated on it.
Recall is one of the more impressive abilities in the game with varying uses. While not every situation will have Recall as its solution, players can use rocks that fall from the sky to ride them back up to the Sky Islands. Or, objects thrown at Link by enemies or bosses can be rewound and shot back in their direction.
2 Fuse
If players are looking to survive some difficult encounters throughout Tears of the Kingdom, one of the most important abilities in the game is to use Fuse. One of the most fun aspects of this ability is the fact that players can fuse nearly any tool with nearly any item, regardless of how effective it makes that tool.
The primary use for Fuse is to equip some sort of object to a melee weapon, shield, or arrow. Objects like monster parts can make a weapon incredibly more powerful while some items, including Zonai Devices, can be added to something like a shield and used to combat enemies while protecting from damage.
Arrows almost exclusively use items like fruit, with players equipping them while attempting to shoot rather than placing them on the ground like the normal method. In almost every moment throughout the game, Fuse will have some sort of use, and it is important to take advantage, especially when nearing the end game.
1 Ultrahand
The ability at the center of almost everything in Tears of the Kingdom is Ultrahand. Link, who lost his normal arm at the start of the game, is granted this new arm thanks to Rauru. It is with this ability that Link is able to manipulate objects in the game and fuse them together to create something useful.
From the start, the Ultrahand ability is utilized by having Link place objects to reach areas he couldn't originally. Then there is the aspect of creating machines that use Zonai Devices that can help Link get around, such as attaching a fan to a plank of wood to get across the water.
It is with this ability that players are able to create many things from their imagination, from flying machines to effective turrets. At almost every moment in the game, Link will be using the Ultrahand to either move something or make something, making it nearly impossible to complete the game without using it.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Platform(s)
- Switch
- Released
- May 12, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Genre(s)
- Adventure