The recent Nintendo Direct trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom brought with it a slew of new bits of information. Although the core gameplay loop remains a mystery, fans have gradually found new details in every individual shot of each trailer. From the apparent return of Gleeok from the original Legend of Zelda to the existence of many new symbols and magical wellsprings dotting Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom's trailers have given fans a lot to chew on. With the game's launch fast approaching, more solid details should appear soon, but puzzling over its mysteries helps pass the time.
One benefit to the way Nintendo has rolled out Zelda news is that those mysteries get deeper with each revelation. Probably the biggest talking point from Tears of the Kingdom's latest trailer is the presence of vehicles and the likelihood that players will get to craft them. Nothing quite like vehicle building has been seen in Zelda before, and eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted even further customization. It's not confirmed yet, but The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom may enable weapon crafting in the same way as vehicle building.
Assembling the Evidence for Zelda's Weapon Crafting
Tears of the Kingdom has had a slow drip feed of trailers, but at least they all reveal something new about the game. A lot of these tidbits are still without context, so there are only so many concepts fans can attach them to. One such enigma is the strange Guardian-like machine seen in an early trailer, appearing to be some sort of major enemy. Another oddity was a scene where a monster was defeated by Link via a fire-breathing dragon head attached to a shield. These were both seen in the E3 2021 trailer before Tears of the Kingdom was properly named, and have been the source of a lot of speculation. However, they have suddenly become relevant in a big way.
The larger machine is still a big unknown, but it shares a symbol with one of the wheels seen on the recent TotK trailer's automobile. If all of these ancient relics are of Zonai origin in the new Zelda game, then this would make sense, with the symbol presumably being some sort of brand for the race's machinery. However, that's not the only place where said symbol appears. If one pauses during the scene where Link is swinging some kind of cannon, the symbol is clearly visible in between the two noticeably mismatched sections of the weapon. It doesn't take much to extrapolate that all of these things are connected.
How Weapon Crafting Might Work in Tears of the Kingdom
It appears that, much like how Link can construct vehicles using Zonai parts, weapons can be built the same way. Zonai relics will lie all across Hyrule, and even though viewers were only shown wheels, Link should be able to find lots of objects scattered everywhere. It's not too hard to imagine that some of these would be cannons or other weapons. Looking back at the fire-breathing shield, the head mounted on it looks a lot like the heads on the front wheels of the preview automobile. Whether these sorts of weapons can also be attached to vehicles is unknown, but it's certainly possible.
Transportation methods can be made out of a wide variety of parts, including large wooden planks and platforms. Which specific materials players will need for a crafted weapon may be more specific, especially seeing as the cannon club appears to have a very particular handle that ends in a pronged plug. Even so, the flamethrower shield just appears to be made out of a dragon head and one of the common round shields from Breath of the Wild, so there could be a fair amount of flexibility in the system. Seeing as how Sheikah technology could be deemphasized in Tears of the Kingdom, using this system may be the only way to access more powerful tiers of technological weaponry, so players will want to pay close attention to this mechanic.
Tears of the Kingdom Could Expand Weapon Crafting Even Further
It would be game-changing to stop there, but Nintendo may have gone even farther. In addition to crafting vehicles and weapons, new types of items may also have crafting recipes. The only evidence of this, for now, involves the new homing arrow. This contraption uses some sort of green magic much like the rest of the Zonai technology, but also has a pale orb at the end of it. Attentive fans have identified this object as a Keese Eyeball from the classic Zelda enemy type, only seen from the back, with screenshot comparisons to prove it. That would throw the doors wide open for what is possible with Tears of the Kingdom's crafting and could revolutionize how players look at common monster parts.
The takeaway from all of this is that Nintendo is massively expanding the player's arsenal in Tears of the Kingdom. If someone is attached to a particular play style or type of weapon, then they can build their own in active defiance of the durability system. Even if weapon durability goes totally unchanged in TotK, this will still encourage players to forage everywhere and experiment.
The new interplay of weapons and items could even be used to imbue weapons with special buffs, further increasing the complexity of the infamous interlocking mechanics in Breath of the Wild. Rare ore would be perfect for this, as it is already associated with elemental-resistant jewelry and could be used to craft elemental arrows or even elemental weapons. All of this makes for an exciting look at the potential of Tears of the Kingdom, and fans can't wait to see more.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will release on May 12, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch.
