TotK Glossary

One of Link's core abilities in Tears of the Kingdom. Ascend lets Link phase upward through ceilings, rising through solid surfaces to reach the area directly above. Essential for navigating caves, The Depths, and multi-story structures.

An unlockable ability that lets Link instantly recreate previously built Zonai Device contraptions from a saved history, or assemble them from available nearby materials. Acquired in The Depths from the Autobuild Fairy.

An ability obtained from the Great Abandoned Central Mine in The Depths. Autobuild recreates previously constructed vehicles and devices using nearby materials, instantly. Schematics (from Yiga Clan bases and Kohga fights) add new blueprints. Saving the hoverbike blueprint as your first Autobuild favorite is strongly recommended.

A periodic event signaled by a crimson sky and red moon. During a Blood Moon, all defeated enemies across Hyrule respawn. It occurs roughly every 2 hours and 48 minutes of real-world play time, or can be triggered by a gameplay timer reset.

Slow-motion aiming mode triggered by firing a bow while airborne (jumping forward + pressing ZR). Time slows dramatically, allowing precise arrow targeting. Essential for hitting specific enemy weak points — particularly effective against Gleeok heads and Hinox eyes.

The crafting system in TotK. Link can combine ingredients at a lit cooking pot to create meals that restore hearts, grant stat buffs, or provide environmental resistances. Recipes range from simple baked apples to complex elixirs.

Interactive campfire stations found at stables, Zonai ruins, and scattered throughout Hyrule. Stand at a cooking pot and select up to 5 ingredients from your inventory to combine into a meal or elixir. Effects stack with more ingredient types. Cooking during Blood Moon grants bonus critical success chances.

A rare bonus result when cooking that produces a meal with enhanced effects — more hearts healed, longer effect duration, or additional yellow hearts. Triggered more frequently during Blood Moon nights and when cooking near a Fairy. Cannot be reliably forced but Blood Moon timing significantly raises the chance.

A main quest involving 12 geoglyphs (large carvings visible from the sky) scattered across Hyrule. Each geoglyph contains a memory Tear that reveals Zelda's story. Collecting all 12 Tears is required to understand the full story and unlock the true ending.

A type of cooked item made by combining critters (insects, frogs, lizards) with monster parts at a cooking pot. Elixirs grant temporary status buffs such as speed, stealth, heat resistance, or attack power.

Teleportation between discovered locations — Shrines, Skyview Towers, Lightroots, Stables, and certain key locations. Access the map, select a destination, and instantly travel to it. Critical for efficient navigation across Hyrule's large surface area.

A combat technique triggered by performing a Perfect Dodge at the exact right moment. Time slows dramatically, allowing Link to unleash a rapid barrage of attacks on the enemy before they can recover.

A special attack triggered when Link successfully performs a perfect dodge — a backflip or sidestep exactly as an enemy attacks. Time slows and Link can unleash a rapid combo. Mastering Flurry Rush is essential for Lynel fights. The timing window varies by enemy.

A core ability that lets Link attach materials, items, or Zonai Devices to weapons, shields, and arrows to increase their power and add special effects. For example, fusing a Ruby to an arrow creates a fire explosion on impact.

The ability to extend Link's airborne time using the Paraglider. Deployed mid-fall by pressing X. Consumes stamina while gliding but allows covering enormous horizontal distances from elevated positions. Works in combination with updrafts, Tulin's Gust, and Skyview Tower launches.

The system for taming wild horses and registering them at stables. Once registered, a horse can be summoned at any stable across Hyrule and receives a customizable saddle and bridle.

The ancient conflict between King Rauru's forces and Ganondorf's Gerudo army, revealed through the Dragon's Tears memories. Ganondorf's betrayal of Rauru triggered the Imprisoning War. Rauru ultimately sacrificed himself to seal Ganondorf beneath Hyrule Castle, creating the mummified figure Link and Zelda discover at the game's opening.

Ultrahand is TotK's primary building and manipulation ability — the replacement and evolution of BotW's Magnesis. Grab, move, rotate, and attach any object in the environment. Core to all vehicle building, puzzle solving, and creative traversal.

An increased difficulty setting not present in TotK base game (it appeared in BotW DLC). In TotK, difficulty is instead managed through enemy tiers, Gloom damage, and The Depths.

A gliding device given to Link by Purah after completing the Crisis at Hyrule Castle quest. The Paraglider lets Link descend slowly from heights and traverse large horizontal distances by riding updrafts. It is the first critical progression unlock after the Great Sky Island tutorial and is required for freely exploring Hyrule.

The cloth gliding device Link receives from Purah at Lookout Landing after completing the Hyrule Castle Skyview Tower. The Paraglider lets Link descend from heights slowly and glide horizontally. Combined with Tulin's Gust ability, it covers enormous distances. Without the Paraglider, Link cannot safely leave the Great Sky Island.

A precisely timed side-hop or backflip executed just as an enemy attack is about to connect. A successful Perfect Dodge triggers a Flurry Rush, giving Link a window of slowed time to counterattack.

A defensive technique triggered by pressing A (raise shield) at the exact moment an enemy attack hits. A successful Perfect Parry deflects projectiles back at the attacker, staggers melee enemies, and does not consume shield durability. Timing is stricter than a Perfect Dodge but essential against projectile-heavy enemies like Constructs.

One of Link's core abilities. Recall reverses the movement of an object through time, sending it back along the exact path it traveled. Useful for returning thrown boulders, reversing falling platforms, and solving puzzles.

A Zonai ability unlocked on the Great Sky Island that reverses the movement of any previously-moved object. Used to ride falling rocks back up, reverse Guardian beams, activate mechanisms, or return an object to its starting position. One of the game's most versatile puzzle abilities.

The five companions Link awakens by completing the four main temples and the Spirit Temple. Each Sage follows Link as a phantom and grants a unique active ability when touched: Tulin (Sage of Wind), Sidon (Sage of Water), Yunobo (Sage of Fire), Riju (Sage of Lightning), and Mineru (Sage of Spirit). All five must be awakened to access the game's final dungeon.

Blueprints for complex Zonai constructions obtained from Yiga Clan Depths bases and Master Kohga boss fights. Each schematic adds a new design to the Autobuild ability's saved blueprint list. Collecting all schematics gives access to the most efficient vehicle configurations.

An upgrade to the Purah Pad's sensor system, unlocked by completing Robbie's Camera quest at Lookout Landing. With Sensor+ active, the Purah Pad beeps and shows directional pulses when near a photographed object or enemy type. Invaluable for shrine hunting — set it to "Shrine" to locate all undiscovered shrines in a region.

Pressing A while holding ZL (shield raised) with precise timing deflects an incoming attack. Costs zero shield durability. Successful parry staggers melee attackers and reflects projectiles. Against Lynels, a perfect parry stuns the Lynel long enough for a mount opportunity.

Small Zonai temples scattered across Hyrule (152 total). Completing a shrine rewards a Light of Blessing — four Blessings can be traded at a Goddess Statue for a Heart Container or Stamina Vessel. Shrines also serve as fast travel points once discovered.

Tall Zonai structures that launch Link into the sky when activated and reveal portions of the surface map. There are 15 Skyview Towers in TotK. Activating all towers reveals the complete surface map and unlocks the full fast travel network.

A high-damage attack available when approaching enemies undetected in stealth. Hold Y while crouched and undetected to charge a Sneakstrike — it deals dramatically amplified damage (typically 8x weapon base damage) and can eliminate weaker enemies in a single hit. Upgraded Stealth Armor increases Sneakstrike multiplier further.

A powerful backstab attack performed by sneaking up behind an enemy (or approaching while crouched/stealthed). Deals 8× normal damage. Most effective with the Stealth Armor set bonus and Silent Shroom elixirs. Instant-kills basic Bokoblins, significantly damages Lynels.

A burst-speed charge for horses. Pressing A while mounted uses one spur for a speed boost. Each horse has 1–6 spurs; they regenerate over time. Horses with 6 spurs sustain the longest galloping bursts. Wild horses have random spur counts — finding a 5-speed/6-spur wild horse is a key goal for surface traversal.

Link's primary building ability. Ultrahand lets Link grab, move, rotate, and attach objects together to create vehicles, bridges, weapons platforms, and other contraptions from Zonai Devices and environmental objects.

All weapons, bows, and shields in TotK degrade with use and eventually break. Durability is not displayed as a number — weapons flash red at low durability. The Fuse ability can add Fuse Attack Power to extend a weapon's per-hit output. Unfused weapons from enemy camps generally have lower base power but are disposable without loss.