Quick Links

Weapon durability in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the game's most divisive features, and at launch was met with some criticism for not including a way for BOTW players to repair weapons or prevent them from breaking. Every piece of equipment in Breath of the Wild can break except for the Master Sword, and even the legendary blade of evil’s bane will run out of energy after enough swings, rendering it useless until its power is restored.

Without the ability to repair weapons in Breath of the Wild, every weapon players find in the game will eventually be lost, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Weapon durability largely made combat in BOTW more fun and interesting, and it remains a viable way to get players to experiment with the variety of different weapon types available in the game.

Related: Zelda: BOTW's Most Powerful Recipes (& How to Make Them)

Weapon Durability in BOTW, Explained By The Creators

Split image: Eightfold Blade sits buried in a stone, a Guardian wields an Ancient Battle Axe in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Weapon durability in Breath of the Wild is meant to turn weapons into a consumable item that must be gathered like food and materials, effectively linking the game’s combat and exploration aspects, since exploring the world is required to gather the items necessary for combat. Ideally, it would give players a constant rotation of different weapons in their inventory as the weapons break. ​​​​​In the past, directors and producers have explained their reasoning for creating breakable items and not allowing players to repair weapons in BOTW.

Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi stated in an interview on the Nintendo Power Podcast that weapon durability was incorporated in order to draw players into Breath of the Wild's open world, encouraging them to challenge enemies in order to claim weapons to use on their adventure. Series producer Eiji Aonuma added that BOTW's weapon durability gave combat more depth without making things too mechanically difficult with complicated combos. See the full interview (timestamped to this portion) below:

Aonuma also stated that breakable weapons encourage players to strategize about which weapons they use on which enemies, creating a more tactical combat system while keeping the actual button inputs relatively simple.

Tears Of The Kingdom Could Fix Weapon Durability

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom's Link is holidng the broken Master Sword that is shining.

Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability was met with mixed reviews, and while some players appreciated the constant rotation of the game’s weapons, bows, and shields, others found the mechanic to be more annoying than challenging. Not only can a weapon breaking mid-combat in Zelda be a source of frustration, but it can actually discourage players from engaging in combat since fighting enemies might not be worth losing a weapon over.

Related: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Can Revisit BOTW’s Most Underused Location

In addition, BOTW's weapon durability can detract from the excitement of finding a powerful new weapon as a reward. Since every weapon will eventually break no matter how cool it is, and there is no way to repair weapons in Breath of the Wild, this may cause some players to end up saving some of their favorites for long periods of time, effectively wasting one of their weapon slots. While it's easy to find enough Korok Seeds in BOTW to get another equipment slot, it would be nice to have some way to permanently preserve an item.

Many players have expressed their hope for increased durability or a weapon repair mechanic to mitigate some of these issues in Tears of the Kingdom, but Nintendo could also fix these problems by scrapping the mechanic altogether and implementing an upgrade system similar to the game’s armor. Most pieces of armor can be bought or earned as exciting rewards for exploring or completing Breath of the Wild's many Shrines, and while each one has a basic defense level and effect, players can upgrade their armor by visiting a Great Fairy Fountain with the required materials.

There are four Great Fairy Fountains in Breath of the Wild, but some of them can be rather difficult to find. While the Great Fairies' magic can't repair weapons in BOTW, if players are looking to upgrade their armor they should check out the locations in the video from GameSpot below!

This system encourages players to dive into the open world in search of materials and provides constant, scaleable rewards as the armor can continuously improve throughout the game. Nintendo could apply this type of upgrade mechanic to weapons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as a replacement for weapon durability. Given how the Master Sword looks in TOTK, it seems like Link is in desperate need of a way to repair weapons.

More: Zelda: Every Divine Beast In BOTW Ranked By Difficulty

Source: Nintendo Power Podcast/YouTube, GameSpot/YouTube

  • Breath-of-the-Wild-Poster-1
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
    Franchise:
    The Legend of Zelda
    Platform:
    Nintendo Switch
    Released:
    2017-03-03
    Developer:
    Nintendo EPD
    Publisher:
    Nintendo
    Genre:
    Action-Adventure, Open-World, RPG
    ESRB:
    E10+
    Summary:
    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an open-world, action-adventure RPG from Nintendo's EPD development team. Recently waking from a hundred-year slumber in a mysterious chamber, Link awakens with no memory of how he got there. Through a disembodied voice, he is told he must stop Calamity Ganon from destroying Hyrule - and to do so, he must regain his memories and gain the power to do so. Link will travel throughout Hyrule to re-awaken the four slumbering Divine Beasts to help approach the darkness-covered castle and retrieve the Master Sword. With the help of four guardian friends and tribes across the land, Link will battle the forces of darkness and save his friend, princess Zelda.
    Expansion Packs :
    The Master Trials, The Champion's Ballad
    Prequel:
    The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
    Sequel:
    The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom