Some of the new abilities that Link will use in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have been revealed, and they look like they will be quite good and fun to use. There may also be more abilities revealed in the time leading up to release, in addition to the ones that players won't see until they actually pick up the game and possible changes to some of Link's returning BOTW abilities. TOTK releases next year on May 12, so there's plenty of time to reveal more of the powers Link will wield on his new adventure through Hyrule.

In Breath of the Wild, Link has a variety of abilities at his disposal to help him navigate the world and defeat his enemies. The majority of these come from the Sheikah Slate, a mystical artifact left to him by Princess Zelda. With it, he can create bombs, manipulate metal, freeze water into climbable pillars, and even stop time for enemies or inanimate objects. Other powers come from the spirits of his friends, the former Champions who lost their lives fighting Calamity Ganon 100 years prior. From what's been shown of Tears of the Kingdom so far, it's uncertain if these powers will return, but thankfully there will be others to take their place.

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As Link explores the BOTW sequel's transformed skies, he will be able to use at least three abilities that have been shown in trailers so far. There are other new items for Link to use, such as a large device that shoots flames, but this looks like a temporary weapon and not something that he will have access to all the time. Though it's not confirmed, it would appear that at least some of Link's powers comes from his new arm, which could mean that it will serve a purpose similar to BOTW's Sheikah Slate. This arm has been a subject of great interest since it was first revealed, and from what's been shown so far, it will have no small amount of importance to both story and gameplay.

Link popping his head and shoulders out of a portal on the stone ground of a floating island in an early Tears of the Kingdom trailer.

One of the first new abilities that was revealed showed Link passing through the ground on one of Tears of the Kingdom's floating islands. This was first shown in Nintendo's teaser at E3 2021 (now found on YouTube), but has not appeared since. When Link uses it, he floats upwards while surrounded by some kind of green light, and briefly pauses halfway through the ground before popping out of the other side. Immediately before this, a scene showed a drop of water falling to the ground in reverse, though the significance of this is unknown. Strange music also plays for the duration of the clip, and extends into the following one.

This ability to phase through solid matter looks like it will be very useful in Link's adventure through Hyrule. Though it doesn't seem like it will have many applications in combat, it could have a great many in traversal and puzzle solving, and can help improve BOTW's exploration in the sequel. Link's new arm glows green while he uses this, so it would appear that this will be one of its features instead of something he has to pick up in the world like a weapon, though it may still have its limitations. Players may only be able to use it in the floating islands, for example, or only to travel vertically and not horizontally through walls. A new detail in Nintendo's latest TOTK trailer, also hosted on YouTube, may also have shown another limitation; Link carries capsules on his waist that are lit up the same color as the green that accompanies this ability, so it's possible that they're a consumable power source that he will need in order to use it.

Stasis May Have A New Form In Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

BOTW's Stasis ability might have a new form in Tears of the Kingdom.

Another of Link's new abilities in Tears of the Kingdom is something that will allow him to return objects to a previous position. This power also comes from Link's new arm in the BOTW sequel, and has been shown twice so far. The first time was in the E3 2021 trailer, where Link used it to send a spiked ball back at some enemies, and the second was in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer, where he used it to ride a large rock up through the air. Both times, the world turned black-and-white, but everything continued to move around the affected object. This ability looks very similar to BOTW's Stasis and serves a similar function, and it's possible that it's a new or advanced form of it.

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From the looks of TOTK's trailers, this ability should prove very useful. BOTW comes with many boulders that players can roll at enemies, and vice versa. Being able to send them back where they came from sounds very fun and should make for some creative combat strategies. This ability may also become a recurring feature in whatever replaces BOTW's shrines as its unique function has a great deal of potential for puzzles based around it. However, its uses for exploration seem lacking, and it may not be very good for traversing Hyrule outside certain niche situations such as the one in the trailer.

A new glider was shown in a Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer.

The latest ability to be revealed for Tears of the Kingdom is a mechanical, bird-like glider. This was shown for only a few seconds in the latest trailer, where Link landed on it from a skydive and gently glided over Hyrule. Unlike the other powers revealed so far, there's no evidence that this is connected to Link's new arm. It also doesn't look like it's of Sheikah make, as it's quite different from their other automatons such as the Guardians and Divine Beasts.

The glider's reveal confirmed the popular TOTK fan theory that Link would have some form of flying mount to navigate the various floating islands, similar to Skyward Sword's Loftwings. Unlike a Loftwing, however, players may not be able to truly fly with the mechanical glider, as it has no obvious means of self-propulsion. It could be that they'll only be able to glide with it as a floating platform, giving it a similar purpose to the regular glider but presumably without the cost of consuming stamina. It appears that it will be extremely useful for exploring Hyrule - especially its floating islands - and could be of help in solving some The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom puzzles, but may have little to no function in combat.

Sources: Nintendo/YouTube (E3 2021 Teaser, Tears of the Kingdom Title Reveal Trailer)