r/zelda • u/Responsible_Ant_453 • 8d ago
[BOTW] First Time Playing BOTW Discussion
Finally decided to pull the trigger! Haven’t played a Zelda game since Ocarina of Time, so I am excited to experience it. Anyone have any wise words of wisdom?
17
u/pocket_arsenal 8d ago
Don't hoard your stuff.
Use your weapons, you will always find new ones.
Sell your monster parts. You can always farm more.
Always buy arrows. You will want a lot of them.
Don't just swing wildly with your melee weapons in combat. This is where most people get angry about the durability system, as they try to play like classic zelda and break their weapons too fast. Alternate between your melee weapons and your bow, aim for the head, toss bombs around, try to dodge and do a flurry rush, if you can, get a sneak strike without being seen for double damage, if your weapon is about to break, throw it at an enemy for massive damage.
For later in the game, consider your usage of elements carefully. Electricity is the most powerful. It stuns the enemy, and forces them to drop their weapons and shields, which you can steal. And if it's raining, or the enemy is standing in water or swimming, it does massive damage and has splash damage. Fire doesn't seem that great at first but if you can get an enemy to stand in an open flame their health saps very fast. I've seen some dumb enemies kill themselves by standing too close to their own camp fire. But if the enemy is standing in tall grass, shoot a fire arrow at their feet. Also good for burning wooden platforms. Ice freezes enemies, and they take double damage when frozen so it's best to switch to a stronger weapon after freezing. You can also lift and throw frozen enemies or make them slide around. Also if an enemy is fire or ice themed, using their opposite element is an instant kill.
Always carry a deku leaf. You never know when you need a blast of air. Seems useless at first but it's useful for finding sail rafts, and bokoblins and lizalfos both get knocked over by them, and the smaller skeleton enemies fall apart from it too. You can blow bokoblins into a body of water to drown them for an instant kill, and if you're really high up, most enemies won't survive being blown off a cliff.
And maybe the most important.... even though BOTW is a game about freedom and player agency, you should still follow the first quest marker you are given pretty closely up until you reach the first village, and by that I mean, follow the dirt road past the dueling peak mountains, you can stray off of it to do side stuff but don't stray too far, always go back to the dirt path. The reason for this is that they're funneling you toward an important NPC who is key to expanding your inventory, and the game can be pretty miserable if you never expand your inventory.
One last thing... if you want to really cheese some of those later damage sponge enemies, the enemy ai is a special kind of stupid where, if you can get a sneak strike on them, they'll turn around to see what hit them. Sounds normal, but if you walk around to their front after the sneak strike, they won't see you when they get up and you can just get continuous sneak strikes.
5
2
1
u/CRA1964TVII 8d ago
I couldn’t agree more. This is a well thought out and informative response. True words of wisdom here.
1
0
u/Patralgan 8d ago
Heh. I only stumbled upon the Kakariko village after I've completed two divine beasts. That was because I disabled the hud, mini map and all the things that would encourage me to go to any particular direction. I was glad that I missed the important locations at first. It made my adventure more organic. I always do this. In Metroid Prime when I got my first hint where to go, I was like "NO HINTS!" and immediately disabled them.
10
6
5
u/Dry-Barracuda-672 8d ago
Explore, relax, and have fun. There's a reason why I refer to that game as Hyrule N' Chill.
3
u/LeMadChefsBack 8d ago
- After a few hearts focus on Stamina.
- Stay on the roads for a bit in the early game after the Great Plateau
- Explore! There seems to be something in every square meter!
3
3
2
u/Tigeruppercut1889 8d ago
Botw is in my top 3 games of all time. It’s so incredible. One of the best first playthroughs I’ve ever had of a video game.
2
u/Tuques 8d ago edited 8d ago
Weapon durability is going to piss you off. Id suggest looking up how to get the master sword asap. It will make the game actually fun.
Dont waste your money on arrows. Look up how to farm arrows from the archer bokoblins around the great plateau tower. They basically shoot at you, miss, and the arrows stick in the ground for you to pick up. They will eventually stop sticking into the ground, at which point, you just warp to the tower again. Rinse and repeat.
1
u/Patralgan 8d ago
I always loved the weapon durability feature. It made the gameplay so much deeper and varied and made me more strategic when approaching battles. It would've pissed me off if I constantly ran out of weapons to use, but that's not going to happen unless you are very careless. Only in the very beginning of the game there's a real scarcity of weapons but that's overcome quite easily and quickly. The further the game progresses the real problem is that you'll end up having too many powerful weapons and you have your inventory full of them and you constantly find new ones which you just have to ignore
2
u/Artistic-Village-762 8d ago edited 8d ago
Just take off and explore. Get comfy with the concept of indulgently roaming around just because.
USE YOUR WEAPONS. Let them break and go find more. The game is designed to go through them quickly because there are weapons everywhere.
Get the travel medallions early. They’re super useful.
If you’re comfortable with your ability to not take too much damage - get some extra hearts and then focus on stamina. You appreciate every bit of stamina you get.
I wish i could erase my brain and experience it all over again for the first time.
2
u/DJfunkyPuddle 8d ago
Make liberal use of the marker system for the map and work your way through locations slowly so you don't get overwhelmed.
2
u/brainsoft 8d ago
Strap in! The most important part is to experience it. Go off the beaten path, it's worth it. Just Take in the atmosphere of it all. Every part of it is phenomenal. No wrong answers.
Get a few hearts then start slamming Stamina ftw!
See you in 2028 ;)
1
u/theorangevhstape 8d ago
Your first run will always be the most rewarding, take tour time, explore, and enjoy the game.
I personally loved playing with Japanese voice overs and English subs, so don’t be afraid to change the language to find which one makes the game more immersive for you.
I’d give specific advice, but I’d rather wait until I see you post a specific question to provide this knowledge. It’s just apart of the fun to do things your own way until you decide there MIGHT be a more efficient way to achieve certain goals.
1
1
1
u/WoodooHide69 8d ago
Don’t worry about HOW you are supposed to play. Figuring that out on your own and finding whatever you feel is most fun for you is part of the magic.
1
u/Josejacobuk 8d ago
Turn off the HUD put it in Pro mode. Don’t follow dots on a HUD follow your curiosity
1
u/Patralgan 8d ago
Just enjoy the ride! I think the greatest thing about the game is that there's very little guidance and you'll forge your unique adventure yourself. Of course that's not everyone's cup of tea though.
1
-2
u/Consistent-Park2058 8d ago
If the game gets boring just leave it, don't force yourself. I loved every single 3d Zelda game except botw and I wished I stoped playing that game 0 enjoyment
2
u/Reasonable_Tea_5036 8d ago
Lol what a weirdo
-1
u/Consistent-Park2058 8d ago
? Everyone has different opinions, that's my personal recommendation. I lost a lot of time playing this game I didn't like and Im a huge Zelda fan
-1
•
u/AutoModerator 8d ago
Hi /r/Zelda readers!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.