The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, and by the end of the first game, Link has already gained enough power and skills to beat Calamity Ganon. But with this new adventure in the now-ravaged land of Hyrule, how would Link’s powers come into play?
Will Link be able to keep the powers he gained in Breath of the Wild?
In the very first part of the game, we find Link and Zelda on their own expedition underneath the Hyrule Castle when they stumble upon the chamber where Ganon’s physical body is sealed.
Suddenly, the power that was sealing Ganon’s body weakened, and this was enough to revive Ganon. In an effort to try and stop Ganon’s revival, Link attacked with his Master Sword, but instead, corruption got hold of him and drained his strength, as shown by having most of his hearts drained, leaving him with only three full hearts. Link managed to free himself to try and save a falling Zelda, but the ancient gauntlet held on to him instead as Link blacked out.
Like in most of the previous Legend of Zelda games, Link wakes up almost powerless. So Tears of the Kingdom will not be a sort of New Game+ for this series. This time, he sees the ancient gauntlet wrapped around his corruption-burned arm to prevent the corruption from spreading. It will then be revealed that Rauru, a spirit who belonged to the ancient civilization of the Zonai, was the one who saved Link by giving him his gauntlet to wear.
How will Link gain his powers back?
Just like before, Link will start off almost back to zero. But thanks to Rauru and his right arm, Link will learn new powers that were once used by the Zonai, who lived centuries ago. As Link explores the floating islands, he will learn about these ancient abilities that he can perform using his right arm; powers such as the Ultrahand, Fuse, Ascend, and Recall.
Link does get hold of his Master Sword once more, but it is in such a decayed state that it is near useless to him. He gets to be reunited with his sword again after it gets fixed and powered up by Zelda.
As for Link’s vitality, he gets to gain this back by collecting Lights of Blessing from completing the shrines, and visiting a Heart Shrine with enough of these blessings to gain Heart Containers.
Check out these other guides that we have prepared for Tears of the Kingdom:
Shrines: