Weapon Durability has been part of the gameplay mechanics of Breath of the Wild, and it also carries over to Tears of the Kingdom. Apart from the Master Sword which was basically indestructible, all weapons have innate durability that gets spent the more Link uses them to hit anything. With the new Fuse mechanic, the durability feature will also change a bit on how it works on fused weapons.
Read ahead as we talk about the weapon durability mechanic in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Weapon Durability Mechanic
Weapon Durability in Tears of the Kingdom works the same way as it did in the previous game. Different weapons have different durability points, with higher-tier weapons being more durable than the basic ones. Every time that a weapon is used (melee weapons when they hit enemies or breakables; bows when strung with arrow), its durability goes down. When it goes low enough, an alert will appear on screen letting you know that it is about to break. Continued usage of an almost broken weapon will cause it to break and shatter.
Thrown weapons will lose durability twice as fast. The blow that will make a melee weapon break will deal critical damage to its target.
Weapon Durability with the Fuse Mechanic
The Fuse mechanic changes things on how durability is applied to the fused weapon. Any compatible weapon can still be fused with another item or weapon regardless of their durability. Once a weapon is fused with another item, it gains additional attack power plus its durability, essentially prolonging the durability of the newly fused weapon.
Fused weapons with partial durability will keep their current durability as the fuse will not replenish their durability points. If the second item/weapon (not on-hand) runs out of durability, it will break first, leaving the first weapon (on-hand) usable until it breaks.
Not all weapons can be fused to one another. Crude materials such as rods, branches, logs, boulders, etc. can be fused together with swords or weapons, but already fused weapons like axes, or items that have been combined using Ultrahand can no longer be used for fusion (stick + axe head). Fused items can only be composed of two basic materials/weapons.
Once a fused weapon has been made, it can still be disassembled through the inventory, but the second fused part will be destroyed.
Fixing Weapons in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
There is a nifty trick that players can do in order to fix weapons back in Breath of the Wild, and this method also works in Tears of the Kingdom, even with fused weapons. This is a great method to do if you have a weapon that you want to keep for as long as possible.
To fix a weapon in Tears of the Kingdom, you will have to find an Octorok which can normally be found in the Eldin Canyon or around the Death Mountain. Once you have spotted one, drop the weapon that you wanted to be fixed within the Octorok’s sucking range. The Octorok will then suck the weapon and spit it out with restored durability, plus it will have an extra buff. There will be sparkles around the Octorok as it chews on the weapon, telling you that the method is working.
This method only works once per Octorok and it refreshes every Blood Moon, but thankfully there are more Octoroks to be found in the area.
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