Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — How Weapon Durability Works in TotK

Wondering how durability works in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? If you played Breath of the Wild, you’ll be familiar with the system at play here. It’s a simple and familiar approach as its predecessor. However, if you’re a newcomer — or want to brush up on the system — our guide below tells you the general ins and outs of how weapon durability works in TotK.

What is Durability in Tears of the Kingdom? Answered

In short, weapon durability is essentially your weapon’s HP. It correlates to how much damage it can deal or take before breaking. While playing through TotK, you’ll come across many different weapons with many different durability values. Some break easier than others.

When a weapon nears its breaking point, a message will appear stating that the weapon currently being used is badly damaged. This message can appear for any weapon, bows, shields, and melee weapons included. From the inventory screen, weak and damaged weapons will flash an orangish-red, indicating that they won’t last much longer.

At the start of the game, most items have a very short lifespan, only lasting a few hits or uses. As you progress across the Sky Islands, higher-level items appear that last substantially longer. However, all weapons have a set durability that decreases as they are used, until they ultimately they break.

Can You Repair Broken Weapons?

Unfortunately, you can’t repair broken weapons. Just like in Breath of the Wild, when an item breaks, it’s gone until you find another.

However, what Tears of the Kingdom does to improve on this comes from the Fuse ability. Using Fuse properly will increase weapon durability as well. For example, fusing a harder material like a diamond to a weapon will substantially increase that weapon’s longevity.

How to Make the Most of Weapon Durability

Unfortunately, weapons break. However, there are ways to use broken weapons to your advantage, such as throwing them to ping enemies. If you throw a melee weapon on the verge of breaking, I found it has the chance to shatter on impact.

I love a good crit, and the best part about the last hit is that it deals 2x the damage of a regular hit or throw. If you really want to make that last hit count, use the Fuse ability to increase the strength with an upgrade.

Another neat trick I’ve found in regard to durability deals with shields. If you parry an attack at the perfect time, the integrity of your shield won’t decrease. Meaning, as long as you perfect parry, shields won’t break.

That explains how weapon durability works in Tears of the Kingdom. Use these tricks to get ahead in a fight even when an item is soon to break. Stay tuned for more tips and guides on Tears of the Kingdom.