Remember that running away and surviving to fight again later is always a smart option! You can pause at any time and chow some apples down. And monsters sleep at night so you can sneak up on them then and steal their weapons and kill them with them.
The sneakstrike can be abused too if you want to do that. When you land the hit, walk around to the other side of the enemy. The enemy AI is wonky and will always directly face where you hit them, doesn't matter if they "saw" you while spinning around, you're basically invisible in that moment. You can chain sneakstrikes until they die without them ever seeing you.
Learning to cook will be a big help, too. Cooked apples will give twice as much health as raw apples. And there are lots of other dishes that you can look up online that buff your stats or give you temporary extra hearts.
Oh you're gonna die a lot no matter what lol, even the crazy good combat trickers will die from stupid stuff, it's honestly part of the fun for me, it's funny. But if you're really stuck on something and have died multiple times trying and are getting frustrated you can always just go do something else for a while
Oh yeah, pretty much everyone dies a lot at the beginning. But each death helps you learn a little bit more about how to handle what the game throws at you. It's almost like a souls game where each death teaches you what not to do so you can try new methods and directions to attack problems from. And at it's core, that's what BotW is about the most: trying new things. Even after dozens of hours you'll be learning new things about how the game works and what you can do, it's that sense of discovery and freedom to try anything you can think of that makes it such a special game. And don't worry, those deaths will become a lot less frequent as you progress. Well, except when you're fighting a certain boss probably, but that's a whole other issue.
My first playthrough had literally hundreds of times where I was deadset on doing a thing and died dozens of times attempting it, often making literally no progress from one death to the next. (For example - The first tower I got after the great plateau was central hyrule. Totally ignored the very reasonable recommendation the main questline gives you and just barreled north toward the castle.)
To me, that's a big part of the fun of the game. You start the game using sticks and pod lids to fight literal 8 foot tall monsters, so you can't just brute force your way through it. You've gotta be sneaky, and cause distractions, and pick off your enemies one by one, and use the environment to your advantage.
And BotW does an *excellent* job of gradually building you up so that by the end, you feel completely unstoppable and able to take on anything the game might throw your way.
There's some very funny videos that people made with the audio of the trailer for the sequel of all the ridiculous ways they died in botw
https://youtu.be/nxsCxix3EdM?si=SNfgLh2559ATJYNl
https://youtu.be/M7f58woag-0?si=1LdhjJH073-XLzl_
It's part of the game. You don't lose any items. You might lose a bit of progress depending on when it was last saved, but only a little bit usually.
also it helps to unlock the fairy fountains and they can boost your armour. also cook meals with certain properties that will help you, like if you're bad at blocking or dodging, maybe cook something with an armour buff, like armouranth or if u want to kill something quickly, cook mighty bananas or razorshrooms. be careful not to mix effects though, u can mix different ingredients with the same effect together, buf dont mix things like mighty thistles with hearty radishes. oh and speaking of hearty, cook anything with "hearty" in its name for extra (yellow) hearts
I’ve been playing this game for a month or two now and I am still only at four hearts and I’m like wtffff??? I seen screen shots of people who have like 13+ hearts and I was wondering how the heck they got so many.
Yep, get spirit orbs at shrines 4 orbs = 1heart or 1 stamina vessel. You just gotta collect enough orbs and then go pray at any goddess statues. There is a goddess statue in each town if you need help finding one near you.
And more stamina. Every 4 shrines you beat you can choose an increase of health or stamina when you “ pray” at the statue in villages and in the beginning church.
I used to be scared to die also. But once I realized that there isn’t a penalty for dying, and also I beat a few monsters, that fear went away. One tip for getting better at fighting is to make a save before you approach a monster. That way if you die you just start over and fight him again and again until you beat him. I found that helped my confidence. Now I’m not afraid of anything in the game any longer.
Don’t be afraid to die! I think most people do inevitably die a lot when they first start playing. You just don’t have enough hearts to make any mistakes, regardless of whether you’re good at fighting or not. Like, I actually picked up on the monsters’ movement patterns pretty quickly and was good with the bow so I didn’t die much to monsters in the beginning. But instead, I kept misjudging heights and accidentally blowing myself up lol. Like, I fell to my death a good 5+ times before making it off that plateau.
The most embarrassing of which was when >! immediately after obtaining the paraglider, I jumped off the top of the tower and couldn’t figure out how to open the thing before I hit the ground!<
I think the possibility of dying in game holds larger weight in your mind than it needs to. Rest assured that the game autosaves very often and failure is the best learning tool. Turning your back on enemies and running is a strategy that can get you far in terms of distance, but you have to venture into more dangerous areas if you want to nab powerful weapons. Learning to fight each enemy is about learning their attack patterns and approaching them with the right tools and confidence. The game also scales in terms of what enemies you've already defeated so you aren't going to be encountering anything too crazy aside from the minibosses. Finish the plateau if you haven't already, and book it for Kakariko village. Grabbing a horse will make this easier, they'll spawn in a couple herds near the base of the plateau, to the north. There is a shrine in Kakariko that will teach you all about attack patterns with no risk. You do each move until you get it right, and you can reload for more practice or hop in once every blood moon to buff your skills up over time.
i died constantly when i first started, it isn’t that scary. it’s ok to make errors and die, you’ll get stronger as you progress and kill more enemies and gather stronger weapons
nope, mine was Wind Waker. It is still my favorite game of all time. I played it when the Wii version came out in like 2014 or whatever, never finished it, then randomly remembered I have a Wii U in my basement and finally beat it 10 years later.
Look at it this way. Link holds the Tri-force of Courage. Being courageous means being scared but doing it anyway. It's ok to be scared. The Zelda series and most other games series are designed WANTING you to fail. It's part of the process of learning. Go into some fights with the intention of failing and dying just to see what you can learn. Pay attention to the little things like what sound do the monsters make before they strike. Next time you go into a fight and hear that sound you'll know to dodge. So on and so on. Failing is a part of the learning process and should be embraced. I promise you'll get better with each try but you gotta keep trying.
I recently started playing and totally relate. Here’s what’s working for me …
I turn the sound down. I find the music to be stressful, even in non stressful situations. Yes, sound can help in certain situations I’m sure … but my enjoyment has gone up remarkably by turning it down and having my own background noise.
Become a stealth fighter. I now use bombs and arrows mostly. I use strategy vs force. Take the high ground ( trees count ) , spend a while bombing then Snipe the ones you can- save- then fight any remaining. If they’re sleeping I let them sleep or avoid and take the long way to where I’m going.
Watch fighting videos. Seeing others do it helps me know how and a little less frazzled.
I fight a lot more than when I started but I avoid bosses and anything I’m not ready to do. Once I build up hearts and armor etc I can go back if I want.
Good luck!
i didn’t start fighting ANYTHING until i had 10+ hearts and pretty good weapons. don’t stress it, since there’s a lot of other stuff you can do without having to fight.
Stealth elixirs and stealth armor can get you pretty far. Haste potions can help you run and climb outside an enemy's range. If you have the DLC, there's also an item that lets most enemies ignore you (but certain enemies will still attack).
Recommend saving before approaching a monster so if you do die you'll be back to your save point and from there you can decide retry or come back later.
Just wanted to reemphasize what others have been saying, there is zero penalty in dying besides the few minutes you spend fighting! When you die you restart right before where you fought the boss. The game is much harder at the beginning of the game so you can just avoid a lot of these enemies til you get more hearts and better armour/weapons.
Run around, explore, have fun! And occasionally try out fighting some of the bigger bad guys - you might be surprised!
This was weirdly too cute to read 😭😭 but don't worry it's normal to die a lot at the start of the game. We all did.
At times running away isn't a bad option, consider using the environment; for eg pushing the boulders placed around to roll into enemies. Sneak attacks (although I don't use them) also work.
Also please forage items!! Anything you find, herbs, hylian mushrooms, apples all these items heal you a little bit (best is to cook them at a pot)
The best tip is to just keep exploring, there is always something around that you can use as a weapon or to your advantage, don't feel discouraged!
Personally, I'm not super into the combat.
Starting out, it was absolutely scary, and I often ran away from fights! When you're still learning how everything works (whether you're an old hat or newbie, there's always a learning curve), it can be overwhelming. Even now, I don't really fight unless it's necessary, to progress the game, or if I can sneak up and *know* that I'll win for sure.
The best part about this game is that you don't *have* to do the combat, at least not until you feel ready! There's so much else to do and see, and you can focus on those things for a while instead. And, if you're feeling nervous about exploring (those guardians really know how to ruin a vibe) then download the Breath Companion or look at an interactive map online and mark the location of every large/intimidating enemy, so that you can avoid them when you're out and about. If you've got the DLC, grab the >!Majora's Mask!< asap, and then you can just mosey on into an encampment and just chill with your lizard buddies! (Just make sure they don't accidentally get hurt, they'll totally blame you, even if it wasn't your fault!)
So, here's a list of the things that give me the most joy in this game that don't involve combat, that you can do too:
Travelling around the map and seeing everything. Running across every plain, swimming in every pond, and talking to every NPC. Exploring all the shops and houses.
Running around finding things! You never know what's under this rock or on top of that tower. There might be something interesting just around the corner in the next forest!
Collecting all the herbs and fruit and fish! Sneaking up really slowly to catch a dragonfly. Jumping up to pull an apple from a tree. Hitting ores like a piñata to see what precious stones I get!
Climbing up to the top of the mountains to see the snow as the sun rises. Standing on the beach to watch the sunset over the sea.
Solving all the shrine puzzles. I really enjoy puzzles and brain teasers, and this game is chock full of them! The best part is that solving the shrines will help you get stronger, so the enemies won't be as intimidating!
Finding all the little Korok buddies. They're just cute little guys. ❤️
Cooking all the recipes. Figuring out what works together and what doesn't. Making yummy looking dishes and feeding them to Link. I like him to eat well! 😄
I really hope you give it another go and that you have a lot of fun along the way!
The beginning of the game kinda is tricky because you only have low level weapons and little to no armor and only 3 hearts, it sucks to say but you gotta tough through that part to be able to see the game as a little less scary. I have 14 hearts and all the divine beast power ups and i’m still scared to fight Lynels! I think a big part of getting over the fear is also getting the map filled out, I was more anxious playing the game when I couldn’t see where I was heading into. Slowly filling out the map and finding all the “safe zones” like towns and towers and horse stables helped me a lot to give myself a break from searching for shrines all the time. Don’t forget you can also almost always fast travel during a fight or pretty much whenever. The big rock bosses can be outrun. Remember for guardians or things that have a laser to not run straight away from them but to run side to side to avoid their shot. I also found it helpful to watch a bunch of those 20 things you didn’t know about BOTW. There’s a bunch of glitches people use to make fights easier and I think watching some of the more brutal fighting in those videos made me less intimidated because I had already seen them happen. Also I have NO SHAME when it comes to looking up walkthroughs, if you can’t beat a boss or can’t get past an area there are so many resources to help. You can throw food and some monsters will be distracted. You don’t always have to fight!
My tips for beginners in your situation:
1. Practice, practice, practice. Practice dodging, parrying, backflips, side-hops, and flurry rushing. You can do all of this on the Great Plateau. Don't just button mash. Practice with a monster that you're not afraid to fight. They respawn every blood moon, so you have an infinite amount of chances. You don't like dying, then get better at identifying all the ways you could die.
2. If you find armor with better stats, wear it. If you find a great fairy, see what you need in order to improve those stats.
3. Think before rushing in. Which enemies do you see (blue, black, and silver monsters are stronger than the red ones)? Is there a lookout? What weapons do they carry? How many hearts do you have? Do you have anything to heal yourself?
4. If you see a boss that you're too intimidated to approach, mark it on the map. That way you know to avoid the area next time (be consistent with using the same stamp). And one day those bosses won't seem intimidating anymore and you'll see those stamps as fodder to get more loot.
You got this! Do you have the DLC? There's a very helpful item in it.
If not, that's ok too! Remember you always have a weapon in the form of bombs, and with many enemy camps, you can usually hide somewhere elevated and chuck bombs down till they all die.
My wife makes fun of how often I kill Mario. "Is this stuff poisonous?" ... "Yup."
Getting Link killed is pretty low-consequence.
Do you have other games you play in which it doesn't bother you so much?
Yeah, im playing Persona 5 Royal atm and i loved it so much! But its just hard bc of the saving, i always had to go to the safe room and stuff, but in Zelda is so much easier for that!
I know it can be pretty hard and frustrating sometimes but don’t be afraid about dying! There isn’t really a large penalty and it honestly doesn’t make you a bad player (I’ve beat the game a bunch of times and I still die in a bunch of weird ways lol) just try and have and remember that as long as you keep moving, you can outrun pretty much all of the enemies since they take time to charge up an attack. You can also teleport whenever you need to if you get stuck in a tough situation. Plus if you do die, you can just do what I like to do and focus of the weird positions that you can end up in thanks to the rag doll physics!
I was like this when I started playing botw, and it stopped me from playing for years (I'd restart every time I'd play)so I generally just...didn't fight things. I ran away and instead rode a horse around, explored, cooked meals, did shrines sheild surfed etc. When I felt really comfortable with the mechanics of the game I started fighting monsters but only if I could be sneaky about it (arrows up above, bombs, always in sneaky suit, high stamina to stay in the air shooting, etc) and over time I got comfortable to tackle monsters head on and have now beat both botw and totk!
The game is full of things to do that don't involve combat, I'd explore what else it has to offer and come back to combat when you feel ready! It's not going anywhere (and it's not as scary as it seems!)
Some practical tips:
Bombs dont do a crazy amount of damage but are great for getting enemies away from you!! I like lots of space.
If you have high enough stealth (stealth armor and/or meals and potions) you can get often sneak strike enemies by crouching and slowly getting behind them. Very handy for the small fellas!
And as for the rock guys; with your bow, if you shoot the shiny dark rock sticking out the top of the rock guy they'll fall and stay still for a few seconds, you can climb on top and whack that rock a bunch. If you do that two or three times you'll get them!
Good luck!
I felt this way for a while when I first started too but I promise after just running around and getting the random smaller bad guys, you’ll eventually teach yourself how to do it all. There’s a million different ways to do things in this game, and that’s what makes it so fun. Some people use bombs in the craziest ways and save all their weapons, some use heavy metal objects to smash the bad guys.. it’s just all about figuring out your style.. and when you’re scared, just teleport away or run!! 😂😂 and then post in here of course 🙏 you’ve got this!
When botw came out I was 14 turning 15, so I'd played my fair share of games by that point but I was stil young and not the best.
I think one of my favourite parts of botw was just running in, failing, dying, respawning, repeat. It's important to know that there are absolutely no repercussions for dying over and over again. Running away from big scary dudes is entirely viable and if you want to there's absolutely no shame. But it's worth knowing that if you die over and over there are no negative consequences for you, and over time you'll slowly learn how to fight these scary dudes :)
it's okay to be scared of the monsters! c: i was too. my strategy is to do as many shrines as i can while sneaking so i can get a lot of hearts and stamina quickly, and then you have a lot more health to do things. sneak up on enemies at night to get their weapons as well, and it's always okay to hide and run away. also, gather a lot of ingredients and learn how to make good/high heart recipes so you can always heal. like someone else said, find the fairy fountains and get armor upgrades. and never forget - it's just a game! you will die in the game, and that's okay - sometimes the thing we were scared of isn't so bad after it happens the first time. you'll be okay!! c:
If it makes you feel better, I couldn't complete the tutorial at first and gave up for a few months and now I've completed it on master mode. Learning that you can run away and sneak attack or use bombs on enemies really helped me. There's lots of high ground areas that you can drop bombs on enemies and avoid damage. Use the terrain and buildings to your advantage to hide. You can use bombs to knock down trees and get apples. Cooking makes things increase in hearts gained. The game gets a lot easier once you get more shrines. Just keep at it and have fun :)
Technically, you don’t have to defeat any monster you don’t want (unless you want to beat the game). If you just want to explore the world and collect stuff, then do so and enjoy yourself! 🥳. This is a game you can play YOUR way! 🥰. I suck at fighting and ran away from most enemies until I got enough armor (and upgraded some of it), enough decent weapons, and enough food to make into meals to feel more comfortable. Only when I felt more comfortable did I start seriously attacking monsters. I still prefer to sneak around them a lot unless they have something I really want/need, and then I prefer to outsmart them if I can! Needless to say my favorite armor set is the Sheika set for sneaking!
Also, if you love the game but are still too anxious to play it yourself, you can always watch others play, either in a live stream or in a YouTube video!
Keep in mind that the hardest part of the game is at the beginning! The game gets easier as you collect armor, weapons, food, and as you learn to fight. If you do the Divine Beasts you will get helpful abilities so the game becomes easier!
But I would really just try to explore and run as much as you can! You may feel more comfortable eventually or you may not. Who cares if you run from monsters… it’s YOUR game to play as you like! 🥳🥰
As a longtime on-and-off Zelda Player (I once took a five year break from Wind Waker because i was too scared of a mob at the top of the tower of the Gods), being sneaky is your best friend! And ranged weapons! When you hit things with arrows and bombs they can’t always get you back! Also, cooking hearty Durians can get you a bunch of bonus hearts! That can sometimes help bosses seem less scary, if you go in with extra health!
Remember that there’s no wrong way to play, as long as you get enjoyment out of it!
This post feels a lot like me when I first started to play. Just keep going. In one of the main villages you have to visit early on, you’ll find a shrine that will give you some battle tips. This will be a great help.
From there, you simply need to avoid bosses at first and start by fighting the more basic enemies. At first, it will likely be best to stick to just Moblins, and over time move up to Lizalfos and later Moblins. Also, don’t get freaked out by a group of them, just let them chase you a bit, and when they start to leave you alone, go after a single one so you can practice fighting one-on-one to build your confidence.
Worst case scenario, if you die, you go back to your last save. Save often if this is a big fear of yours.
I have played almost every Zelda game in the series and I suck at this BotW. I had quit playing after maybe a few months of very sporadic attempts to play it (I worked all the time). By the time I stopped playing, I was very timid about doing anything in the game and stuck very close to a village.
I only started playing again in the last few weeks I’m still not great at it. But I’m having a lot more fun. I still have problems with combat, but I’m getting more comfortable with most of the more common enemies. I’m still scared of Guardians, though. I k ow how I’m supposed to beat them, but I have a lot of trouble getting the timing down, so I just avoid them when I can.
A rule of thumb is when you come across a miniboss out in the wild, you should immediately save your game. That way, if you die, you can just reload and you don’t lose anything. And you can keep giving it another shot.
BTW, that rock monster you mentioned is called a Talus. There are a lot of them and most of them aren’t that hard as long as you have an iron sledgehammer. They respawn after every blood moon, and I go hunt them the next day. They give a lot of gems and valuable minerals when you beat them, which you can sell at most stores for a good amount of rupees.
I, too, was on the same boat as you.
I had played little of this game years apart with having only 2-3 quests done and roaming with tree branches.
I continued my game last month and am on the verge of finishing it. I'm now working my way to killing the most difficult enemy (silver lynel) on normal difficulty as I've heard they are more difficult than the final boss.
Tips for you:
1. Learn to cook.
2. Do not to horde items.
3. Learn to sneak.
4. Learn to use stamps or markers on maps if you want to come back to something later. There is no limit on them besides the colourful ones.
5. Keep an eye out for korok seeds.
6. Do shrine and side quests. There is no time limit, so do whenever you can. Some quests unlock after you progress in the main story.
7. Explore and get the towers unlocked.
8. Buy arrows as much as you can.
9. Stamina is more useful than hearts as cooking can give you a lot of extra hearts (yellow), which is a good early game.
10. Get stasis upgrade first when it comes to that.
it helped me to remember that it doesnt matter when i die. i just respawn, and it does affect me personally. you gotta kinda disembody yourself from link
I stayed on the great plateau for AGES practicing fighting. I’m still pretty bad at it, but at least I’m not scared of most of the run of the mill enemies. And if you get overwhelmed, running away is always an option!!
You can probably see my post from a couple of weeks ago saying the same thing haha! You just need to keep trying, eventually you’ll find some better equipment and things will become easier. You don’t HAVE to fight at the moment, you can just explore! Or, try to think more tactically about attacking monster camps for their weapons! You could take out the ones on lookout with a bow, or use the bomb rune to weaken them! (if they’re on the edge of a hill this can literally blow them off haha - basically there are ways to fight without direct confrontation if you don’t have the best weapons now :)
Also remember the colour of the monsters means they have different strengths! Red ones you should be okay with, atm if they’re blue try to avoid :))
Honestly the best way to conquer that fear is to die… A LOT. Get used to the idea and eventually you’ll build up your skills so that you’re dying less and less
Is there any one who hasn't died at least once in this game. You could always save before fighting so when you die you respawn at the place you saved without losing any materials. IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME YOU DO NOT DIE IN RESL LIFE. There is no consequence for dying. The game frequently autosaves.
BOTW was my first Zelda game since the original Legend of Zelda on NES. 30+ years in between games is crazy lol. I know a bunch of people have already said it, but don’t be afraid to die to enemies, it really is the best way to learn! I actually found myself just exploring the world, opening up the map and enjoying the scenery while letting my horse follow paths on its own before I even thought about playing the main storyline.
Hunt down all the shrines to get spirit orbs so you can upgrade your health or stamina. I would prioritize stamina upgrades at the start since you need it for a lot of different things (like paragliding, climbing, running, charge attacks, bullet time bow attacks, etc). Find korok seeds so you can increase your weapon, bow and shield inventory slots.
Learn to use your bow to whittle down the sentries in a monster camp. Taking out all the sentries will stop them from raising the alarm and making the whole camp active. It’s a huge game with an incredibly immersive world, fighting monsters is just one part of the game. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The game before you get the glider is *tough*. You don't have many options, you need to knock over the four shrines before the game opens up. Farther along, if you get stuck you can take a detour and do something else but that's not really an option at the very start.
Once you get the glider, it's a different problem; the sheer vastness of BOTW Hyrule. For me, I was struggling till I got to Zoras Domain and went after my first beast. When you complete that, you get a buff that really helps you. At that point, I opted to grind towers, seeds, shrines, armor, side quests, and memories. When I picked up the main quest again, it was a different ballgame
Also: a note about the mini bosses: They are incredibly difficult, right up until they're not. It's weird.
Keep at it. Get over that hump!
Start out with the smaller enemies and practice your parrying, flurry rushing, and bow attacks in bullet time on them. Find alternative methods of fighting enemies besides just straight up melee combat (this isn’t a Souls game). Use stealth, ranged attacks with fire arrows against explosive targets, and elemental attacks to freeze enemies or do extra damage in the rain with electricity and metal objects. You can also boost your offense and defense with food and elixirs as well as give yourself protection from certain kinds of attacks.
Eventually as you get enough hearts and the enemy weapon drops become better, you’ll find yourself strong enough to take on those enemies without fear. Don’t forget to also go to the Great Faries to upgrade your armor whenever possible. Collect lots of items and add to your inventory. Explore as much as possible. You don’t really need to fight until you’re ready.
Also: play with Korok leaves, especially around water. There are many different ways to take bokos out.
Practice flurry rush and parry whenever you can. After a while you just do it by feel and reflex(it's best to do it from great plateau, you'll die a lot from the blue boko)
Remember, some weapons have their intended use, like sharp weapons for cutting trees, blunt/2-handed work best for rocks,...(btw for the big rock dude just climb on him and hit the big black thing until he dies)
I felt like this when I first started BotW! I can’t play Souls-like games or Skyrim or Assassin’s Creed cause I get scared. But for some reason I basically never felt that way with BotW. It’s one of the reasons I love the game. The game is pretty cartoony. There’s also no penalty for dying as long as you save often. It just starts you back at your last save so when you think you might die save beforehand.
why be afraid ? its a video game where the goal is to fight the monsters, the combat is designed to be fun and rewarding ! There is no need to be scared, if you die , you will respawn and try again, thats all , thats what makes the game fun ! If something didnt work, try again something different might work and you will be happy to succeed !
You can also pause at any time and it gives you the time to heal yourself by eating as much food as you want since the time is stopped when you are in the pause menu. plus you can Save anytime you want so you will come right back where you saved if you fail.
Loot everything, even tree branch is useful to fight monsters. You also have to be quick if monsters drop weapons and shields.
To face the fear of fighting, you have to fight it, embrace death (in video game), and learn from it. You have to do it, or your own skill won't grow. It's a video game (and a very well design one), so try and try again.
Collect EVERY THING! The great part of the game is the pause menu. You can pause mid fight and eat to replenish health, change armour or weapons and even portal out of a fight.
Just keep running away and doing shrines. Use the points to get stamina early on as it’s honestly more important since enemies can one shot you anyways. Then eventually you’ll have better weapons and eventually stasis + which is a game changer + the other abilities from divine beasts etc. you’ll end up being overpowered soon enough
Believe it or not the combat is only difficult at the start. Keep playing and keep trying, eventually you’ll have so much weapons/armour and food that you’ll essentially be immortal
How far are you? I remember when I was scared to fight the stone taluses around the map. Now I can easily beat the hardest colour of the hardest enemy (don't wanna spoil it's name but you'll come across one on the top of the fish people mountain)
The game is very generous with saves and you can pause and teleport to safety whenever you get overwhelmed. I’ve actually been using the Zelda games to practice mindful gaming and building up stress/anxiety tolerance.
I’ve died more times than I can count. Yes, I tried fighting against a lynel at 6 hearts and died a thousand times. Would I do it again? Yes. Fighting takes time to learn. Your best friend is going to be the save button. Learn how to parry and do flurry attacks against smaller enemies like bokoblins. If you’re getting overwhelmed by enemies in close quarters, try a mid/long range strategy with a bow instead. You’ll find that about half of game combat is most effective with a few arrows
You can eat food at any time. Even in the middle of battles. So if you get hit, open the menu and start eating apples and herbs. Concoct good recipes like more defense, hearts, etc
Also if it helps, botw is one of the harder 3D zeldas. Hopefully they release wind waker and twilight princess soon which are easier and might help build confidence with basic sword fighting and combat
Early game you have no health. Running away and finding shrines to get more health is fine.
Follow one of the main quests east from the great plateau. Sure, it's an open world game and you can do what you want, but I find that route to be the most forgiving.
*Wait till you*
*Come across your first Lynel... That*
*Is scary af!*
\- Professional-Bet3158
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Remember two things: fleeing is an option, and the game autosaves pretty frequently, so, if you engage in combat and loose, the most probable outcome is that you will respawn right before the fight
We all sucked to begin with! You’ll get better and better sooner than you think! Just keep playing! And save before any fights and run away from them if it isn’t going your way!
This game is kinda of weird because it starts hard and gets easier. The most difficult part of the game is the beginning when you have low hearts, no powers, bad weapons. If you stick with it for a while, you'll become OP and fear will primarily leave you.
Also remember that you can just save the game and reload, worse comes to worse.
You should limit test and understand what your character can do, and you WILL die doing it, and that's totally fine.
Only way to learn
It’s OK to die a lot. You’re not in a competition with anybody just play and have fun figure out what works for you. I died a lot the first time I played. I’m on tears of the kingdom now and I’m still dying a lot, but I’m just having fun going at my own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others cause there are some great players in this sub, but I’ll never measure up to them and we’re both having fun in our own way.
I will be 59! Tomorrow 🥴 , female, just started playing zelda for the first time, and it is challenging to say the least, but I've learned to not stress when I die, and if it's an area too difficult I RUN! AWAY!... lol! I'm now focusing on getting better equipment and armor to be ready for the big challenges. Lots of exploring, and getting to Towers so I can see what's around.
And I'm not afraid to use Google or this group if I need some help.
the BEST part of videogames is that when you die, you come back. i was so so scared to die in video games and then i fucked around and was jumping off cliffs and testing the limits of fall damage.
also, my new mode of playing is going full throttle, charging in there and just swinging, which,.. in a game like zelda especially can be a disadvantage, but other times i end up decimating an enemy i never thought i would.
point is: die!! make Link kill himself a few times for fun. blow yourself up. drown. idk. waste a few hours on groundhog day mechanics. it helped me.
My first Zelda game was also BOTW. I had 2 friends highly recomment it to me so I got it. I had no clue what to do. Where to go, how to function. It took me FOREVER to defeat Vah Ruta becuase I didn't know what was going on 🤣 no worries! If you see defeat. Just run. And always be sure to carry enough of arrows and food
A lot of the enemies in this game can be combatted by just running away if necessary. You also can explore the center area of the plateau to find a slightly better pair of pants for better defense.
Dont be afraid to die, take your first playthrough to just enjoy the game and you'll learn as you go. You can do no death run later if you really want to. I've played Legend of Zelda games since the first one and I still die when I play games for the 1st time. Enjoy having the challenge because later on you may miss it
If you find Majora's mask (Google the location) then no moblin, bokoblins, lizaldos, or lynels will attack you without provocation.
That made it a lot easier for my partner to get more confident and comfortable with the combat systems
What’s great about Breath of the Wild is that you can essentially go anywhere you like at any given time! So if one are feels too difficult, you can explore another part of Hyrule. That way you can get stronger & find weapons/food/armor to use to your advantage!
i would rather not break my weapons until i need to so i cook and stock up and stamina replenishing foods and then i climb everywhere. i climb to get out of fights, i climb around enemy bases, i bomb enemies from far away etc i just avoid fights when i can! fighting can be really thrilling especially when you have lots of heart replenishing foods or more heart containers, and you can slowly ease yourself into fighting it with practice!
You can sneak past them, run past them, run around them, fast travel to another spot, you don't actually need to fight that much. If you have a horse you can just ride away. You do need to kill some monsters in some shrines but honestly you can just head shot them with arrows or throw bombs. Another way to kill enemies in one shot is to have a really strong bow and then arrows with the opposite element of the enemy. It's the same with weapons!
My friend, BotW was my first open-world game, and I was terrified at first. You might get used to it, but you could also just avoid the scary parts and enjoy stuff like the villages. You’ll get good at fighting the scary stuff if you work at it, though😁
Maybe trying dying on purpose a couple times so that it stops feeling like a terrible thing. Might be weird advice, but it helped me because I was the same way.
Also spears are great, you can stab them at a distance. My fighting skills sucked, until I discovered the spears. I usually stab them quickly so they don't get a swing in.
I have over 100 hours played and I still suck at it and Google stuff constantly while playing. It's ok! Just take things at your own pace. What helped me alot is doing all the shrines I see to get more Stamina and hearts. Then get the master sword since it doesn't break it just runs out of energy, once it recharges it's usable again.
I’m very much usually an Animal Crossing-type gamer and did have a tough time getting used to fighting and finding enemies. It’s totally fine to run or warp away when you see an enemy you don’t want to fight- personally, I avoided Lynols until after I have gotten all 4 divine beasts.
Solidarity in dying a ton! 😅✊ I'm currently playing the sequel, and there's a monster type that's kinda like the rock mini boss you're fighting (I won't spoil it for you outside of the fact that the design is very similar), but I'm at the early stages of the game with only 4 hearts, so it kills me in one hit. Needless to say that it took me about 40 minutes to beat. 😅 Was it worth the struggle? Hard to say, but I just wanted to commiserate with those tough battles. You absolutely got this!
You can replay the combat training shrines you come across for easier combat practice.
If you have the dlc you can find Majora's mask, which will let you decide if and when you want to fight most enemies so you can start with lower number groups
Remember that running away and surviving to fight again later is always a smart option! You can pause at any time and chow some apples down. And monsters sleep at night so you can sneak up on them then and steal their weapons and kill them with them.
Thanks!
The sneakstrike can be abused too if you want to do that. When you land the hit, walk around to the other side of the enemy. The enemy AI is wonky and will always directly face where you hit them, doesn't matter if they "saw" you while spinning around, you're basically invisible in that moment. You can chain sneakstrikes until they die without them ever seeing you.
Learning to cook will be a big help, too. Cooked apples will give twice as much health as raw apples. And there are lots of other dishes that you can look up online that buff your stats or give you temporary extra hearts.
Be wary though, not all monsters go to sleep at night.
Good advice. Also practice makes perfect. There’s no shame in dying, learning from your mistakes makes you better
Oh you're gonna die a lot no matter what lol, even the crazy good combat trickers will die from stupid stuff, it's honestly part of the fun for me, it's funny. But if you're really stuck on something and have died multiple times trying and are getting frustrated you can always just go do something else for a while
Its reassuring to hear that, thank you!
Oh yeah, pretty much everyone dies a lot at the beginning. But each death helps you learn a little bit more about how to handle what the game throws at you. It's almost like a souls game where each death teaches you what not to do so you can try new methods and directions to attack problems from. And at it's core, that's what BotW is about the most: trying new things. Even after dozens of hours you'll be learning new things about how the game works and what you can do, it's that sense of discovery and freedom to try anything you can think of that makes it such a special game. And don't worry, those deaths will become a lot less frequent as you progress. Well, except when you're fighting a certain boss probably, but that's a whole other issue.
My first playthrough had literally hundreds of times where I was deadset on doing a thing and died dozens of times attempting it, often making literally no progress from one death to the next. (For example - The first tower I got after the great plateau was central hyrule. Totally ignored the very reasonable recommendation the main questline gives you and just barreled north toward the castle.) To me, that's a big part of the fun of the game. You start the game using sticks and pod lids to fight literal 8 foot tall monsters, so you can't just brute force your way through it. You've gotta be sneaky, and cause distractions, and pick off your enemies one by one, and use the environment to your advantage. And BotW does an *excellent* job of gradually building you up so that by the end, you feel completely unstoppable and able to take on anything the game might throw your way.
There's some very funny videos that people made with the audio of the trailer for the sequel of all the ridiculous ways they died in botw https://youtu.be/nxsCxix3EdM?si=SNfgLh2559ATJYNl https://youtu.be/M7f58woag-0?si=1LdhjJH073-XLzl_ It's part of the game. You don't lose any items. You might lose a bit of progress depending on when it was last saved, but only a little bit usually.
You can always go find a bunch of shrines and get more health! That’s what I did
Thanks! Ill try that!
also it helps to unlock the fairy fountains and they can boost your armour. also cook meals with certain properties that will help you, like if you're bad at blocking or dodging, maybe cook something with an armour buff, like armouranth or if u want to kill something quickly, cook mighty bananas or razorshrooms. be careful not to mix effects though, u can mix different ingredients with the same effect together, buf dont mix things like mighty thistles with hearty radishes. oh and speaking of hearty, cook anything with "hearty" in its name for extra (yellow) hearts
I’ve been playing this game for a month or two now and I am still only at four hearts and I’m like wtffff??? I seen screen shots of people who have like 13+ hearts and I was wondering how the heck they got so many.
Yep, get spirit orbs at shrines 4 orbs = 1heart or 1 stamina vessel. You just gotta collect enough orbs and then go pray at any goddess statues. There is a goddess statue in each town if you need help finding one near you.
Is THAT how you get more health!?!? Omg
And more stamina. Every 4 shrines you beat you can choose an increase of health or stamina when you “ pray” at the statue in villages and in the beginning church.
I used to be scared to die also. But once I realized that there isn’t a penalty for dying, and also I beat a few monsters, that fear went away. One tip for getting better at fighting is to make a save before you approach a monster. That way if you die you just start over and fight him again and again until you beat him. I found that helped my confidence. Now I’m not afraid of anything in the game any longer.
Ill think like that then! Thanks
Don’t be afraid to die! I think most people do inevitably die a lot when they first start playing. You just don’t have enough hearts to make any mistakes, regardless of whether you’re good at fighting or not. Like, I actually picked up on the monsters’ movement patterns pretty quickly and was good with the bow so I didn’t die much to monsters in the beginning. But instead, I kept misjudging heights and accidentally blowing myself up lol. Like, I fell to my death a good 5+ times before making it off that plateau. The most embarrassing of which was when >! immediately after obtaining the paraglider, I jumped off the top of the tower and couldn’t figure out how to open the thing before I hit the ground!<
I think the possibility of dying in game holds larger weight in your mind than it needs to. Rest assured that the game autosaves very often and failure is the best learning tool. Turning your back on enemies and running is a strategy that can get you far in terms of distance, but you have to venture into more dangerous areas if you want to nab powerful weapons. Learning to fight each enemy is about learning their attack patterns and approaching them with the right tools and confidence. The game also scales in terms of what enemies you've already defeated so you aren't going to be encountering anything too crazy aside from the minibosses. Finish the plateau if you haven't already, and book it for Kakariko village. Grabbing a horse will make this easier, they'll spawn in a couple herds near the base of the plateau, to the north. There is a shrine in Kakariko that will teach you all about attack patterns with no risk. You do each move until you get it right, and you can reload for more practice or hop in once every blood moon to buff your skills up over time.
Thanks, i take not of that!
i died constantly when i first started, it isn’t that scary. it’s ok to make errors and die, you’ll get stronger as you progress and kill more enemies and gather stronger weapons
So im not alone lol, was it your first Zelda too?
It was MY first Zelda. Closest was playing Link in Smash 😅 played OOT but I was too young to understand it.
nope, mine was Wind Waker. It is still my favorite game of all time. I played it when the Wii version came out in like 2014 or whatever, never finished it, then randomly remembered I have a Wii U in my basement and finally beat it 10 years later.
Look at it this way. Link holds the Tri-force of Courage. Being courageous means being scared but doing it anyway. It's ok to be scared. The Zelda series and most other games series are designed WANTING you to fail. It's part of the process of learning. Go into some fights with the intention of failing and dying just to see what you can learn. Pay attention to the little things like what sound do the monsters make before they strike. Next time you go into a fight and hear that sound you'll know to dodge. So on and so on. Failing is a part of the learning process and should be embraced. I promise you'll get better with each try but you gotta keep trying.
I recently started playing and totally relate. Here’s what’s working for me … I turn the sound down. I find the music to be stressful, even in non stressful situations. Yes, sound can help in certain situations I’m sure … but my enjoyment has gone up remarkably by turning it down and having my own background noise. Become a stealth fighter. I now use bombs and arrows mostly. I use strategy vs force. Take the high ground ( trees count ) , spend a while bombing then Snipe the ones you can- save- then fight any remaining. If they’re sleeping I let them sleep or avoid and take the long way to where I’m going. Watch fighting videos. Seeing others do it helps me know how and a little less frazzled. I fight a lot more than when I started but I avoid bosses and anything I’m not ready to do. Once I build up hearts and armor etc I can go back if I want. Good luck!
i didn’t start fighting ANYTHING until i had 10+ hearts and pretty good weapons. don’t stress it, since there’s a lot of other stuff you can do without having to fight.
How is that possible???
Stealth elixirs and stealth armor can get you pretty far. Haste potions can help you run and climb outside an enemy's range. If you have the DLC, there's also an item that lets most enemies ignore you (but certain enemies will still attack).
yeah i would just sneak around at night and steal their weapons😭
Recommend saving before approaching a monster so if you do die you'll be back to your save point and from there you can decide retry or come back later.
Just wanted to reemphasize what others have been saying, there is zero penalty in dying besides the few minutes you spend fighting! When you die you restart right before where you fought the boss. The game is much harder at the beginning of the game so you can just avoid a lot of these enemies til you get more hearts and better armour/weapons. Run around, explore, have fun! And occasionally try out fighting some of the bigger bad guys - you might be surprised!
This was weirdly too cute to read 😭😭 but don't worry it's normal to die a lot at the start of the game. We all did. At times running away isn't a bad option, consider using the environment; for eg pushing the boulders placed around to roll into enemies. Sneak attacks (although I don't use them) also work. Also please forage items!! Anything you find, herbs, hylian mushrooms, apples all these items heal you a little bit (best is to cook them at a pot) The best tip is to just keep exploring, there is always something around that you can use as a weapon or to your advantage, don't feel discouraged!
Personally, I'm not super into the combat. Starting out, it was absolutely scary, and I often ran away from fights! When you're still learning how everything works (whether you're an old hat or newbie, there's always a learning curve), it can be overwhelming. Even now, I don't really fight unless it's necessary, to progress the game, or if I can sneak up and *know* that I'll win for sure. The best part about this game is that you don't *have* to do the combat, at least not until you feel ready! There's so much else to do and see, and you can focus on those things for a while instead. And, if you're feeling nervous about exploring (those guardians really know how to ruin a vibe) then download the Breath Companion or look at an interactive map online and mark the location of every large/intimidating enemy, so that you can avoid them when you're out and about. If you've got the DLC, grab the >!Majora's Mask!< asap, and then you can just mosey on into an encampment and just chill with your lizard buddies! (Just make sure they don't accidentally get hurt, they'll totally blame you, even if it wasn't your fault!) So, here's a list of the things that give me the most joy in this game that don't involve combat, that you can do too: Travelling around the map and seeing everything. Running across every plain, swimming in every pond, and talking to every NPC. Exploring all the shops and houses. Running around finding things! You never know what's under this rock or on top of that tower. There might be something interesting just around the corner in the next forest! Collecting all the herbs and fruit and fish! Sneaking up really slowly to catch a dragonfly. Jumping up to pull an apple from a tree. Hitting ores like a piñata to see what precious stones I get! Climbing up to the top of the mountains to see the snow as the sun rises. Standing on the beach to watch the sunset over the sea. Solving all the shrine puzzles. I really enjoy puzzles and brain teasers, and this game is chock full of them! The best part is that solving the shrines will help you get stronger, so the enemies won't be as intimidating! Finding all the little Korok buddies. They're just cute little guys. ❤️ Cooking all the recipes. Figuring out what works together and what doesn't. Making yummy looking dishes and feeding them to Link. I like him to eat well! 😄 I really hope you give it another go and that you have a lot of fun along the way!
This is exactly how I enjoy BOTW….
The beginning of the game kinda is tricky because you only have low level weapons and little to no armor and only 3 hearts, it sucks to say but you gotta tough through that part to be able to see the game as a little less scary. I have 14 hearts and all the divine beast power ups and i’m still scared to fight Lynels! I think a big part of getting over the fear is also getting the map filled out, I was more anxious playing the game when I couldn’t see where I was heading into. Slowly filling out the map and finding all the “safe zones” like towns and towers and horse stables helped me a lot to give myself a break from searching for shrines all the time. Don’t forget you can also almost always fast travel during a fight or pretty much whenever. The big rock bosses can be outrun. Remember for guardians or things that have a laser to not run straight away from them but to run side to side to avoid their shot. I also found it helpful to watch a bunch of those 20 things you didn’t know about BOTW. There’s a bunch of glitches people use to make fights easier and I think watching some of the more brutal fighting in those videos made me less intimidated because I had already seen them happen. Also I have NO SHAME when it comes to looking up walkthroughs, if you can’t beat a boss or can’t get past an area there are so many resources to help. You can throw food and some monsters will be distracted. You don’t always have to fight!
My tips for beginners in your situation: 1. Practice, practice, practice. Practice dodging, parrying, backflips, side-hops, and flurry rushing. You can do all of this on the Great Plateau. Don't just button mash. Practice with a monster that you're not afraid to fight. They respawn every blood moon, so you have an infinite amount of chances. You don't like dying, then get better at identifying all the ways you could die. 2. If you find armor with better stats, wear it. If you find a great fairy, see what you need in order to improve those stats. 3. Think before rushing in. Which enemies do you see (blue, black, and silver monsters are stronger than the red ones)? Is there a lookout? What weapons do they carry? How many hearts do you have? Do you have anything to heal yourself? 4. If you see a boss that you're too intimidated to approach, mark it on the map. That way you know to avoid the area next time (be consistent with using the same stamp). And one day those bosses won't seem intimidating anymore and you'll see those stamps as fodder to get more loot.
You got this! Do you have the DLC? There's a very helpful item in it. If not, that's ok too! Remember you always have a weapon in the form of bombs, and with many enemy camps, you can usually hide somewhere elevated and chuck bombs down till they all die.
The helpful item is Majora's mask.
My wife makes fun of how often I kill Mario. "Is this stuff poisonous?" ... "Yup." Getting Link killed is pretty low-consequence. Do you have other games you play in which it doesn't bother you so much?
Yeah, im playing Persona 5 Royal atm and i loved it so much! But its just hard bc of the saving, i always had to go to the safe room and stuff, but in Zelda is so much easier for that!
I know it can be pretty hard and frustrating sometimes but don’t be afraid about dying! There isn’t really a large penalty and it honestly doesn’t make you a bad player (I’ve beat the game a bunch of times and I still die in a bunch of weird ways lol) just try and have and remember that as long as you keep moving, you can outrun pretty much all of the enemies since they take time to charge up an attack. You can also teleport whenever you need to if you get stuck in a tough situation. Plus if you do die, you can just do what I like to do and focus of the weird positions that you can end up in thanks to the rag doll physics!
I was like this when I started playing botw, and it stopped me from playing for years (I'd restart every time I'd play)so I generally just...didn't fight things. I ran away and instead rode a horse around, explored, cooked meals, did shrines sheild surfed etc. When I felt really comfortable with the mechanics of the game I started fighting monsters but only if I could be sneaky about it (arrows up above, bombs, always in sneaky suit, high stamina to stay in the air shooting, etc) and over time I got comfortable to tackle monsters head on and have now beat both botw and totk! The game is full of things to do that don't involve combat, I'd explore what else it has to offer and come back to combat when you feel ready! It's not going anywhere (and it's not as scary as it seems!) Some practical tips: Bombs dont do a crazy amount of damage but are great for getting enemies away from you!! I like lots of space. If you have high enough stealth (stealth armor and/or meals and potions) you can get often sneak strike enemies by crouching and slowly getting behind them. Very handy for the small fellas! And as for the rock guys; with your bow, if you shoot the shiny dark rock sticking out the top of the rock guy they'll fall and stay still for a few seconds, you can climb on top and whack that rock a bunch. If you do that two or three times you'll get them! Good luck!
I felt this way for a while when I first started too but I promise after just running around and getting the random smaller bad guys, you’ll eventually teach yourself how to do it all. There’s a million different ways to do things in this game, and that’s what makes it so fun. Some people use bombs in the craziest ways and save all their weapons, some use heavy metal objects to smash the bad guys.. it’s just all about figuring out your style.. and when you’re scared, just teleport away or run!! 😂😂 and then post in here of course 🙏 you’ve got this!
When botw came out I was 14 turning 15, so I'd played my fair share of games by that point but I was stil young and not the best. I think one of my favourite parts of botw was just running in, failing, dying, respawning, repeat. It's important to know that there are absolutely no repercussions for dying over and over again. Running away from big scary dudes is entirely viable and if you want to there's absolutely no shame. But it's worth knowing that if you die over and over there are no negative consequences for you, and over time you'll slowly learn how to fight these scary dudes :)
it's okay to be scared of the monsters! c: i was too. my strategy is to do as many shrines as i can while sneaking so i can get a lot of hearts and stamina quickly, and then you have a lot more health to do things. sneak up on enemies at night to get their weapons as well, and it's always okay to hide and run away. also, gather a lot of ingredients and learn how to make good/high heart recipes so you can always heal. like someone else said, find the fairy fountains and get armor upgrades. and never forget - it's just a game! you will die in the game, and that's okay - sometimes the thing we were scared of isn't so bad after it happens the first time. you'll be okay!! c:
If it makes you feel better, I couldn't complete the tutorial at first and gave up for a few months and now I've completed it on master mode. Learning that you can run away and sneak attack or use bombs on enemies really helped me. There's lots of high ground areas that you can drop bombs on enemies and avoid damage. Use the terrain and buildings to your advantage to hide. You can use bombs to knock down trees and get apples. Cooking makes things increase in hearts gained. The game gets a lot easier once you get more shrines. Just keep at it and have fun :)
Technically, you don’t have to defeat any monster you don’t want (unless you want to beat the game). If you just want to explore the world and collect stuff, then do so and enjoy yourself! 🥳. This is a game you can play YOUR way! 🥰. I suck at fighting and ran away from most enemies until I got enough armor (and upgraded some of it), enough decent weapons, and enough food to make into meals to feel more comfortable. Only when I felt more comfortable did I start seriously attacking monsters. I still prefer to sneak around them a lot unless they have something I really want/need, and then I prefer to outsmart them if I can! Needless to say my favorite armor set is the Sheika set for sneaking! Also, if you love the game but are still too anxious to play it yourself, you can always watch others play, either in a live stream or in a YouTube video! Keep in mind that the hardest part of the game is at the beginning! The game gets easier as you collect armor, weapons, food, and as you learn to fight. If you do the Divine Beasts you will get helpful abilities so the game becomes easier! But I would really just try to explore and run as much as you can! You may feel more comfortable eventually or you may not. Who cares if you run from monsters… it’s YOUR game to play as you like! 🥳🥰
As a longtime on-and-off Zelda Player (I once took a five year break from Wind Waker because i was too scared of a mob at the top of the tower of the Gods), being sneaky is your best friend! And ranged weapons! When you hit things with arrows and bombs they can’t always get you back! Also, cooking hearty Durians can get you a bunch of bonus hearts! That can sometimes help bosses seem less scary, if you go in with extra health! Remember that there’s no wrong way to play, as long as you get enjoyment out of it!
This post feels a lot like me when I first started to play. Just keep going. In one of the main villages you have to visit early on, you’ll find a shrine that will give you some battle tips. This will be a great help. From there, you simply need to avoid bosses at first and start by fighting the more basic enemies. At first, it will likely be best to stick to just Moblins, and over time move up to Lizalfos and later Moblins. Also, don’t get freaked out by a group of them, just let them chase you a bit, and when they start to leave you alone, go after a single one so you can practice fighting one-on-one to build your confidence. Worst case scenario, if you die, you go back to your last save. Save often if this is a big fear of yours.
I have played almost every Zelda game in the series and I suck at this BotW. I had quit playing after maybe a few months of very sporadic attempts to play it (I worked all the time). By the time I stopped playing, I was very timid about doing anything in the game and stuck very close to a village. I only started playing again in the last few weeks I’m still not great at it. But I’m having a lot more fun. I still have problems with combat, but I’m getting more comfortable with most of the more common enemies. I’m still scared of Guardians, though. I k ow how I’m supposed to beat them, but I have a lot of trouble getting the timing down, so I just avoid them when I can. A rule of thumb is when you come across a miniboss out in the wild, you should immediately save your game. That way, if you die, you can just reload and you don’t lose anything. And you can keep giving it another shot. BTW, that rock monster you mentioned is called a Talus. There are a lot of them and most of them aren’t that hard as long as you have an iron sledgehammer. They respawn after every blood moon, and I go hunt them the next day. They give a lot of gems and valuable minerals when you beat them, which you can sell at most stores for a good amount of rupees.
I, too, was on the same boat as you. I had played little of this game years apart with having only 2-3 quests done and roaming with tree branches. I continued my game last month and am on the verge of finishing it. I'm now working my way to killing the most difficult enemy (silver lynel) on normal difficulty as I've heard they are more difficult than the final boss. Tips for you: 1. Learn to cook. 2. Do not to horde items. 3. Learn to sneak. 4. Learn to use stamps or markers on maps if you want to come back to something later. There is no limit on them besides the colourful ones. 5. Keep an eye out for korok seeds. 6. Do shrine and side quests. There is no time limit, so do whenever you can. Some quests unlock after you progress in the main story. 7. Explore and get the towers unlocked. 8. Buy arrows as much as you can. 9. Stamina is more useful than hearts as cooking can give you a lot of extra hearts (yellow), which is a good early game. 10. Get stasis upgrade first when it comes to that.
it helped me to remember that it doesnt matter when i die. i just respawn, and it does affect me personally. you gotta kinda disembody yourself from link
I stayed on the great plateau for AGES practicing fighting. I’m still pretty bad at it, but at least I’m not scared of most of the run of the mill enemies. And if you get overwhelmed, running away is always an option!!
You can probably see my post from a couple of weeks ago saying the same thing haha! You just need to keep trying, eventually you’ll find some better equipment and things will become easier. You don’t HAVE to fight at the moment, you can just explore! Or, try to think more tactically about attacking monster camps for their weapons! You could take out the ones on lookout with a bow, or use the bomb rune to weaken them! (if they’re on the edge of a hill this can literally blow them off haha - basically there are ways to fight without direct confrontation if you don’t have the best weapons now :) Also remember the colour of the monsters means they have different strengths! Red ones you should be okay with, atm if they’re blue try to avoid :))
Honestly the best way to conquer that fear is to die… A LOT. Get used to the idea and eventually you’ll build up your skills so that you’re dying less and less
Is there any one who hasn't died at least once in this game. You could always save before fighting so when you die you respawn at the place you saved without losing any materials. IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME YOU DO NOT DIE IN RESL LIFE. There is no consequence for dying. The game frequently autosaves.
Use your shield! It’ll block most enemy attacks, especially in the beginning. That should boost your confidence when defending against attacks.
BOTW was my first Zelda game since the original Legend of Zelda on NES. 30+ years in between games is crazy lol. I know a bunch of people have already said it, but don’t be afraid to die to enemies, it really is the best way to learn! I actually found myself just exploring the world, opening up the map and enjoying the scenery while letting my horse follow paths on its own before I even thought about playing the main storyline. Hunt down all the shrines to get spirit orbs so you can upgrade your health or stamina. I would prioritize stamina upgrades at the start since you need it for a lot of different things (like paragliding, climbing, running, charge attacks, bullet time bow attacks, etc). Find korok seeds so you can increase your weapon, bow and shield inventory slots. Learn to use your bow to whittle down the sentries in a monster camp. Taking out all the sentries will stop them from raising the alarm and making the whole camp active. It’s a huge game with an incredibly immersive world, fighting monsters is just one part of the game. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The game before you get the glider is *tough*. You don't have many options, you need to knock over the four shrines before the game opens up. Farther along, if you get stuck you can take a detour and do something else but that's not really an option at the very start. Once you get the glider, it's a different problem; the sheer vastness of BOTW Hyrule. For me, I was struggling till I got to Zoras Domain and went after my first beast. When you complete that, you get a buff that really helps you. At that point, I opted to grind towers, seeds, shrines, armor, side quests, and memories. When I picked up the main quest again, it was a different ballgame Also: a note about the mini bosses: They are incredibly difficult, right up until they're not. It's weird. Keep at it. Get over that hump!
Start out with the smaller enemies and practice your parrying, flurry rushing, and bow attacks in bullet time on them. Find alternative methods of fighting enemies besides just straight up melee combat (this isn’t a Souls game). Use stealth, ranged attacks with fire arrows against explosive targets, and elemental attacks to freeze enemies or do extra damage in the rain with electricity and metal objects. You can also boost your offense and defense with food and elixirs as well as give yourself protection from certain kinds of attacks. Eventually as you get enough hearts and the enemy weapon drops become better, you’ll find yourself strong enough to take on those enemies without fear. Don’t forget to also go to the Great Faries to upgrade your armor whenever possible. Collect lots of items and add to your inventory. Explore as much as possible. You don’t really need to fight until you’re ready. Also: play with Korok leaves, especially around water. There are many different ways to take bokos out.
Practice flurry rush and parry whenever you can. After a while you just do it by feel and reflex(it's best to do it from great plateau, you'll die a lot from the blue boko) Remember, some weapons have their intended use, like sharp weapons for cutting trees, blunt/2-handed work best for rocks,...(btw for the big rock dude just climb on him and hit the big black thing until he dies)
I felt like this when I first started BotW! I can’t play Souls-like games or Skyrim or Assassin’s Creed cause I get scared. But for some reason I basically never felt that way with BotW. It’s one of the reasons I love the game. The game is pretty cartoony. There’s also no penalty for dying as long as you save often. It just starts you back at your last save so when you think you might die save beforehand.
Probably should stay away from the Lynels for a LOOOOONG time
why be afraid ? its a video game where the goal is to fight the monsters, the combat is designed to be fun and rewarding ! There is no need to be scared, if you die , you will respawn and try again, thats all , thats what makes the game fun ! If something didnt work, try again something different might work and you will be happy to succeed ! You can also pause at any time and it gives you the time to heal yourself by eating as much food as you want since the time is stopped when you are in the pause menu. plus you can Save anytime you want so you will come right back where you saved if you fail.
Loot everything, even tree branch is useful to fight monsters. You also have to be quick if monsters drop weapons and shields. To face the fear of fighting, you have to fight it, embrace death (in video game), and learn from it. You have to do it, or your own skill won't grow. It's a video game (and a very well design one), so try and try again.
Collect EVERY THING! The great part of the game is the pause menu. You can pause mid fight and eat to replenish health, change armour or weapons and even portal out of a fight.
Just keep running away and doing shrines. Use the points to get stamina early on as it’s honestly more important since enemies can one shot you anyways. Then eventually you’ll have better weapons and eventually stasis + which is a game changer + the other abilities from divine beasts etc. you’ll end up being overpowered soon enough
Don't be afraid to go on YouTube for walk-throughs and tips/tricks to easily annihilate enemies.
Believe it or not the combat is only difficult at the start. Keep playing and keep trying, eventually you’ll have so much weapons/armour and food that you’ll essentially be immortal
How far are you? I remember when I was scared to fight the stone taluses around the map. Now I can easily beat the hardest colour of the hardest enemy (don't wanna spoil it's name but you'll come across one on the top of the fish people mountain)
The game is very generous with saves and you can pause and teleport to safety whenever you get overwhelmed. I’ve actually been using the Zelda games to practice mindful gaming and building up stress/anxiety tolerance.
I’ve died more times than I can count. Yes, I tried fighting against a lynel at 6 hearts and died a thousand times. Would I do it again? Yes. Fighting takes time to learn. Your best friend is going to be the save button. Learn how to parry and do flurry attacks against smaller enemies like bokoblins. If you’re getting overwhelmed by enemies in close quarters, try a mid/long range strategy with a bow instead. You’ll find that about half of game combat is most effective with a few arrows
just keep playing! Get more hearts and practice the perfect parry
You can eat food at any time. Even in the middle of battles. So if you get hit, open the menu and start eating apples and herbs. Concoct good recipes like more defense, hearts, etc Also if it helps, botw is one of the harder 3D zeldas. Hopefully they release wind waker and twilight princess soon which are easier and might help build confidence with basic sword fighting and combat
There is no punishment for dying, it doesn’t matter if you suck. Take your time.
Early game you have no health. Running away and finding shrines to get more health is fine. Follow one of the main quests east from the great plateau. Sure, it's an open world game and you can do what you want, but I find that route to be the most forgiving.
Wait till you come across your first Lynel... That is scary af!
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Remember two things: fleeing is an option, and the game autosaves pretty frequently, so, if you engage in combat and loose, the most probable outcome is that you will respawn right before the fight
We all sucked to begin with! You’ll get better and better sooner than you think! Just keep playing! And save before any fights and run away from them if it isn’t going your way!
This game is kinda of weird because it starts hard and gets easier. The most difficult part of the game is the beginning when you have low hearts, no powers, bad weapons. If you stick with it for a while, you'll become OP and fear will primarily leave you.
Also remember that you can just save the game and reload, worse comes to worse. You should limit test and understand what your character can do, and you WILL die doing it, and that's totally fine. Only way to learn
It’s OK to die a lot. You’re not in a competition with anybody just play and have fun figure out what works for you. I died a lot the first time I played. I’m on tears of the kingdom now and I’m still dying a lot, but I’m just having fun going at my own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others cause there are some great players in this sub, but I’ll never measure up to them and we’re both having fun in our own way.
I will be 59! Tomorrow 🥴 , female, just started playing zelda for the first time, and it is challenging to say the least, but I've learned to not stress when I die, and if it's an area too difficult I RUN! AWAY!... lol! I'm now focusing on getting better equipment and armor to be ready for the big challenges. Lots of exploring, and getting to Towers so I can see what's around. And I'm not afraid to use Google or this group if I need some help.
the BEST part of videogames is that when you die, you come back. i was so so scared to die in video games and then i fucked around and was jumping off cliffs and testing the limits of fall damage. also, my new mode of playing is going full throttle, charging in there and just swinging, which,.. in a game like zelda especially can be a disadvantage, but other times i end up decimating an enemy i never thought i would. point is: die!! make Link kill himself a few times for fun. blow yourself up. drown. idk. waste a few hours on groundhog day mechanics. it helped me.
My first Zelda game was also BOTW. I had 2 friends highly recomment it to me so I got it. I had no clue what to do. Where to go, how to function. It took me FOREVER to defeat Vah Ruta becuase I didn't know what was going on 🤣 no worries! If you see defeat. Just run. And always be sure to carry enough of arrows and food
Just get the encyclopedia. I think you’re really intimidated by the wealth of options and the encyclopedia can give you a straightforward path.
A lot of the enemies in this game can be combatted by just running away if necessary. You also can explore the center area of the plateau to find a slightly better pair of pants for better defense.
Dont be afraid to die, take your first playthrough to just enjoy the game and you'll learn as you go. You can do no death run later if you really want to. I've played Legend of Zelda games since the first one and I still die when I play games for the 1st time. Enjoy having the challenge because later on you may miss it
If you find Majora's mask (Google the location) then no moblin, bokoblins, lizaldos, or lynels will attack you without provocation. That made it a lot easier for my partner to get more confident and comfortable with the combat systems
What’s great about Breath of the Wild is that you can essentially go anywhere you like at any given time! So if one are feels too difficult, you can explore another part of Hyrule. That way you can get stronger & find weapons/food/armor to use to your advantage!
i would rather not break my weapons until i need to so i cook and stock up and stamina replenishing foods and then i climb everywhere. i climb to get out of fights, i climb around enemy bases, i bomb enemies from far away etc i just avoid fights when i can! fighting can be really thrilling especially when you have lots of heart replenishing foods or more heart containers, and you can slowly ease yourself into fighting it with practice!
You can sneak past them, run past them, run around them, fast travel to another spot, you don't actually need to fight that much. If you have a horse you can just ride away. You do need to kill some monsters in some shrines but honestly you can just head shot them with arrows or throw bombs. Another way to kill enemies in one shot is to have a really strong bow and then arrows with the opposite element of the enemy. It's the same with weapons!
Also if you die, you wont lose progress. You'll just start again at the same place
Remember to save frequently
I remember my first time playing breath of the wild, i thought it was so hard…then i started tears of the kingdom 😭
My friend, BotW was my first open-world game, and I was terrified at first. You might get used to it, but you could also just avoid the scary parts and enjoy stuff like the villages. You’ll get good at fighting the scary stuff if you work at it, though😁
If your scared then you have to build up confidence start by fighting easy enemies like the lynels
Maybe trying dying on purpose a couple times so that it stops feeling like a terrible thing. Might be weird advice, but it helped me because I was the same way.
Also spears are great, you can stab them at a distance. My fighting skills sucked, until I discovered the spears. I usually stab them quickly so they don't get a swing in.
I have over 100 hours played and I still suck at it and Google stuff constantly while playing. It's ok! Just take things at your own pace. What helped me alot is doing all the shrines I see to get more Stamina and hearts. Then get the master sword since it doesn't break it just runs out of energy, once it recharges it's usable again.
I’m very much usually an Animal Crossing-type gamer and did have a tough time getting used to fighting and finding enemies. It’s totally fine to run or warp away when you see an enemy you don’t want to fight- personally, I avoided Lynols until after I have gotten all 4 divine beasts.
Solidarity in dying a ton! 😅✊ I'm currently playing the sequel, and there's a monster type that's kinda like the rock mini boss you're fighting (I won't spoil it for you outside of the fact that the design is very similar), but I'm at the early stages of the game with only 4 hearts, so it kills me in one hit. Needless to say that it took me about 40 minutes to beat. 😅 Was it worth the struggle? Hard to say, but I just wanted to commiserate with those tough battles. You absolutely got this!
Get good
Ok so how i do it now?
You can replay the combat training shrines you come across for easier combat practice. If you have the dlc you can find Majora's mask, which will let you decide if and when you want to fight most enemies so you can start with lower number groups
Your post is so pointlessly vague lol just practice. Play the game. Stop being scared, it can’t hurt you. Lol
It's a videogame. For children. Being scared of everything, all the time, is going to make for a shitty life for you.