Zelda Breath of the Wild - Advice/Help thread

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I love speedruns, thanks for posting this

Welcome. I'd love to see someone do an any% speed run with four beasts and master sword, and a 100% speed run of this game with 100% Shrines and all side quests complete. Is there an in-game clock (besides system menu or play log) to see how much time you've sunk in the game?

 

 

I got as far as the first boss and he kicks my ass big time.

I decided to start roaming around and start collecting orbs.

Hopefully some more harts and stamina will help beating him.

 

Check out this funny game play video:

Thank for this video; I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

[Tanooki]

I don't think the 2-3x bow is a bug but intentional as it's considered a magical perk. It just splits the arrow for more damage as a multiplier, not as a physical loss of storage (like say the double barrel shotgun in DOOM used 2 shells.)

 

I'm done with the divine beasts, pretty sure I have 15 years and +2 stamina increases now. I could in theory go after Ganon, but I'm spooked on that one. One thing I can not take down in the least bit are those wretched Lynels. They're too heavy hitting, too much life, and too much armor on them. Freezing seems to have little effect (in time or ice), bomb arrows they don't flinch either, and the master sword seems happy to tickle more than poke. I ran into one on accident the other day at the castle, silver, couldn't land a hit. Curious I tried the first you find (red) in the shock area spot, best I could do was 1/2 down before it got ridiculously wasteful. I may make a pass at Hyrule tonight but if I can't find a way around that kind of garbage if it exists, that's trouble. I'd like to get the end game far as the story goes, and then be able to enjoy more just exploring the larger spaces of the game after the fact around other games I have coming in the mail (Setsuna and Isaac.)

[Gentlegamer]

Use your parries and perfect dodges against manandtaurs.

[Tanooki]

I'm poor at those to say the least, as I said it's a concern. Most my combat in the game has been using the environment or other tricks to crush or dodge stuff, and in the confines of the castle some beast of that size would spell disaster.

[Tanooki]

I went back to it this afternoon as the wife and kid went out for a little over an hour. Feeling the pressure of a new game in the mail tomorrow and another days out as well (Binding of Isaac and I Am Setsuna) I decided to put the storyline to bed. Took down Ganon with only tier1 cleared armor, 14 hearts, 2 stamina boosts, and the 4 beasts that wreck the guy pretty nicely to start. I think I found thunderblight harder, not to say it's easy. I won't ruin it, but in one part you must use perfect blocking which I can not do in the least bit, but thanks to the shield mechanism from the goron, that's covered. Sadly it runs out before I could clear him out so I had to dodge, run, and try and maybe get a perfect lucky one off (never did) before it recharged. I'm happy to have done it, still happy I have like 1/2 the world to still look at but now at my own personal leisure. I rarely 'finish' modern games anymore so this is huge. Afterwards I went and goofed off on the castle, got the zelda memory and found 2-3 koroks in high places. In the end I also crushed a guardian up on the wall and also in the end sailed out of there and parked it on a tower for the next time. I'd like to find the other 2 of those triforce themed shrines and do whatever is needed, but given they probably will require some garbage from a Lynel that may never happen as I can't handle those things at all.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Kudos to beating Ganon. I assume it saves after beating him? Some games save after the final boss, some do not. Some games allow you to replay the final boss (for instance to unlock the best ending after a 100% completion). I've played a metricton of Zelda already, but I am going about it at leisure. Getting the fairy fountain really does a number on my armor, tremendous stat boost after upgrading everything I could, and special items like the climbing boots or Zora armor, gives tremendous stat boost after upgrading with the fairy. Throw on the barbarian leg wraps, and post upgrade, I am beating many foes with two or three whacks, though the weapon has a lot to do with it. It is motivating me to quickly find the other fairy fountains as they seem to be far more useful than I originally thought. I assume it was just like previous Zelda games where it restores health and you can optionally trap fairies in a bottle to resume from falls in battle, but these pixies grant so much more. Superior armor stats and upgrades and potentially other goodies I have yet to unlock. One of the fairy fountains lies East of a certain tower but I've long ago spent the 500 rupees the old man at the stable gave me to feed it. I'll need to sell some shit before I go down there, hopefully not shit I'll need later for enhancements.

 

One thing I haven't tried yet is to exploit the double/triple bows by shooting multiple arrows then recover them from the field. I imagine since the game lets you pick up dropped arrows, that shooting three of them into a tree or other wood object would allow you to pull the arrows out. This would cost one arrow but net three more, though I prefer to save wear and tear on my elite bows for boss fights, and use the normal ones like I pick up from Bokoblins and Lizardos for general combat.

 

I'm poor at those to say the least, as I said it's a concern. Most my combat in the game has been using the environment or other tricks to crush or dodge stuff, and in the confines of the castle some beast of that size would spell disaster.

I too, suck royally at dodging. I'm more of a hack and slash kind of guy, and just pack plenty of meals to restore health during the heat of battle. The one hit death enemies are a pain, even with upgraded armor and 9 hearts. It also doesn't help that some of the strongest weapons are slow to wield and require two hands to hold preventing shield use. It took a long time to get the combos down pat for the combat training Shrine, and I quickly forgot most of them.

[Rick Dangerous]

I played this with a friend on launch day for 2-3 hours and haven't had time to play it since. We got to the part where you are at the top of the tower and have to spot and mark the shrines yourself. We then went and beat the first few closest shrines. The game seemed pretty straightforward up until this point. What if you miss a shrine? How do you know what order to go to the various shrines in?

 

I'm thinking of starting over from the beginning and hope to get a better feel for the game that way. My main challenges with games like this these days are as follows:

 

-Time: I can really only take a few hours one evening a week to sink into an in depth RPG like this

 

-Getting lost: then a week later, not sure where I am or what to do next

 

I agree with Bill that this really isn't my kind of game (i need firm directions as to where to go next and what to do next.) Which is why I need to play games like this with a strategy guide in my lap, or on the laptop.

 

Anyone have any tips for or pointers, a la "Zelda for dummies." Anyone found a good online strategy guide yet?

[Gentlegamer]

Only the shrines in the tutorial zone are necessary.

 

You don't gain any more Runes (except the camera, which isn't needed) from other shrines, just Spirit Orbs to upgrade Hearts or Stamina.

 

Zelda is not a RPG (except Zelda II).

Edited March 17, 2017 by Gentlegamer

[Tanooki]

Zelda when you finish rolls the ending you deserve, credits, the end... and well back to the title, and the save you had gets a STAR and right where you left it (for me, 2 steps from the sanctum.) You then can do it more, or back off and go play elsewhere. I believe it also allows your dungeon magic powers now to refresh faster, seemed to at least.

 

The fairy fountains there are fairies, they fly high and away so hard to get even one, but if you do and you die, they bring you back with partial life. Talking to the GF though isnt a health refill, it is armor crafting boosts to make them stronger using the minerals, natural stuff, and dead body bits for upgrades.

 

The goron shield you earn will save you if you like me can not perfect block. I cant time it, never could in third person walk arounds of any sorts. Space shooters, first person shooters or light gun style fine, but that nope.

 

Ganon isnt that bad, its epic and fun though for a climax of an ending. I did it with tier1 armor leveled up to like its max 2stars. I never paid the other 3 fairies for anything, and still havent coughed up the 10k for the 4th nor the 3k for the house either. Ive used those collecting bits to gear up instead of make mad money.

 

 

 

The nice thing about this game is you can not get lost, the slate map is so precise you could walk off for awhile and be fine. Couple that with the broken down primary and multiple secondary lists that tell you who gave you the job (and where they sit to return to them) and where to go is so well precise you're safe. Nintendo found all the right ways to make this game very approachable without alienating or wearing thin like most open world RPGs of this scope are.

[Austin]

I finished the game last night. Last boss forms were a cakewalk once I figured out what the weakness was. Not sure I really felt satisfied from it or the ending, but.. as they say, it's about the journey and not the destination. I think that rings especially true for this game in particular. I just went right back into the game to goof off after completing it, then got sucked into exploring other parts of the map I hadn't bothered with yet. Ended up forgetting I even finished the game to begin with, heh.

 

A couple of things that helped me in my journey:

 

1. Grind the Lynels. They have the best gear (shields, weapons, and three way/five way shot bows), some of the most worthwhile monster parts (valuable, but useful for armor upgrading). This is especially true for the highest level Lynels. All Lynels respawn on a Blood Moon.

 

2. Find the Fairy Fountains. Getting the fourth one allows you max out your armor, which goes up to 28 points per piece (theoretically allowing for up to 84 armor points total). It might even go higher, but that's the highest I saw on multiple pieces. Totally worth it, wish I found the fourth one earlier in the game instead of doing it post-game.

 

3. Stock up on lots and lots of arrows. They will add up and take the pressure off of what may be tense situations. Beedle usually only has 30 to 40 in stock at a time, but you can fast travel from stable to stable and buy more (he seems to have an independent stock at each one). Exhaust all of those avenues, then fast travel to each town to buy more, including the specialty types. It's time consuming, but worth the trouble (I ended up having over 1,000 arrows, usually about 200 of each type at any given moment). Stock seems to refresh on a time basis. I don't know if it's a couple of days, or a Blood Moon, I haven't quite figured it out. But they will remain "Sold Out" for a time, but will eventually appear back in stock.

 

4. Stasis+ is your friend. Use it on enemies often. Helps especially when dealing with the Yiga clan, which appear much more frequently (and in bigger/tougher forms) closer to the end of the game, and it helps with their constant teleportation maneuvers.

 

5. Get the Dark Link armor/costume from Fang & Bone. I think it appears later in the game, after the horse monster costumes appear. During night time, Link runs considerably faster when wearing the costume. His stamina seems to refill faster with it too.

 

Anyone have any tips for or pointers, a la "Zelda for dummies." Anyone found a good online strategy guide yet?

Your "Main Quests" tab tells you exactly what you should be doing. You can set any of them as your active/primary quest and a marker will appear on your map. Follow that.

In short, the goal of the main quest is defeating the four divine beasts, then defeating Ganon. That's it. Everything else is optional. The game world is so vast it does a pretty good job of masking what is, in the end, a pretty simplistic main quest.

If you want to make life easier, seek out shrines because they act as fast travel points. Also, seek out the orange towers and take them over. They act as fast travel points as well, allow you to see far into the distance, and fill in areas of your map for easier navigation.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The nice thing about this game is you can not get lost, the slate map is so precise you could walk off for awhile and be fine. Couple that with the broken down primary and multiple secondary lists that tell you who gave you the job (and where they sit to return to them) and where to go is so well precise you're safe. Nintendo found all the right ways to make this game very approachable without alienating or wearing thin like most open world RPGs of this scope are.

Not entirely true. It is possible to go off grid in some places such that your Skeika Slate does not work. In this state, it is just static and you cannot warp to another waypoint because the map is dark. In desert areas, there is a sandstorm type thing, and a fog in a few other places, causing visibility to be low. With the few zones in the game like this, it is possible to still save your progress but you are on your own to find your way out. Some outlying shrines are off grid and if you find one and scan your slate there, it will save it as a waypoint and the sandstorm/fog will be lifted, increasing visibility. I encountered some areas like this area on the western and southern edges of the map, but since have cleared most of them by activating Shrines. The only obscured area of the game I have left is the Gudero Desert Camel Divine Beast, as I have cleared the Zora Elephant, Rito Bird, and Goron Lizard. Ironically the first divine beast mission I started is the last remaining beast. I now have 48 Shrines completed, two full stamina wheels, 13 heart containers, the master sword, three divine beasts, two fairy fountains, two ancient tech labs, all Shieka Slate upgrades. Also upgraded a number of weapon slots, need 8 more Korok seeds for my next melee weapons and 5 each for next bow and next shield. I'll prolly just go hard Melee from here on out as there are a lot of useful and unique weapons in the game and I tend to leave/drop more shit in the field than have actual weapon breaks. The game in general gives you loads of weapons, faster than your break them and more than you can carry, unless you pussyfoot your way around the game and avoid combat.

[Tanooki]

Yes I've had a couple desert blackout spots, the one constant was near the 4th fairy. But on the whole the statement is true other than planned small spots of blindness with a reward for it.

 

I did the same on the beasts too. I went to Zora first, but did the beast attack-dungeon-blight last as I stopped there after picking up 25 shock arrows. I have no idea if her skill is entirely all that useful but the other 3 definitely are. We seem to both have a pretty similar amount of clearance except I did all 4 and finished it off, plus I snapped up the barbarian helmet, master sword, and hylian shield.

 

I still wish I could deal with Lynels, but I'm thinking I really am NOT a completionist as it bores and tends to annoy me so I'll probably just avoid them entirely. I really don't care nor need perfect armor. I'd be cool locking down tier 2 probably, 3 probably not depending on cost involved.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

So I've ran into a bit of a snag. And everyone I spoken to plus things I've seen online say this should be doable, but something I think is off on my game save.

 

I'm playing this on Wii U not switch so just to get that part out of the way on which version of the game I'm playing. The issue is that the Ice Dragon section, I was able to complete without issue and received the scale from it. However, I didn't quite understand still what I was supposed to do with the scale exactly. So after holding it, I ended up placing it on the pedestal of the Goddess Status in the Spring of Wisdom. But since nothing happened, I figured I'd forgotten to do something else or talk to someone else to trigger something. So I fast traveled back to other places to back track. If you aren't paying attention, remember I left the scale at the pedestal. Well, I come back and of course the scale isn't there now. I've been told that I should be able to nock another arrow at the dragon to receive another scale. However, the problem is that after I received it the first time, the Ice Dragon hasn't shown back up at all. I did see him briefly as he flew up into the sky and disappeared into a portal. I've yet to see him since and last night I spent two full hours in the area to see if he would reappear. Nothing...

 

I have to assume that because I received it and actually had it in my inventory and then essentially dropped it somewhere, that the game is registering that I've already gotten it and thus completed the task. But I haven't. I know that it should be possible to get another as I can't believe Nintendo would make it a 1 and done thing. I know that I accidentally threw the lightscale trident into the veiled falls trying to figure out that puzzle and essentially lost it. So I had to get the weapons master to craft me a replacement. Seems to me if you can do that, i should be able to get another stupid dragon scale?!

Edited March 20, 2017 by -^Cro§Bow^-

[Gentlegamer]

You can get multiple dragon parts. Just have to be in the right place at the right time when the dragon spawns and flies around.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Yes I've had a couple desert blackout spots, the one constant was near the 4th fairy. But on the whole the statement is true other than planned small spots of blindness with a reward for it.

 

I did the same on the beasts too. I went to Zora first, but did the beast attack-dungeon-blight last as I stopped there after picking up 25 shock arrows. I have no idea if her skill is entirely all that useful but the other 3 definitely are. We seem to both have a pretty similar amount of clearance except I did all 4 and finished it off, plus I snapped up the barbarian helmet, master sword, and hylian shield.

 

I still wish I could deal with Lynels, but I'm thinking I really am NOT a completionist as it bores and tends to annoy me so I'll probably just avoid them entirely. I really don't care nor need perfect armor. I'd be cool locking down tier 2 probably, 3 probably not depending on cost involved.

I have hear that a certain ancient tech arrow will defeat a Lynel in a single hit, but the tradeoff is enemies (besides guardians or bosses) defeated with an ancient tech arrow simply vanish and drop no reward at all, which defeats the whole purpose of fighting these optional foes.

 

I actually need a lynel horn (or some rare monster part, I have to consult my guide to be sure) to upgrade my champion's tunic to level 2. Currently my level 1 upgraded Champion tunic offers identical protection to to the level 2 Hyian tunic, but the Champion tunic lets me spy on enemies' health meter, including which guardians are dormant vs dead. I'm getting 28 defense with the level 2 upgraded Hylian gear and diamond circlet, which also boosts Guardian defense. With 13 hearts, the laser targeting no longer kills me in one hit if I fail to dodge it.

 

I know the locations of the two remaining fairy fountains and am debating to unlock the desert one of the Akka region one first. I doubt I'll ever unlock the fourth fountain for 10,000 rupees. That would require some serious grinding and gold farming for ores and rare item drops, moreso for upgrading any gear to max level 4.

[Andromeda Stardust]

So I've ran into a bit of a snag. And everyone I spoken to plus things I've seen online say this should be doable, but something I think is off on my game save.

 

I'm playing this on Wii U not switch so just to get that part out of the way on which version of the game I'm playing. The issue is that the Ice Dragon section, I was able to complete without issue and received the scale from it. However, I didn't quite understand still what I was supposed to do with the scale exactly. So after holding it, I ended up placing it on the pedestal of the Goddess Status in the Spring of Wisdom. But since nothing happened, I figured I'd forgotten to do something else or talk to someone else to trigger something. So I fast traveled back to other places to back track. If you aren't paying attention, remember I left the scale at the pedestal. Well, I come back and of course the scale isn't there now. I've been told that I should be able to nock another arrow at the dragon to receive another scale. However, the problem is that after I received it the first time, the Ice Dragon hasn't shown back up at all. I did see him briefly as he flew up into the sky and disappeared into a portal. I've yet to see him since and last night I spent two full hours in the area to see if he would reappear. Nothing...

 

I have to assume that because I received it and actually had it in my inventory and then essentially dropped it somewhere, that the game is registering that I've already gotten it and thus completed the task. But I haven't. I know that it should be possible to get another as I can't believe Nintendo would make it a 1 and done thing. I know that I accidentally threw the lightscale trident into the veiled falls trying to figure out that puzzle and essentially lost it. So I had to get the weapons master to craft me a replacement. Seems to me if you can do that, i should be able to get another stupid dragon scale?!

I have been reluctant to use the trident as it is such a beautiful weapon. I wish they did like in Paper Mario where if you have rare items that don't fit in your item bag, you could walk into any shop and store them for future use, like a kind of bank or something to store and withdraw. It would be extremely useful to store some of my rare elemental rods I have found that may have special usefulness in certain situations but the low durability makes me reluctant to fight foes with them. I have dropped so many perfectly good weapons in the field because I picked up something with superior stats.

 

Another thing to consider, it is possible to sell most any weapon or gear in a shop, excluding important plot based items like the master sword. Weapons eventually break on their own, but rare items or clothing may be difficult or impossible to reacquire if you sell them. Though it would take a special type of idiocy to cook or sell something rare like a Korok seed when they can be used to increase your inventory, or sell irreplaceable armor that grants special status upgrades. However some items may only be found in chests or by clearing special quests, which do not respawn after a time period unlike shop inventory, field enemies, or ore deposits, and the temptation exists to sell something valuable in a shop for rupees to grab some special gear, rather than grind for items, especially if the player doesn't know they need the rare item for a future event or sidequest in the game. Not everyone got the game guide they can consult whenever they are in doubt about something.

[Austin]

I wish they did like in Paper Mario where if you have rare items that don't fit in your item bag, you could walk into any shop and store them for future use, like a kind of bank or something to store and withdraw. It would be extremely useful to store some of my rare elemental rods I have found that may have special usefulness in certain situations but the low durability makes me reluctant to fight foes with them. I have dropped so many perfectly good weapons in the field because I picked up something with superior stats.

 

I'm not sure if you missed it or just didn't bother with it, but you can buy a house in Hateno. When you furnish it, you will have three or four extra slots to store swords, shields and bows (up to three or four of each type).

 

As far as feeling bad about dropping weapons on the field, or storing those nifty elemental rods.. Use the map. If you find wizzrobes with wands, place a marker on the map and come back later if you feel you really need them (spoiler: you probably won't, outside of a couple of generic side quests).

 

I know the locations of the two remaining fairy fountains and am debating to unlock the desert one of the Akka region one first. I doubt I'll ever unlock the fourth fountain for 10,000 rupees. That would require some serious grinding and gold farming for ores and rare item drops, moreso for upgrading any gear to max level 4.

Sell your junk, man. Monster parts, random fruits in the wild that are worth some change, extra ingredients you won't need, some ancient parts, and your valuable rocks (amber, sapphire, topaz, diamonds, etc). You will have 10,000 in about 30 seconds if you do that. This game doesn't drop rupees very often unlike prior Zelda games, but the money rains when you sell your loot.

[Tanooki]

The game drops a lot of rupees, if you just keep killing the entire Yiga Clan area as each one of those crooks seem to have a wallet of money, but in the end it's not really worth it, then having to wait for the moon to respawn them too. It is best to just purge the inventory, but they'll you'll have to remember where all the stuff was and go back and get it again when it regenerates the minerals and parts.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Yeah I realized early on that I acquired far more monster parts than I ever had a need for to create elixors. Most special elixors anyway can be subbed for traditional food ingredients that grant the same status effects when cooked together plus hearts. A lot of stat boosts, I already have through armor upgrades which are permanent. Some monster parts are needed for armor upgrades, so I may take inventory of the loot I have while making notes of what I need to upgrade existing armor. Not selling any ancient tech parts. Some of them, like giant cores, I've only ever found in Shrine chests.

 

The guardian armor from the second ancient tech lab seems a nice set to collect for, though I need 6000 rupees ad a metric ton of ancient parts. Maybe someday I'll just invade hyrule field with a full stash of shock and bomb arrows, and clean house of the guardians. A 3x bow equipped with ancient tech arrows could take down a guardian with a single head-shot to the eye. Even the grinding and gold farming aspects in this game never gets old.

 

I used a metric ton of jewels to forge and upgrade the entire set of Gudero jewelery. And aside from the Diamond Circlet (now upgraded to level 2) most of the special stat boosts I could have gotten cheaper from other gear. Though all the jewels I needed to upgrade that jewelery could have been used to buy the entire Rito set and a lot more. I also found a guy at one of the stables who buys raw prime meat for 100 rupees. So if I go into the wilderness and start slaying wolves, or just smash a bunch of ores, I'll rack up dough quickly.

 

I've also got no more use for the fireproof elixors, which the Goron boss ironically gave after I'd already bought the fireproof gear from the shop. Also the full Rito Snowquill set and full Fireproof set making me entirely immune to ice and fire attacks once upgraded to level 2, would be indispensable.

 

Thanks for the advice about buying a house. Seems a nice little side quest.

[Austin]

Yeah, I passed on the Gerudo stuff. I realized the upgraded benefits were minor at best, and upgrading your core armor was much more valuable (especially level 4). There are very few parts where you honestly need an elixer for resistance to something, and like you said, you can just toss a certain ingredient into any dish to give it those added properties you need (say, electrical resistance, or a stamina replenishment). And at the parts where you do need resistance (say, to ice or fire), there's armor just around the corner for that. By the end of the game I was selling whatever elixers I had and just made a ton of meat skewers with random properties (mostly stamina, it's the most useful for faster climbing or longer gliding). Meat's all over the place and it gives so much health back, there's little reason to do anything else other than to say you can.

[Tanooki]

I have to admit I don't know how to mix up elixirs. I never found any reason to make a single one when making foods got the job done.

[Austin]

I have to admit I don't know how to mix up elixirs. I never found any reason to make a single one when making foods got the job done.

 

Cooking insects, lizards and frogs with monster parts creates elixers. If you look at the description of your bugs and creatures, it hints at this and gives you an idea of what the property/effect will be from the mix.

[Punisher5.0]

I finally made a breakthrough on Zelda tonight and found the last 2 shrines to get the glider. I was stuck on finding warm clothes so I just said screw it and climbed to the top of the mountain while periodically eating apples and mushrooms. It worked and I'm back to having fun again. What a great game!

[Austin]

I finally made a breakthrough on Zelda tonight and found the last 2 shrines to get the glider. I was stuck on finding warm clothes so I just said screw it and climbed to the top of the mountain while periodically eating apples and mushrooms. It worked and I'm back to having fun again. What a great game!

 

Holy crap, that's just the beginning. You still have a good, long, enjoyable time ahead!

[Andromeda Stardust]

I have to admit I don't know how to mix up elixirs. I never found any reason to make a single one when making foods got the job done.

 

 

Cooking insects, lizards and frogs with monster parts creates elixers. If you look at the description of your bugs and creatures, it hints at this and gives you an idea of what the property/effect will be from the mix.

 

I didn't even need a guide to make elixors as it tells you in the description (mix with monster parts) or (mix with critters). Critters are defined as insects or lizards, frogs, etc. Generally neither critters nor monster parts are edible. If it yields hearts, it is food. My goto for elixors was to combine a keese wing or bokoblin horn with a butterfly, lizard, or frog. I used them early on to make hot/cold elixors to explore mountains or deserts before I grabbed some gear to make me resistant. Certain critters and monster parts have elements like ice, fire, or electric properties, which would be wise to pair with critters with the same effects, for double potency. Fire elementals make you resistant to cold; ice elementals make you resistant to heat. Electric elementals have no opposing element so they make you resistant to electricity. Certain critters also have speed, stamina, stealth, defense, or attack boosts. It is best to pair these with standard monster parts with no elemental properties. Avoid using exotic or rare items as this just wastes them, when they could be sold or used to upgrade gear. Each elixor can only have one type of stat boost, so mixing types may cancel or result in a dubious food.

 

There are also various food items consisting of animal and vegetable matter. Most of these items provide a modest health boost eaten alone but provide a much stronger effect when cooked into a dish. Fruit, nuts, shrooms, meat, grain, and milk products are generally compatible with each other and produce a wide range of recipes which generally just add health. The more you add, the more you boost a dish'es stats. Also rock salts will boost the heart recovery of food dishes.

 

A special sub-type of food items have max-heart boosting effects, namely truffles and hearty radishes, or anything with "hearty" suffix attached. I have found that combining "hearty" ingredients with normal food does little to increase the net benefit, can you can't really increase your max hearts beyond +5 or so, or +6 if the dish is executed expertly. Throwing in additional meat or hearty ingredients into the pot just wastes the items IMO. It's critical to have a decent supply of hearty meals on hand if you're planning on fighting bosses or tough enemies as they tend to yield the most benefit, extending health beyond the maximum value. Truffles and radishes can be found in the wild growing in various areas, and are a bit pricey to buy in shops, so it would be wise to stock up.

 

Mixing food items with non-edible minerals (besides wood or rock salt) or elixor ingredients (critters, monster parts) will almost always result in "dubious food" and is ill advised. Also various food items have certain stat-boosting benefits. It is important not to mix different categories of stat-boosting ingredients together or the effects may cancel. For instance, cooking a hot pepper and chillin shroom will cancel each other. Any single dish can only have one stat boost effect. Also be weary of consuming various stat-boost items in succession, as the second item may cancel the previous timed effect.

 

What else... Octorok balloon guts add bouancy to ordinary items, and enough of them attached to an object will provide lift. Wood and flint make portable fire when struck with a metallic weapon. Does not work in rainy or blizzard conditions though. Steak or other single food items like apples can be seared by placing near a fire without the need for a cooking pot. You can cook items on the ground without a fire in the volcano region, or freeze them if in a fridgid mountain region. Frozen meals add heat resistance stats. Useful tips if your roughing it and can't find a proper pot to cook things.

 

All this stuff I learned playing the game without even consulting the guide.