Best weapons in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The newest installment in the Zelda franchise, Tears of the Kingdom, provides you with the widest variety of options for weaponry yet.

But even with this many options, certain weapons will always stand out as the best. But just which weapons should players focus on grabbing? Join us as we walk you through this ranked list of the best weapons in Tears of the Kingdom.

The best weapons in TotK

10. Spiked-Iron-Ball Hammer

The Spiked-Iron-Ball Hammer is a fun weapon and one of the best weapons in Tears of the Kingdom—due to its hype factor, it’s number one in our hearts. You get this by fusing a spiked iron ball with a sword.

The Spiked-Iron-Ball hammer is slow and clumsy, but when it hits, it hits hard. Work on your timing for this weapon otherwise, you can seriously suffer from the slow speed. The Spiked-Iron-Ball Hammer earns its place on the list for its utility. It’s extremely durable, making it a fantastic option for breaking down rocks.

9. Savage Lynel Bow 

The Savage Lynel Bow is, for our money, the second-best bow in TOTK. You can get this bow either by farming the Lanayru Wetland Depths or slaying Lynels until they randomly drop. Slaying Lynels can also give you access to their horns, which can help you fuse some of the best fusion weapons in the game.

These weapons fire not one but three arrows at the same time. If you know how to line this up and aim it correctly, you can take out enemies fast. Either way, it makes it more likely that you’ll at least hit your target.

You also get to use fused arrows with it, opening the possibility of uniquely deadly combinations. Unfortunately, its fire rate and range keep it out of the top spot for bows.

8. Gloom Sword 

The Gloom Sword is a great weapon with a dangerous payoff. Its base damage is 41, which is crushingly high, but every swing infects you with Gloom which will slowly eat away at your health. 

Because of this, we have to recommend using the Gloom Sword in combination with something else, perhaps as a tool to finish your opponents. Though it’s a great choice, this keeps it from being higher on the list.

You can find the Gloom Sword by defeating Phantom Ganon in the Tamio River Downstream Cave. This is also how you find the Gloom Spear and the Gloom Club, which also get honorable mentions.

7. Lightscale Trident 

The Lightscale Trident only has a base damage rating of 22 damage. When Link is wet, this damage is doubled, easily putting it into the upper echelon of weapons.

What makes it the game’s seventh best is the fact this doubling effect applies to weapons with fused materials, making the maximum damage quite high. Though it can one-hit opponents, its conditionality keeps it out of the top five of this list. When you’re around water and can get in and out of it to activate this weapon’s effect, this is an easy contender for best weapon—without it, it’s a bit mediocre.

Unfortunately, this Trident is a little tough to get. You’ll need three diamonds, five flint, and the Zora spear to craft it. The Zora spear can be found in a chest in Ralis Pond, and flint can be found pretty much anywhere, but diamonds are tough to acquire.

You can buy diamonds from Gonguran in Goron City, but they aren’t cheap. They also rarely spawn as drops from enemies and in chests around the world. This makes the Lightscale Trident pretty impractical to get, we recommend waiting until you come across a few diamonds before worrying about it. 

6. Boulder Breaker

The Boulder Breaker is the best weapon in the game when it comes to utility. As its name implies, it’s fantastic at smashing up rocks and cracked walls, making this an important weapon for anyone’s arsenal. 

Its combat potential is nothing to sneeze at. Though it’s slow, the obscene damage this weapon puts out combined with the exploratory utility makes this weapon impossible to ignore.

The Boulder Breaker is another item that’s unfortunately tough to craft due to the need for diamonds. To craft it you’ll need five flint, three diamonds, and the cobble crusher. Cobble crushers are pretty easy to find, but as always, diamonds are a bit tricky to come upon.

If you have to choose between using your diamonds to make a Lightscale Trident or Boulder Breaker, we have to recommend the Breaker for its durability and utility.

5. Royal Guard’s Bow

The Royal Guard’s Bow is strong. Really strong. With a base damage of 50, it has the strongest base damage of any weapon on this list. It also has a high rate of fire, letting you pick off most opponents before they ever even know what hit them. It’s the best in the game with a higher fire rate and a longer range.

Its status as the game’s best bow puts the Royal Guard’s Bow clearly in the top ten. But, in my opinion, it just doesn’t stack up to the best swords—most of your fighting will happen in the melee, after all—meaning this is as high as we can rate it.

To get the Royal Guard’s Bow, you’re going to need to go to Hyrule Castle itself. This bow spawns in Zelda’s Study inside of a chest.

4. The Scimitar of the Seven

The Scimitar of the Seven has a base attack of 28 damage, which is one of the smallest on this list, but the Scimitar’s base attack damage isn’t the end of the story. When it’s fused with any item, its attack power doubles.

Though its low base damage keeps it from creeping up higher on the list, the Scimitar of the Seven is a solid option for any player.

The Scimitar of the Seven can be found in Gerudo Town and completing a sidequest. You have to go to the keeper of the Jewelry shop and talk to her. She’ll send you on a quest to find the jewelry shop’s owner. Once you find her, you’re going to have to fight a difficult boss. Your reward, however, is the Scimitar of the Seven and the Daybreaker shield.

3. Fierce Deity Sword

The Fierce Deity Sword is the definition of a glass canon. It puts out 38 base damage, the highest on this list. The catch is that it is extremely fragile and breaks early unless you apply a fused item to it. 

Though it’s slow, you can perform a spin attack with it that wounds all enemies around you. Despite its major flaw, it’s one of the best weapons in the game and the best for how early into the game you can get it.

Before you obtain this sword, you’re going to need all three parts of the Fierce Deity Armor set. You can get this set of armor at the Akkala Citadel Ruins. In the ruins, there will be a wall guarded by rubble. Once you can get around this, you’ll find a chest with the armor. 

Once you have all of these equipped, enter the cave north of Foothill stable, head to the back, and open the chest there. 

2. Royal Guard’s Claymore 

The Royal Guard’s Claymore is a big dumb sword, but it’s an effective big dumb sword. It has a nice high base damage of 32 which rockets up when the weapon is close to breaking, making this sword the perfect clutch weapon. With the correct fusion materials, the sword can also pack an extra punch, and its length makes it good for spacing out enemies. 

On the other hand, this sword is slow, and its swings can leave you open to an attack from your opponents if you don’t time it right or find yourself swarmed. For players who find adding a little bit of chance to their combat, this sword is perfect.

The Royal Guard’s Claymore can be found in Hyrule castle, down in the Sanctum.

1. The Master Sword 

The Master Sword is iconic in the Zelda franchise, just as important as Link or Zelda themselves. It holds up in the damage output department too, with a base damage of 30 you can modify it with Fuse materials and other weapons. 

The Master Sword is the only weapon that doesn’t break down over time. It runs on energy rather than a durability stat, so when you overuse it, you only have to wait before using it again—you don’t ever have to repair it. This makes the sword good for not just combat but as a utility in breaking objects like rocks down.

This might be an obvious choice for the top-of-the-tier list, but it’s an undeniable one. The Master Sword is on the head of the Light Dragon that circles Hyrule.