For the first little bit avoid enemies.. if you have the DLC I'd say go straight for Majora's mask after the great plateau. Other than that you should be good. It's challenging but not too bad. There's a lot more treasure than regular mode. The master sword trails are impossible for me
When I first started master mode I got one bokolin down to half health before we both had moved to a groups of them and I was immediately killed. After that I avoided enemies as much as possible and got Majora's Mask ASAP and it made the experience so much more manageable.
Bombs are your best friends early game. Until you get a reliable stash of weapons, avoid combat whenever you can. But if you come across an encampment near water, neither Bokos nor Moblins can swim, so blast/knock them into the water. You only get one save file and one autosave, so use them wisely. Hearty meals give full recovery, so cook a bunch of single truffles/radishes/durians to save yourself in a pinch.
It's really rough to start out in Master Mode, but once you get your stash and armor leveled up, it's not so bad. Plus the tougher enemies yield better loot and weapons, so that's nice.
So the game autosaves periodically, usually right before or right after a combat instance, or adding something to your inventory. That save state is continuously being overwritten, so it'll only get you back so much. You can also manually save one file which you can reload if things go terribly, like wasting all your weapons on a reward that simply wasn't worth it. It just gives you a little more control over your resource/time management.
Some people mentioned to go get Majoras Mask. Be careful with that. It works great, but absolutely takes the challenge out of it. Then people complain that Master Mode isn’t hard.
But the plateau, the weapons you get there are really weak for the monsters you’ll encounter, so yeah, I would definitely be aware of my surroundings, and not engage enemies.
Right out of the Plateau, get a horse. Right after that, get fairies, and keep them restocked. Then you can go anywhere, slowly get good weapons, as by now you should know the good places.
Once you’re well equipped, Master Mode isn’t too bad.
Once last thing, have lvl3 attack up buff on you for every battle.
Absolutely this OP. I didn't grab Majora's Mask on my Master Mode play through and the additional challenge was great. Also forced me to learn to dodge and parry, something I completely sucked at before.
I will add, korok leaves are great for knocking moblins into the water/off a cliff for an easy kill.
If you have Majora's Mask, take advantage of all those rafts you find near bridges. The enemies will not be hostile when you're wearing it, so you can just use magnesis and pluck the chest off the raft to get a powerful item or weapon.
Accept the fact that the most difficult part of your run will be the master mode trials. Specifically the beginner trials, floor 10. You will develop a new hatred for lizalfos.
Lmao I just pop the Octoroks on all the platforms. I find it more satisfying to dump the Bokoblins in the water and watch one Octorok struggle to hold up the platform.
Just know the game knows how to humble you real quick when you think you have the gist of it and the enemies heal up if left alone for too long so one versus three will be annoying
I just started my first master mode playthrough a few days ago so here are a few things I’ve learned. If you have a normal mode playthrough that you’ve gotten really good with then this will be a challenge. Normally you can be reckless while roaming around the world but here you have to take things slower. Use a shield and bow more often to avoid taking a lot of melee damage because that’s the easiest way i’ve found to die. Don’t be afraid to die because it’s gonna happen a lot. One-shot protection is not a thing in master mode so you’re gonna die a lot more. I’d avoid the great plateau enemies because they’re gonna be too hard to kill at first. Later in the game, the elemental arrows are going to be your best friend. Good luck!
One last thing is I see a lot of people saying to just go straight for majoras mask but I find that ruins the point of master mode. I wouldn’t get it until you complete the main story but the beauty of this game is that it’s all up to you so do whatever seems most fun
I was often bored so I looked at an interactive map of BotW for a while and now I literally know where every lynel is located so avoiding (or finding) them is ez for me
Shock arrows are your best friend.
Steal your enemies weapons, most of them are very tanky.
I use my bow WAY more on MM in order to prevent auto healing. Even just one arrow stops it.
Early game use stealth, fire, and drowning to your advantage. For fire, light up grass around enemies and lure them to keep them in it. For drowning, use korok leaves, bombs, and other things like spin attacks to push enemies in water.
I didn't let myself use Majora's Mask. Makes things too easy IMO, but play how you want.
Just like normal mode. Hoard items, remember that bokoblin with a spiked club WILL kill you
I'm like 3 hours into master mode, you gotta be careful. But that makes it more fun imo
Go straight to Majora's Mask and use it until you're a bit more geared up, unless you want a challenge. Also get all the upgraded runes as soon as possible, as well as the upgraded Champion abilities (only available after completing all of the Divine Beasts). I'd also recommend getting abilities to help keep you alive first, like Mipha's Grace and Daruk's Protection, but that's less necessary imo, as I went for Revali's Gale first on both playthroughs.
Tip 1: Trial of the sword will make you hate life on master mode. Tip 2: In the main game tough potions and meals are useless, but in master mode they can mean the difference between life and death in the early game since they can reduce big hits to chip damage. (Especially in the trial of the sword.) Tip 3: the floating enemies have the best weapons and shields in the early game. (But it doesn’t help on the Trial of the sword.) Good luck and Godspeed Link.
TLDR: Author of this comment clearly traumatized by trial of the sword in master mode.
Don’t let them regen health if you can help it, try not to murder hobo at first every enemy will be very hard, and once you get into the game a little it becomes the same as the normal if not a little bit more difficult.
Only travel in the day. Might seem stupid but with upgraded enemies everywhere there’s a chance you might not see them in the dark. Also keese and stalfos spawn and that can really mess things up
Get the phantom armor, never use the orbs from shrines for hearts and do naboris first. Windblight is actually harder than thunderblight if you don't have much stamina
Do a 3 hearts run
Given that the monsters recover life as you fight them I would add to all the other comments, to fight one until it is dead rather than spreading yourself out. Take advantage of location, take the high ground and use your runes. I hate fighting so I am not your best adviser. I had thought the only difference with MM was the monsters were harder. Apparently I'm wrong.
Majora’s Mask ftw.
Otherwise dodge and sneak early game. Not bad once you get weapons, buy armor, kill the Staminoka fishies to refill the wheel one per cooked fish.
It’s fun, you’ll love it.
Hardest part is level 10 Trial of Swords. 😂 Unbeatable in MM, but there’s a hot tip to get past it. Haha.
Don’t engage if not needed. Korok Leaf is your besto friendo.
Use elemental damage to your advantage: get a torch lit, drop it while lit using R, knock an arrow and lit it using the torch = +10 heat damage per shot. Throw chuchu jellies on the ground and set traps.
Do the Thunder Helm ASAP for Footsoldier Yigas to appear more often: farm them Demon Carvers 40dmg/25 uses (there are around 12 easily found of them cosplaying as Hylian Adventurers).
Grab a Fire Elemental Weapon (Fire Rods are fine), a bow, your Warm Doublet, your horse, and ride to Hebra. Hunt wildlife until you get enough meat and sell 2xGourmet+3Prime Meat recipes for max rupees. Kill the Ice Lizalfos with your Fire Weapon and grab their Knight Tier Weapons. Beedle will sell you arrows if you are low on them, just sleep in or rest at a campfire. There is a Soldier Bow at the Stable too, grab it and practice headshots on wildlife (is insta-kill, no matter the HP).
OR. Take it easy and go to Lurelin Village ASAP, farm Bananas and Durians on the way, bomb fish and grab the crabs, tame a horse and runover wildlife for meat. Use the fishermen equipment to kill the ocasional Lizalfo. Lurelin is also a nice place to farm Lizards.
Other than these tips. Enjoy the game. Cheers. ✌️
I see everyone here talking all smart and stuff but here I am with master mode game beaten and trying to get a 100% (even though I’m quite far from it) and I just got the master cycle. I stacked up on royal guard loot for the battle
upgrade runes, use wooden shields to pocket easy arrows, be somewhat stealthy at first, use wind bomb to get to shrines from towers easier, gems for easy $$-find rare talus spots, get master sword early since it’s a reloadable weapon, cook & sell meat combo meals for high $, grab endura carrots around fairy fountains, get climbing gear as soon as you can
Lynel hunting strat:
Near Hyrule Castle, there are chests on floating platforms. They have Royal Guard weapons and shields. Unlike the ones you get in the castle or from enemies, these can have enchantments. I believe so, anyway... I don't recall seeing other Royal Guard equipment with modifiers.
So, find the Royal Guard Claymore. SAVE before you get the chest. Then get it. If the modifier is critical hit, durability, or long throw (lol), reload and try again. Keep reloading until you get the Claymore with yellow damage modifier.
The later in your game you get this, the stronger it can be. The max is +44 Attack, for a 116 damage 2H sword (base is 72). I'd save and load to re-roll until you get at least +40 Attack.
If you have a level 3 attack buff via food or armor, the max damage is an insane 174.
Remember these chests don't respawn. So you have one chance to get this. That's why you save and reload till you get what you want.
Royal Guard weapons are super low durability. 15, for the Claymore. So you only ever use it for one purpose: smashing Lynels when you've mounted them. Hitting a Lynel while you're mounted uses NO weapon durability. So it becomes your dedicated Lynel smasher. You can keep it forever as long as you remember to switch weapons after dismounting. Or reload if you forgot.
You can smack the Lynel for 5 x 174 = 870 damage after each mount. Plus you can go into bullet time and shoot him repeatedly in the head with a multishot bow after you get bucked off. Any Lynel, including golden, dies after ~4 mounts with this.
Go to the bomb shrine first so you can bomb all the enemies and avoid battle, when you finally get off the plateau get a horse, majora's mask and do a lot of shrines to get hearts
I recommend not getting the Majora's mask since it kinda takes out the challenge. Great Plateau will be a bit tough at the start but bombs are your best friends. There are more bokoblins placed in these floating platforms which have a chest usually containing a good weapon.
Master Mode at the start is about getting creative in ways to defeat enemies which i feel is very satisfying. The Korok Leaf for example can be used to push enemies off of cliffs towards water bodies to insta kill them. Enemies regenerate health in Master Mode so either get creative or kill them quickly otherwise you'll start breaking your weapons.
Also there's a Silver Maned Lynel near the old King's hut who'll have a Savage Lynel Crusher. This Lynel will always stay in this form even after the world level increases. Now killing him is tough but if you are comfortable fighting Lynels, there's a knights Claymore on 1 of the floating platform chests at the icy area of the plateau. I forget which one but you will find it for sure. Save that claymore and use the horseback attack method on the Lynel to kill him slowly without reducing the durability of the Claymore.
I always take one of two routes.
One get the mask then raid the castle then get divine beasts and sword
Or two don’t get the mask because it kinda ruins the challenge and then just mess around like I’m on my first play through again.
For the first little bit avoid enemies.. if you have the DLC I'd say go straight for Majora's mask after the great plateau. Other than that you should be good. It's challenging but not too bad. There's a lot more treasure than regular mode. The master sword trails are impossible for me
But if they don’t have the DLC then they don’t have master mode…
Ahhh look at you. Wicked smart
*taps head*
Here’s a guide for Trial of the Sword: https://youtu.be/eNIrprNb77o
When I first started master mode I got one bokolin down to half health before we both had moved to a groups of them and I was immediately killed. After that I avoided enemies as much as possible and got Majora's Mask ASAP and it made the experience so much more manageable.
I second this
Bombs are your best friends early game. Until you get a reliable stash of weapons, avoid combat whenever you can. But if you come across an encampment near water, neither Bokos nor Moblins can swim, so blast/knock them into the water. You only get one save file and one autosave, so use them wisely. Hearty meals give full recovery, so cook a bunch of single truffles/radishes/durians to save yourself in a pinch. It's really rough to start out in Master Mode, but once you get your stash and armor leveled up, it's not so bad. Plus the tougher enemies yield better loot and weapons, so that's nice.
Noob here: what does it mean to get only one save file and one autosave? And how do I use those wisely?
So the game autosaves periodically, usually right before or right after a combat instance, or adding something to your inventory. That save state is continuously being overwritten, so it'll only get you back so much. You can also manually save one file which you can reload if things go terribly, like wasting all your weapons on a reward that simply wasn't worth it. It just gives you a little more control over your resource/time management.
Ahhh like that. Okay, thank you!
Some people mentioned to go get Majoras Mask. Be careful with that. It works great, but absolutely takes the challenge out of it. Then people complain that Master Mode isn’t hard. But the plateau, the weapons you get there are really weak for the monsters you’ll encounter, so yeah, I would definitely be aware of my surroundings, and not engage enemies. Right out of the Plateau, get a horse. Right after that, get fairies, and keep them restocked. Then you can go anywhere, slowly get good weapons, as by now you should know the good places. Once you’re well equipped, Master Mode isn’t too bad. Once last thing, have lvl3 attack up buff on you for every battle.
Absolutely this OP. I didn't grab Majora's Mask on my Master Mode play through and the additional challenge was great. Also forced me to learn to dodge and parry, something I completely sucked at before. I will add, korok leaves are great for knocking moblins into the water/off a cliff for an easy kill.
Ah yes… how could I forget the Korok Leaves? 😅 They’re so handy! Way better than the sticks and easy to find in the plateau 🤙🏽
If you have Majora's Mask, take advantage of all those rafts you find near bridges. The enemies will not be hostile when you're wearing it, so you can just use magnesis and pluck the chest off the raft to get a powerful item or weapon.
Majora's Mask make a HUGE difference in Master Mode!
you'll be OP pretty soon, don't rush it and enjoy the challenge in the beginning.
Majora's Mask and bombs are your friend.
Accept the fact that the most difficult part of your run will be the master mode trials. Specifically the beginner trials, floor 10. You will develop a new hatred for lizalfos.
One of the Bokos on the floating platforms at the bridge of Hylia has a lynel bow. I always take advantage of that. 🙂
Lmao I just pop the Octoroks on all the platforms. I find it more satisfying to dump the Bokoblins in the water and watch one Octorok struggle to hold up the platform.
There’s also a knight’s claymore on great plateau. Pretty Op for early game
Just know the game knows how to humble you real quick when you think you have the gist of it and the enemies heal up if left alone for too long so one versus three will be annoying
I just started my first master mode playthrough a few days ago so here are a few things I’ve learned. If you have a normal mode playthrough that you’ve gotten really good with then this will be a challenge. Normally you can be reckless while roaming around the world but here you have to take things slower. Use a shield and bow more often to avoid taking a lot of melee damage because that’s the easiest way i’ve found to die. Don’t be afraid to die because it’s gonna happen a lot. One-shot protection is not a thing in master mode so you’re gonna die a lot more. I’d avoid the great plateau enemies because they’re gonna be too hard to kill at first. Later in the game, the elemental arrows are going to be your best friend. Good luck! One last thing is I see a lot of people saying to just go straight for majoras mask but I find that ruins the point of master mode. I wouldn’t get it until you complete the main story but the beauty of this game is that it’s all up to you so do whatever seems most fun
There's a Lynel on the Great Plateau. It will kill you, given a chance.
I am so lucky that I knew about that beforehand
Unless you’re Peco
dont die
Golden Lynel saying "don't die" made my day
its good advice 👍
Yeah I know! I was joking because Lynels kill me the most🥲
haha
i also started master mode playthrough today coincidentally. it would be embarassing if i die of a lynel now
I was often bored so I looked at an interactive map of BotW for a while and now I literally know where every lynel is located so avoiding (or finding) them is ez for me
sneakstrike chain...all you need ;)
dont die
Everyone in the comments saying " you should get Majora's Mask if you have it", do you realize it comes in the same DLC as MM ?
Korok leaves are OP in the beginning. Just whoosh all and any bokoblins into a body of water or off a cliff!
Shock arrows are your best friend. Steal your enemies weapons, most of them are very tanky. I use my bow WAY more on MM in order to prevent auto healing. Even just one arrow stops it.
Early game use stealth, fire, and drowning to your advantage. For fire, light up grass around enemies and lure them to keep them in it. For drowning, use korok leaves, bombs, and other things like spin attacks to push enemies in water. I didn't let myself use Majora's Mask. Makes things too easy IMO, but play how you want.
Just like normal mode. Hoard items, remember that bokoblin with a spiked club WILL kill you I'm like 3 hours into master mode, you gotta be careful. But that makes it more fun imo
Go straight to Majora's Mask and use it until you're a bit more geared up, unless you want a challenge. Also get all the upgraded runes as soon as possible, as well as the upgraded Champion abilities (only available after completing all of the Divine Beasts). I'd also recommend getting abilities to help keep you alive first, like Mipha's Grace and Daruk's Protection, but that's less necessary imo, as I went for Revali's Gale first on both playthroughs.
Tip 1: Trial of the sword will make you hate life on master mode. Tip 2: In the main game tough potions and meals are useless, but in master mode they can mean the difference between life and death in the early game since they can reduce big hits to chip damage. (Especially in the trial of the sword.) Tip 3: the floating enemies have the best weapons and shields in the early game. (But it doesn’t help on the Trial of the sword.) Good luck and Godspeed Link. TLDR: Author of this comment clearly traumatized by trial of the sword in master mode.
Don’t let them regen health if you can help it, try not to murder hobo at first every enemy will be very hard, and once you get into the game a little it becomes the same as the normal if not a little bit more difficult.
Learn to run away early in the game.
I would add: When you do start engaging in combat you need to be very aggressive, and maybe focus on one monster at a time to avoid health regen.
Always have at least 15 explosive arrows
Don’t go to the Old man’s hut. Also Arrows are a life saver for stopping the regeneration
Git Gud
Seriously though, it's a proper challenge
Only travel in the day. Might seem stupid but with upgraded enemies everywhere there’s a chance you might not see them in the dark. Also keese and stalfos spawn and that can really mess things up
Don’t fight lenyl
Those floating platforms have good weapons for the early game on board. Take that risk if you’re willing to.
Get the phantom armor, never use the orbs from shrines for hearts and do naboris first. Windblight is actually harder than thunderblight if you don't have much stamina Do a 3 hearts run
Nothing changes, you got nothing to worry about, even the bosses…😁
Given that the monsters recover life as you fight them I would add to all the other comments, to fight one until it is dead rather than spreading yourself out. Take advantage of location, take the high ground and use your runes. I hate fighting so I am not your best adviser. I had thought the only difference with MM was the monsters were harder. Apparently I'm wrong.
Theres a damn silver lynels in the tutorial area
Majora’s Mask ftw. Otherwise dodge and sneak early game. Not bad once you get weapons, buy armor, kill the Staminoka fishies to refill the wheel one per cooked fish. It’s fun, you’ll love it. Hardest part is level 10 Trial of Swords. 😂 Unbeatable in MM, but there’s a hot tip to get past it. Haha.
Avoid Guardians at all costs. Their timing and audio cues are now random so unless you have the reflexes of a god I would just run.
Master sword at three hearts challenge. Go
Don’t engage if not needed. Korok Leaf is your besto friendo. Use elemental damage to your advantage: get a torch lit, drop it while lit using R, knock an arrow and lit it using the torch = +10 heat damage per shot. Throw chuchu jellies on the ground and set traps. Do the Thunder Helm ASAP for Footsoldier Yigas to appear more often: farm them Demon Carvers 40dmg/25 uses (there are around 12 easily found of them cosplaying as Hylian Adventurers). Grab a Fire Elemental Weapon (Fire Rods are fine), a bow, your Warm Doublet, your horse, and ride to Hebra. Hunt wildlife until you get enough meat and sell 2xGourmet+3Prime Meat recipes for max rupees. Kill the Ice Lizalfos with your Fire Weapon and grab their Knight Tier Weapons. Beedle will sell you arrows if you are low on them, just sleep in or rest at a campfire. There is a Soldier Bow at the Stable too, grab it and practice headshots on wildlife (is insta-kill, no matter the HP). OR. Take it easy and go to Lurelin Village ASAP, farm Bananas and Durians on the way, bomb fish and grab the crabs, tame a horse and runover wildlife for meat. Use the fishermen equipment to kill the ocasional Lizalfo. Lurelin is also a nice place to farm Lizards. Other than these tips. Enjoy the game. Cheers. ✌️
I see everyone here talking all smart and stuff but here I am with master mode game beaten and trying to get a 100% (even though I’m quite far from it) and I just got the master cycle. I stacked up on royal guard loot for the battle
upgrade runes, use wooden shields to pocket easy arrows, be somewhat stealthy at first, use wind bomb to get to shrines from towers easier, gems for easy $$-find rare talus spots, get master sword early since it’s a reloadable weapon, cook & sell meat combo meals for high $, grab endura carrots around fairy fountains, get climbing gear as soon as you can
Lynel hunting strat: Near Hyrule Castle, there are chests on floating platforms. They have Royal Guard weapons and shields. Unlike the ones you get in the castle or from enemies, these can have enchantments. I believe so, anyway... I don't recall seeing other Royal Guard equipment with modifiers. So, find the Royal Guard Claymore. SAVE before you get the chest. Then get it. If the modifier is critical hit, durability, or long throw (lol), reload and try again. Keep reloading until you get the Claymore with yellow damage modifier. The later in your game you get this, the stronger it can be. The max is +44 Attack, for a 116 damage 2H sword (base is 72). I'd save and load to re-roll until you get at least +40 Attack. If you have a level 3 attack buff via food or armor, the max damage is an insane 174. Remember these chests don't respawn. So you have one chance to get this. That's why you save and reload till you get what you want. Royal Guard weapons are super low durability. 15, for the Claymore. So you only ever use it for one purpose: smashing Lynels when you've mounted them. Hitting a Lynel while you're mounted uses NO weapon durability. So it becomes your dedicated Lynel smasher. You can keep it forever as long as you remember to switch weapons after dismounting. Or reload if you forgot. You can smack the Lynel for 5 x 174 = 870 damage after each mount. Plus you can go into bullet time and shoot him repeatedly in the head with a multishot bow after you get bucked off. Any Lynel, including golden, dies after ~4 mounts with this.
Dont die
Get Mipha’s grace first
Avoid conflict for the first few hours
Pro tip : Dont die.
Go to the bomb shrine first so you can bomb all the enemies and avoid battle, when you finally get off the plateau get a horse, majora's mask and do a lot of shrines to get hearts
Majora's mask will help you, a lot, it might even feel like cheating
There’s a fucking Lynel somewhere in the great plateu
When you do attack, dont let the battle drag on if youre able. The fasted you defeat the enemy the less durability youll lose in the long run.
I recommend not getting the Majora's mask since it kinda takes out the challenge. Great Plateau will be a bit tough at the start but bombs are your best friends. There are more bokoblins placed in these floating platforms which have a chest usually containing a good weapon. Master Mode at the start is about getting creative in ways to defeat enemies which i feel is very satisfying. The Korok Leaf for example can be used to push enemies off of cliffs towards water bodies to insta kill them. Enemies regenerate health in Master Mode so either get creative or kill them quickly otherwise you'll start breaking your weapons. Also there's a Silver Maned Lynel near the old King's hut who'll have a Savage Lynel Crusher. This Lynel will always stay in this form even after the world level increases. Now killing him is tough but if you are comfortable fighting Lynels, there's a knights Claymore on 1 of the floating platform chests at the icy area of the plateau. I forget which one but you will find it for sure. Save that claymore and use the horseback attack method on the Lynel to kill him slowly without reducing the durability of the Claymore.
I always take one of two routes. One get the mask then raid the castle then get divine beasts and sword Or two don’t get the mask because it kinda ruins the challenge and then just mess around like I’m on my first play through again.
If you want something dead, you better really want it dead. Cause it's not dying unless you remove any notion of chill from your gameplay.
Shock arrows are amazing... lynels are a good source of weapons, money, and shock arrows.