When you think of Legend of Zelda, the last things that probably come to your mind are mechs and robots. Fortunately in the latest installment of its series, Tears of the Kingdom, they’ve added the means of exactly that! While the main enemy forces are a contingent of constructs and machines that try to kill you, Link can construct his own weapons of war! Building mechas requires wits, timing, and a fair amount of resources but can be relatively open-ended. By collecting as many battery charges as possible, Link can manipulate these mechas through every facet of Hyrule! These robot designs not only utilize multiple methods of travel but also hold the ability to be reconstructed with auto-build powers!
The infinite combinations of weapons and exploitations that can be built on these mechas are truly astounding. Acting as one of the few fantasy games that allow for such creations, Link enters the territory of artificer as far as abilities go. There are three main types of mechas that can be found in this guide meant to assist the player. These variants are meant to be general ideas that can be crafted with varying degrees of resources. These suggestions can be expanded upon, or ignored in favor of your own design but serve to help you in your creative venture! Remember that the enemies of Hyrule don’t stand a chance to superior wit, and the greatest insight available are giant robots.
Looking for more Tears of the Kingdom content from KeenGamer?
- Tears of the Kingdom | Fuse Guide
- Tears of the Kingdom | Ultra Hand Guide
- Tears of the Kingdom | Gutanbac Shrine Guide
- Tears of the Kingdom | Rewind Guide
- Tears of the Kingdom | Ascend Guide
-source IGN
Construction
When it comes to building mechas in Tears of the Kingdom, you attempt to exploit the many mechanics of the game itself. In essence, these are a construct of the game engine being pushed to its full potential by mixing devices, powers, and battery charges. These constructs are meant to be both a means of getting around Hyrule extremely quickly as well as offering a method of mass destruction for your enemies. Each choice drives the construction items used in each design, as an attack-based mecha will be more heavily armed and armored than one meant for simple traversal.
When creating these mechas, you have to keep in mind that there will be three essential layers to making them properly work. These layers include the skeleton itself where the machine is manipulated to move, armor to protect itself with, and finally, armament to defend itself with. Finally, the construction of these devices requires trial and error, and a bit of time as they will quickly fall apart after a brief duration of time. It’s important to remember that once you’ve fully constructed the end product it can be reproduced with the Auto-build feature, making boss fights easy to deal with!
Layers of a Mecha
The most important aspect of your mecha will be the layout used to construct it. This layout includes how your mecha operates in the form of a skeleton, how it protects itself, and how it attacks others. All three aspects require a bit of trial and error in their own right and should be done one step at a time. A mecha must be able to move properly, stay together if hit by an attack, and preferably not catch fire; as well as either defend itself or get away from a conflict. Each will have its own building materials, and needs that will be fulfilled for the best possible results!
Attack Variant Mecha
Skeleton
The skeletal frame of your mecha holds some of the most important amongst the entirety of the layout. In essence, this will be where the machine functions at its core. This includes the basic structure of what the machine will look like, as well as how it will move, and interact with the world. This will look incredibly simple at first, as the main idea is to simply have a product that can move from point a, to point b without glitching or breaking. When creating these constructs there are a couple of key points to remember, especially when trying to work around glitches:
- The more pieces used on the frame, the longer it takes to construct itself, and the less time it will have to operate before falling apart.
- Wood can be the ideal material for basic construction, but can catch fire so make sure to plan for armor.
- Zoraite devices can be used, but require additional battery charges which will lower the functionality of the mecha overall.
| Material Type | Strengths | Weaknesses | Rarity | Battery Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Light, durable to piercing and crushing | Fire and slashing damage | Common | Low |
| Rock | Heavy, durable to slashing | Crushing damage, explosives | Common | Heavy |
| Metal | Heavy, durable to slashing, and piercing | Electricity | Uncommon | Moderate |
| Devices | Versatile and resistant to damage | Temporary | Common | Dependant |
Mecha example
Armor
When discussing armor for your mecha, it should be implied that this is meant to not only protect the construct itself but the pilot as well. While Link is aboard these massive robots, he must be stationary due to the nature of the control sticks. For this reason, it’s very appropriate to create an armored chassis and hood made out of Zoraite devices, or metal objects. Not only will these protect Link from the dangers of projectiles but restricts the damage of traps that might get sprung. These machines can become quite heavy after a variety of weapons and armor have been added to them so try to keep some key points in mind with the armor you choose:
- When choosing armor, it’s important to consider what you’re trying to deal with. If you have to deal with elemental effects, plan for it with different armor designs in your auto-build.
- Using Zoraite devices in unconventional ways allows for your mecha to be more well-armored. Things like wings and mining boards are great for protecting Link from damage.
- Protecting the connection points of your mech ensures monsters don’t destroy them as easily!
| Item Type | General Durability | Resistances | Weaknesses | Rate of Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Walls/ Crates | Low | ranged attacks and lightning damage | Fire and slashing damage | Low rate of consumption |
| Stones/ Boulders | High | Ranged, Slashing, Piercing, and elemental damage | Explosives, and crushing damage | High rate of consumption |
| Metal Walls/ Crates | Extremely high | ice, fire, piercing, slashing, and crushing damage | electricity | Moderate rate of consumption |
| Devices (Flat oriented) | Excellent | Elemental attacks, physical attacks, explosives | time limit before dissipating | dependant |
Defensive mechas
Weapons
Finally, your construction will most definitely require some form of armament for the sheer fact you created a giant robot. In a sense, devices that can be used to cause damage from a distance to your enemies are ideal for any kind of mecha design you want. To this end, this is where you can really spice up your design by specializing in one thing or another. These devices can cause devastating amounts of damage to particular enemies while staying conservative in their battery life. The alternative is to create a god-destroying mecha that Link can control. Whatever method you choose there are some essential things to keep in mind:
- When using weapons, your battery charges will go down quickly, so try to make the best out of your mech while you have it!
- Different elemental combinations are key for the widest variety of enemies destroyed in one period of time. Remember that elemental effects stack!
- Explosive weapons should be limited to the lower ends of the mecha to avoid blowing Link up in the process of piloting the construct!
| Weapon Type | Damage Type | Use | Rarity | Rate of Consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emitters | Elemental | Very good at spreading elemental damage at enemies | Common | Moderate |
| Cannons | Ranged Explosive | Great for destroying walls and armored enemies | Uncommon | High |
| Explosives | Melee Explosive | Basic explosives to ward off melee users | Common | None |
| Grinders | Crushing | Great for melee combat and defeating hordes | Rare | Low |
Simple Mech
Utility Devices
One of the most important aspects of a mecha besides any of the defensiveness and weaponry that it has, but how you operate it. In this case, your devices will be powered by batteries placed along the mecha itself, as well as control sticks. These two items alone will make sure that you are able to confidently maneuver around Hyrule with your very own robot of death! When constructing these items into your design, you should consider where they fit best in terms of protectiveness. You don’t want either to be destroyed or else the entire robot will cease to work properly. Additionally, you’ll need objects that turn, flip, or turn which can be found throughout your travels in Hyrule.
Powers Required
One of the most important parts of any mecha design in Tears of the Kingdom is the powers you choose to use in order to operate the design. Firstly, you will have to use the ultra hand ability in order to put the entire device together. After this, when using the mecha, it’ll be ideal to rewind it so that you can exploit the amount of time it operates on the battlefield. During this period of time the weapons, and traversability will be enhanced while keeping Link protected. Once the rewind is over, it will return the construct to its initial position which can be ignored using the control stick to keep pressing forward or clicking stop on the rewind ability.
Energy Consumption
These mechas will consume a lot of the energy stored within Link’s batteries fairly quickly the more complex they become. This fact means it’s very important for the player to carry as many Zoraite charges with them as possible. While these charges can run fairly quickly, it’s important to note that these mechas don’t last all that long when using the auto-build feature. Notable that Link can form multiple kinds of mecha suits for about two and a half batteries being consumed per summon. The best way to balance this out is to make single-purpose mechas that do what you need to do, as to conserve as much battery life as possible.
Traversal Mechas
Attack Variants
When creating a mecha for the purpose of attacking other creatures, you’re going to want to prioritize the weaponry and speed of your mecha over everything else. For this, you will focus on the concept of putting as many weapons as you can find onto your frame and replacing as much armor as possible for them. In this way, you’ll have the benefit of blasting the enemies away from you as quickly as possible. Weaponry like cannons, flamethrowers, beam emitters, and grinders are capable of making these mechas incredibly dangerous to deal with. The speed factor of an attack-oriented mech will allow you to catch your enemies, as well as escape before the mecha is fully destroyed.
Defense Variants
The hallmark of a good defense mecha will be the ability to withstand weather effects and enemy damage. These are going to work on the slower side and have the added defense of being a good sentry mecha. The basic concept of these creations is to put sentry bots on either foot or platform in order to create a drone effect. Once added, these tanks are able to protect Link, and act as mobile cover. In their own way, you could consider these defensive mechas to be a lot like the Talus of your own making, acting as a mobile battle platform. Unlike attack variants, these are slowly going and often sacrifice weaponry for more armor or means of negation.
Transport Variants
When it comes to wanting to just roam around Hyrule and learn about its new landscape, traversal-style mechas are the best possible choice. These mechas don’t need to be large, well-armored, or heavily armed; instead choosing to go all out with speed. The main asset of these mechas will be the devices you add to get places. These generally come in two forms, those who attempt to jump or fly, and those who attempt to move very quickly. Both are essentially done in a similar fashion just with propulsion systems on different angles.
-source Arekkz Gaming
As one of the more potent abilities in Link’s repertoire, using Auto-build will construct your mechas quickly and efficiently. One of the best methods for keeping the most cost-effective mechas is to make them specialized. A long list of designs is better than super costly design choices. At the end of your experience, you should have one of each of these mechas as well as any of your own designs! With limitless possibilities in the creation methods, you could make these machines however you want!
Mighty Giants
When designing your mechas, you’re using the engine of Tears of the Kingdom as it was truly intended. It’s wonderful to see how a game like this which has existed for so long as a franchise can expand upon their gameplay. It’s truly refreshing to say that you can stomp around in a mecha while playing Legend of Zelda! These machines can be as simple or complex as you want them to be, rivaling that of a good Lego game. It’s clear from the sheer scale of some of the designs circulating that there’s no limit to the creativity able to be factored into this wonderful title!
