The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both strayed from the most common Zelda formula: items. The hookshot, bottles, slingshot, and many other common Zelda staples are absent from the latest open-world titles. However, they have been replaced by the Sheikah Slate Runes and Rauru’s arm abilities in each game. The Runes in featured in Breath of the Wild include Bombs, Magnesis, Cryonis, and Stasis. Tears of the Kingdom’s arm abilities are Ultrahand, Ascend, Fuse, and Recall. Autobuild will be left out as it is in combination with Ultrahand.
This ranking will adopt the mechanics and world of Tears of the Kingdom specifically, including the sky islands and Depths. Glitches such as using bombs and bullet time to fly extremely fast in Breath of the Wild won’t be considered. An ability’s ranking is determined by usefulness in either combat or traversal, along with the amount of creativity that it allows. This ranking will also rank an ability based on if it was the only ability in Link’s arsenal.
Cryonis
Not to much surprise, but Cryonis loses almost all its usefulness after acquiring the Zora armor. Along with that, in Tears of the Kingdom, ice-element items can freeze water and make platforms, which was all Cryonis offered. When first starting the game, Cryonis can be useful as there is not much stamina to work with when swimming. Also, without the Zora armor, it is a creative way to ascend waterfalls, albeit slowly. However, once acquiring more stamina and the Zora armor, Cryonis becomes almost obsolete.
Cryonis finds itself at the bottom of the list due to becoming obsolete once acquiring the Zora Armor.
Recall
Recall, in combination with other abilities, is great. But by itself, it doesn’t offer much. One of the main uses of Recall in Tears of the Kingdom is sending rocks that fell from the sky back up to ride. This alone is one of the most efficient ways to reach the sky islands above. Besides that, Recall’s uses are limited to sending projectiles back at opponents. Once Ultrahand is taken out of the situation, it loses its other main functionality, saving builds from falling far away. Considering nothing else can replace Recall’s functionality, unlike Cryonis, it is at least above that ability.
Recall offers some niche uses in the world of Hyrule, but is not nearly as strong compared to other abilities.
Remote Bomb
If this ability had made it into Tears of the Kingdom, it would be immensely useful. Dropping bombs onto enemies in the Depths, blowing up Zonaite ore veins, and traversal through caves are just some of the functions remote bombs would be used for. Sadly, bomb flowers and time bombs are the replacements for this rune. Although there is a plethora of bomb flowers to be found, having an infinite about that remote detonate is much more enticing. With Zonai devices and the replacement for remote bombs in Tears of the Kingdom, however, the rune doesn’t have much going for it.
The Remote Bomb was amazing in Breath of the Wild. But with its replacement of Bomb Flowers in Tears of the Kingdom, they wouldn’t find much usage.
Ascend
Ascend has one usefulness, and it is extremely helpful. Being able to scale any mountain or go through the ceiling of a cave in an instant makes climbing seem out of date. Ascend is easily one of my most used abilities in the game because of this. Also, being able to ascend through a Stone Talus boss to the top can make the encounters much easier. Another creative use is rising to the top of an enemy camp and grabbing the chest before fighting anything.
However, Ascend doesn’t offer anything else besides this. In conjunction with other abilities, such as Ultrahand and Recall, Ascend can be used to fly up to a box frozen by Recall in the air. But since ability combinations aren’t considered, Ascend finds itself at the lower half of the ranking.
Being able to scale any mountain, even if it is raining, makes Ascend one of my most used abilities.
Magnesis
The term “outclassed” has never been more apparent than with Magnesis. Everything Magnesis does, Ultrahand does better, and then some. However, by itself, it is still a great ability. Being able to pick up metal items has a plethora of uses. For example, picking up the iron spike balls and thrashing the enemy. Or, placing the iron cages in enemy camps onto enemies. Also, taking metal weapons in a thunderstorm and placing them near enemies to be struck. These are just a few examples of the many functions Magnesis provides, even if it is outclassed.
Magnesis finds itself near the top of the ranking because of its usefulness by itself. It does not rely on other abilities to increase its effectiveness. Alongside that, the creativity it provides is very large. And just being able to swing a giant metal box at a bunch of enemies is always fun.
Magnesis has a plethora of uses, but being overshadowed by Ultrahand brings it down a few.
Stasis
Stasis is easily the most missed ability in Tears of the Kingdom, as its functionality cannot be replaced. The uses for Stasis are almost boundless. Need to quickly launch yourself somewhere? Find a big rock, use Stasis, and grab onto it before it flies. Want to stop an enemy from attacking for a moment? Use Stasis on it. You can send bomb barrels flying towards an enemy camp, or stop a spike ball from rolling and send it back. There have been hundreds of examples of the creative uses of Stasis during Breath of the Wild’s tenure.
With Tears of the Kingdom, the closest resemblance to Stasis is Recall. However, it lacks the diversity that Stasis provided in the prequel. Its unique power, alongside how it stands tall by itself without other abilities, makes it one of the strongest powers in the open-world Zelda titles.
Stasis is incredibly powerful and allows for a lot of creativity in the right hands.
Fuse
Fuse is almost the most powerful ability introduced in Tears of the Kingdom. By itself, it offers an endless amount of possibilities for the player. It is almost impossible to summarize the creativity and usefulness Fuse provides. No need for elemental weapons when you can fuse items to any weapon, even making the Master Sword an ice weapon. Or, making a shield launch electricity when hit. Attach a rocket or bomb to a shield to launch Link into the sky. Place a boulder on a sword to turn it into a weapon for mining.
Fusing is so powerful that it is a crime to have a weapon in your inventory that is not fused. The Zonai devices specifically provide boundless opportunities with Fuse. Placing a mirror on a shield will create a makeshift Mirror Shield, just like Ocarina of Time. A flame emitter fused on a shield will transform it into a flamethrower. Or a cannon to a spear allows it to blast rocks and enemies away. Examples can be listed for days, but the point has already been made.
Fuse offers so much creativity and freedom. Every enemy encounter can be different depending on which fused weapon you use.
Ultrahand
Although Fuse made a strong case, there is no ability more versatile and useful than Ultrahand. There is a reason Magnesis is outclassed completely here. Being able to pick up any object and glue them together makes the ability’s creative uses boundless. Need to get across a lake? Attach logs together until the “bridge” is long enough to get across. You can also create a boat, a flying machine, or a catapult. Again, the possibilities are endless for any situation.
For combat, a simple big wheel with flame emitters attached and a stabilizer creates a spinning circle of death. Or, attaching a hydrant, shock emitter, and homing cart makes a great way to shock a group of enemies endlessly by getting them wet. Alongside all of these ideas, schematics can be found around the Depths that offer more creative functions. This is where Autobuild comes in. Autobuild, an ability found after the initial tutorial, saves Ultrahand creations to be instantly created with items around, or with Zonaite if not. This allows players to create some monster creations that can be used later.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for the possibilities Ultrahand allows. It singlehandedly creates endless solutions to every problem faced in the world of Hyrule. If Ultrahand was the only ability offered in Tears of the Kingdom, it would still be an amazing experience. That is why it is the best ability in the open-world Zelda titles.
Ultrahand is what makes Tears of the Kingdom so unique from its predecessor. The amount of creative freedom this simple ability offers is unbelievable
You can read our full review of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at KeenGamer.
Dude
Where is Autobuild?
Brandon Sparks
Hi!
I mention in the first paragraph that Autobuild was bundled together with Ultrahand, as it is impossible to use it without Ultrahand.