Summary
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has "improved" on Breath of the Wild by fixing many glitches present in the previous game.
- Glitches like Windbomb, Bullet-Time Bounce, Bow Lift Smuggling, Shield Clipping, Unbroken Throw, and Thunderclap Rush no longer work in Tears of the Kingdom.
- While some glitches have been removed, players can still find new exploits in Tears of the Kingdom and rely on tricks with proper timing to enhance gameplay.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom improved on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in various ways, which is pretty astounding, considering the success and acclaim that BOTW managed to get since its original release. In addition to adding a plethora of gameplay elements, expanding the map, and including more content, Nintendo also fixed many glitches that were present in the predecessor title. While some of these glitches were completely game-breaking, others are well-known tricks players can pull off with the right timing.
Zelda: BOTW released in 2017, leaving plenty of time for game fans to discover new exploits. These glitches almost became a part of the game for diehard players and are still commonly used for speed runs. In TOTK, many of the glitches present in BOTW have been completely removed from the game, presenting a challenge to discover new glitches in Tears of the Kingdom.
10 Windbomb
Also known as Boomy Zoomy, the Windbomb was one of the more overpowered and well-known glitches in Breath of the Wild. In BOTW, players could detonate square and round Remote Bombs in Bullet-Time to send Link flying into the air, effectively giving him a rocket jump that could be used to navigate more quickly around Hyrule.
This technique was so popular that players utilized different variations of the Windbomb to great effect. Unfortunately, it looks like in Zelda: TOTK, Nintendo changed the bomb mechanics, so now, if players try to Windbomb, they will end up just damaging themselves.
9 Bullet-Time Bounce
Bullet-Time Bounce or BTB in Zelda: BOTW enabled Link to gain height and momentum by freezing an enemy and then immediately shield surfing on their head. Though reminiscent of another Nintendo mascot (of the plumber variety), this was likely not intentional by the game's developers. This is demonstrated in TOTK, as when players try to BTB off an enemy, they'll simply slide off to the side, making this one glitch that ceases to work in Tears of the Kingdom.
8 Bow Lift Smuggling
In Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Bow Lift Smuggle Slide, or BLSS, was an advanced technique players could use to essentially fly to any location on the map. To perform this glitch in BOTW, players needed to equip a bow and shield, then find an item to pick up and glitch out the game by pulling out their bow while picking up the item and holding out their shield simultaneously.
Jumping in the air and then unequipping the shield and bow would further glitch out the game, which players could then use to launch Link in the air, using the momentum to fly anywhere. In TOTK, trying this, well -- will not do anything. Trying to pick up an item while pulling out the bow just won't work, making this another glitch that BOTW has that TOTK doesn't.
7 Shield Clipping
Shield Clipping is another advanced technique players could use to shield surf against a wall, then clip through the wall by unequipping their shield at just the right moment. In TOTK, the developers updated the game so players can no longer unequip a shield mid-shield surf, completely removing the ability for players to utilize this glitch.
6 Unbroken Throw
In Breath of the Wild, it was possible to land a critical strike on a throw without the player's weapon breaking by glitching the hitboxes of intimate objects. All the player had to do was properly aim their throw when close to an object like a crate, and the weapon would break the object and hit the enemy, landing a critical blow without breaking.
While this is one of the harder glitches to actually land consistently, it was very useful to players that got skilled with it. In Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, trying to duplicate the glitch just won't work, and your weapon will break upon hitting the enemy.
5 Whistle Sprint
Players who were tired of running out of stamina in Breath of the Wild could use a technique known as the Whistle Sprint to make Link run at almost full sprint speed without u any stamina. To achieve this, players would whistle and tap the sprint buttons while whistling, tricking the game and glitching it out.
Commonly used in all parts of speed runs of BOTW, the Whistle Sprint glitch was one of the better-known glitches in the game. The developers might have been aware of this exploit because in TOTK, when attempting this same glitch, Link will actually deplete stamina faster than just sprinting regularly.
4 Thunderclap Rush
An offensive ability, the Thunderclap Rush was an effective way to dish out serious damage to enemies in a short period of time in BOTW. Players would execute this advanced glitch by holding out their shield, back flipping off a raised area, using bullet time, then pulling out their weapon to perform a quick flurry of attacks.
This is no longer possible in TOTK, as the flurry no longer initiates and trying this same series of button presses will simply swing the player's weapon.
3 Fall-Damage Cancel
In BOTW, players could jump off any area of great height and initiate an item throw, then pull out a weapon right before hitting the ground to negate any fall damage. In TOTK, while it is still possible to start a weapon throw before falling off the edge of a cliff, doing the same actions won't negate fall damage as it did in the previous game.
Luckily, as players will be spending a lot more time naturally navigating through the air in Tears of the Kingdom, this exploit isn't as useful as it was in the previous game.
2 Overloading The Game
In BOTW, there was a menu overload glitch that enabled players to more easily duplicate items and would make Link's body disappear on the inventory menu screen. Similarly, players could overload the entire game by tossing elemental weapons into water or dropping lit campfires into a fairy fountain to essentially overload the game's memory.
This would also have the interesting side effect of making Link immune to damage and providing him with the ability to walk underwater.
While theoretically, it may still be possible to perform this kind of overload glitch in Tears of the Kingdom, the ways in which you did it in BOTW are no longer possible in the new game.
1 Infinite Arrow Glitch
In BOTW, players could equip a multishot bow and then shoot the bow in very specific locations around Hyrule, which had the unique effect of returning more arrows than players shot. Players could repeat this pattern to essentially create a never-ending factory of arrows in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Luckily for those playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, arrows can be found virtually everywhere around Hyrule by simply breaking crates and other wooden objects.
Source: KnightPohtaytoe/YouTube (2), Lvl One Gamer/YouTube (2), Kleric/YouTube, Finagle a bagle/YouTube, Zant/YouTube, Little_L/YouTube, Duplex Link/YouTube, 100 Percent Zelda/YouTube
