Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of A Kingdom is a game that can surprise you with its mechanics and combinations tens of hours into your playthrough. The sheer scope of this game is as vast as the world it portrays, and the stuff you can do is just a button press away. Some things make a return from Breath Of The Wild, others are upgrades, and more often than not, they are brand new.
Shield Surfing, somehow, manages to hit all three, and it is one of the most overlooked aspects of our Twitter trawling is to be believed. In fact, with all the other systems taking the limelight, series veterans may have forgotten this technique even exists, and more still may have been blind to its upgrades.
More Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom content:
Cooking Guide | Secret Mount Guide | Surviving Cold Weather | Elixir Guide | Heat Resistance | Flame Guard
How To Shield Surf
Shield Surfing is one of the coolest aspects of Tears Of A Kingdom (and its predecessor). In short, it allows Link to use his shield as a board, which in turn lets him slide down hills at high speeds. It’s a fantastic navigational tool that has undergone some changes.
To Shield Surf, all you have to do is jump, hold up your shield, and then parry. This sounds complicated, and that’s because it is sort of it. The exact button inputs are: X, ZL, and A in quick succession. If successful, Link will land on his shield, and if you are on a slope, you will accelerate.
There are some quirks to Shield Surfing, such as the technique draining your shield’s durability, and the fact you can deploy your glider and maintain your surf stance. This lets you combo jumps, glides, and surfing for the ultimate thrill ride.
Changes To Shield Surfing
The biggest change to Shield Surfing is Fusion. Fusion has turned Tears Of A Kingdom into a fascinating journey of exploration and discovery – even on the inventory screen. With the advent of this new power, players can attach devices to their shields, and this lets them do all kinds of things.
Several Zonai devices alter your shield properties, with the two most important when it comes to Shield Surfing (that we have discovered so far) being Spring and Rocket. Spring lets you do the Shield Surf input and then catapult yourself into the air. You can then combo this again whilst in the air to activate another Shield Surf. This is somewhat fringe, but it can get you the elevation you need.
The most interesting – and most fun – is Rocket, however. Strapping a Rocket to your Shield and activating Shield Surf will cause you to gain immense speed over a very short distance. This can help you get up hills, or simply kickstart a session. It’s incredibly fun, if very short-lived.
It’s important to note that you can change your shield mid Surf without cancelling the Surf. This can be used to swap into a Rocket Shield (or Spring Shield…) to bypass tricky terrain or extend your jumps.
Grinding Rails
The final addition to this system is grinding. Do you know all those minecart rails in the Depths? Well, all of those can be travelled by Shield Surfing – to an extent. All the same limitations apply, namely, you will slow down on a vertical ascent. This does make the technique somewhat niche, but boatloads of fun.
Like before, changing shields mid Grind does not end the grind. Changing to a Rocket Shield when you are slowing during an ascent will solve all your problems.
Grinding is another technique in Link’s ever-expanding toolbelt, and we recommend you experiment with it further.
That’s all we have for Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom for now. Be sure to check out our other content for more tips, tricks, guides, and lists.
