Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - How To Get The Best Shield Early

Want one of the best pieces of gear in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom before finishing your first dungeon? The Hylian Shield is a powerful secret shield located in the depths of Hyrule Castle. If you’ve played Breath of the Wild, you might remember this hidden secret — there’s a Hylian Shield secret in the game too. And you’ll find it in exactly the same place this time around. If you’re unfamiliar, we’ve got a full guide below explaining how to get this shield right at the start of the game. No enemies to fight. Your starting glider is enough to reach it.

More Tears of the Kingdom guides:

How To Get Cold Protection | Giant Horse Location

How To Get The Hylian Shield | Best Shield Guide

The Hylian Shield is a powerful returning artifact from the original game. The shield has 90 defense — but you’ll only find one. Use it wisely. The shield is located in a secret location in the Docks of Hyrule Castle.

Travel to the ridge directly north of Hyrule Castle. Reach the edge of the cliffs near the Hyrule Castle Moat marker on your map.
Use the glider to reach the north-most structure. After landing on the platform with the piece of the castle outer wall, go right and look down. There’s a hidden dock below with a cavern entrance.

Glide down and enter the Docks through the water cave tunnel — this is right next to the Lockup. Ignore the Lockup and enter the large underground docks.

From the Docks, we’ll encounter an extremely dangerous enemy. Don’t let it catch you.

Up the stairs, you’ll encounter a terrifying Gloom Hands enemy. Cling to the side of the stone brick wall to avoid the hands — even with low stamina, you should be able to climb around them and wait for the hands to subside.
Continue past the Gloom enemy after it disappears. At the top of the stairs, you’ll find a giant fire brazier. Light it with a torch — any wooden weapon will work. Light it on one of the nearby fires, then hit the brazier.
Lighting the brazier causes a treasure chest to appear. The chest contains the Hylian Shield.

And that’s it! The Hylian Shield is the more powerful shield in the game, with a defense of 90. It is extremely durable — but it will break if it takes too much abuse. Use it wisely!

Most shields at this stage of the game have 2-10 Defense. That’s nothing compared to the Hylian Shield — which matches the iconic shield design in Link’s previous adventures. If you want to truly become a perfect Link, you’ll need the Hylian Shield and the Master Sword. Then you’ll be ready to take on Gannon for real.