Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - How To Unlock the Amiibo Rune

Instead of finding new items in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, most of your puzzle-solving prowess comes from special runes located in the first handful of shrines you encounter in the Great Plateau.

NOTE: You can only scan the same amiibo once per day. It may take several attempts to get a special amiibo’s unique gear drop — each drop is randomized.

This prologue area introduces five of the seven available runes — but one of these runes can be unlocked at literally any point in the game. That’s the amiibo rune, and using it allows Link to summon all sorts of treasure. Amiibo scanning is a little different on the Switch, but we’ll explain everything you need to know about this feature below.

How To Unlock the Amiibo Rune

Runes are special abilities you can activate by pressing the [L] shoulder button on your Joy-Con. Hold [Up] on the Left Joy-Con to cycle through your different runes. Before you can get the Amiibo Rune, complete the first Rune Trial / Shrine in the Great Plateau. [May not be necessary.]

Once you’ve unlocked the first rune and now how to use it, it’s time to start summoning amiibo rewards.

How to Use Amiibo:
1. Go to the Main Menu screen and select “amiibo” from the options.
2. Accept and agree to add amiibo functionality to Breath of the Wild
  - You can remove the amiibo rune at any time from the same “amiibo” option on the Main Menu.
3. Continue your game and hold [Up] on the Left Joy-Con to select the amiibo run — it’s on the far right, with an “a” icon.
4. Tap the [L] shoulder button to activate the rune. You can now scan your amiibo.
  - A circle will appear. Tap [Up] or [Down] on the Left Joy-Con to set the distance — either far or close. Make sure you select an area that’s clear before summoning!
5. Place the amiibo over the [Right-Thumbstick] on the Right Joy-Con to scan.
6. If scanned successfully, treasure will appear!

You can only scan each amiibo once per day. Each amiibo related to Legend of Zelda drops a unique piece of armor or gear, so it’s worth checking every day until you get something truly unique. It’s possible to get doubles too, so sell those extra parts.

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