How to Get the Master Sword

The Master Sword = Link’s legendary weapon that has traveled with him throughout the Legend of Zelda series. Here’s the complete walkthrough on how to obtain the sword.. and yes, it involves trekking through a creepy forest that leads to the homeland of Hyrule’s cutest creatures. I know.

Important Note: Before you obtain the Master Sword, I recommend you:

• have at least seven or eight hearts, and have more than one wheel of stamina
  • OR have more than four Spirit Orbs you can trade out for hearts or stamina via Goddess Statues
    • Statues are found within towns.
• have completed at least one Divine Beast
• have activated, but not necessarily completed, the Myahm Agana Shrine in Hateno Village

Woodland Tower

The Master Sword is located in the Woodland region’s Great Hyrule Forest, to the west of the Eldin region and Death Mountain. The first step to approaching it is to activate the Woodland Tower. It has a huge stone structure surrounding its top that distinguishes it from other towers in Hyrule.

Once you’ve activated Woodland Tower, look to the south, where you should see a pathway leading to a mass of dense fog. Glide down from the tower to this pathway and enter through the fog. You are now in the Lost Woods.

Navigating the Lost Woods

One wrong turn and you’re out – literally. Once you’ve seen the words “Lost Woods” pop up in the bottom left corner of your screen, follow the lit torches until you reach a pair of them aligned horizontally. There should be an unlit torch leaning against one of the lit ones’ columns. I highly recommend you pick it up and light it using the fire of the lit torches, unless you are already carrying a flammable weapon in your inventory.

Now pay attention to the way the torches’ sparks are floating. Stop every several steps since the sparks will change direction every once in a while. Keep following the direction the sparks float in until you reach the bright, cheerful Korok Forest. If you notice white fog coming together around you, dash out of it immediately; if you remain caught in it, you will be kicked out of the Lost Woods back to the two torches at your starting point, and you’ll have to follow the sparks all over again. Note that paragliding into the Lost Woods from any point will also get you kicked out.

Korok Forest

Activate the shrine in Korok Forest (Keo Ruug) by using your Sheikah Slate to examine the podium beside the shrine’s entrance. Note that you do not have to complete it now; activating it simply makes it a fast travel point so that you don’t have to navigate through the Lost Woods all over again. To the right of the shrine, you should see the shining Master Sword placed neatly in its pedestal, in front of the huge cherry blossom Deku Tree.

All you have to do is obtain at least thirteen hearts, and the Master Sword will be yours. If you already have this amount of hearts, stand in front of the sword and press A to pull it. Your hearts will be fully replenished after you have removed the weapon from its pedestal. If you don’t have thirteen hearts, an quick method of acquiring them is the exchange statue in Hateno Village. Open up your Sheikah Slate, warp to the Myahm Agana shrine in Hateno, and head to the horned statue on the edge of town. The exact location is shown below:

Keep trading out your stamina for hearts until you have 13. If you don’t want to perform the trading method, you can visit a Goddess Statue and trade your Spirit Orbs for hearts. Warp to the shrine in Korok Forest once you have obtained 13 hearts, stand in front of the sword, and pull it out.

Master Sword Stats

The Master Sword has a base attack power of 30. It can fire laser beams at enemies when you have full hearts; press the normal weapon throw button to fire. Its attack power is doubled to 60 in Hyrule Castle, in Divine Beasts, and during Guardian encounters. You can identify these special times when you see the sword glow. It cannot be dropped or thrown without using glitches.

Unlike all other melee weapons in Breath of the Wild, the Master Sword cannot break. It does, however, run out of energy after it is used for a considerable amount of time, and it will require 10 minutes to recharge itself for use again. While it is recommended that you obtain the Master Sword before defeating Ganon, it is not required.