How to get the Hylian Shield in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Hylian shield is one of the most recognizable and powerful items in The Legend of Zelda, and luckily for you, you can get your hands on it very early on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s even possible once you dive from the Great Sky Island to the surface of Hyrule, but you’ll still encounter some powerful adversaries along the way.

Read on to find out where to find the Hylian Shield and how to get there.

Hylian Shield location in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Hylian shield can be found at the harbor below Hyrule Castle on the coordinates (-0161, 1159, 0037).

Before you travel, you also need a method of making fire. It could be a fire fruit, a red Chuchu jelly, a torch or any other fire-making method you know – just make sure you bring at least one.

We also recommend that you prepare some equipment if you plan to fight. If you don’t plan on defeating enemies and leading it to the Hylian Shield, feel free to skip to the next section. Here are a few recommended materials to bring with you on the trek:

• 8 to 10 bomb flowers (or AOE Fuse materials such as Chuchu jelly and Like Like materials)
• 8 to 10 arrows
• Powerful Fuse weapons and shields
• Sunflower dishes or gloom resistance equipment

How to get the Hylian shield in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

To enter the harbor under Hyrule Castle, you need some kind of boat. If you have Build automatically, you can create a boat you saved or use your Zonai devices to build one from scratch. You will need a tiller handle to steer your vehicle properly as the current will push you away from the dock entrance.

Photo Illustration: Johnny Yu/Polygoon | Image source: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

If you don’t have any equipment, there is a prefabricated boat on the west side of the Hyrule Castle Moat. By the way, this ready-to-go boat isn’t equipped with a tiller or fans, so you’ll have to steer it the old-fashioned way: with the boat’s sail and a Korok-Frond gust. (If you don’t have a Korok-Frond guster, you can make one by fusing a Korok-Frond and a tree branch. And if you don’t have a Korok-Frond or a tree branch, you can find some by cutting down trees southwest of the boat’s starting location.)

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Steer your boat around the northwestern part of the Hyrule Castle Moat to find a dock and an opening in the wall. Ignore the outer docks, and sail your boat into the opening to find the docks under Hyrule Castle. Veer left and jump onto the stone docks. Go up the stairs to find five Gloomy hands.

Photo Illustration: Johnny Yu/Polygoon | Image source: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

If you intend to fight the enemies in front of you, prepare for battle. If not, get ready to sprint! For the five Gloomy hands start tracking you, get ready bomb flower arrows and shoot it in the middle of the five hands. We’ve found it takes about six arrows to knock out all five Gloom Hands if you hit them all right in the middle, but if they’re still alive, keep going until they’re all dead.

After that, a Phantom Ganon wielding a spear will appear. We recommend staying close to Phantom Ganon and firing in a circle around him to dodge all of his attacks. However, always remember not to get too greedy to land that extra hit and keep your shield up to block its damage.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

After defeating Phantom Ganon (or fleeing to safety), head up the stairs and find five lit braziers surrounding one large brazier. Set fire to the center brazier using any fire-starting method you can think of. If you have leftover arrows, you can set one on fire by placing an arrow on an arrow and holding it over one of the burning braziers. Then shoot it into the middle brazier to set it on fire and spawn one chest which contains the Hylian Shield.