Breath of the Wild Master Mode: Week 2

In the first week I did not make much progress. This is partially due to me testing the waters as far as difficulty and not being prepared for how challenging master mode was, but it was primarily because I didn't actually play as much as I had planned. For anyone who hasn't played Breath of the Wild before, the first part of the game, called The Great Plateau, is basically a tutorial where you are taught basic skills you will need throughout the rest of the game without being in any significant danger. After completing the first four quests you are rewarded with a Paraglider, allowing you to leave the plateau which, up until this point, would result in a death from fall damage if you tried to leave. Casually, this part of the game takes around 20 minutes, mostly running across the plateau to reach the objectives you need to complete to receive the Paraglider. At the time of writing this blog I have completed three of the four main objectives required to leave.

The Great Plateau

In master mode all enemies start one tier above the difficulty that they normally would be and there are new areas where they can appear. This increased difficulty resulted in several deaths as I tried to relearn the fighting mechanics by practicing on what would typically have been the equivalent of training dummies. However, in their more difficult state, they proved quite a challenge for my armor-lacking, wooden stick-yielding character. Following my "training" I explored the plateau a bit more and then began actually working on receiving the Paraglider. This means completing four mini-dungeons called Shrines each of which will reward you with a skill. The first shrine I completed was the Magnesis shrine, giving me the ability to freely move metal objects. Each of the first four shrines contain a "puzzle" involving the ability that you learn at the start of the dungeon. These are very simple, but the presence of higher-level enemies caused minor complications, one of which involved accidentally dropping a metal door on my head, killing me immediately. After completing the shrine, the Old Man, who gave me my quest meets me outside to congratulate me.

Spirit Orbs allow you to increase your health and stamina.

Nearby is another shrine, rewarding you with the Remote Bomb ability, allowing you to create bombs for blowing down walls and doors, killing enemies, or launching objects. This shrine is only a simple puzzle with no enemies so I was able to complete it fairly quickly. After completing the bomb shrine, I made my way towards the snowy mountains to begin another. Travelling through cold areas without proper clothing is very dangerous and will cause you to constantly lose health unless you eat a spicy meal, which reduces the effects of the cold, before hand. I ate a meal of cooked apples and hot peppers and made my way into the mountains towards the next shrine. This shrine introduces the ability Cryonis, allowing you to create ice pillars on any water surface, even waterfalls. I completed the shrine quickly as it only contained one enemy which could be stunned and defeated easily by creating an ice pillar underneath it. Outside the shrine exit, a chest floats in a pool of frigid water that kills you in mere seconds. Luckily, thanks to my new Cryonis ability, I was able to lift it up out of the water where I could reach it safely and receive the opal inside.

Ice Pillars created with Cryonis

The final thing I did this week was start a campfire to keep myself warm, as the effects of my spicy food had run out, eat some food to restore my health, and return back to the starting area, ready for next week's adventures. Thanks for reading, I look forward to sharing more progress next week!