How to swim in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, much like its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, features a vast open world for players to explore. The starting section of the game will only allow you to explore the grassy plains section of the map, However, as you progress through the main story, you will be able to traverse the rest of Hyrule, including its various biomes.

One of Tears of the Kingdom’s biggest selling points is how it heavily emphasizes player freedom and organic exploration. Player freedom is not only relegated to combat and the game's mild-RPG systems but is also extended to the moment-to-moment gameplay loop, including traversal.

Link has a host of abilities and tools at his disposal, some new and some returning from the previous title, to aid him in traversing the vast open-world map of Hyrule. Much like the ability to climb almost any surface, Link is also quite an efficient swimmer.

While it’s easy to use the mechanic, not many in the community are sure as to how they can go about doing it. Hence, today’s guide will go over some of the things that you will need to do to make the most of Link’s swimming abilities in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

---

How to master swimming in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Link can automatically swim in the Tears of the Kingdom (Image via Nintendo)

Swimming is an ability that Link has access to right from the get-go, allowing you to explore small bodies of water as soon as you get access to the open world. While The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom does not feature in-depth underwater exploration, the water bodies still make up an integral part of Hyrule's terrain.

Link automatically floats whenever he steps inside a pool of water, but to make him swim in any particular direction, you have to hold the left stick towards that direction. You will also be able to make him swim faster by pressing the "X" button while nudging the left stick.

However, what makes swimming a bit perilous is the fact that Link will constantly burn through his stamina gauge even if he is just floating on a water surface. If his stamina completely runs out while he is swimming, then Link will respawn back at the shore and receive a small damage penalty.

Creating a raft in Tears of the Kingdom (Image via Nintendo)

To make things easier, you need to get your hands on a fair bit of stamina-boosting recipes and consumables in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and avoid drowning as much as possible. There are also a few special recipes you can craft that help boost the efficiency of Link's swimming skills.

Fortunately, if you are having trouble with swimming in the game, you can always use Link’s Ultrahand and Fuse abilities to craft makeshift rafts to cross large bodies of water.