As one of the most beloved and expansive open-world games of its time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has continued to provide hours of countless entertainment. It’s not just in beating Divine Beasts and completing Guardian Shrines, though. It’s also completing objectives set within the community like opening an impossible chest or sequence breaking.Sequence breaking is more commonly seen in a Metroidvania-style game, but Breath of the Wild’s open-world nature and various time-bending mechanics have made it rife for exploits. Case in point: a popular speedrunner has found a secret method of obtaining the Master Sword literally as soon as the game opens up.
How to Get Breath of the Wild’s Master Sword
The Master Sword is instantly desirable for any Breath of the Wild player. Sure, it’s the most powerful sword in the game, but most notable is its durability. Unlike every other weapon in Breath of the Wild, the Master Sword will not break. Instead, it drains and must recharge, meaning that while you may be temporarily unable to use the Master Sword, it’s never really gone.
However, obtaining the Master Sword is no easy feat. If you’re a seasoned player who knows where the sword is, you can rush to it pretty much as soon as the game starts. You just need to know how to navigate to Korok Forest, where you’ll find the Master Sword embedded in a tree stump.
Of course, it’s not THAT easy. Pulling the Sword from its stump entombment is no easy feat, and it will require significant effort from Link. So much so that it begins to drain his hearts. In order to successfully draw the Master Sword, Link will need a total of 13 heart containers. And they need to be full heart containers; temporary ones won't give Link the strength necessary to raise the Sword.
Trying to pull the Master Sword out with fewer than 13 hearts results in Link dying and a Game Over screen, so you’re going to need to be pretty beefy to pull the sword out. There’s plenty of exploits to get the Master Sword faster, but a new tactic is the fastest one to date.
Breath of the Wild’s Master Sword Exploit
Japanese Breath of the Wild fan account @Bot__W posted a short video of a new tactic, allowing them to get the Master Sword with as few as three heart containers. For all intents and purposes, they could get the Master Sword as soon as the game started.
The tactic is bizarre, though. It requires exploiting a glitch wherein the player arrives at Korok Forest with the necessary components to build a campfire, which are fairly commonplace in the early game. And...that’s all you need.
Build the fire close to where the Master Sword is embedded in the ground, then look up at the cherry blossoms floating overhead. You’ll be able to see the prompt to wait at the fire still; choose to wait until morning, and then during the loading screen, mash the A button as quickly as possible. When the screen loads back in, you can run up and grab the Master Sword, and it will immediately be in your possession.
So how does the glitch work? Nobody really knows yet, and the speed-running community is surprised it hadn’t been discovered earlier. However, it’s a real game-changer, not just because of how quickly it grants players an incredibly useful item, but in how effortless it is to pull off, even for players not familiar with glitches and exploits. It’s a testament to the life of Breath of the Wild that players are still finding new secrets and exploits.