Zelda: Get Link's Hylian Shield in Breath of the Wild

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link‘s Iconic Hylian Shield is hiding in the game somewhere, but is not easy to find – and in fact is one of the most powerful and well hidden items in the game.

Video: How to Get the Hylian Shield

You will find this shield in the depths of the Hyrule Castle Dungeon. The castle itself is a maze of passages and enemies, and this particular area is easily overlooked.

The best way to reach it is by infiltrating the West side of Hyrule Castle and looking for entrances along the west bank that lead underground. There’s once entrance next to the moat by the giant Southwest pillar – with luminous stones growing around it. This leads to a minecart you can use to ride through the West Passage to Lockup.

You can also find an abandoned raft at the Hyrule Castle Prison West of the Moat, and ride it to the North side of the moat where another entrance lined with luminous stones (and a Rusted Guardian) also leads directly into the Lockup.

The Hyrule Castle Lockup features a long row of cells where many powerful enemies roam. At the end of the hall you’ll find a small passage leading to a circular room beyond that is large – and full of bones.

In order to claim the Hylian Shield from this place, you must first fight the Stalnox – a skeletal Hinox miniboss that is extremely tough and will use its own bones to attack you with.

The secret to dealing massive damage to the Stalnox lies in shooting out its eye (preferably with strong attacks like Bomb Arrorws) and chasing it around the room to damage it before the Stalnox and grab it and put it back in its socket.

Use Bomb Arrows to dislodge the eye when he’s not covering it with his hand, and use powerful weapons to deal as much damage to the eye as you can.

When the Stalnox is defeated, a chest will appear containing the iconic Hylian Shield, which boasts extreme durability and a whopping 90 defense. It also has 800 durability – the strongest of any shield by far, and will take many MANY guardian laser blasts to destroy.

If indeed you do lose the Hylian Shield, fret not – it can be reclaimed. To do so, you must complete the Side Quest – From the Ground Up – where you must help Hudson build Tarrey Town at Lake Akkala in the Akkala Region. If he’s not there yet, make sure you buy the house in Hateno to trigger his move.

Once the quest is complete and Tarrey Town is fully built, a wandering merchant named Grante will appear on the roof of one of the buildings, and will sell you rare unique armor you’ve found that cannot be bought elsewhere – and this includes the Hylian Shield. Be aware that he only sells one at a time, and it costs 3,000 Rupees to buy a new one!