The Master Sword is a weapon that is as inherent to the Legend of Zelda franchise as Zelda herself. Fortunately, for veteran LoZ fans, the Master Sword is obtainable in Breath of the Wild. However, it does come at a cost.
The Master Sword is located on a stone platform in front of the Great Deku Tree in the Great Hyrule Forest. Unfortunately, you’ll have to traverse the Lost Woods, but the travel is well worth it.
The Master Sword doesn’t break, unlike other weapons in the game. Instead, the Master Sword will explode and sit, unusable in your inventory until it recharges. It recharges after 10 minutes of real-time, and you’ll get a notification when it’s ready to use again.
There are plenty of guides that exist to get you through the Lost Woods, aptly named because you easily get lost in them. Once you reach the center, you’ll be able to find the sword, as well as a large gathering of koroks around the Great Deku Tree.
Now that you’ve made it to where the Master Sword rests, you’ll need to actually pull it out of the stone. However, a price must still be paid in order to receive the sword. To get the Master Sword, you’ll actually need 13 hearts before you’re able to pry it from the stone.
In addition to the three you start with, you’ll have to find a way to get at least 10 more. This is because, throughout the process of pulling the sword from the stone, the sword will consume hearts, judging whether or not you’re worthy to wield it.
You can get Heart Containers from beating Divine Beasts or by trading in Spirit Orbs you get from all the Shrines around Hyrule. Depending on how many Divine Beast Dungeons you’ve completed, you’ll need anywhere from 24-40 Spirit Orbs in order to gain the requisite hearts.
If you’ve traded in a bunch of Spirit Orbs on Stamina Vessels, don’t worry: you can actually trade Stamina Vessels for Heart Containers and vice versa. It’s important to note that temporary hearts will not count towards your total heart count.
If you should try to pull the sword from the stone without the requisite hearts, the Great Deku Tree will stop you the first time and warn you that it will kill you. Nothing is stopping you afterward however, so take caution.
Once you claim the sword, it’s yours forever! The sword has a couple of impressive features, beyond its indestructibility and base 30 damage. While at full hearts, you can unleash an energy beam attack by holding down the R button.
When attacking Calamity enemies, such as any of the Guardians or Ganon enemies, the base damage will jump to 60. So it’s well worth the time invested. Be sure to grab the Master Sword when you get the chance, and seal away Calamity Ganon!
