How To Shield Surf In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

If you were something of a trickster in Breath of the Wild, then we're pretty sure you gave shield surfing a go. You can do this again in Tears of the Kingdom, and with Fuse on hand, there are plenty more opportunities to create cool surfing shields as you adventure around Hyrule.

While you might think about Fusing items to your weapons and arrows (check out our Best Weapons and Best Fuses guide for more info on that), using your shield is a fast way of getting between places if you know what you're doing.

Here's how to shield surf in Tears of the Kingdom, how Fuse works with shield surf, and what the best Zonai devices are for shield surfing.

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: How To Shield Surf in TOTK

How to shield surf

Shield surfing in Tears of the Kingdom is identical to how it was in BOTW, though the game doesn't really tell you how to do it. Instead, you might see the odd loading screen tip informing you that this fun feature is back, but as it's not an essential part of the game, it's something a lot of people might skip over.

Find yourself a nice sloped surface — either the side of a mountain, a hill, or a dune, for instance. Get your shield out with ZL, then jump with the X button. In mid-air, press A and Link will get his shield out and hop on top of it. And when you land, he'll be sliding down the slope. Like in Breath of the Wild, you can do a 1080 by pressing Y and also get your bow out.

Once you've had enough, either let Link slow down naturally or press B to get off your makeshift ride.

Can you break your shield by surfing on it?

You certainly can. If you do a lot of shield surfing you'll melt through your inventory of shields in no time, so while it is a really fun way to get around, we don't recommend doing it all the time.

Unless you have an endless supply of shields tucked away somewhere. In which case, have all the fun you want.

Can you shield surf with Fuse?

Yes and no — it largely depends on what's Fused to the shield. Things like rocks, weapons, and other offensive items will get in the way of shield surfing, and Link will just fall over. But certain items work wonders with surfing — or you could say skateboarding.

The most obvious choices are Zonai devices, the little capsules that you get from Zonai Dispensers. Lots of these work great with the shield and can even help you get around much faster — and higher. We'll go through some of the best combinations below.

But there's another unlikely secret weapon — Bomb Flowers. Fuse a Bomb Flower to a shield and, when you land on the shield, the bomb will explode, sending you flying upwards while still "surfing". A lot of fun, and a fair bit dangerous, but it's worth it.

Best Zonai devices for shield surfing

As we mentioned above, of these ancient devices — which only appeared in Hyrule after the Upheaval — there are some really useful Fuse combinations you can use with your shield to create some nifty travel shortcuts.

Sadly, you can't use the Wing Zonai device to fly through the air on your shield — we've tried it. But you can find out what other uses this excellent item has in our Wing Zonai device guide.

Here are some of our favourites:

Cart

Nice and simple — the Cart is a four-wheeled device which is basically like a little trolley. If you fuse this to a shield, you have what is essentially a skateboard. It's faster than just using your shield alone, too. Take that, Tony Hawk.

Sledge

The Sled is pretty much the same principle as the Cart or just using the shield on its own — but it's way more fun and it makes it look like you're riding a snowboard. With all of these traversal Zonai devices, you can also use the paraglider to slowly descend, and Link will stay on his board.

You'll need to use this method to unlock a shrine in the Lanayru region later on. If you're missing a shrine, check out our guide on All Shrine locations, particularly the Lanayru region map.

Minecart

Okay, so these aren't technically Zonai devices, but they're new and they're everywhere. These act similarly to the Cart, but they're bigger and sturdier, and they're a lot more common, particularly on the Great Sky Island, the Eldin region, and the Fire Temple.

Did we mention you can ride all of the minecart rails with all of these devices too? Sonic Adventure 2, eat your heart out.

Rocket

Ah, one of our favourite Zonai devices for causing chaos. You might know that Fusing a Rocket to your shield and then guarding send you soaring into the sky, but if you time a shield surf with one of these strapped on, then you can propel yourself forwards.

Time Bomb

This is the same as the Bomb Flower, except much safer. Landing on the Time Bomb shield will activate it and the explosion will launch you into the air after a few seconds. You won't take damage from it either. The less daring method for the most daring item.

Spring

Spring Shields are brilliant for several reasons — they can push enemies away when they attempt to hit you while you're guarding. But they also do their job just as well on a shield. like the Time Bomb, landing on this bouncy device will launch you into the air.

That's how to make the most of shield surfing in TOTK, then. If you're looking for more tips and tricks, or just a general guide on progressing through the story, check out our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.