Zelda: Breath of the Wild guide: How to get the Hylian Shield

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild wouldn’t be complete without the iconic Hylian Shield. The shield’s hiding place is easy to get to, although it’s surrounded by danger at every turn. If you want to know where to find the Hylian Shield, continue reading.

Keep in mind that this is not Breath of the Wild’s unbreakable shield. In fact, the game doesn’t have an unbreakable shield. However, the Hylian Shield is highly durable and you can buy replicas from Granté, a special vendor.

WHERE TO FIND THE HYLIAN SHIELD

Unfortunately, the Hylian Shield is in the prison basement of Hyrule Castle. There are several routes inside of Hyrule Castle, but the fastest (and still somewhat dangerous) path is in the southwest corner of the castle.

Nintendo via Polygon

To reach the point where we are in the map above, travel from Ridgeland tower or Central tower, but be warned: The path from Central Tower is littered with guardians. You will get shot at by a ton of lasers.

Nintendo via Polygon

From the bridge near there, you’ll see a very small piece of land at the edge of the water. If you zoom in, you’ll see track for a mine cart. Glide, swim and climb to that ridge. You’ll know it’s the right one when you see three barrels there. Once you reach it, go inside the tunnel to the end of the mine cart track.

Nintendo via Polygon

Once you reach the end, (you’ll find some small, icy enemies at the end of the cart track), place a bomb behind the cart. Hop in, detonate it and repeat this process to ride the cart to the opposite end. (Or you can use stasis on the cart and wack away.)

Nintendo via Polygon

After you get to the other end, follow the path until you get to the room pictured above. Simply follow the lit path up through the opening or climb your way up. From there, use a bomb on a cracked wall.

Nintendo via Polygon

Once you get through the wall, follow the ooze and make a left. Keep following the path until you reach a dead end with a wall with two torches which is just another wall to bomb.

Nintendo via Polygon

On the other side, you’ll find yourself inside a jail cell. Shoot through the gap in the bars and the door will open. Inside this area are a ton of strong enemies, so if you want to bypass them, quickly run left out of the cell until you hit the end of the hall. Make a right and you’ll see a cell filled with giant bones.

MINIBOSS FIGHT AGAINST A SKELETON STALNOX

Nintendo via Polygon

Once inside, you’ll be trapped in a cell to fight a skeleton Stalnox. Like other skeleton characters, it’s pretty easy to beat. The easiest way to take it down is shoot its eye so he stumbles on its skeleton butt. From there, you can take a few whacks at it. Repeat this process until the fight is over.

A neat trick to try during the fight is to hit the skeleton with a stasis, if you have the upgraded version. The freeze is fast, but it should give you enough time to line up a shot on its eyeball. Speaking of which, if its eyeball pops out, attack that to make quick work of the giant.

Nintendo via Polygon

Once it’s beat, the camera will zoom on over to a chest that has what you were waiting for: the Hylian Shield.

It has a massive amount of durability and it can easily deflect lasers from Guardians.

Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The shield is breakable, despite its massive stamina. To get a refurbished version requires handling a few other quests that we’ll explore in a future guide.