BotW Key Items List: All 37, How to Get Each and What They Do

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild the last tab of the inventory, marked with a star, is Key Items. It holds the tools you cannot play without, the Champions’ powers, the collectibles you trade in, a few quest items and the rewards for finishing big collections. This page lists all of them with where each comes from and what it does, and links to the guide on this site that covers it.

How many Key Items are there in Breath of the Wild?

The game data marks 37 items as Key Items:

Type	Base game	DLC	Entries
Tools	2	1	Sheikah Slate, Paraglider; Travel Medallion (The Master Trials)
Champion abilities	4	4	Mipha’s Grace, Revali’s Gale, Daruk’s Protection, Urbosa’s Fury, and a + version of each (The Champions’ Ballad)
Collectibles	2	4	Spirit Orb, Korok Seed; Ruta’s, Medoh’s, Rudania’s and Naboris’s Emblems (The Champions’ Ballad)
Quest items	2	0	Hestu’s Maracas, Thunder Helm
Keepsakes	5	1	Hestu’s Gift, Classified Envelope, three Medals of Honor; Picture of the Champions (The Champions’ Ballad)
Horse gear	10	2	Five saddles and five bridles; Ancient Saddle and Ancient Bridle (The Champions’ Ballad)

That is 25 in the base game and 12 from the Expansion Pass. You never hold all 37 at the same time: the + abilities replace the originals, and the two quest items go back to their owners.

Heart Containers and Stamina Vessels are also flagged as Key Items in the data, but they take effect the moment you get them. The runes are not Key Items; they are on the Sheikah Slate, see Sheikah Slate runes.

What are the tools and Champion abilities?

Key Item	How to get it	What it does
Sheikah Slate	The Shrine of Resurrection, at the very start	Map, runes, camera and the other Slate functions
Paraglider	The Old Man, on the roof of the Temple of Time after the four Great Plateau shrines	Glide; press X in midair
Mipha’s Grace	Free Divine Beast Vah Ruta	When your hearts run out you come back with full health plus temporary bonus hearts
Revali’s Gale	Free Divine Beast Vah Medoh	Creates an updraft; charge a jump with X
Daruk’s Protection	Free Divine Beast Vah Rudania	Blocks every attack while you hold ZL
Urbosa’s Fury	Free Divine Beast Vah Naboris	Lightning around you; trigger with a charge attack
Mipha’s Grace +, Revali’s Gale +, Daruk’s Protection +, Urbosa’s Fury +	Finish that Champion’s song in The Champions’ Ballad	Same power with a shorter recharge; replaces the original
Travel Medallion	EX Teleportation Rumors!, in a chest below the maze on Lomei Labyrinth Island	Open the pouch, choose Place, and that spot becomes a travel gate

Recharge times and tips for each power are on Champion abilities. The Travel Medallion quest is on EX quests.

Which collectibles are Key Items?

Key Item	How many	Where from	What it is for
Spirit Orb	120 in the base game, 4 more with The Champions’ Ballad	One for each shrine you clear	Four buy a Heart Container or Stamina Vessel at a Goddess Statue; see hearts or stamina
Korok Seed	900	Koroks all over Hyrule	Hestu expands your weapon, bow and shield slots; 441 max them all. See Korok Seeds
Ruta’s, Medoh’s, Rudania’s and Naboris’s Emblem	3 of each	The three new shrines of each Champion’s song	Three of one kind open that Champion’s next trial

Spirit Orbs and Korok Seeds are used up when you trade them in.

Which quest items and keepsakes are Key Items?

Key Item	How to get it	What happens to it
Hestu’s Maracas	The side quest The Priceless Maracas: a chest at the monster camp near Hestu, on the road to Kakariko Village	You give them back to Hestu, and he starts trading slots for seeds
Thunder Helm	The main quest Divine Beast Vah Naboris: the chest after Master Kohga in the Yiga Clan Hideout	You return it to Riju; later The Thunder Helm side quest lends you the wearable helm
Hestu’s Gift	Hestu in Korok Forest, after all 900 Korok Seeds and every stash maxed	Keepsake; “It smells pretty bad.”
Classified Envelope	Symin at Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, once the Hyrule Compendium is full	Keepsake: a picture of a beautiful young woman of the Sheikah tribe
Medal of Honor: Talus	Kilton, after defeating all 40 Stone Taluses	Keepsake
Medal of Honor: Hinox	Kilton, after defeating all 40 Hinoxes	Keepsake
Medal of Honor: Molduga	Kilton, after defeating all 4 Moldugas	Keepsake
Picture of the Champions	Kass, after you finish The Champions’ Ballad	Keepsake: Zelda and the five Champions after the inauguration ceremony

The description of the Thunder Helm you carry ends: “Guard it with your life until you can return it to Riju.” It leaves your inventory when you hand it over. Kilton’s medal requirements are on Kilton’s Fang and Bone, and how Hestu works is on inventory expansion.

Where do the saddles and bridles come from?

Key Item	How to get it	Effect
Traveler’s Saddle and Bridle	The Link (Rider) amiibo	None
Knight’s Saddle and Bridle	Horseback archery at the Mounted Archery Camp: 20 targets for the bridle, 23 for the saddle	None
Royal Saddle and Bridle	The side quest The Royal White Stallion, from Toffa at Outskirt Stable	None
Extravagant Saddle and Bridle	Blynne’s obstacle course at Highland Stable: under 1:30 for the bridle, under 1:15 for the saddle	None
Monster Saddle and Bridle	Kilton’s shop	None
Ancient Saddle	EX Ancient Horse Rumors (The Champions’ Ballad)	Call your horse with the D-pad even when it is far away
Ancient Bridle	EX Ancient Horse Rumors (The Champions’ Ballad)	Maximizes the horse’s abilities and adds spurs

You fit them at a stable. The Stable Saddle and Bridle a horse gets when you register it are not Key Items. More on horses.

See also

• 100% completion: what counts toward the map percentage.
• DLC guide: The Master Trials and The Champions’ Ballad.
• Kilton’s Fang and Bone: Mon, the monster shop and the Medals of Honor.