BotW Master Mode Guide: Changes, Golden Enemies and Early Tips
How Breath of the Wild Master Mode differs from Normal Mode: saves, enemies one rank up, Golden enemy HP, health regeneration, Sky Octorok platforms, early tips.
What is Master Mode and how do you start it?
Master Mode is the hard mode in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s first DLC pack, The Master Trials, and comes with the Expansion Pass (see the DLC guide for buying it). The game introduces it like this:
A harder mode that will put your courage and skills to the test. From the title screen, select Play in Master Mode to begin.
| How to start | Choose Play in Master Mode on the title screen and start from the beginning |
| Beat the game first? | No |
| Saves | Separate from Normal Mode; one manual save and one autosave |
| Switching | Only on the title screen; progress does not carry over |
| On screen | A small Triforce stays in the bottom-left corner |
How is Master Mode different from Normal Mode?
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| Enemies one rank up | Most enemies are a rank higher; where Normal Mode has Red Bokoblins, you find Blue ones |
| New Golden rank | A rank above Silver with the most HP |
| Health regeneration | After a short lull enemies recover health, up to a limit |
| Sharper detection | Sneaking past camps is harder |
| Sky platforms | Sky Octoroks hold up wooden platforms carrying enemies and chests |
| Extra enemies | Some places get added enemies, such as a Lynel near the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau |
Reportedly, Normal Mode has a safeguard that keeps you alive on a sliver of health when a single hit would otherwise kill you from high health; Master Mode drops it.
How tough are Golden enemies?
The Golden rank exists only in Master Mode and has the most HP in each family:
| Enemy | HP | Compare: Silver |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Bokoblin | 1,080 | Silver 720 |
| Golden Lizalfos | 1,296 | Silver 864 |
| Golden Moblin | 1,620 | Silver 1,080 |
| Golden Lynel | 7,500 | Silver 5,000 |
Full HP and drops for each family are in all enemies, Moblins and Lynels.
What is on the sky platforms?
Master Mode’s skies gain wooden platforms held up by balloon-like Sky Octoroks. Their Compendium entry says, “They are trained to ascend when they hear a whistle, but they will not attack.” The platforms often carry enemies with bows and often a treasure chest, frequently with a good weapon inside.
Shoot the Sky Octoroks and the platform falls — but so does the chest, possibly somewhere you can’t reach. To claim the chest, glide onto the platform from higher ground and open it there.
How do you survive the early game?
- Lean on Sneakstrikes. They deal huge damage; take a big chunk off and finish the enemy before it can regenerate.
- Commit to fights. Hitting a few times and backing off just lets the enemy heal.
- Use Remote Bombs. They cost no weapon durability and knock small enemies down — great early on.
- Run when you can’t win. Your early weapons are poor; not every camp is worth fighting, so grab the chest and go.
- Add hearts first. Even low-ranked monsters hit hard early, so trading your first Spirit Orbs for Heart Containers is the safer choice.
- Get Majora’s Mask early. While you wear it most common monsters won’t attack, so you can walk into camps and loot chests.
Related guides
- DLC guide: what the Expansion Pass contains and costs.
- The Champions’ Ballad walkthrough: the second pack’s story and final dungeon.
- Trial of the Sword: the combat challenge from the same first pack.
- Octoroks: Sky Octorok data.
FAQ
Do you have to beat the game to play Master Mode?
How many save slots does Master Mode have?
Do enemies regenerate health in Master Mode?
How much HP do Golden enemies have?
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