TotK Master Sword: How to Get It, Stamina and Stats

The Master Sword in Tears of the Kingdom is stuck in the Light Dragon’s head. Land on the dragon with two full stamina wheels, hold the grab prompt until the sword comes loose, and it is yours: 30 attack, 40 durability, and the only weapon in the game that never breaks for good.

Where is the Master Sword, and how do you get it?

On the Light Dragon, which flies a clockwise loop around the whole map and never lands. Glide onto its back, walk to the head and hold the prompt on the sword. No quest has to be active: the sword can be pulled as soon as you can reach the dragon and have the stamina.

Three main quests lead to it, and you only need one of them — or none:

Korok Forest is closed off by the fog of the Lost Woods. The way in is from below: drop into Minshi Woods Chasm, walk through the Depths until you are under the forest, and use Ascend. Inside the Deku Tree Chasm you fight Gloom Spawn and then Phantom Ganon.

The dragon’s high loop runs at an altitude of roughly 1,600 to 2,370, so the usual approach is to launch from a Skyview Tower or jump from a sky island as it passes and glide onto it. Reportedly it switches to a much lower loop once you have Recovering the Hero’s Sword. The whole route is drawn on the dragon routes page.

How much stamina do you need to pull the Master Sword?

Two full stamina wheels. You start with one wheel, and each Stamina Vessel adds a fifth of a wheel, so you need five Stamina Vessels — 20 Lights of Blessing. Pulling drains stamina the whole time; with less than two wheels the dragon shakes Link off before the sword comes free.

If you put your Lights of Blessing into hearts instead, the Horned Statue in the Royal Hidden Passage under Lookout Landing swaps Heart Containers and Stamina Vessels for rupees once you have done A Deal With the Statue — see the side adventures list. The shrine map helps with finding 20 shrines.

What are the Master Sword’s attack and durability?

30 attack and 40 durability. The inventory does not show the attack number for the Master Sword, so it is easy to underrate.

Against the Demon Dragon’s weak points the Master Sword does ten times its usual damage — see the Ganondorf fight. The Decayed Master Sword you carry at the very start is a different item with 1 attack; it leaves your inventory before you leave the Great Sky Island.

When does the Master Sword glow?

When an enemy steeped in gloom is close: Gloom Spawn, Phantom Ganon, Demon King Ganondorf, and the gloom-covered monsters of the Depths. The blade lights up on its own and its attack goes from 30 to 45. Against Phantom Ganon and Ganondorf it reaches 60, and reportedly it does not lose energy in those fights at all.

The bonus applies to the sword’s own 30. A fused material keeps the fuse attack it always has.

Does the Master Sword break, and how long does it take to recharge?

It never breaks for good. Its 40 durability is energy: the game warns that “the Master Sword is running low on energy”, then that it “has run out of energy”, and the sword cannot be used for 10 minutes of play. The inventory shows a “Master Sword recharged in:” countdown, and a message tells you when its power has been restored.

It also cannot be thrown, dropped or put on a display stand. How other weapons wear out, and how to repair them, is on the weapon durability page.

Can you fuse materials to the Master Sword?

Yes, and it is the main way to make it hit hard: the material adds its fuse attack on top of the sword’s 30. The fused material shows as a green outline on the blade only while the sword is drawn.

Two rules differ from other weapons:

• Pelison cannot separate it. The Break-a-Part Shop in Tarrey Town cannot take a material off the Master Sword, so the only ways to change it are to fuse a new one over it or to destroy it from the inventory.
• The material goes when the energy goes. When the sword runs out of energy the fused material is lost, and the sword comes back bare after recharging.

So save one-of-a-kind materials for the fights that matter. The strongest materials are in the Fuse guide.

How does the sword beam work?

With every heart full, the throw button fires a beam from the Master Sword instead of throwing it. With hearts missing there is no beam, unless Link is wearing the Champion’s Leathers, which let it fire at any health.

See also

The sword’s usual partner is the Hylian Shield. For where it stands against the rest, see all weapons and the strongest weapons; for where it fits in the story, the main quest order. The Breath of the Wild version has different rules: Master Sword in Breath of the Wild.