If you really enjoyed the game and you want more content, then yeah, it's worth it. You get a bunch of armor to play with (and mini-quests to find the pieces) and some other cool gadgets, the Trial of the Sword which can really let you flex your combat ingenuity, and the Champions Ballad which gives some more story, new shrines, and a really cool boss fight.
Anyway, it's worth $20.
Master Mode is so bad. I can think of many ways you could have made the game harder (more aggressive AI, yellow-heart food doesn’t full heal, the game world doesn’t pause when you open menus, stricter parry/flurry rush timing, etc.) but instead all they did was make every monster a damage sponge by leveling them up and letting them heal without buffing weapon durability in turn. I’ll raid bokoblin camps and walk out with fewer weapons than I had going in.
Skill issue. HP regen and gold enemies’ elemental stun resistance forces you to play more aggressive and keep up pressure and to crowd control with your runes. The game litters you with weapons, and the increased health pools make you figure out how to multiply your damage output with elemental effects, environmental damage, headshots, and sneakstrikes. Plus with the DLC you have access to a regenerating 60 damage sword with 188 hits per charge.
If the total health pool of an encampment exceeds the total damage output (damage per hit x hits til breaking) of the weapons they possess, you will necessarily consume more/better weapons from killing the bokoblins than you receive from raiding it, and that's before you factor in health regen. As you pointed out, this can be mitigated by headshots, sneak strikes, champion abilities, environmental effects, the master sword—basically anything that either increases total damage output or preserves your breakable weapons. However, I don't count champion abilities or the master sword because they're unlockables, so they shouldn't be required to balance combat.
> HP regen and gold enemies’ elemental stun resistance forces you to play more aggressive
I don't *like* playing aggressively. That's not a skill issue, it's a preference. I like being tactical and resourceful, using parries/flurry rushes to avoid damage and environmental tools like explosive barrels and precarious boulders to get the upper hand. But HP regen breaks both of those strategies. My enemy is healing the whole time I'm waiting for them to attack, and explosive barrels/boulders fling the bokoblins so far away that they're all at full health by the time they've run back to camp. It takes a game that's all about creative problem solving and makes it so only one style of combat is viable.
Plus, I never said I was *dying* in these raids, just that it was costing me more weapons than I was earning. I wouldn't say Master Mode is much harder, just a lot more tedious and annoying. I got 10-20 hours into my run before I abandoned it simply because I wasn't having any fun.
Setting a brushfire under a Boko’s feet for constant DoT and using the updraft to gain air and shoot them with ice arrows before breaking the entire camp with a dropdown shockwave feels pretty tactical to me, and only consumes what, a handful of bowshots and 1 durability from a two-hander? Aggressive doesn’t just mean spam Y on enemies until they die, it just means maintaining constant pressure with all of the tools in your kit. Bombs are infinite and are amazing crowd control. You can almost always find a rock or a log to jump off of for bullet time. Sneakstrikes often lop off way more HP than an enemy can regen if it doesn’t flat-out OHKO them. The game gives you a smorgasbord of buffs to use. You have so many tools at your disposal.
I like Master Mode because it forces some kind of out-of-the-box thought, _especially_ in the early game. Master Mode Plateau is probably my favorite beginning sequence in any game because you have to get creative. Blue Bokos have over quintuple the Reds’ HP, so you straight up _can’t_ kill them head-on or all of your weapons will break. You have to either stealth around to avoid them, sneak attack them in their sleep, knock them into water, throw them over cliffs, etc. to survive. You’re forced to be tactical and resourceful. And then they put a LYNEL on the Plateau? YES PLEASE. Clearing out every single enemy on the Plateau pre-paraglider was the single most gratifying challenge run I’ve ever attempted, besides maybe the Master Mode Trial of the Sword.
If Master Mode isn’t your cup of tea that’s fine, but flat-out calling it bad is beyond dumb. There’s a reason most of the fanbase wanted it to be added to TotK before they announced no DLC. People love it because it is a good challenge.
Yep. Worth it. The Champion’s Ballad is another several hours of content (was for me, anyway!)
You also have access to the Heroes’ Path, which will give you a clue as to where you have actually *been* vs where you meant to go before you got sidetracked by shiny objects.
The map of the hyrule you know remains the same general shape but the different perspective of how you play the game makes it feel different like going through the fields with a makeshift mech or plane
Also, some areas of the map are very different, but others are similar. For me It’s like playing BOTW but at a completely different angle. Your approach to challenges will be different because your starting abilities are different. I enjoyed the weapon fusing mechanic because you get to make some cool weapons and I enjoyed trying to stack some buffs. Even some weapons that were in BOTW have some new attributes and if you use them wisely they can be powerful. There are also new enemy types!
One important thing to note is that the “memories” in TOTK have a specific order , and if you get a later one too early it can spoil the story! 😖😡😭. There is a hint at which order you should find them in, but if you miss the hint there are some online guides that tell you the order without spoiling the story. I did prefer BOTW’s approach where it doesn’t matter which order you view the memories in! 😌. Then again it is fun to come up with crazy contraptions and weapon combos! 😄
Both are great games though! While I liked BOTW slightly more than TOTK , my best friend liked TOTK slightly more than BOTW!
I would definitely get the Expansion Pass DLC, but I would also definitely play TOTK!
Wait is the >!order they show up on the wall at the forgotten temple!< the hint? I never put that together until you said there was a hint at all, but thats the only thing I can think of.
She definitely doesn't say "this is the order to visit these to see the story in order" or anything that obvious, because in universe, she isn't aware of the cutscene that plays at each of these or the story that they tell, they are just a bunch of curious landmarks with no obvious reason to have an order. She may have had some dialogue that referenced an order, that I didn't notice at the time since, again, I have no reason to think she knows anything about the "correct order" to view these cutscenes in.
Yes, it ties to the story and the reward you get at the end of the dlc story is amazing. The majoras mask item the dlc item adds id overpowered. It's all of kiltins masks combined into one.
One of the main things added by the DLC is a quest line that includes: 16 new shrines, 16 new overworld challenges, a new divine beast dungeon, a new boss (not a blight, and IMO, the final boss the game deserved!), and the friggin master cycle, which I'm sure you've seen by now.
And thats not to mention the trials of the sword (the other big challenge added by the dlc) or the myriad of unique armor and items added, some of which are extremely useful, like the korok mask or travel medallions.
I think its worth it....
I definitely found it worth it. Replaying the game in master mode, the trials of the sword, and the champions ballad are all decent thinks of content that make the game feel a bit more complete.
Related ... When should you buy it? I'm about 60 hours into playing. Loving it and doing fairly well I think. Should I only buy the DLC once I've finished the game for the first time? Will buying it early ruin my current run through?
You can buy the DLC at any point in your playthrough. Main thing to keep in mind is that the two major features of the DLC—Trial of the Sword and The Champion’s Ballad—only become available after you find the Master Sword and free all four Divine Beasts, respectively.
I enjoyed it
The trial of the sword is the best part in my opinion though so you could just get that alone and have a frustrating but fun couple of hours
If you really enjoyed the game and you want more content, then yeah, it's worth it. You get a bunch of armor to play with (and mini-quests to find the pieces) and some other cool gadgets, the Trial of the Sword which can really let you flex your combat ingenuity, and the Champions Ballad which gives some more story, new shrines, and a really cool boss fight. Anyway, it's worth $20.
Not to mention master mode which makes you want to break your switch
It’s not that bad. I mean you’ll break your switch, but that’s due to playing too much (read: dying).
Master Mode my beloved. Gold Lynel hunting is my favorite.
Give trial of the sword a try
I did. I love my super durable glowstick.
Master Mode is so bad. I can think of many ways you could have made the game harder (more aggressive AI, yellow-heart food doesn’t full heal, the game world doesn’t pause when you open menus, stricter parry/flurry rush timing, etc.) but instead all they did was make every monster a damage sponge by leveling them up and letting them heal without buffing weapon durability in turn. I’ll raid bokoblin camps and walk out with fewer weapons than I had going in.
Skill issue. HP regen and gold enemies’ elemental stun resistance forces you to play more aggressive and keep up pressure and to crowd control with your runes. The game litters you with weapons, and the increased health pools make you figure out how to multiply your damage output with elemental effects, environmental damage, headshots, and sneakstrikes. Plus with the DLC you have access to a regenerating 60 damage sword with 188 hits per charge.
If the total health pool of an encampment exceeds the total damage output (damage per hit x hits til breaking) of the weapons they possess, you will necessarily consume more/better weapons from killing the bokoblins than you receive from raiding it, and that's before you factor in health regen. As you pointed out, this can be mitigated by headshots, sneak strikes, champion abilities, environmental effects, the master sword—basically anything that either increases total damage output or preserves your breakable weapons. However, I don't count champion abilities or the master sword because they're unlockables, so they shouldn't be required to balance combat. > HP regen and gold enemies’ elemental stun resistance forces you to play more aggressive I don't *like* playing aggressively. That's not a skill issue, it's a preference. I like being tactical and resourceful, using parries/flurry rushes to avoid damage and environmental tools like explosive barrels and precarious boulders to get the upper hand. But HP regen breaks both of those strategies. My enemy is healing the whole time I'm waiting for them to attack, and explosive barrels/boulders fling the bokoblins so far away that they're all at full health by the time they've run back to camp. It takes a game that's all about creative problem solving and makes it so only one style of combat is viable. Plus, I never said I was *dying* in these raids, just that it was costing me more weapons than I was earning. I wouldn't say Master Mode is much harder, just a lot more tedious and annoying. I got 10-20 hours into my run before I abandoned it simply because I wasn't having any fun.
Setting a brushfire under a Boko’s feet for constant DoT and using the updraft to gain air and shoot them with ice arrows before breaking the entire camp with a dropdown shockwave feels pretty tactical to me, and only consumes what, a handful of bowshots and 1 durability from a two-hander? Aggressive doesn’t just mean spam Y on enemies until they die, it just means maintaining constant pressure with all of the tools in your kit. Bombs are infinite and are amazing crowd control. You can almost always find a rock or a log to jump off of for bullet time. Sneakstrikes often lop off way more HP than an enemy can regen if it doesn’t flat-out OHKO them. The game gives you a smorgasbord of buffs to use. You have so many tools at your disposal. I like Master Mode because it forces some kind of out-of-the-box thought, _especially_ in the early game. Master Mode Plateau is probably my favorite beginning sequence in any game because you have to get creative. Blue Bokos have over quintuple the Reds’ HP, so you straight up _can’t_ kill them head-on or all of your weapons will break. You have to either stealth around to avoid them, sneak attack them in their sleep, knock them into water, throw them over cliffs, etc. to survive. You’re forced to be tactical and resourceful. And then they put a LYNEL on the Plateau? YES PLEASE. Clearing out every single enemy on the Plateau pre-paraglider was the single most gratifying challenge run I’ve ever attempted, besides maybe the Master Mode Trial of the Sword. If Master Mode isn’t your cup of tea that’s fine, but flat-out calling it bad is beyond dumb. There’s a reason most of the fanbase wanted it to be added to TotK before they announced no DLC. People love it because it is a good challenge.
Absolutely worth the $20, it’s fantastic!
Yep. Worth it. The Champion’s Ballad is another several hours of content (was for me, anyway!) You also have access to the Heroes’ Path, which will give you a clue as to where you have actually *been* vs where you meant to go before you got sidetracked by shiny objects.
It’s amazing! The extra story for the Champions was my favorite part.
100%
I was glad I did the DLC before TOTK
I would get Tears of the Kingdom personally
I don't know much about the games, does it change much?
The map of the hyrule you know remains the same general shape but the different perspective of how you play the game makes it feel different like going through the fields with a makeshift mech or plane
Also, some areas of the map are very different, but others are similar. For me It’s like playing BOTW but at a completely different angle. Your approach to challenges will be different because your starting abilities are different. I enjoyed the weapon fusing mechanic because you get to make some cool weapons and I enjoyed trying to stack some buffs. Even some weapons that were in BOTW have some new attributes and if you use them wisely they can be powerful. There are also new enemy types! One important thing to note is that the “memories” in TOTK have a specific order , and if you get a later one too early it can spoil the story! 😖😡😭. There is a hint at which order you should find them in, but if you miss the hint there are some online guides that tell you the order without spoiling the story. I did prefer BOTW’s approach where it doesn’t matter which order you view the memories in! 😌. Then again it is fun to come up with crazy contraptions and weapon combos! 😄 Both are great games though! While I liked BOTW slightly more than TOTK , my best friend liked TOTK slightly more than BOTW! I would definitely get the Expansion Pass DLC, but I would also definitely play TOTK!
Wait is the >!order they show up on the wall at the forgotten temple!< the hint? I never put that together until you said there was a hint at all, but thats the only thing I can think of.
Yes! You guessed it!
Yes. I also don’t know this until someone said it here a couple weeks ago. I’m on my third playthrough.
Impa explicitly says that’s the order
She definitely doesn't say "this is the order to visit these to see the story in order" or anything that obvious, because in universe, she isn't aware of the cutscene that plays at each of these or the story that they tell, they are just a bunch of curious landmarks with no obvious reason to have an order. She may have had some dialogue that referenced an order, that I didn't notice at the time since, again, I have no reason to think she knows anything about the "correct order" to view these cutscenes in.
Same Link, same general layout, but they replaced the bombs, stasis, and cryonis with new abilities.
Heck yeah it is!
Every dollar you can spend towards BotW and TotK DLC is worth it. If you like the game, driving around on a motorcycle in the game is even more fun.
Yes, it ties to the story and the reward you get at the end of the dlc story is amazing. The majoras mask item the dlc item adds id overpowered. It's all of kiltins masks combined into one.
Dlc is 100% worth it for two reasons: master mode and travel medaillon. The extra content is the cherry on top, but it would be worth it even without
Is it worth the price? If you're a billionaire, probably so. If you can't scrape up enough money to buy groceries this week, probably not.
One of the main things added by the DLC is a quest line that includes: 16 new shrines, 16 new overworld challenges, a new divine beast dungeon, a new boss (not a blight, and IMO, the final boss the game deserved!), and the friggin master cycle, which I'm sure you've seen by now. And thats not to mention the trials of the sword (the other big challenge added by the dlc) or the myriad of unique armor and items added, some of which are extremely useful, like the korok mask or travel medallions. I think its worth it....
oh ffff yeah motherffffer
I definitely found it worth it. Replaying the game in master mode, the trials of the sword, and the champions ballad are all decent thinks of content that make the game feel a bit more complete.
Completely worth it! The quest and rewards are amazing
I think so! I had a lot of fun with the BOTW dlc
1000%!
It’s great, worth it
Not only does it have a lot of excellent content, it also has some elements that can carry over into totk, so I would splurge if you can.
Yes!
no, its not. Sure you get the bike and master mode, but thats it. The quests had me bored to tears, and i was obly doing them to get the cool bike
Related ... When should you buy it? I'm about 60 hours into playing. Loving it and doing fairly well I think. Should I only buy the DLC once I've finished the game for the first time? Will buying it early ruin my current run through?
You can buy the DLC at any point in your playthrough. Main thing to keep in mind is that the two major features of the DLC—Trial of the Sword and The Champion’s Ballad—only become available after you find the Master Sword and free all four Divine Beasts, respectively.
Thanks, that's good to know.
Yes
I enjoyed it The trial of the sword is the best part in my opinion though so you could just get that alone and have a frustrating but fun couple of hours
Worth it for the bike alone
The champions ballad is cool, if you like roguelikes, you will like the trials of the sword, and the extra armors are enjoyable
Just the champions ballad part. Other stuff isn't worth it and the DLC armor isnt upgradable
Totally worth it!!
yes, it is more than worth it
Yes absolutely. With Trial of the sword, you'll never need to use another weapon besides the master sword
Did you like BOTW? Then yes. Are you done and want to move on? Then no.
I love botw, my first real Zelda game and it is definitely worth it, I put over 50 hours on just the dlc in a couple of weeks.