Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was easily one of the biggest surprises in the gaming industry when it was first revealed. Not only did it come around the same time as news of a sequel to Breath of the Wild was revealed, but also because it’s a prequel to the Switch-exclusive title but with a catch. Now before we get into the details, remember to get some Nintendo eShop Cards for your Switch needs!
Described as a “Musou” game, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a beat-em-up, hack n’ slash title. This means that gameplay will be a stark contrast to Breath of the Wild. This also means that gamers expecting a true Breath of the Wild prequel will be in for quite the surprise once they start playing.
With that said, the transition to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is not as difficult as it seems, especially if you follow our tips.
What Makes Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Different?
One of the main differences in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is that you’ll be in control of more than just Link.
In addition to one of Nintendo’s long-standing mascots, the game will let you take control of more than a dozen characters from Breath of the Wild. This includes everyone from the four Champions: Daruk, Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa, to Princess Zelda and even the king of Hyrule himself, King Rhoam.
It’s important that you unlock as many characters as you can, and make use of each one you’ve unlocked. This serves numerous purposes. For one, each character feels completely different from the others. This gives the gameplay some variety. But, perhaps, more importantly, some characters are just far better at certain things.
Not to mention, there are advantages to switching between characters across a large and expansive map, especially when playing in higher difficulties.
Beginner Tips for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
As we’ve mentioned earlier, the gameplay of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is very different from Breath of the Wild.
As such, we’ve rounded up several tips to help beginners acquaint themselves better with how everything in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity works:
Do make sure to give your characters orders.
Perhaps the biggest departure from the typical Legend of Zelda title is that in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, players take control of multiple characters spread across a large map. Instead of fighting alone against three or so enemies, players will be fighting against hundreds of enemies all at once. Not to mention, the map is outlined by multiple outposts and numerous objectives to complete.
Even if it’s tempting, you shouldn’t try to play it like you’re a one-man army. Instead, you should take advantage of the other characters in your party. In particular, you’ll want to direct other characters towards other objectives whenever possible. This way, you can focus on other things while they help you out.
The worst-case scenario for doing this is that they’ll already be near whatever task you sent them to accomplish, so you can just swap to them and you won’t have to traverse a huge chunk of the map just to complete the task.
You don’t have to clear all the outposts.
You don’t really have to clear out all the enemies and all the outposts on each map. You can, but it’s not recommended. At the same time, it’s also not recommended to let new enemies just keep on spawning.
So, what do you do? While it’s pretty vague, you have to work hard to find the right balance between cleaning out just the right amount of enemies while also completing objectives.
If you focus too much on one or the other, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed more often than not. However, clearing out all the outposts is a sure-fire way to bring the game to a screeching halt and not accomplish anything.
Kill everything in sight.
While we don’t recommend mowing down all the enemies all the time, killing everything on sight in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a generally good idea. This includes everything, not just enemies. Chests, boxes, grass, and even the trees, all drop something of significance that can be used right now and later on.
So, whenever you do decide to kill every enemy on the screen, try to leave no soul behind.
Don’t forget to eat.
If you’ve played Final Fantasy XV before, you’re familiar already with the option to eat to gain stat bonuses for a limited amount of time. That mechanic exists in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but it’s relatively easy to miss as some of the starting stat upgrades don’t look like much. However, as you invest more time in the game, better dishes and stat bonuses will be available.
Naturally, the bigger the status bonus is given by the meal, the rarer the ingredients are, which is why we recommended earlier that you kill everything on sight whenever it’s applicable.
With that said, we do recommend unlocking recipes as often as you can.
A good meal before a fight could easily mean the difference between failure and success.
Use the Military Training Camp.
Speaking of failing and succeeding, in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, every character counts, and all your fighters must be up to par in terms of combat abilities. Unfortunately, trying to grind it out with each character can be an exercise in futility. Luckily, there is an alternative, as you can pay to have that combatant leveled up.
Surprisingly enough, the rate is quite reasonable and the game doesn’t punish you for taking advantage of the Military Training Camp.
With no cons and all upsides, there’s no reason not to use this feature.
Fuse All Your Spare Weapons.
Another thing that’s unique in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is that your weapons no longer break, but you still end up getting plenty of spare weapons after every mission. So, you wonder, what do you do with them? Well, a mechanic that the game doesn’t explain fully exists to help you with this.
All you have to do is to head on over to the blacksmith and you can either sell your spare weapons or fuse them to create a more powerful weapon. In addition to gaining more experience and leveling up, fusing weapons can also learn useful skills that can make future weapons easier.
The best part is that how the weapon will be improved by focusing is shown so you know what to expect, at least somewhat, as the skill bonuses that are given are random.
We recommend matching weapons with the same effects if possible. This way, you get the same effect in a more powerful form, along with the other bonuses that might come with fusing weapons.
Don’t button mash.
As tempting as it is, button-mashing in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will get you nowhere.
There are ways to combo your regular hits and unleash a strong attack, as well as avoid attacks by enemies, especially those dreaded lasers from Guardians. The more you take advantage of the game’s little combat nuances and subtleties, the easier it becomes, even at the highest difficulties.
You can always lower the difficulty.
Outside of bragging rights, taking more damage, and enemy weak points being tougher, playing in higher difficulties yield no rewards.
If you’re unfamiliar with the game, don’t be afraid to play it in lower difficulties.
Conclusion
We won’t go as far as to say that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a difficult game. Rather, it’s just different. It’s still got the same Breath of the Wild feels, albeit, with a bit more chaos and mayhem thrown in.
With that said, if you want to make the most out of your game, you’ve come to the right place.
Our tips above will help you start out of the gates running; and the rest, you can learn as you go.
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