10 things to do after beating Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (TotK)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is truly a massive game. It’s likely to be one of the biggest games we’ll see for a long time in terms of scale. And that means there’s a ton of stuff to do after you’ve completed the main story. So here’s a neat list of everything you can do after beating Tears of the Kingdom.

10. Revisit classic locations

If you put in dozens of hours into Breath of the Wild before playing Tears of the Kingdom, you probably know this iteration of Hyrule very well. But Tears of the Kingdom still remixes this old map quite a bit and has plenty of discoveries for returning players. So if you haven’t thoroughly checked the map over just yet, now’s the perfect time to do it.

One of my favorite places to revisit in Tears of the Kingdom is the Great Plateau. Breath of the Wild’s tutorial area has changed in subtle ways this time around which I won’t spoil here. But this location should be on your list if only to pay respects at the Temple of Time once again. It’s a fantastic way to reminisce about Link’s prior adventures.

9. Finish side-quests

Tears of the Kingdom has dozens of side quests that can be found throughout the game. And unless you’re a very efficient completionist you’ve probably still got a lot of them that are unfinished. Side-quests are indeed pretty boring to complete, to be honest. Most of them consist of Link going off to find a specific item for someone or maybe talking to a few people to resolve a misunderstanding. But these side-quests are also very important to complete.

Unlike other Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom let Link interact with Hyrule’s citizens far more. Side-quests allow Link to get a glimpse of how normal people live in this world. And that simple connection makes Hyrule feel like a truly lived-in place. So sure, they’re not the most fun content to experience, but these little stories are well worth completing.

8. Complete every Shrine

Chances are you’re already a decent way through the game’s Shrines at this point. But you’ve still got a lot to go if you want to complete them all. In total, there are 152 Shrines in Tears of the Kingdom, which is a sizeable jump up from Breath of the Wild’s 120 Shrines. And since you’ve got both the ground and the sky to check for Shrines in Tears of the Kingdom, you’ll likely spend a long time doing this. But Shrines are easily the most fun part of the game so it’s hardly a punishment. Getting the Shrine Sensor will certainly help.

I wouldn’t recommend grinding out all the Shrines immediately, however. After a while, they can get pretty repetitive, especially if you aren’t in the mood to puzzle-solve or complete combat challenges. Instead, just tackle them as you complete some of the other stuff in the game. Mark off Shrines you’ve yet to do and come back to complete them another time. Pace yourself with this stuff and you’ll find it way more enjoyable.

7. Explore the Depths

The Depths are arguably Tears of the Kingdom’s most mysterious addition. It’s something that Nintendo didn’t discuss much before the game’s release. But the fact that there’s an underground map that’s essentially the same size as the surface level of Hyrule is crazy. It also means that you’ve got a whole other world to explore if you haven’t been down there much.

There’s a ton of stuff to do in the Depths from fighting rare monsters, farming special materials, facing off against the Yiga Clan once again, and of course, there’s a whole Depths-themed armor set to collect. But classic Zelda fans are likely to be most entranced by the gear chests containing Link’s classic outfits. These were strictly limited to Amiibos in Breath of the Wild, but in Tears of the Kingdom, you can simply find these outfits in the Depths.

6. Help Addison with his signs

Addison may well be the worst carpenter that Hyrule has ever known. Luckily Link is around to help him do his only job. The Addison sign puzzles are simple little physics-based conundrums that involve Link propping up Addison’s signs with whatever’s around. These don’t reward you with a ton of goodies, but you don’t need great rewards to help someone in need. And Addison definitely needs the help.

5. Find every armor piece

If you’re someone who loves to dress Link up in all manner of different outfits, then you’ll want to find every armor piece that Tears of the Kingdom has to offer. Many of these armor sets are simply taken from Breath of the Wild, including the previously Amiibo-exclusive gear. But now you can freely find them all if you have enough time and patience to track them down.

Finding the best armor in the game is also key to being able to take on Tears of the Kingdom’s harder challenges. Lynels and Gleeoks do not go down easily in this game. So preparing Link with the best defensive gear you can is a smart choice. If you’re anything like me though, you’ll probably just wear the Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess armor for the entire game.

Related: How to get the Tunic of Memories in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TotK)

4. Defeat overworld bosses

As I just mentioned, some of Tears of the Kingdom’s biggest threats lie somewhere in the overworld. Lynels are a classic threat that are back with a vengeance in Tears of the Kingdom and they seem even more angry this time around. But there are new bosses to fight too including Gleeoks and Frox. And if you go in unprepared you can expect to struggle quite a bit.

Most of the game’s hardcore challenges are found in the Depths. You can find a handful of truly difficult fights down here including a match against a fearsome Gleeok and a colosseum full of Lynels. And since they all deal Gloom damage, you’ve got a hard time ahead of you. But these battles are also extremely rewarding and often create some of the best memories with Tears of the Kingdom.

3. Experiment with Ultrahand

If you’ve seen videos on social media where people have created walking tanks in Tears of the Kingdom, that is indeed real. The way that Ultrahand works to combine objects can lead to some truly insane creations. From makeshift Metal Gears to Bomber Jets, you can make almost anything you want if you’re creative enough to do it.

Now getting to the point of creating these makeshift inventions isn’t easy. While Tears of the Kingdom technically lets you do it, it’s not strictly prepared for it in some ways. So some aspects of making these devices can be quite finicky. With that said, it’s remarkable that the game even lets you do things like make bridges out of 20 or so trees. And this kind of creativity is core to the game’s whole premise. So spend some time learning the limits of Ultrahand and item fusion.

2. Fill out the Hyrule Compendium

The Hyrule Compendium is the most tedious thing to do in Tears of the Kingdom by far. It involves taking pictures of every enemy, item, piece of equipment, and material. In total, there are 509 entries to fill out this time around. So it’s a daunting task, to say the least. And in my case, I forgot that the Hyrule Compendium was even a thing until I had already sunk about 50 hours into Tears of the Kingdom. So if you’re in the same boat take solace in the fact that you aren’t alone.

With as much work that’s required to complete the Hyrule Compendium, the reward must be pretty good right? Well, that’s not quite the case as for your troubles you’ll just get a new Paraglider Fabric. That’s probably going to be cool for some people but I’d wager it’s not enough of a reason to really go out there and complete the Compendium. But hey, if you’re a completionist then it doesn’t matter what reward you get at the end of the day. Either way, start snapping at every little item you see.

1. Find and help every Korok

Finally, the last thing you should do after beating Tears of the Kingdom is help every Korok you can find in the overworld. Sit down for this next part because I’m about to tell you how many seeds there are to find. Tears of the Kingdom has a total of 1,000 Korok Seeds for Link to collect. But since some Korok’s reward you with two seeds for helping them, the total number of Koroks to find is really only 800. See, it doesn’t sound so bad now.

If you do decide to go off and find every Korok you’ll probably get it finished up in time for the next Zelda game. So once you’ve done everything else Tears of the Kingdom has to offer, you can give this a go too. I really wouldn’t recommend trying to collect every single one without taking some breaks though as this is the most tedious thing to do in Tears of the Kingdom. So every time you collect 50 of them try playing a different Zelda game to cleanse the pallet. Don’t worry, the Korok’s aren’t going anywhere.