The toys to life craze may have died down significantly, but Nintendo is still making their proprietary amiibo and inserting amiibo functionality into (most of) their first-party games. Of course that includes the latest Legend of Zelda title.
In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players can scan several amiibo a day to spawn useful items, usually in the form of chests, food, and materials. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses amiibo the same way, but quite a few of these collectible statutes have come out since that game launched, so there’s more ground to cover. Plus, Breath of the Wild released six years ago; some gamers might need a refresher on how to use them in a Zelda game.
Tears of the Kingdom: How to Unlock and Use Amiibos
While Tears of the Kingdom players can scan amiibo to acquire a variety of useful (and sometimes tasty) items, they have to unlock that ability first. It won’t take that long, but the process will leave gamers amiibo-less for the first several hours.
In order to scan an amiibo in Breath of the Wild, you first need to unlock the Ultrahand ability. This will let you access the ability menu by holding down the L-button. Look for the amiibo icon, which should be in the lower-left portion of the menu wheel. Oh, and make sure amiibo functionality is on by pressing the + button and selecting Options. The top of this menu should tell you if amiibo scanning is activated. If it says “amiibo disabled,” select the amiibo option and click on “Enable amiibo.” Now you can start scanning.
To actually access amiibo rewards, press the L button and select the amiibo icon. This brings up a targeting reticle on the ground. This circle indicates where amiibo items will drop. Just scan any amiibo you want with your controller’s NFC receiver (the top of your Pro Controller or your Joy-Con’s joystick) and watch loot fall from the heavens. Just don’t stand under it. Otherwise, a metal chest just might clonk Link on the head.
Tears of the Kingdom: Every Amiibo Reward
Like Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom is compatible with every amiibo. Most provide generic rewards such as meat and fish, so by all means, scan your Monster Rise Magnamalo and Diablo 3 Loot Goblin if you want bananas raining down on you.
However, again like Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom’s best amiibo rewards are linked to figures depicting Legend of Zelda characters. These include figures from the 30th Anniversary, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Super Smash Bros. lines. If it’s a Zelda character, the amiibo scan function will spawn several materials and a chest that contains special items such as glider fabric, a weapon, and a piece of armor. While the glider fabric is guaranteed, the rest are subject to a loot table. Sadly, that means you will never know which item you’ll get, if any, until get you’ve scanned the amiibo. Plus you might obtain a duplicate. Still, the rewards are worth it.
Before you start scanning amiibo, you should keep in mind that you can only scan an individual figure once per day (unless you use save scumming). That being said here are all the amiibo that provide special rewards:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Link – Champion’s Tunic Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Link Archer – Tunic of Memories Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Link Rider – Hylian-Hood Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Zelda – Hyrule-Princess Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Bokoblin – Bokoblin Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Guardian – Ancient-Sheikah Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Daruk – Vah Rudania Divine Helm, Goron-Champion Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Mipha – Vah Ruta Divine Helm, Zora-Champion Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Revali – Vah Medoh Divine Helm, Rito-Champion Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Urbosa – Vah Noboris Divine Helm, Gerudo-Champion Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Zelda and Loftwing – Goddess Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Wolf Link – Many meat-based food materials
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Of Awakening Armor Set piece, Egg Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary 8-Bit Link – Of the Hero Armor Set piece, Sword of the Hero, Pixel Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Ocarina of Time Link – Of Time Armor Set piece, Biggoron Sword, Lon Lon Ranch Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Majora’s Mask Link – Fierce Deity Armor Set piece, Fierce Deity Sword, Majora’s Mask Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Wind Waker Link – Of the Wind Armor Set piece, Sea Breeze Boomerang, King of Red Lions Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Wind Waker Zelda – Sea Breeze Shield, Bygone-Royal Fabric
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Twilight Princess Link – Of Twilight Armor Set piece, Dusk Claymore, Epona Mirror of Twilight Fabric (first time only)
The Legend of Zelda 30th Anniversary Skyward Sword Link – Of the Sky Armor Set piece, White Sword of the Sky, Sword-Spirit Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Link – Of Twilight Armor Set piece, Epona, Mirror of Twilight Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Zelda – Dusk Bow, Princess of Twilight Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Sheik – Sheik’s Mask, Sheik Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Toon Link – Of the Wind Armor Set piece, King of Red Lions Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Ganondorf – Dusk Claymore, Demon King Fabric (first time only)
Super Smash Bros. Young Link – Of Time Armor Set piece, Lon Lon Ranch Fabric (first time only)
While many of the above weapons and armors are also available through side quests and activities, the glider fabrics are 100% exclusive to amiibo. Even better, you can fuse every amiibo weapon with other items. For instance, slapping Lynel horns onto the Biggoron and Fierce Deity Swords apparently creates some truly behemoth blades.
Moreover, Epona is considered a wild horse when summoned. If you can tame and register her, she will serve as one of the best steeds in Tears of the Kingdom, but you can’t summon her again. And on a side note, some sources claim you can acquire the Of Twilight Armor Set and Mirror of Twilight Fabric by scanning Wolf Link.