Tears of the Kingdom - How to Shield Surf in TotK

Shield Surfing is a common activity in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, where you’ll have the chance to ride down the side of a hill in style, going at high speeds. This was a regular practice in Breath of the Wild, and this mechanic returns in Tears of the Kingdom.

For returning The Legend of Zelda players, Shield Surfing should be a relatively easy activity, but you might have forgotten the correct controls to cause it to happen. This guide covers how to Shield Surf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

How Shield Surfing Works in Tears of the Kingdom

The controls you use to activate Shield Surfing in Tears of the Kingdom are the same as the Breath of the Wild. You need to bring out your shield by holding the ZL button. From there, click the X button to have Link jump into the air, and while he’s in the air, click the A button. Normally, the A button is for Link to parry, but this prompts him to place his shield on the ground and begin surfing.

You can do this at any point while playing Tears of the Kingdom, and we recommend doing it whenever you’re about to fall down large hills, and you can use this to reach the bottom extremely quickly.

If you’re having trouble trying to Shield Surf, make sure you have a shield equipped on Link. Whenever you don’t have a shield equipped, it makes performing this activity difficult, and you’ll be unable to use it while running down a mountain or any hill.

In addition, make sure you do not have any Fused to your shield. At least, nothing that would prevent Link from rolling down a mountain. For example, if you equip a shield and have a Zonai Flame Dispenser attached to it, chances are that your shield will have a tough time trying to get down a hill, and you won’t be able to go anywhere.

Because of how many items you can fuse to your shields to make them better, we strongly recommend having multiple shields in your inventory. Some of these shields should be unfused, and you can freely use them whenever attempting to roll down a hill in Tears of the Kingdom.

And that’s it! Check out our other The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom guides below to help with crafting, exploring, and tackling challenges across Hyrule.

Tears of the Kingdom Complete Guide | Every Ability & How To Unlock Them | How to Get The Paraglider | How to Get & Use The Travel Medallion | All Armor Locations & Where to Find Them | All Construct Materials & Where to Find Them | All Shrine Locations & Strategies | How to Get More Heart Containers

About the author

Zack Palm

Zack Palm is the Senior Writer of Gamepur and has spent over five years covering video games, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Oregon State University. He spends his free time biking, running tabletop campaigns, and listening to heavy metal. His primary game beats are Pokémon Go, Destiny 2, Final Fantasy XIV, and any newly released title, and he finds it difficult to pull away from any Star Wars game.

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