Zelda: Breath of the Wild amiibo guide: how to use amiibo and what each does

Guide by Alex Donaldson Assistant Editor

Published on April 11, 2019

Amiibo can gift you loads of cool things in Breath of the Wild. Here's what they do.

If you want to get ahead in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild amiibo are a simple route forward. Nintendo's hugely successful little NFC figurines have their use hidden away, but if you've got any amiibo kicking around you'll find they're quite useful in-game.

Why Nintendo hid and buried the amiibo function we're not quite sure. It might be because the amiibo all offer what more hardcore players might think of as little cheats, offering small ways you can make them game a little easier by giving you some high-end gear and the like.

Anyway, if you don't care about that, here's how you turn on amiibo: inside the game, hit start/plus. Head to the system screen on the far right, then hit options. The first option here will allow you to turn on amiibo. Now we're ready to go.

An amiibo option will now appear as a rune in the game - pressing up on the D-Pad will let you access it alongside bombs, magnesis, stasis and all that other good stuff. When you activate the amiibo rune a circle will appear on the ground. This is where the amiibo bonuses will appear in-world, so do it in a safe place. Once you tap an amiibo to your Switch Pro Controller, Joy-Con or Wii U gamepad it'll spawn items into the game. It as simple as that.

Any individual amiibo can be used only once per day, and every single amiibo available is compatible with the game - even the non-Zelda ones. With that said, let's get into what all the various amiibo do, because there's a lot to see - and some of the bonuses are significant.

What the amiibo do in Breath of the Wild

Each amiibo has a different impact. There are essentially three categories and three different kinds of amiibo compatible with this game. First, there's the official Breath of the Wild amiibo, featuring characters from the game and BOTW branding on the box. Second, there are Legend of Zelda series amiibo - that's figures from the other Zelda games, separate from the Breath of the Wild amiibo. Finally, there's everything else. Here's what each does:

Breath of the Wild amiibo

These amiibo are specifically designed for use with Breath of the Wild, and feature characters from the game:

Archer Link:

Drops rare bow-type weapons, as well as food and other materials.
Horse Rider Link:

Drops a unique horse saddle and food, plus the chance for high-end weapons and the Traveller's Bridle or Saddle for your horse.
Zelda:

Drops shields, with a slim chance to get the Radiant Shield. Contrary to rumors, this isn't a way to get the Hylian Shield. She also drops plants for you to cook with, plus rare gems including Star Fragments.
Guardian:

Drops a chest containing rare weapons and items - including the chance for ancient arrows, super-powerful arrows. Also food.
Bokoblin:

Drops a chest containing high-power club-type weapons plus meat to cook with and monster parts.
Urbosa:

Drops a bunch of meat, while the chest will contain Gerudo gear. If you're lucky, it'll drop the Divine Beast Vah Naboris Helm.
Revali:

Of course Revali drops arrows, but also fruit. Chests contain Rito weapons and gear, and if you're lucky you'll get the Divine Beast Vah Medoh Helm.
Mipha:

The Zora champion drops fish, plus Zora-friendly weapons. If lucky, you'll get the Divine Beast Vah Ruta Helm as a drop.
Daruk:

The Goron hard-man's amiibo drops Goron weapons - lots of stone stuff - and has a chance of dropping the Divine Beast Vah Rudania Helm. He also drops ores and gems.

What non-Breath of the Wild amiibo do

Super Smash Bros Link & Twilight Princess Link:

The first time you scan it you get Epona, Link's horse from Ocarina of Time. On subsequent scans you'll get a selection of food items and a chest that'll either contain a piece of Twilight Princess Link's costume - the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of Twilight - or a random piece of weaponry.
Twilight Princess Wolf Link:

This amiibo spawns Wolf link as an ally - he'll fight alongside you in combat. How many hearts he has is determined by data saved to the wolf in Twilight Princess HD for Wii U.
8-Bit Link:

The 30th anniversary 8-bit Link amiibo spawns a bunch of barrels. Smash them for food and rupees. He'll also drop a chest containing a piece of the classic Link tunic - the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Hero - or weapons.
Ocarina of Time Link:

Scanning this ridiculously iconic version of Link will drop a bunch of raw meat for you, plus a chest which will contain a piece of the OOT-era Link costume - the Cap, Tunic or Trousers of Time, the biggoron sword, or other basic weapons.
Wind Waker Link:

Either the Smash Bros 'Toon Link' or official Wind Waker amiibo will work for this. Both drop a bunch of fish plus a chest that will contain either a piece of the Wind Waker armor - the Cap, Tunic or Trousers of the Wind, the sea-breeze boomerang, or other gear.
Wind Waker Zelda:

The 30th anniversary Wind Waker Zelda amiibo will drop a bunch of plants for cooking, plus a chest containing a shield - if you're lucky, the Hero's Shield from Wind Waker.
Majora's Mask Link:

The Majora's Mask Link can drop the Fierce Diety Armor - the Mask, Armor and Boots - plus it has the chance of dropping the two-handed Fierce Diety sword from that game. It also drops a bunch of mushrooms, arrows and swords.
Skyward Sword Link:

The Skyward Sword amiibo drops 3 crates with rupees and arrows, plus swords and shields. It can also drop the Skyward Sword armor - the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Sky.
Smash Bros Zelda / Shiek:

Like the Wind Waker Zelda, the Smash Bros. Zelda drops a bunch of materials for cooking and crafting plus a chest that can contain rare shields or bows. The best luck will see Zelda drop the Twilight Bow from Twilight Princess - this is hands-down the best bow in the game with a ridiculous damage stat and an incredible range.
Smash Bros Shiek:

Smash Bros. Shiek has a chance to drop Sheikah weapons as well as random materials. If you're extremely lucky, the Shiek's mask armor headpiece will drop.
Smash Bros Ganondorf:

Ganondorf's amiibo doesn't have the nefarious impact he had in Twilight Princess HD- instead he just drops a bunch of materials for cooking and crafting plus a chest that can contain rare weapons - the rarest of which is the amiibo-exclusive sword of the six sages.
All non-Zelda franchise amiibo:

Any amiibo that aren't of a Legend of Zelda series character will still scan into Breath of the Wild just fine - but instead of giving you specific items, each amiibo will drop a random selection of materials including foodstuff, random loot, or even the occasional gemstone. Every single amiibo on the market is compatible with Breath of the Wild in this way, even the Animal Crossing amiibo trading cards.