The Arsenal: Link (The Legend of Zelda)

Welcome to The Arsenal, where we look at the best weapons and items in media. In this entry, we’re looking at the best equipment used by The Legend of Zelda’s main hero, Link. We will be looking at the best weapons and items across the series to determine the best ones that he has. There are a lot of them, so there will be several different slots that apply. What different niches can be filled with Link’s best equipment?

Best Sword – Master Sword

By far the most well-known of Link’s equipment and one of the most famous swords in all of gaming, the Master Sword is the best sword Link can use. It is a powerful blade that can slice through obstacles and take down enemies with a few strong strikes and it is best known within the realm of Hyrule of having the ability to vanquish evil. It was this sword that Link used to defeat Ganon time after time throughout the Zelda timeline.

Best Shield – Hylian Shield

A shield is always a good accompaniment to a sword and while it may not have any special abilities, the Hylian Shield is a good secondary to the Master Sword. The Hylian Shield is a very durable item, able to protect Link from several kinds of attacks. He just needs to hold it up and brace for impact and the attack gets blocked. However, it is only a small shield, so it blocks attacks coming from the front, but not the sides or the back, so Link still needs to be aware of what is going on around him.

Best Arrow Type – Light Arrows

Alongside his sword, the bow and arrows are also commonly used items in Link’s adventures. When Link needs to strike an enemy or activate a special switch in a dungeon from far away, the bow can accomplish this task. Link has used several different arrows across the series, from normal ones to fiery ones to freezing ones to explosive ones, but the strongest ones are the Light Arrows. Like the Master Sword, the Light Arrows are given to Link with the purpose of banishing evil and, unlike the Master Sword, are often given as an end-of-game item to use against the final boss. When these powerful arrows are received, they deal large amounts of damage to the monster, allowing Link to defeat him and save the kingdom.

Best Non-Archery Long Range Weapon – Gale Boomerang

Other than the bow and arrows, Link does have other long range weapons he can use, that actually double as weapons and tools, and the most effective of these is the Gale Boomerang from the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Normal boomerangs can be used to attack and stun enemies from afar and can even grab items and bring them back, but the Gale Boomerang also has an added whirlwind effect that allows it to put out small fires, cut ropes, or carry items from far distances.

Best Explosive – Bombchu

Link has needed to use bombs throughout his adventures, whether he needed some extra force when fighting an enemy or he needed to blast his way through a large obstacle. While there are larger bombs that he can use than the standard ones, this slot goes not to the most powerful explosive but the most versatile, and that item is the Bombchu. This mouse-shaped mechanical bomb zooms forward in a straight line, even moving up or down walls until it reaches an enemy or an obstacle and explodes on impact.

Best Movement Item – Hookshot

Link has several items that can help him move around a dungeon from the Roc’s Feather to the Pegasus Boots. His most prominent of these however is the hookshot, but the most useful of these is the Clawshot from Twilight Princess.When used, Link can shoot the claw forward to grab onto far away grates and vines to bring Link towards them so he can start climbing. He can also use it to bring far away objects towards him and damage weaker enemies. It can be used on wood like the standard hookshot, so it can’t grab treasure chests, but it can be used underwater and it can lower or raise Link along the length of its chain while it’s in use.

Best Wearable Item – Fierce Deity Mask

With different kinds of gloves, boots, and even hats, Link gets a lot of wearable items that can grant him power, but the most effective of these kinds of items have been masks. They only played a major part in one game (Majora’s Mask), but in that one game, they were an immense source of power, giving Link several different abilities. The best of these masks is the Fierce Deity Mask, turning him into Fierce Deity Link and granting him great strength in battle, including the ability to use Sword Beams. He doesn’t need to have this mask to progress through the game or defeat Majora, but it makes that final boss fight much easier.

Best Magical Item – Ocarina of Time

Link has used several different magical items to both attack enemies and solve puzzles, from magic rods to musical instruments. The most powerful of these mystical artifacts is not actually used for either of those purposes. Not directly at least. The Ocarina of Time, as seen in the Zelda game with the same name and Majoras’s Mask, is actually used to affect the world itself. This musical instrument can affect time with effects like warping the user to different time periods or changing the time of day from daylight to night time. With the right song, time can be turned forwards or backwards, and in Majora’s Mask, it becomes instrumental to Link’s success in saving the land of Termina.

Best Healing Item – Bottled Fairy

With the bottles that Link can find across Hyrule, he can use them to store different items, particularly healing items like potions or Moo Moo Milk. As effective as those can be, a bottled fairy is the much more effective. Using a butterfly net and an empty bottle, Link can catch a fairy in a 

bottle and carry it around until he needs it. When used normally, Link can use the fairy to restore his health, but when Link runs out of health and falls to the ground with the fairy still in his inventory, the fairy can release itself and revive Link. It essentially gives him an extra life.

Best Wallet – Giant’s Wallet

Throughout his travels in Hyrule, Link can collect Rupees, those multicolored jewels that are the currency of the kingdom. He obviously needs a place to store them all and that’s where the wallets come in. The Giant’s Wallet, which appears in several Zelda games, is often the largest wallet in the game, able to hold the largest amount of Rupees possible in their games, from 500 in Ocarina of Time to 5,000 in Skyward Sword. With this wallet, Link can always have an abundance of Rupees when he needs to make a purchase.

What did you think of this list? What items do you think are the best in Link’s arsenal? Which characters do you think have an arsenal worth looking at? Let me know in the comment section and thanks for coming.