How to get more hearts in Tears of the Kingdom

Wondering how to get more hearts in Tears of the Kingdom? At the start of the latest Nintendo Switch Zelda exclusive, you only have three hearts, so finding more will likely be high up on your priority list. A quick confrontation with any enemies will let you know that three isn’t very much, so you’ll need to know how to increase your number of hearts in TotK fast.

If your Tears of the Kingdom parrying or dodging isn’t up to scratch yet, you’ll definitely need more Tears of the Kingdom hearts sooner rather than later, so you won’t have to worry about dying every time you run into Tears of the Kingdom enemies. Just like in Breath of the Wild, it’s up to the player whether or not you choose to upgrade Link’s health or stamina, or do a combination of both.

How do you increase your hearts in Tears of the Kingdom?

The only way to gain more hearts in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is by obtaining Heart Containers. Heart Containers are rare items which provide a full extra heart and upgrade maximum health. The maximum number of hearts Link can have is 30, just like in Breath of the Wild.

The first way to obtain Heart Containers is by defeating bosses. Upon defeating the main boss of any dungeon, the player will immediately receive a Heart Container, which will completely refill their health and add one extra heart. This means that as you progress through the game, you will naturally gain more health with each boss, ensuring you aren’t too underpowered at any point.

Heart Containers can also be obtained outside of defeating bosses, by visiting Goddess Statues. These are small statues which are found in, or near major settlements, such as Lookout Landing or Goron City, as well as a larger one in the Temple of Time on the Great Sky Island. By visiting these statues, the player can purchase extra Heart Containers using Lights of Blessing.

Lights of Blessing are obtained by clearing Shrines littered around Hyrule. For every Shrine completed, the player receives one Light of Blessing. Once you have received four Lights of Blessing, you can then visit a Goddess Statue, and trade these four lights for a Heart Container. You can also use four Light of Blessing to increase the size of your stamina wheel by swapping them for a Stamina Vessel rather than a Heart Container. If you’re struggling with a certain boss, simply pay a visit to a few Shrines to increase your number of hearts before trying again.

If you don’t have time for that, though. You can also gain hearts by eating food. Certain meals that you can make not only refill your hearts, but can also give you extra temporary hearts on top of your permanent ones. This can be an easy way to give yourself a quick boost in health if you come across an unexpectedly tough enemy.

Finally, it’s worth noting that you can exchange hearts and stamina at the Royal Hidden Passage located in the Emergency Shelter below Lookout Landing.

That’s all you need to know to start collecting your Tears of the Kingdom hearts. If you want to know more about the different meals you can cook, check out our Tears of the Kingdom recipes guide. It’s also worth unlocking all the Tears of the Kingdom Skyview Tower locations and Tears of the Kingdom stable locations to make getting around Hyrule easier.