Breath Of The Wild First Four Shrines And Beginner Progression Guide
Embarking on your journey across the vast landscapes of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can feel both exhilarating and overwhelming for newcomers. The open-world adventure kicks off on the isolated Great Plateau, a tutorial region designed to teach you fundamental survival mechanics. To progress into the wider kingdom, players must first conquer four initial shrines scattered across this introductory plateau.
Activating the Great Plateau Tower
Before hunting down the individual ancient structures, you must follow the guidance of the mysterious Old Man to activate the regional Sheikah Tower. Scaling this massive structure updates your regional map and highlights key landmarks across the immediate horizon. From this elevated vantage point, you can easily use your scope to pin the glowing orange energy beams emitting from the nearby trials.
Understanding how to utilize these map pins early on saves a tremendous amount of travel time. Navigating from the tower allows you to establish a structured route to complete your objectives efficiently. This initial step introduces the core gameplay loop of scanning the environment from high altitudes before exploring the terrain below.
Conquering the First Two Ancient Shrines
The Oman Au Shrine is typically the first trial players encounter, focusing on the power of the Magnesis rune. Inside, you learn to manipulate heavy metallic objects to solve environmental puzzles and pull hidden underwater treasure chests to the surface. Mastering this magnetic power is crucial for clearing out blocked pathways and acquiring early-game weapons scattered throughout the world.
Next, adventurers usually travel toward the Ja Baij Shrine, located within the dangerous ruins of the Eastern Abbey. This trial grants the Remote Bomb rune, teaching you how to switch between spherical and cubical explosives to shatter cracked stone walls. Be cautious when approaching this area, as inactive-looking mechanical Guardians can quickly awaken and target unprepared players with lethal laser beams.
Surviving the Cold to Reach the Final Trials
Reaching the final two structures requires venturing into the snowy, high-altitude climates of the western plateau. Traveling into freezing temperatures without preparation causes Link to lose health rapidly over time. To survive this harsh zone, you should cook a spicy meal using Warm Safflina or peppers, or complete a minor side quest for the Old Man to obtain the Warm Doublet armor.
Once protected against the elements, you can safely scale the cliffs to locate the Owa Daim Shrine, which introduces the Stasis mechanic. This useful rune freezes moving objects in time, allowing you to build kinetic energy by striking the item repeatedly before letting it launch forward. This ability is incredibly practical for clearing massive boulders blocking narrow mountain passes or pinning fast-moving hazards.
Completing the Keh Namut Trial and Beyond
The final trial on the Great Plateau is the Keh Namut Shrine, which grants the powerful Cryonis ability. This magical power allows you to grow solid ice pillars out of shallow water sources to create platforms or lift heavy gates. Solving these final puzzles completes your introductory training and prompts the Old Man to reveal his true identity at the Temple of Time.
After proving your worth across these four trials, you are rewarded with the highly anticipated Paraglider asset. This crucial traversal tool permits you to safely glide down from the high cliffs of the plateau into the expansive lands of Hyrule. From this point onward, your progression is entirely non-linear, letting you choose your own path toward conquering the Divine Beasts.