Last verified July 18, 2026. Breath of the Wild is one of those games that can feel liberating or overwhelming depending on the first few hours. The map is huge, weapons break, enemies hit harder than new players expect, and the game almost immediately tells you that you can go anywhere. That freedom is real, but the smoothest start comes from following a loose early route long enough to understand what the systems are trying to teach you.
New players usually stumble in one of two directions. They either rush off the Great Plateau and head for danger before they have a feel for cooking, shrines, weather, and stamina, or they over-hoard everything and never spend a weapon because they are waiting for the 'right' fight. Breath of the Wild gets much better once you accept that the early game is about learning flow, not preserving perfection.
Pixel Twelve's Breath of the Wild game page is the wider hub, and our Breath of the Wild cooking guide goes deeper on meals and effects. This page is the route for players who just want to know what to do first without getting lost in twenty tabs of advice.
The Great Plateau Is the Tutorial, So Let It Teach You
The Great Plateau is not a speed bump before the real game. It is the real game in miniature. The four shrines teach you the core Sheikah Slate runes, the Old Man quietly nudges you toward weather and resource awareness, and the terrain shows you the basic rule that defines Breath of the Wild: if something looks climbable, explorable, or breakable, it probably is.
Do not rush to leave. Use the Plateau to practice climbing without draining the whole wheel, to get used to switching weapons instead of marrying one sword, and to learn that shrines are not only puzzle rooms but also fast-travel anchors. That last part matters a lot once the world opens up.
If you want the cleanest order, go after the closest shrine first, then use the tower to pin the others. Zelda Dungeon's Great Plateau route is useful here because it mirrors the most natural learning curve: one nearby shrine, one lesson in scouting, then a wider loop that teaches you to read the terrain instead of waiting for a quest marker to do all the work.
Solve Cold Resistance Early
Cold damage is the first real pressure check, and it catches a lot of people because the game expects improvisation instead of a single scripted answer. The easiest beginner move is to cook spicy food from the peppers near the Old Man's campfire. That gives you enough breathing room to move through colder parts of the Plateau without turning every second into panic math.
You can also earn the Warm Doublet, and getting it early is worth the effort because it removes one major headache from the opening. Either way, the lesson matters more than the item itself: Breath of the Wild expects you to treat weather as a system, not as background scenery.
Once that clicks, later regions make more sense too. Heat, storms, cold, and terrain all become problems you prepare for, not random punishment.
Shrines First, Then the Paraglider, Then Kakariko
Finish all four Great Plateau shrines before trying to get clever. The reward is not just the Paraglider. You also leave with a better grip on bombs, Magnesis, Cryonis, and Stasis, which are the actual keys to the rest of the game. A lot of Breath of the Wild feels difficult until the runes stop feeling like separate gimmicks and start feeling like normal tools.
After the Plateau, the strongest first destination is Kakariko Village. The game points you there for a reason. The route teaches you roads, stables, smaller enemy encounters, and the idea that talking to people can matter just as much as clearing camps. Kakariko also gives the world a human center before the scale of Hyrule starts pulling you in five directions at once.
From there, head to Hateno Village sooner rather than later. Hateno keeps the opening from feeling unfinished because it improves your slate progress and gives the early game another useful anchor. The Kakariko-to-Hateno stretch is the closest thing Breath of the Wild has to a recommended first act.
Use Shrines to Learn the Map, Not Just to Farm Orbs
Shrines are good because they give Spirit Orbs, but the smarter beginner habit is using them as route-makers. Every shrine you activate becomes a fast-travel point, and that changes how safely you can explore. If you see a shrine glowing in the distance, it is often worth reaching even if you do not plan to solve it immediately.
This mindset also calms down the map. Instead of staring at one giant kingdom, you start thinking in short loops between shrines, towers, villages, and stables. Breath of the Wild becomes much friendlier when Hyrule is a series of connected safe returns instead of one endless field of maybe.
When you get your first orb turn-ins, many players find stamina more useful than an early heart because climbing and gliding open the world faster. You do not need to be rigid about that, but stamina usually changes how the game feels sooner.
Cook Constantly and Stop Hoarding Every Ingredient
Cooking is not a side activity in Breath of the Wild. It is one of your main survival systems. Early meals give healing, cold resistance, stealth, stamina help, and extra hearts. More importantly, they let you adapt to whatever region you are about to enter. If you are carrying raw ingredients but no cooked food, you are more vulnerable than you think.
Make simple meals often. Do not wait until you have the perfect five-item masterpiece. Meat skewers, spicy pepper dishes, stamina food, and a few emergency heals go a long way. The game rewards practical cooking much more than precious cooking.
Likewise, stop hoarding the entire pantry. Keep a good spread of ingredients, but turn the basics into meals regularly so your inventory is helping you instead of looking impressive.
Use Weapons Freely and Read Enemy Camps
Weapon durability scares a lot of new players into bad habits. The answer is not to become careless, but it also is not to carry a backpack full of swords you refuse to use. Breath of the Wild wants you to rotate weapons, steal strong ones from enemies, and view camps as opportunities rather than static threats.
Before charging in, look around. Can you roll a boulder into the camp? Can you use a remote bomb? Is there fire, height, or a metal crate that turns Magnesis into free damage? The game is at its best when you treat encounters like little sandboxes instead of straight health bars.
You should still save your strongest gear for bigger fights, but 'save forever' is not a strategy. If a weapon helps you survive now, it did its job.
Towers, Stamps, and Gentle Curiosity
Unlock towers when they make sense, but do not turn the game into a checklist of tower climbs. The better rhythm is to grab the towers naturally around your route, use them to read the land, and mark anything that catches your eye. Stamps are useful for shrines, suspicious rocks, ore, fairy fountains, and bosses you are absolutely not fighting yet.
This is also where Breath of the Wild separates itself from more guided open worlds. The game gets richer when you follow curiosity in small doses. See a dragon in the distance. Notice smoke. Spot a strange ruin. Hear piano music and immediately decide to leave because your current gear is not winning that fight. All of that is good play.
Do Not Rush the Divine Beasts
Once the map opens, it is tempting to treat the Divine Beasts like a four-box checklist. Resist that urge. Go to villages, unlock shrines, improve your food habits, and let your confidence grow first. You do not need to be overpowered, but you do want enough stamina, healing, and system knowledge that each region feels exciting instead of exhausting.
A good early run through Breath of the Wild usually means the Plateau is complete, Kakariko and Hateno are handled, several shrines are active, a few useful meals are always in the bag, and weapon breakage no longer feels like betrayal. Once you are at that point, the whole kingdom opens in a much nicer way.
The game never really stops being open, but it does stop feeling directionless. That is the real beginner milestone.
How to Know a Fight Is Not for You Yet
Breath of the Wild is comfortable letting you meet danger before you are ready, and that is part of what makes the world feel alive. If a Lynel deletes you in one exchange, a Guardian turns the field into a laser show, or a camp eats half your healing for one chest, leave. Mark the spot and come back later. Retreat is normal in this game.
That same rule applies to exploration temptations. Hyrule Castle is visible early, powerful weapons are visible early, and several terrifying enemies are visible early. The map is constantly showing you the future. You do not need to cash every invitation the moment you see it.
Once players accept that, the game stops feeling unfair and starts feeling generous. It is giving you goals, not demanding that you clear them right away.
Use Stables More Than You Think
Stables are easy to underrate in the opening, but they do a lot of quiet work. They give you beds, merchants, side chatter, horse services, and a reliable midpoint between bigger goals. When the map starts feeling too wide, hopping from stable to stable is one of the easiest ways to make Hyrule feel manageable again.
