At Japan Expo this month, Eiji Aonuma told the fans that they want to fix some complaints about the game with the upcoming DLC for Breath of the Wild, "the Champion's Ballad". But why wait so long? Why not fix some things in some free update and DLC? Why should the fans even pay for DLC just so that issues with the game are fixed?
I put some thoughts into what could become a free DLC Pack and update, which adds a few items and fixes some problems. I call it "The Traveler's Gear" and it has a specific theme: armor. Some of these ideas coincide with points in my list of improvements.
Funnily enough, the first DLC even amplified two of the issues with the game, instead of fixing them. But all of this will be addressed in this proposal.
New Armor Item: Pegasus Boots
This is THE classic boot item in the Zelda series, which has first appeared in A Link to the Past, but also made its return in Link's Awakening, Ancient Stone Tablets, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, the Minish Cap and A Link Between Worlds. It's a staple in the 2D Zelda games, but so far it never made its way into the world of 3D Zelda games, unless you count Linkle's weapon type in Hyrule Warriors.
Like most armor items in Breath of the Wild, this iteration will be somewhat simpler. It makes you walk faster without the need of any speed boosting food effects. If you actually dash with these boots, it will create a gust that pushes enemies aside for some minor damage. It's ideal to take care of weak foes like Keese.
New Armor Item: Spiked Boots
This item will help you fight the worst enemy in the game: rain. Whenever it's raining, you can equip these boots to keep climbing without sliding. It's a simple addition that will make this game so much more enjoyable for all the players.
As a downside, these boots will make you go slower, so they are really only meant for climbing and nothing else. You also won't have the "Climbing Jump Stamina Up" set bonus anymore, if you've been using the full Climber's Armor.
Five New Sets of Horse Gear
While you're able to customize your horses in the game, the options are fairly limited with only five sets of horse gear. This DLC should at least double the amount and here are some ideas for new horse stylings:
Those will be either added to existing shops in Hyrule or to minigames that don't have an exclusive reward yet. For example the Ancient Armor should be sold in the Akkala Ancient Laboratory, while Kilton could sell you the Dragon and Lynel sets. And the gliding minigame could be the spot, where you get the Loftwing armor for your horses (it wouldn't make them fly, though, it's just for the looks).
With all of that it would make sense, if all the horse gear gets its own tab within the inventory, instead of being stuffed into the "Key Items". This would use the horse icon from Hyrule Compendium.
More Armor Enhancements
Especially after the release of the Master Trials DLC, there are quite some pieces of armor in the game that cannot be enhanced. This makes most of them rather useless in the later game, where having good armor values is key to survival. So, let's just give those Great Fairies more to do, they certainly would be happy about it.
This would include the Dark Armor, the Nintendo Switch Shirt, the Tingle Armor and the Korok Mask. The enemy masks from Kilton's Shop probably also should receive upgrades, while Majora's Mask shouldn't for balancing reasons. After all this mask combines all the effects of the other enemy masks.
With the Phantom Armor this also would be questionable, because you can get this armor very early in the game, while it's as powerful as the Soldier's Armor and the Barbarian Armor combined. And the latter requires you to explore all three Labyrinths! Maybe instead of the attack boost, it has a Critical Hit set bonus. Then it would still be special, but not as overpowered in an enhanced form.
Re-Purchasable DLC Armor
A simple issue with a very simple solution. Right now, if you (accidentally) sell any of the DLC armor pieces, you can't get it back. Especially if you often use amiibo and want to sell the duplicate pieces, this is an issue, if you notice it too late.
There's even no good reason, why Nintendo handled the DLC armor this way. They probably wanted to keep them as "special" items, where it doesn't make sense to have any duplicates, since there is a small story tied to most of them. But the solution is still simple: as soon as you sell them, they should just re-appear in Granté's Collection. He will only offer the one piece that you sold and it will go away from his collection, as soon as you buy it there.
This makes sense in the game's world, because Granté is a collector of rare armor. So, whenever you sell a piece to someone, it makes sense that it would end up in Granté's hands eventually. There he will be happy to sell it to you again for a big profit. Also, it already works in a similar way with the Hylian Shield. You can get a new one from Granté, but only one at a time.
Set Bonus for Alternate Head Pieces
Certain sets of armor offer a "Set Bonus" with a special ability. However, many of these sets also offer alternative head gear in the form of jewelry or some special DLC and amiibo items, where you will lose this set bonus for no good reason. This update should fix this:
As an example, whenever you wear the Ancient Greaves and the Ancient Cuirass, you can still get the "Ancient Proficiency" set bonus from the Diamond Circlet or Midna's Helmet, so you don't have to wear the dorky Ancient Helm. Especially if you consider, how much more effort goes into upgrading the Diamond Circlet, which requires Star Fragments, this only makes sense as a reward. This should apply to every head pieces that offers a similar bonus to the rest of the set. Often these are already placed right next to each other in the inventory.
Here's a full list:
Quick Equip
Last, but not least, this hypothetical update would let you quickly equip one entire set of armor by pressing X in the Armor Inventory. So, for example, if you select the Climber's Gear and press the X button, it will automatically equip the Climber's Bandanna and the Climber's Boots along with it.
Ideally there also would be a shortcut of getting to your current armor in the inventory (e.g. by pressing the left stick), because the armor tab is placed right in the middle of it all and it often takes quite some time to change armor, which you will do very often in the game, since every situation profits from a different outfit.
Make it happen, Nintendo!
I put some thoughts into what could become a free DLC Pack and update, which adds a few items and fixes some problems. I call it "The Traveler's Gear" and it has a specific theme: armor. Some of these ideas coincide with points in my list of improvements.
Funnily enough, the first DLC even amplified two of the issues with the game, instead of fixing them. But all of this will be addressed in this proposal.
New Armor Item: Pegasus Boots
This is THE classic boot item in the Zelda series, which has first appeared in A Link to the Past, but also made its return in Link's Awakening, Ancient Stone Tablets, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, the Minish Cap and A Link Between Worlds. It's a staple in the 2D Zelda games, but so far it never made its way into the world of 3D Zelda games, unless you count Linkle's weapon type in Hyrule Warriors.
Like most armor items in Breath of the Wild, this iteration will be somewhat simpler. It makes you walk faster without the need of any speed boosting food effects. If you actually dash with these boots, it will create a gust that pushes enemies aside for some minor damage. It's ideal to take care of weak foes like Keese.
New Armor Item: Spiked Boots
This item will help you fight the worst enemy in the game: rain. Whenever it's raining, you can equip these boots to keep climbing without sliding. It's a simple addition that will make this game so much more enjoyable for all the players.
As a downside, these boots will make you go slower, so they are really only meant for climbing and nothing else. You also won't have the "Climbing Jump Stamina Up" set bonus anymore, if you've been using the full Climber's Armor.
Five New Sets of Horse Gear
While you're able to customize your horses in the game, the options are fairly limited with only five sets of horse gear. This DLC should at least double the amount and here are some ideas for new horse stylings:
- Ancient Bridle & Saddle
- Dragon Bridle & Saddle
- Red Lion Bridle & Saddle
- Loftwing Bridle & Saddle
- Lynel Bridle & Saddle
Those will be either added to existing shops in Hyrule or to minigames that don't have an exclusive reward yet. For example the Ancient Armor should be sold in the Akkala Ancient Laboratory, while Kilton could sell you the Dragon and Lynel sets. And the gliding minigame could be the spot, where you get the Loftwing armor for your horses (it wouldn't make them fly, though, it's just for the looks).
With all of that it would make sense, if all the horse gear gets its own tab within the inventory, instead of being stuffed into the "Key Items". This would use the horse icon from Hyrule Compendium.
More Armor Enhancements
Especially after the release of the Master Trials DLC, there are quite some pieces of armor in the game that cannot be enhanced. This makes most of them rather useless in the later game, where having good armor values is key to survival. So, let's just give those Great Fairies more to do, they certainly would be happy about it.
This would include the Dark Armor, the Nintendo Switch Shirt, the Tingle Armor and the Korok Mask. The enemy masks from Kilton's Shop probably also should receive upgrades, while Majora's Mask shouldn't for balancing reasons. After all this mask combines all the effects of the other enemy masks.
With the Phantom Armor this also would be questionable, because you can get this armor very early in the game, while it's as powerful as the Soldier's Armor and the Barbarian Armor combined. And the latter requires you to explore all three Labyrinths! Maybe instead of the attack boost, it has a Critical Hit set bonus. Then it would still be special, but not as overpowered in an enhanced form.
Re-Purchasable DLC Armor
A simple issue with a very simple solution. Right now, if you (accidentally) sell any of the DLC armor pieces, you can't get it back. Especially if you often use amiibo and want to sell the duplicate pieces, this is an issue, if you notice it too late.
There's even no good reason, why Nintendo handled the DLC armor this way. They probably wanted to keep them as "special" items, where it doesn't make sense to have any duplicates, since there is a small story tied to most of them. But the solution is still simple: as soon as you sell them, they should just re-appear in Granté's Collection. He will only offer the one piece that you sold and it will go away from his collection, as soon as you buy it there.
This makes sense in the game's world, because Granté is a collector of rare armor. So, whenever you sell a piece to someone, it makes sense that it would end up in Granté's hands eventually. There he will be happy to sell it to you again for a big profit. Also, it already works in a similar way with the Hylian Shield. You can get a new one from Granté, but only one at a time.
Set Bonus for Alternate Head Pieces
Certain sets of armor offer a "Set Bonus" with a special ability. However, many of these sets also offer alternative head gear in the form of jewelry or some special DLC and amiibo items, where you will lose this set bonus for no good reason. This update should fix this:
As an example, whenever you wear the Ancient Greaves and the Ancient Cuirass, you can still get the "Ancient Proficiency" set bonus from the Diamond Circlet or Midna's Helmet, so you don't have to wear the dorky Ancient Helm. Especially if you consider, how much more effort goes into upgrading the Diamond Circlet, which requires Star Fragments, this only makes sense as a reward. This should apply to every head pieces that offers a similar bonus to the rest of the set. Often these are already placed right next to each other in the inventory.
Here's a full list:
- Ruby Circlet: Unfreezable with the Snowquill Armor
- Sapphire Circlet: Shock Damage Resist with the Desert Voe Armor
- Topaz Earrings: Unshockable with the Rubber Armor
- Opal Earrings: Swim Dash Stamina Up with the Zora Armor
- Diamond Circlet: Ancient Proficiency with the Ancient Armor
- Midna's Helmet: Ancient Proficiency with the Ancient Armor
- Sheik's Mask: Night Speed Up with the Stealth Armor
Quick Equip
Last, but not least, this hypothetical update would let you quickly equip one entire set of armor by pressing X in the Armor Inventory. So, for example, if you select the Climber's Gear and press the X button, it will automatically equip the Climber's Bandanna and the Climber's Boots along with it.
Ideally there also would be a shortcut of getting to your current armor in the inventory (e.g. by pressing the left stick), because the armor tab is placed right in the middle of it all and it often takes quite some time to change armor, which you will do very often in the game, since every situation profits from a different outfit.
Make it happen, Nintendo!
1 comment:
Great blog and great suggestions, I agree with all of this. But I still don't understand why the full Zora armor doesn't let you swim constantly, like a slow Zora. It doesn't have to be like Majora's mask Zora transformation, but PLEASE let me "run" while on water instead of constantly pressing A.
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