Zelda Breath of the Wild: How to Lock On to Enemies

How to Lock On – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Locking on has been a staple of The Legend of Zelda series since the mechanic was first pioneered by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998. The feature is back for breath of the Wild and it hasn’t changed much. All you need to do is face an enemy and hold the ZL button on either the Nintendo Switch or Wii U. You’ll know it’s working when a large yellow arrow appears over your opponent’s head, bouncing up and down ever so slightly.

But you’ll have to be a bit more careful using lock on targeting in the game. Enemies won’t wait for you to finish one-on-one duels, they’ll swarm you, making short work of Link. So if you lock on to one enemy in a group you will be unable to react to other enemies as well, which could spell trouble.

But the ability to lock on is still invaluable for close encounters. While locked on, you can leap left or right and backflip out of the way of attacks, giving Link more mobility. Learning when to use the feature and when to rely on other methods is part of the depth of combat in the game. It’s been a stable tool for nearly twenty years but with a more in-depth combat system comes a much more varied style of play.

Now that you know how to lock on to enemies in Breath of the Wild, for more help, be sure to check back to Twinfinite and our expanding wiki!