An early battle against a terrifying foe will leave Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players stripped of their health and stamina. It’s a great way for the game to canonically reset progress for those who have already put hundreds of hours into Hyrule. The good news is that you can gain your Health and Stamina back as you play through the game.
How to get more Health and Stamina in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
To improve Health or Stamina in Tears of the Kingdom, players will need to get their hands on Light of Blessings. These special Light of Blessings can only be earned by completing Shrines throughout the game. As such, every chance you get, make sure you visit a shrine to take on the challenge that it presents.
You will need to bring four Light of Blessings to a Goddess Statue and exchange them for a Health or Stamina Vessel. This might not sound like much, but with 120 Shrines spread all over Hyrule, there are 30 total upgrades you can get for either stat, depending on which one you want. If you are still early in the game, you can find all the Shrine locations on The Great Sky Island in this useful guide.
You can find Goddess Statues at Lookout Landing, Goron City, Rito Village, Zora’s Domain, and in Korok Forest.
Should you choose Health or Stamina in Tears of the Kingdom?
Whether you should pick Stamina or Health is entirely up to you. Players who are eager to explore as early as possible will benefit from increased Stamina, allowing them to climb, swim, and run much further as they build it up.
The downside to this is that enemies will start to hit you very hard, so you might want to find an even balance between the two. Personally, I like to trade, picking Health and then Stamina and swapping back and forth until I feel I have enough Stamina to get me through the game before finally focusing on only Health to help me survive the difficult closing hours.
Can you respect your Heart Containers and Stamina Vessels?
The good news about any decision you make regarding your Health and Stamina is that there is a way to undo your choice if you have enough Rupees. Players who make their way below Lookout Landing, which can be accessed through the Royal Hidden Passage, will discover the Horned Statue.
Interacting with the Horned Statue will give you the option to sell the Horned Statue one of your Health or Stamina points for 100 Rupees. You can then purchase back either a Health or Stamina point of your choice for 120 Rupees.
It should be noted that this area is very dangerous, and it’s a bad idea to attempt to get there too early, so remain patient if you feel you have made a mistake. It is far easier to simply solve some more Shrines and then get another point in either Health or Stamina than it is to make this journey early in the game.
