Should You Upgrade Health or Stamina First in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?

When you start off in Tears of the Kingdom, you only have three hearts and one ring of stamina to work with. Once you are able to start upgrading health and stamina, you have to make the tricky decision of which to prioritize. There’s no right or wrong answer, but there are a few things you should keep in mind when choosing. Here is some advice on if you should upgrade your health or stamina first in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Should You Prioritize Health or Stamina First in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom?

Once you have collected four Light of Blessings from completing shrines, you will be able to trade them in at a Goddess Statue for either one heart container or one stamina upgrade in Tears of the Kingdom. This is pretty much exactly like how Spirit Orbs were traded for an upgrade in Breath of the Wild.

You will want to prioritize upgrading your health or stamina first depending on what type of player you are. If you find yourself engaging in a lot of difficult battles, you might want to grab extra heart upgrades. If you prefer exploring and find yourself doing a lot of climbing, extra stamina might be more beneficial.

That being said, you should upgrade your health first in the beginning of the game and then prioritize stamina as you get further on. This is because three hearts are not a lot to start with. You may find yourself dying a lot early on. It’s easier to regain stamina by standing still whereas you need to eat food and meals to regain health. Also, some of Link’s new abilities like Ascend can help with avoiding long climbs that use up stamina.

Once you have around five or six hearts, you might decide to start upgrading your stamina to balance it out. In the long run, you will most likely benefit from having more stamina than health. Additionally, it is easier to create recipes that restore health than ones that restore stamina. Therefore, you may find yourself needing more stamina later on.

Whether you choose to prioritize upgrading health or stamina, you should make sure you find a Goddess Statue each time you collect four Light of Blessings. There is no point in letting them accumulate in your inventory when you can exchange for an upgrade.

In summary, we recommend upgrading health first in the beginning of the game and then prioritizing stamina later on. However, this all depends on your personal preference and playstyle.

That’s everything you need to know about whether you should upgrade your health or stamina first in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Be sure to check out some of our other guides below for more tips and tricks in the game.