You're standing on a grassy ridge in Hyrule, the sun is setting over Hylia River, and you pull out a plastic figure of a Wolf Link. Beep. A chest falls from the sky. You open it, hoping for that sweet, sweet Twilight Bow, but instead? You get a Knight's Halberd. Again. It's frustrating. Honestly, the Breath of the Wild Zelda amiibo drops system is one of the most misunderstood mechanics in the entire game, mostly because Nintendo doesn't tell you that the game is actively tracking how far you've progressed before it decides to give you the good stuff.
It isn't just random luck. Well, it is, but it's weighted luck.
Most players think they can just tap a Zelda amiibo the moment they step off the Great Plateau and get the Sword of the Six Sages. You can't. The game uses a "tiered" drop system. There are basically three stages: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. If you haven't cleared at least one Divine Beast, your chances of seeing an "Exclusive" item—the rare gear like the Biggoron’s Sword or the Sea-Breeze Boomerang—are essentially zero for most figures. The game checks your flag status. It wants you to earn those overpowered items by playing through the story first.
The Tiered Reality of Breath of the Wild Zelda Amiibo Drops
Let’s talk about the Great Plateau. If you’re still in the tutorial phase, your amiibo rewards are going to be pathetic. Think arrows, iron shrooms, and maybe a traveler's sword if you're lucky. Once you get the Paraglider, the "Intermediate" tier opens up. This is where things get interesting, but you're still not at the finish line.
To hit the "Advanced" tier, where the rarest Breath of the Wild Zelda amiibo drops live, you usually need to have defeated at least one Divine Beast. Some community testing by data miners over at the Zelda Mods wiki suggests that the rarest items, like the Twilight Bow from the Zelda (Super Smash Bros.) amiibo, have a drop rate of roughly 2%. That is incredibly low. You could scan that figure every day for a month and never see the bow.
But there’s a loophole. You've probably heard of "save scumming."
It’s exactly what it sounds like. You save your game manually before you tap the amiibo. You scan the figure. If the chest contains garbage, you immediately load your save and try again. You can do this infinitely. However, even with save scumming, you're fighting against a "Big Hit" versus "Great Hit" system. Every time you scan, the game rolls to see if you get a common item or a rare one. If you get a "Big Hit," you get the chest. If you get the "Great Hit," that's when the exclusive armor or weapons show up.
Which Figures Actually Matter?
Not all amiibo are created equal. If you're hunting for specific loot, you need to know which plastic toy corresponds to which digital reward. The 30th Anniversary series and the Breath of the Wild specific line are the heavy hitters.
Take the Toon Link (30th Anniversary) or the Toon Link (Smash Bros.). These are your ticket to the Wind Waker gear. You’re looking for the Sea-Breeze Boomerang and the Hero of Winds armor set. Then you have the 8-Bit Link. This one is a nostalgia trip, dropping pieces of the Hero set (the classic green tunic) and the Sword of the Six Sages.
Wolf Link is the outlier. He doesn’t drop a chest. Instead, he summons a literal wolf companion to hunt with you. The catch? His HP is tied to your progress in Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U. If you didn't play that game and save your data to the amiibo, your wolf is going to have a measly three hearts and die the moment a Blue Bokoblin looks at him funny. It’s a bit of a bummer for people who jumped straight into the Switch era.
Breaking Down the "Exclusive" Loot Pool
If you’re looking for the best Breath of the Wild Zelda amiibo drops, you’re likely chasing these specific items:
The Twilight Bow: Dropped by the Smash Bros. Zelda. It fires Light Arrows in a perfectly straight line. It doesn't use your arrow inventory. It’s arguably the best bow in the game for sniping dragons or dealing with long-range pests.
Epona: The legendary horse. She’s a guaranteed drop the first time you scan the Link (Smash Bros.) or Link (Twilight Princess) amiibo. Do not—I repeat, do not—scan this while you are on a cliffside or in an area where you can't reach a stable. If you lose Epona before registering her, getting her to spawn a second time is a nightmare of RNG.
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Fierce Deity Armor: This comes from the Majora's Mask Link. It has the same attack-up buff as the Barbarian Armor but looks significantly cooler. It also requires a lot of dragon parts to upgrade at a Great Fairy, so be prepared for a grind.
The Sheik Mask: From the Sheik (Smash Bros.) amiibo. It gives you a stealth boost. It’s mostly aesthetic if you already have the Stealth Set from Kakariko Village, but for many, the "ninja" look is worth the effort.
Most of these items have a "durability" factor. They aren't indestructible. If you break the Biggoron’s Sword, you have to scan the amiibo again to get another one. This is why the Twilight Bow is so coveted; it’s powerful, but it’s fragile. You’ll find yourself hoarding these items in Link's house in Hateno Village rather than actually using them because you're terrified they'll shatter.
The "Daily Limit" Hack
The game technically limits you to one scan per amiibo per day. That’s a 24-hour lockout.
But the Switch is a bit gullible. If you go into your System Settings and manually change the date forward by one day, the game thinks a full day has passed. You can scan, save scum, change the date, and scan again. You can effectively farm an entire armor set in twenty minutes if you're patient enough to navigate the Switch's clunky settings menus.
Does this ruin the balance? Maybe. But considering some of these amiibo are now out of print and cost $80 on eBay, you might as well get your money's worth. Many players have turned to "amiibo cards"—small NFC tags that contain the data of the figures without the bulky plastic. They’re much cheaper and work identically. Purists might hate them, but they make accessing these drops much more accessible for the average person.
Hidden Mechanics: The "Ghost" Drop Rate
There is a theory, backed by some pretty extensive testing in the Zelda speedrunning and glitch-hunting communities, that the game tracks your "luck" over time.
Essentially, if you haven't received a "Great Hit" (the rare item) in a while, the game slightly nudges the probability in your favor. It’s a "pity" system. However, this resets the moment you get any rare item from any amiibo. So, if you’re trying to get the Twilight Bow and you accidentally get a rare gem from a different amiibo first, you might have just reset your "pity" counter. If you're serious about farming one specific item, stop scanning your other figures until you get what you want. Focus.
Also, the location doesn't matter. I've seen rumors that scanning amiibo in "high-level" areas like Hyrule Castle increases the drop rate. It doesn't. The RNG is calculated based on your save file's internal flags, not your coordinates on the map. You can be sitting in your bathtub in Hateno or fighting a Lynel on Lanayru Mountain; the odds for the Breath of the Wild Zelda amiibo drops remain the same.
Actionable Strategy for Farming Rare Gear
If you want to maximize your efficiency, follow this workflow:
- Clear at least one Divine Beast. Don't even bother farming for the "Exclusive" weapons until Vah Ruta, Rudania, Medoh, or Naboris is down. It's a waste of time.
- Go to a "clean" area. Find a flat spot without enemies so the chest doesn't roll down a hill or get struck by lightning.
- Hard Save. Don't rely on the autosave. Make a manual save.
- Scan your amiibo. 5. Check the loot. If it’s not what you want, hit 'Load' and pick the save you just made.
- Repeat. Once you get the item, save again immediately. If you want to use the same amiibo for another drop, close the game, go to System Settings > System > Date and Time, turn off "Synchronize Clock via Internet," and move the day forward. Re-open the game.
Ultimately, these items are meant to be fun bonuses. They aren't required to beat Calamity Ganon, and honestly, a fully upgraded Ancient Set or the Master Sword is usually more powerful than the amiibo gear anyway. But there's something special about running through Hyrule dressed as the Hero of Time or wielding the Sword of the Six Sages. It's about the aesthetic. Just remember that the RNG is a fickle beast, and unless you're willing to mess with your system clock, you're in for a long wait.