How To Raise Defense In Tears Of The Kingdom (TOTK)

Raising Link's defense in Zelda ToTK will help you survive against strong enemies. Here are the best ways to do it.

In Zelda Tears of The Kingdom (ToTK), since Link will battle fierce enemies like the Phantom Ganon, it is crucial to learn how to raise his defense. Without that, you are bound to lose fights against bosses and strong enemies. However, the game has many mechanics to help Link get stat buffs. From getting temporary buffs from meals/elixirs to getting permanent ones from Armor Sets, we will explain how to increase Link’s defense in ToTK.

How to Increase Link’s Defense in Zelda TOTK

In Zelda Tears of The Kingdom, the best way to raise Link’s defense is to Consume Meals/Elixirs and use the right Armor Set.

Increase Defense With Recipes/Elixirs

Tough Fried Wild Greens recipe in Zelda ToTK
Image Source: RageGamingVideos on YouTube

It’s important to get a grasp on the cooking mechanic in Zelda ToTK early on. Through meals and elixirs, you can give Link temporary stat buffs. To raise defense, you must cook recipes with the word “Tough” as the prefix. Moreover, you can add certain ingredients to the recipes to increase Link’s defense as well. That being said, here are all the recipes and ingredients to get the defense up buff.

Recipes

  • Tough Vegetable Curry
    • Fortified Pumpkin
    • Hylian Rice
    • Goron Spice
  • Tough Meat Skewer
    • 5x Ironshroom
  • Tough Elixir
    • Rugged Rhino Beetle
    • Any Monster Part
  • Tough Fried Wild Greens
    • Armoranth or Fortified Pumpkin

Ingredients

  • Armored Porgy
  • Armored Carp
  • Fortified Pumpkin
  • Ironshell Crab
  • Ironshroom
  • Armoranth
  • Rugged Rhino Beetle

Raise Defense with Armor Sets in Zelda ToTK

Barbarian Armor Set to raise defense in ToTK
Image Source: 100% Guides on YouTube

Zelda ToTk has a plethora of Armor Sets, each with special buffs. While some armors will increase your stats, others will help you explore Hyrule with ease. To raise Link’s defense, these are the best Armor Sets you can use:

These armors have the best defensive stats and will help you minimize the damage to Link. Moreover, you can also enhance these armors by unlocking all the great fairy fountains.

That’s all from us on how to raise the defense in Zelda Tears of The Kingdom (ToTK). If you are more of a stealthy player, then we recommend you check out how to get Stealth Armor in our ToTK guides section.