The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild iterated on many of the mechanics that hardcore fans of the series may recognize, but no one had seen them all in one place before. Elemental damage is one of these mechanics, and it creeps up to bite you early on in the story. This guide explains how to avoid taking Cold Damage using recipes and clothing that grant you resistance.
How to avoid Cold Damage in Breath of the Wild
There are three ways to avoid taking Cold Damage in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can wear warm clothes and accessories or eat a meal that provides protection from Cold Damage for a limited time. Not all of these are available at the same time. For example, in the game’s first area, The Great Plateau, you need to cook Spicy Peppers to produce Spicy Sauteed Peppers. The meal provides time-limited protection from Cold Damage, not the raw ingredients. Later in the game, you can equip Link with clothes that will protect him from Cold Damage. We’ve listed all the recipes and clothes with Cold Damage protection below, so you can see what’s available to you and make the most of it.
Related: The top 10 best Legend of Zelda dungeons, ranked
Best Cold Resistant recipes
In this section, we’ve outlined the best recipes for meals that give Link resistance against Cold Damage. Read through them to see which ones are easiest for you to cook up when you need them.
- Spicy Meaty Rice Balls: To make this, you need 1 Raw Meat, 1 Hylian Rice, 1 Spicy Pepper, 1 Goat Butter, and 1 Fresh Milk. The resulting food provides you with 6 Heart containers worth of healing and 6 minutes and 40 seconds of Cold Resistance.
- Spicy Fruit and Mushroom Mix: You’ll need 3 Hylian Shrooms and 2 Spicy Peppers to make this dish. It’ll provide you with a whopping 6 minutes and 30 seconds of Cold Resistance and heal 5 Heart Containers.
- Spicy Pepper Seafood: This dish is made using 1 Spicy Pepper and 1 Hyrule Bass. It’ll heal you for 3 Heart Containers and gives Link 3 minutes of Cold Resistance.
- Spicy Elixir: The duration of the Cold Resistance of this recipe depends on the items used to create it, but all versions are superior to anything else in this list. To make it, cook up 1 Summerwing Butterfly, 1 Warm Darner, or 1 Sizzlefin Trout with 1 Monster or Guardian Part. Adding in an item like a Spicy Pepper will add a healing effect to the Elixir too.
Best Cold Resistant clothes
Below, we’ve listed the best clothes you can buy for Link to protect him from taking Cold Damage. Scroll through the list to see which items take your fancy and are accessible to you where you are in your current playthrough.
- Warm Doublet: You can get the Warm Doublet either from Hateno Village in the shop there or from the Old Man very early in the game. To get it from the Old Man, you need to visit his shack and cook up the recipe he’s forgotten. You’ll come across this location as you complete the game’s tutorial, and the recipe you must complete is made up of 1 Raw Meat, 1 Hyrule Bass, and 1 Spicy Pepper. Cooking is the best way to get the Warm Doublet because it’s free.
- Snowquill Set: The Snowquill Set is made up of the Snowquill Tunic, Trousers, and Headress. You can buy all of them from a shop in Rito Village for the steep price of 2,150 Rupees. It’s expensive, but it’s worth it to get you up Mount Lanayru.
