The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: How to Get the Game's Best Shield Early
Players looking for an early advantage in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can get one of the game's best shields pretty early on in the game. The new Zelda game contains numerous items from previous Zelda games, along with numerous outfits either inspired by past games or pulled directly from one of Link's past outfits. Some of these throwback items are mostly aesthetic, but a few are among the best items in the game.
One such weapon is the Hylian Shield, an iconic shield that dates back to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The shield has appeared in a half-dozen Zelda games and is generally considered to be Link's iconic shield. It's also the top shield in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, although it suffers from the same weapon degradation issue as just about every other item in the game.
Surprisingly, the Hylian Shield is available pretty early into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, although players will have to take a few risks to get it. The Hylian Shield is located in the docks of Hyrule Castle, which can be accessed as soon as players clear the tutorial area. Players will likely want to get their paraglider first, but when they complete Purah's initial Skyview Tower mission, they can fly underneath Hyrule Castle into the docks area located on the north side of the castle. Once inside the docks, players will have to light a brazier surrounded by torches to cause a secret platform to rise up from the ground with a chest on it. Inside the chest is the Hylian Shield, which provides players with an early edge.
Like every other item in Tears of the Kingdom, the Hylian Shield does break, although it's likely that a replacement shield will eventually by accessible via some means or through Grante, the secret merchant from Breath of the Wild that's almost certainly lurking somewhere in Hyrule. You'll need to find him first, though, and we can't help you with that.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now on the Nintendo Switch.