The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom features Amiibo support as you will be able to scan compatible figurines in order to unlock in-game bonuses.

If you can’t seem to scan your Amiibos through your Joy-Con or Nintendo Switch Pro Controller while playing this open-world action-adventure game, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. To start off, you should make sure that you are using a compatible Amiibo figurine. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom should support the following figures:

• 8-Bit Link (The Legend of Zelda) – Unlocks Pixel Fabric, Cap of the Hero, Tunic of the Hero and Trousers of the Hero
• Bokoblin (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Bokoblin Fabric
• Daruk (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Goron-Champion Fabric and Vah Rudaria Divine Helm
• Ganondorf (Super Smash Bros.) – Unlocks Demon King Fabric
• Guardian (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Ancient-Sheikah Fabric
• Link (Super Smash Bros.) – Unlocks Mirror of Twilight Fabric, Cap of Twilight, Tunic of Twilight, Trousers of Twilight and Epona
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Tunic of Memories Fabric
• Link Archer (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Tunic of Memories Fabric
• Link Rider (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Hylian-Hood Fabric
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening) – Unlocks Egg Fabric, Cap of Awakening, Tunic of Awakening and Trousers of Awakening
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask) – Unlocks Majora’s Mask Fabric, Fierce Deity’s Mask, Fierce Deity’s Armor and Fierce Deity’s Boots
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) – Unlocks Lon Lon Ranch Fabric, Cap of Time, Tunic of Time and Trousers of Time
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) – Unlocks Sword-Spirit Fabric, White Sword of the Sky, Cap of the Sky, Tunic of the Sky and Trousers of the Sky
• Link (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) – Unlocks Champion’s Tunic Fabric
• Mipha (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Zora-Champion Fabric and Vah Ruta Divine Helm
• Revali (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Rito-Champion Fabric and Vah Medoh Divine Helm
• Sheik (Super Smash Bros.) – Unlocks Sheik Fabric, Shield of the Mind’s Eye and Sheik Mask
• Toon Link (Super Smash Bros.) – Unlocks King of Red Lions Fabric and Sea-Breeze Boomerang
• Toon Link (The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) – Unlocks King of Red Lions Fabric, Sea-Breeze Boomerang, Tunic of Winds and Trousers of Winds
• Urbosa (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Gerudo-Champion Fabric and Vah Noboris Divine Helm
• Wolf Link (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) – Unlocks Mirror of Twilight Fabric
• Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) – Unlocks Hyrule-Princess Fabric
• Zelda (Super Smash Bros.) – Unlocks Princess of Twilight Fabric and Dusk Bow
• Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker) – Unlocks Bygone-Royal Fabric and Sea-Breeze Shield
• Zelda and Loftwing (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) – Unlocks Zelda’s Sailcloth Fabric

2. If you have a compatible Amiibo, then you should make sure you have progressed long enough into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s story until you unlock the Amiibo Rune. This can take around 1 hour if you are starting from a new save file.

3. Furthermore, you also need to check to see if Amiibo support is enabled in the game by taking the following steps:

• Open the Pause Menu by pressing the + button while playing Tears of the Kingdom.
• Press the R button to change tabs until you get to System.
• Select Options from the Settings menu.
• Make sure that the Amiibo setting is set to Enable Amiibo.

4. After unlocking the Amiibo Rune and enabling Amiibo support, you need to change to the Amiibo Rune by pressing and holding the L button. Afterwards, select Amiibo and then let go of the L button.

You should now be able to scan in a compatible figurine.

5. Both the Joy-Con and Nintendo Switch Pro Controller features Amiibo-scanning NFC sensors.

If you are playing the game using the Joy-Con, then you need to place the base of the Amiibo on the right analog stick. If you are using the Switch Pro Controller, then you need to place the base of the figure on the Nintendo Switch logo.

So, if one of the control methods does not appear to be scanning correctly, then you can try using the other method.

6. It is important to note that you can only scan the same figurine once a day. So, if you have already scanned the figure already, then you need to wait until the next day until you can try again.

7. If you still can’t get your Amiibo to scan into the game, then you can try restarting your Nintendo Switch.

Afterwards, power on your console again and then launch The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Load back into your save file and then test to see if you are able to unlock your figurine bonuses.

8. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you have the latest patch for the game, as well as the latest firmware for your Nintendo Switch, downloaded and installed.

9. If you have another Nintendo Switch game that is compatible with the same Amiibo. If the other title can’t recognize the same figure, then the NFC sensor on the base may be defective.

You can use the gyros of your Joy-Cons or Nintendo Switch Pro Controller in order to fine tune your aim when shooting arrows with your bow or using the new Ultrahand ability when playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. If you find that the motion control is throwing off your accuracy, then you might want to disable this feature.

You can check this tutorial at Seeking Tech to see how you can turn off gyro controls in this open-world Nintendo Switch game.

1. For the first step, you need to open the Pause menu in Tears of the Kingdom. You can do so by pressing the + button on the right Joy-Con or on the right side of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

2. From the Pause menu, switch over to the System tab by pressing the R button several times until you get to the gear icon.

3. Once you get to the System tab in the Pause menu, you need to select Options.

4. After arriving at the Options section, move the cursor down to the “Aim with motion controls” setting, which should have the following description:

• “Enable or disable motion controls while aiming.”

If this setting is set to Enabled, then you need to select it. By doing so, the gyro controls should now be disabled.

5. After disabling motion controls, exit the Pause menu and then return to your game.

When you try to use your bow or Ultrahand in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you should notice that the gyros are no longer active. As a result, aiming reticle should be more stable even if you move your Joy-Cons or Nintendo Switch Pro Controller around.

With that said, gyro controls do have its advantages as this feature will let you make minute adjustments when aiming, which would otherwise be more difficult when you are only using the right analog stick. Therefore, you may want to enable motion controls and then try to familiarize yourself with this feature to see if you are able to improve your aim by using the right analog in combination with gyros.

If you want to re-enable the motion controls in Tears of the Kingdom, then you need to head back to the Pause menu and then switch over to the System tab. From there, select Options and then make sure that the “Aim with motion controls” setting is set to Enabled.