Sheikah Slate

From Zelda Dungeon Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Want an adless experience? Log in or Create an account.
TODO: Age of Calamity
Sheikah Slate

The Sheikah Slate is a Key Item found in Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity.

Breath of the Wild

The Sheikah Slate is one of the first items Link comes across after waking in the Shrine of Resurrection and is one of his most powerful tools.

With the Sheikah Slate, Link is able to activate Sheikah technology, most notably the Sheikah Towers and the Shrines of Trials, enabling them as travel points across Hyrule. It also has many built-in tools, such as control of Runes, a map of Hyrule, the Sheikah Sensor, the Hyrule Compendium, and the scope.

Aside from its usefulness, Link's possession of the Sheikah Slate is also seen as a sign by many of the long-lived residents of Hyrule that Link is, if not the Champion himself, then a descendant of the Champion, and, as such, should be helped. His use of Sheikah technology often convinces others to assist Link with his quest to defeat Calamity Ganon.

Functions

Runes

Main article: Rune

A key function of the Sheikah Slate is the ability to use runes. In total there are five runes that Link must enable on the Slate. (The sixth rune, the amiibo Rune, is turned on by the player.) The first four are enabled by completing the four shrines on the Great Plateau with the last being enabled at the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab by Purah.

The runes include:

  • Remote Bomb: A bomb that can be detonated remotely.
    • Remote Bomb+: Upgrade to the rune with a shorter cooldown time.
  • Magnesis: Manipulate metallic objects using magnetism.
  • Stasis: Stop the flow of time for an object.
    • Stasis+: Upgrade to the rune with a shorter cooldown time, and with the capacity to freeze living beings.
  • Cryonis: Create a pillar of ice from a water surface.
  • Camera: Instantly render a visible image into a picture.
  • amiibo: Use an amiibo to summon something useful.
  • Master Cycle Zero: A DLC exclusive and the reward of The Champions' Ballad; it summons a rideable motorcycle-like Divine Beast that is fueled by Materials.

Sheikah Sensor

Main article: Sheikah Sensor

Alerts by bleeping when Link is close to, and moving closer to, a Shrine. The Sheikah Sensor+ upgrade, obtained from the Slated for Upgrades quest, extends this to any one item at a time from the Hyrule Compendium.

Map

The map at its widest scale.
The map malfunctioning while crossing a sandstorm in the Gerudo Desert.

The Sheikah Slate also contains a map of Hyrule. Initially, the map is blank of everything except the outlines of tower regions. Link must visit the Sheikah Towers scattered around Hyrule, activating them and receiving that section of the map. Once he has distilled the map into his Slate, Link can view the features of that area.

Regions, subregions, and most landmarks are added onto the map automatically. However, some landmarks must be visited before they are added to the map. Additionally, Sheikah Towers and shrines must be activated before they will appear on the map. Once they have been activated, Link may then use the Sheikah Slate to travel to that tower or shrine. Settlements, villages, and Stables must also be visited before their locations will be added to the map. Once Link has registered a Horse at a stable, he may also use the map to track the location of any horse he is traveling with. Additionally, the locations of any discovered Koroks are marked on the map for reference.

Although the map initially shows the regional limits between the Sheikah Tower regions when it's blank, these limits disappear once the regions are populated into the map's data. Link also has the ability to set stamps and pins on the map. Stamps are markers visible only when looking at the map, and don't generate a beacon to follow like pins do. There are nine different designs to choose from, and they can be used to indicate the location of enemies, weapons, Cooking Pots, potential Korok locations, or anything else of note to be remembered. Up to 100 stamps may be placed on the map. Pins function similarly to stamps, but are also visible to Link when he views the landscape through the slate's scope. Pins are ideal for marking travel destinations as they help provide directional guidance for Link without use of the map. Unlike stamps, only five pins are available to use. Pins disappear if removed, also being automatically removed when Link walks over them, as the Sheikah Slate assumes that Link has arrived to said destination.

With the Expansion Pass, Hero's Path Mode was added to the map. Turning on this mode shows the path of Link's past travels.

The map's function can be disrupted while crossing sandstorms in the Gerudo Desert, showing static noise when prompted (see picture). Its function will be reestablished once Link steps out of the sandstorm.

Once Link has defeated Dark Beast Ganon, the map will henceforth display a percentage in the bottom left hand corner. This represents map progress, tracking named locations visited, including ancient Sheikah structures, Korok Seeds collected and Divine Beasts liberated.

Hyrule Compendium

Main article: Hyrule Compendium
Main article: Gallery:Hyrule Compendium

The Hyrule Compendium is a catalog of information about the creatures, monsters, materials, equipment, and treasures found throughout Hyrule. By using the Camera Rune to take pictures of these items, Link adds information about that item to the compendium, describing the item, its most common locations, and any recoverable materials or properties of the item.

In addition to recording information about the photographed item, the compendium also allows Link to target that item with the Sheikah Sensor once upgraded to the Sheikah Sensor + When an item is targeted with the Sheikah Sensor +, the slate will start beeping when Link nears that item, the beeping growing more frequent the closer he is to it.

The Compendium can be completed either by using the Camera Rune or by talking to Symin at the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, who sells pictures with prices depending on the subject matter.

Scope

Main article: Scope

The scope on the Sheikah Slate allows Link to view long distances. If Link has any pins on the map and they are not obscured by the landscape, Link will be able to see their glow through the scope, providing direction to the pinned location. If Link sees something through the scope worth investigating, he may set a pin with the scope instead of having to return to the map.

Cut Functions

This section describes cut content, game elements which were removed before the game was released.
Main article: Sheikah Slate Health Sensor

The Sheikah Slate Health Sensor was a function of the Sheikah Slate that did not make it to the final form of the game. It served to display the health bar of enemies in a similar manner as the Champion's Tunic.

First shown in E3 2016, the Health Sensor required the use of the Scope function to point at enemies while a timer eventually displayed their health bar.

Age of Calamity

See also: Ancient Memory Part, Ancient Power Boost, and Ancient Overclock Unit

The Sheikah Slate is Zelda's first weapon in Age of Calamity.

Non-Canon Appearances

This section describes a subject that is or may be outside the core Zelda canon.

Hyrule Warriors

In Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, both Link and Zelda have access to an "Era of the Wilds" Costume based on their Breath of the Wild incarnations, which are both unlocked after completing the first Scenario, The Armies of Ruin. Both of these Costumes have the Sheikah Slate on their hip, with Link hanging it from his left and Zelda from her right. It is purely cosmetic, and cannot be utilised in or out of battle.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

The default Link is the Hero of the Wilds, and he has the Sheikah Slate on his hip, solely for aesthetic purposes. This is one of multiple references to Sheikah technology about him; he is also equipped with a Guardian Sword++, his symbol is the Sheikah eye, and he was released with the Master Cycle Zero, Ancient Tires and Paraglider. However, Link's alternate costume, being based on the protagonist of Skyward Sword, does not have the Sheikah Slate.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Link was updated from the previous titles to be inspired by the Hero of the Wilds. Unlike Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, each Link costume has the Sheikah Slate, not just the default one. This is because he actually uses it: instead of regular Bombs, Link will now have the Remote Bomb Rune for his down special.

Gallery