Should You Get the Breath of the Wild DLC? Yes, It‘s Worth Every Rupee
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is easily one of the greatest games ever made. But should you spend extra money to get the downloadable content? As someone who has poured over 200 hours into the game, I can firmly say YES – the DLC is an absolute must-buy. Here‘s a detailed look at everything included and why it enhances the experience for any fan.
DLC Pack 1: The Master Trials – Hardcore Fans Only
The first expansion pack, The Master Trials, adds a slew of new challenges geared towards more hardcore players. Here are all the goodies packed in this DLC:
-
Trial of the Sword – This intense survival mode pits you against 45 rooms of enemies and strips Link of all his equipment. Completing it powers up the Master Sword to 60 attack permanently. It took me 5 hours just to beat the beginner trials!
-
Hero‘s Path Mode – View a map of your movement throughout the world over the last 200 hours of gameplay. Helpful to see areas you may have missed.
-
Master Mode – A new harder difficulty where enemies detect you quicker and regenerate health unless killed in one hit. Floating platforms with powerful enemies appear. I died five times just leaving the Great Plateau!
-
Travel Medallion – Lets you fast travel to anywhere by dropping a custom marker. Incredibly useful.
-
Eight new armor sets – Phantom Armor, Korok Mask, Majora‘s Mask and Tingle‘s outfit return. Cool but purely cosmetic.
For $9.99 the Master Trials packs a ton of challenging content to test expert players. I‘d only recommend it if you‘ve already sunk over 50+ hours into the main game though.
DLC Pack 2: The Champions‘ Ballad – An Epic New Story Chapter
The Champions‘ Ballad delivers a completely new main quest adding around 10 hours of fresh story content and dungeons. This alone makes the $9.99 price tag well worth it. Here‘s what you get:
-
New story chapter – Over 4 new main quests continuing the story with Princess Zelda and the four champions. Gives so much more depth to these characters and the world.
-
16 new shrines – Creative new puzzles and battle shrines to find, each themed after a champion. I especially loved the Mirro Shaz shrine reflecting lasers.
-
New Divine Beast dungeon – Takes about 2-3 hours to complete with tough enemies and creative puzzles. The ancient technology theme was gorgeous.
-
Master Cycle Zero mount – A freaking motorcycle! Lets you travel fast across Hyrule in style. A must-have.
-
Ancient Bridle/Saddle – Increases mount speed and lets you call your mount anywhere.
-
Two new armor sets – Phantom Ganon and Island Lobster shirts.
For any fan who has completed the main story, the Champions Ballad is an absolute must-buy. The additional story content had me tearing up at times and the dungeon provides a lengthy challenging puzzle experience. Well worth the price.
How Much Gameplay Do You Get in Total?
Between both DLC packs, most players will get an additional 15-20 hours of brand new story content, shrines, and dungeons. Here‘s a breakdown of some key statistics on the expanded game:
- 16+ hours – Completing the new story chapters and Divine Beast dungeon
- 2-10 hours – Trial of the Sword depending on your skill
- 8 armor sets – Useful bonuses but purely cosmetic
- 16 shrines – Mix of combat, puzzles and platforming
- 900+ Korok seeds – In the main game + DLC
For less than the price of a movie ticket, you‘re getting almost a whole new game‘s worth of content. Considering Breath of the Wild‘s world already provides over 100 hours of gameplay, the DLC is very decent value for money compared to expansions for other major titles:
| Game | DLC Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Zelda: Breath of the Wild | ~15 | $20 |
| The Witcher 3 | ~25 | $25 |
| Horizon: Zero Dawn | ~10 | $20 |
When Should You Get the DLC?
The DLC content integrates seamlessly into the main story – you don‘t need to start over. But some parts are best saved for after completing the four Divine Beasts:
-
Early-to-Mid Game – Master Trials provides early challenges. But starting in Master Mode is extremely difficult.
-
After Divine Beasts – Champions‘ Ballad continues main story so best to wait.
I recommend playing through the Great Plateau and getting the paraglider in regular mode first. Then assess if you want the hardcore Master Trials challenge. Leave Champions Ballad as a post-game treat.
Final Verdict – An Absolute Must-Buy For Any Zelda Fan
As someone who counts Breath of the Wild amongst my favorite games of all time, I can‘t recommend the DLC highly enough. The additional content rivals full-length games in terms of quality and quantity.
For hardcore players, Master Trials offers the ultimate combat and survival gauntlet. Casual players will likely just want Champions‘ Ballad for its story expansion. But to experience this masterpiece of a game fully, I‘d consider the DLC a mandatory purchase.
You‘ll laugh, cry, get challenged, and create memories exploring the expanded world. As a final tip: leave exploring Hyrule Castle until after you complete Champions‘ Ballad – you won‘t regret it!