Welcome friends, to the top 10 best builds in the world of Tears of the Kingdom! From flying machines, to battle mechs reminiscent of Gundam, people have found hundreds of amazing ways to use Link’s new Ultrahand ability in TOTK. We’re seeing levels of creativity usually reserved for Minecraft, and I for one am loving it. This list will be based on several factors, but the main thing I’m looking at is usability. Are we ready?
Then let’s get started…
10. "Archer Artillery"
ARCHER ARTILLERY Build in Tears Of The Kingdom - How To Make SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY in TOTK
This thing is AWESOME. I was a bit skeptical of its ability to function at first, based on the sheer number of parts involved. But after building one myself, I can confirm it does actually work!
The “Archer Artillery” Build is a self-propelled fully functional, fully AIMABLE artillery piece. It uses minimal battery power to move, position, and aim. And for a Zonaite Cannon it doesn't use an unreasonable amount of battery to fire.
I only have two issues with this build: it’s a bit difficult to, well, build. And once you’ve done so, it’s a little difficult to aim accurately. That being said, once you get it dialed in, it’s exactly what it’s advertised to be: a fully functional artillery cannon in TOTK!
9. "Naboo N1 Starfighter"
Star Wars Naboo N1 starfighter TotK build! - YouTube
As both a massive Star Wars AND Zelda fan, I loved coming across this and finding it wasn’t just clickbait. While it obviously uses a great deal of energy when the weapons are firing, it *does work. And better than I’d expected looking at it.
What this build is, simply put, is a combination flying/ monster destruction machine. It has side-mounted rockets for quick takeoff, four fans to propel it once airborne, and front mounted Cannons and Beam Emitters for weapons. The latter are mounted on Construct Heads to auto-aim, and as you can see, they work very well.
When just in flight it appears to use a surprisingly low amount of energy for its size! This makes it an excellent choice for transportation (weapons excluded) for those with lower level batteries. But the moment those things start firing, this craft appears to use up an entire energy bar at a time, and VERY quickly (you can see at one point in the video the user runs their own battery out in fact). With a larger battery or stock of Zonai Charges however, this thing can be a devastating monster killing machine.
8. "OP Electric Robot"
https://youtube.com/shorts/9CCfEhMM6Pg?si=UkID0puXM-MJX7CK
The name says it all, this machine absolutely SLAYS anything in its path. This mech requires no driver, but a substantial amount of battery power to operate. If you have the battery life though, you can simply Autobuild and unleash this thing.
The Electric Robot in this video is essentially a self-propelled, self aiming Beam Emitter death machine. It also includes a Shock Emitter and is somehow able to wield a traditional weapon as well!!
I wouldn’t recommend trying this build yourself without first *substantially upgrading your battery. By that I mean you should have at LEAST four full energy cells unlocked. Thankfully, if you know your way around the Depths, this isn’t a terribly hard task to accomplish. With that in mind, the Electric Robot (drone?) is absolutely terrifying in terms of its damage output.
7. "Insane Tank"
https://youtube.com/shorts/E1dBKYaTwb4?si=yJ6G5uOmGrfi27cB
Two words: insane, tank. A fitting enough name for number eight on our list. While I don’t think that’s actually what the creator named it, that’s what I’m calling it (for the sake of time if nothing else).
This insane tank is a fully driveable, fully armored, fully *armed tank, that you can use to devastate Hyrule and the Depths (if you have the parts available to you). It has both a high power cannon and double Beam Emitter for its primary weapons, and uses six Small Wheels to get around.
Jokes aside, this is a pretty great build if you’ve done enough exploring to acquire the parts. Pretty economical as far as battery consumption when moving (quite quickly) around. When the weapons are firing, not so much. Additional battery power for more consumptive machines *can be gained by using your Zonai Charges.
6. Hover Bike
https://youtube.com/shorts/GcI0NOL48q8?si=oQLWlHcnX3ZlQtJm
First thing first, I love this build. It has been improved upon (in my opinion) but this flycycle concept got me through a LOT of the depths before I found its upright counterpart (look for it later in the list).
This flying bike design seems to be one many of us that started TOTK on day one either found by trial and error or via YouTube. It requires only two Fans and a Steering Stick to build, and consumes very little energy for a flying machine. It also lasts a fairly long time (if you can manage to land it close enough not to despawn and softly enough not to break it).
As I said, I love this build. However, there is one drawback: it’s a bit difficult to build *correctly. If you don’t get the angles just right, it either won’t spawn, won’t fly, or what flight it does achieve will be at an odd angle trying not to tip it over (if it does tip, it dies and falls like a rock). Apart from that however, it’s a fantastic low budget, low energy flying machine.
5. "TOTK's fastest and most efficient land vehicle"
https://youtube.com/shorts/6GJtxWfqtQ4?si=67M6VyQnCp6WUaja
The creator’s claim is pretty hard to dispute. This thing is what I consider to be the land based version of No. 6. It’s creative, low-cost, low energy consumption, and it MOVES.
Cart, Steering Stick, Small Wheel, Brightbloom Seed. While I’m by no means comfortable calling it the fastest land vehicle in TOTK (I’ve built things involving rockets that while dangerous, were also much faster) it may well be the most efficient. It’s certainly the most efficient land vehicle I’ve seen that wasn’t *alive.
While it may or m-almost certainly isn’t, the *fastest land vehicle in TOTK, it IS fast. And equally importantly to me, low budget. AAAAND, if you haven’t, check out the battery consumption on this little guy… I’ll take this thing over a Stalhorse any time.
4. "Boko Slayer" :)
https://youtube.com/shorts/wOXPUKKv80Q?si=ABpYb3ChUzG5CmkY
This is hands down one of the best TOTK-related things I’ve seen on YouTube. Period. I have the Boko Slayer saved in my Autobuild favorites now. Since shortly after I first found this clip in fact.
The Boko Slayer consists of a Hover Stone, a Sled, two Construct Heads, two Cannons, EIGHT Beam Emitters, and a single Rocket (for the launch). It’s kind of a lot of parts, but if you have them to spare (and this is another one you’ll need a LOT of battery life for) it’s WELL worth the investment.
I cannot stress enough just how important it is for you to have expanded your battery for this build. If you don’t have at least half of your Energy Cell unlocked, I wouldn’t recommend wasting your Zonai devices. It will shut down and fall on you mere seconds after it gets airborne and begins firing. Trust me on this, I’ve collected this data through trial and error. And error.
3. "Laser Tank"
How I found the perfect build to kill EVERYTHING in Zelda!
bt1 tries a number of different builds in this video, but the one I’m focusing on is his “final product”, the beam emitting Laser Tank. It makes pretty quick work of both a Gleeok and a Lynel. As far as offensive vehicles in TOTK, you really can’t ask for more than that.
bt1’s “Laser Tank” is comprised of three Sleds, two Large Wheels, two Small Wheels, and a Steering Stick for the vehicle part. Then for a weapon, he fused TEN Beam Emitters together, fused them to a single Construct Head, and fused that to the roof. The results speak for themselves.
I really love the combination of large and small Zonai Wheels for speed/ maneuverability. This is the only time I’ve seen that combo in such a brilliantly minimalistic way. For a Laser Tank that will MELT A GLEEOK by itself, it doesn’t require a ton of parts. As with most of this list however, you’ll need quite a lot of battery power on tap when that laser begins to fire.
2. "Battlecopter"
https://youtube.com/shorts/Ou6e2LH9EnY?si=sKGHa6HNzi8koC4K
I’m a big fan of flying machines, especially in the world of Hyrule. This is one of the best I’ve seen in terms of ease to build and offensive capabilities. This one too needs a bit of power to fire, but compared to some of the others on this list is much more plausible for a beginner to build (especially if you have Zonai Batteries).
Elegantly simple for a flying murder machine, this build only requires five Zonai Fans, three Beam Emitters, a Cannon, a Construct Head, a Control Stick, and a Battery. It uses quite a bit of power when firing, but when just flying hardly seems to use any at all.
Again I have to recommend either an upgraded Energy Cell, a stash of Zonai Charges, or both, before testing out this build. You can probably pull it off without either, but the second it finds a target, you’re going to drop like a rock. Those Beam Emitters tend to use an entire battery segment at a time!
1. "Goblin Glider"
https://youtube.com/shorts/n8NMVDx4EbM?si=xH6LKfmH3To2o8RI
If the minimalistic parts list for this build seem familiar, it’s because they are the same parts used to build No. 6. Remember me mentioning an improved version of the flying bike? Well here it is! I just this moment found out it's called a "Goblin Glider", and I am in LOVE with them!
The creator doesn’t seem to have named this build (nor are they likely the first to have built it) so for our purposes I’m just going to call it the Fan Machine. Very simple to build, easier to build and fly than the Flycycle, and just as low energy, this build really is (in my book) the best build in TOTK.
In terms of buildability, versatility, user friendliness, ease to control, and energy consumption (or lack thereof) you can’t beat the Fan Machine for my money. It’ll take off in basically no space, it works in the sky, the Depths, it’ll even work underwater (kind of). It uses almost no battery for a flying machine, and if you don’t have the parts it only costs 9 Zonaite to autobuild.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this one gang. I hope you’ve enjoyed it (or at least found it useful) and as always, thanks for playing along! :)
