How to get more hearts & stamina in Tears of the Kingdom (Totk)

heart container

Gotta get them upgrades

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most jam-packed games of the last few years. There’s the massive world of Hyrule to explore, hours upon hours of side-quests and shrines to complete and seemingly endless possibilities for how to do all of the above. It’s understandable, then, that some things get lost in the shuffle. One such area that can be easily overlooked is how to get more hearts and stamina rings for Link. It’s actually a fairly complex process that players can spend a lot of time doing. Here’s everything you need to know.

light of blessing
Screenshot by Destructoid.

Step 1: Gather Light of Blessing x4

Before you can even consider increasing your stamina cores or hearts, you need to collect some Light of Blessing orbs. These are rewarded at the end of every shrine in the game. If you’re looking to farm them, you need to be on a constant lookout for shrines that are littered across Hyrule.

To get an extra heart or an extra stamina portion, you will need to trade four Light of Blessing items. That means you need to complete four shrines for every single upgrade. To track how many you have, press pause with the “+” button and navigate to the key items tab where they are kept.

light of blessing statue
Screenshot by Destructoid.

Step 2: Visit a Goddess statue

When you have your four Light of Blessing orbs, you need to take them to one of the Goddess statues that Link can pray at. The statues pictured above can be found all over Hyrule. However, the quickest one to use from the start of the game is the one in Lookout Landing.

To use the statue in Lookout Landing, head to the Emergency Shelter located underground in the center of the village. Press “A” to pray at the statue, and if you have enough Light of Blessing items, the statue will offer to restore some of Link’s power.

At this point, you have a choice to make, do you want an extra heart to increase Link’s health, or do you want an extra portion of stamina to increase Link’s ability to glide, climb, run, and swim? The choice is yours but think carefully. Once you’ve decided, you will lose four orbs.

heart container upgrade
Screenshot by Destructoid.

Upon deciding, Link will be handed either a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel. If you have more orbs, the statue will offer to take those too, and provide further upgrades.

Now, go and hunt those shrines!

About The Author
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Matt Cook
Matt Cook is an experienced video game writer. When he isn't writing about games, he can be found playing everything from the NES to the PS5 and tinkering with retro consoles. He can be found on Twitter @360cookie.
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