Zelda Breath Of The Wild Speedrun Tricks That Shave Minutes Off Your Time

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is more than an open-world adventure—it’s a playground for precision, physics exploitation, and creative route optimization. For speedrunners, every second counts. What separates a 30-minute run from a 20-minute world record isn’t just skill, but mastery of advanced techniques that bypass intended game logic. These aren’t glitches to be patched; they’re deeply embedded mechanics used intentionally by top runners to break the rules and rewrite completion times.

This guide dives into the most effective speedrun tricks that consistently save minutes across categories like Any% and Glitchless. From movement exploits to frame-perfect inputs, these methods are grounded in real runs, verified by tool-assisted analysis, and used by leaders on leaderboards. Whether you're aiming for a personal best or simply fascinated by how games can be manipulated, understanding these tricks reveals the hidden architecture beneath Hyrule’s surface.

Movement Tech: How to Move Faster Than Intended

At the core of any fast Breath of the Wild run is movement efficiency. Unlike traditional platformers, BotW allows players to manipulate momentum, camera angles, and physics interactions to achieve speeds far beyond normal traversal.

Stable Rolling (Infinite Roll)

Rolling normally covers ground faster than sprinting, but there's a way to roll infinitely without stamina depletion. By rolling near ledges or obstacles where Link briefly enters \"stuck\" animation states, the game resets his stamina mid-roll. This lets runners chain rolls indefinitely on flat terrain or downhill slopes.

Tip: Use stable rolling on long stretches between shrines or during early-game overworld sprints—especially before obtaining horses or paragliding.

Camera Boosting

By manipulating the camera angle during jumps or rolls, players can influence directional momentum. A common method involves rotating the camera behind Link while jumping forward, creating extra forward thrust due to how the game interprets input relative to camera orientation. This is especially useful when trying to clear wide gaps without a paraglider.

Dash Storage (Momentum Carryover)

Dash storage allows runners to preserve high velocity across transitions such as cutscenes, map warps, or loading zones. Before entering a shrine or triggering a teleport, a runner builds up sprint speed. Upon exiting, that momentum carries over instantly, allowing Link to burst out at full dash—critical for minimizing downtime after fast-travel sequences.

“Dash storage isn’t cheating—it’s using the game’s own systems against its pacing design.” — Kaze Emanuar, Speedrunning Analyst & Commentary Host

Damage Boosts: Taking Hits to Gain Speed

In most games, taking damage slows progress. In speedruns, it often accelerates it. BotW’s knockback system provides powerful bursts of movement that, when timed correctly, launch Link dozens of meters in seconds.

Guard-Slide Launches

When guarding against an attack, Link slides backward. If performed off a ledge or slope, this slide converts into aerial momentum. Runners use weak enemies like Bokoblins to trigger precise guard hits that send them flying toward distant objectives. Mastering this requires frame-tight timing and positioning, but saves significant travel time.

Bomb Jumps and Explosion Launches

Bombs provide vertical lift and horizontal propulsion. A well-placed bomb under Link launches him skyward, often reaching areas without towers or paragliding access. Even better: detonating a bomb near a wall creates angled knockback, letting runners ricochet across terrain. Some runs use bomb explosions to skip entire dungeon sections by launching directly to the boss arena.

Technique	Speed Gain	Common Use Case
Guard Slide	~5–8 seconds saved per use	Early forest exit, Divine Beast skips
Bomb Jump	Up to 15 seconds	Skipping Vah Rudania climb
Arrow Boost	Variable (high risk)	Mid-air redirection, height gain
Horse Launch	~10 seconds	Fast approach to castles or plateaus

Arrow Boosting

Shooting an arrow while falling generates slight upward recoil. While minimal alone, chaining rapid-fire arrows with perfect timing creates sustained lift. Combined with paraglider stalls, this technique extends airtime dramatically. It’s risky and inconsistent, but elite runners use it to reach otherwise inaccessible warp points or avoid landing delays.

Sequence Breaks and Out-of-Bounds Skips

Sequence breaking means completing objectives out of intended order—or skipping them entirely. Breath of the Wild’s flexible progression enables numerous skips that collapse hours of gameplay into minutes.

Skip the Great Plateau Entirely (Any% Strat)

The most famous time-saver: bypassing the entire tutorial zone. Through precise input manipulation during the opening cutscene, runners can trigger a forced fall from the Shrine of Resurrection directly into the main world. This requires exact button presses within frames and only works on specific console types (primarily Wii U), but cuts nearly 10 minutes from the run.

Divine Beast Shortcuts

Several Divine Beasts can be entered and completed without solving external puzzles. For example, Vah Ruta in Zora’s Domain uses a combination of bomb lifts and pixel-perfect climbing to enter the beast from below, skipping the underwater temple ascent. Similarly, Vah Naboris can be accessed via horse launch and paraglider glide from nearby cliffs, avoiding the fortress siege.

Out-of-Bounds Climbing

Using environmental geometry, runners can clip through invisible walls or scale “unclimbable” cliffs. One method involves placing a metal block (using Magnesis) on a sloped rock face, then boosting off it with a remote bomb to reach higher elevations. These routes allow direct access to late-game regions like Hyrule Castle long before they’re meant to be reachable.

Tip: Practice OOB climbs in isolated areas first. Small variations in terrain or framerate can cause failure.

Resource Optimization: Minimize Collection, Maximize Output

Speedruns thrive on doing less. Collecting hearts, stamina wheels, weapons, or side quests wastes time. Instead, smart runners exploit minimal resource requirements to maintain peak efficiency.

No Heart Runs: Surviving on One Heart

Many top Any% runs complete the game with only one heart container. Since bosses don’t require full health to defeat, runners skip all shrine quests. This eliminates over 30 minutes of gameplay. Healing is managed through food or elixirs collected incidentally during transit.

Weapon Management: Use What You Find

Rather than scavenging for powerful gear, runners rely on enemy drops or environment-based weapons (e.g., metal crates for Magnesis puzzles). Keeping inventory lean avoids menu lag and decision fatigue. Some even use wooden sticks throughout the entire run for consistency.

Cooking Is Dead Weight

Despite cooking being a fan favorite mechanic, it has no place in a speedrun. Pre-cooked meals offer marginal benefits compared to raw monster parts or critters eaten on the fly. Every second spent combining ingredients is lost time. Elite runners eat frogs, lizards, or mushrooms mid-sprint to restore health without stopping.

“The fastest run isn’t the one with the best gear—it’s the one that never stops moving.” — Blind, World Record Holder (Former Any% Record)

Step-by-Step: Building a Sub-25 Minute Any% Run

Here’s how the top-tier Any% route unfolds using the techniques above. This timeline reflects current meta strategies as of 2024, based on documented runs and community verification.

1. Opening Cutscene Inputs (0:00–0:45): Perform precise joystick and button inputs during the amnesia sequence to initiate a forced fall from the plateau. Success here determines whether the Great Plateau is skipped.
2. First Movement Phase (0:45–4:00): Use stable rolling and camera boosting to reach Hateno Village. En route, collect a single metal crate for later Magnesis use.
3. Obtain Paraglider (4:00–5:30): Enter the Temple of Time through standard path or OOB skip if applicable. Talk to Monk Hellen to receive paraglider.
4. Fast Travel to Akkala (5:30–7:00): Use the Sheikah Slate to activate a distant warp point immediately after receiving the paraglider. Dash storage ensures instant sprint upon arrival.
5. Robot Construction Site (7:00–10:00): Navigate the site using bomb jumps and guard slides to reach the Master Sword pedestal. No-cutscene mode skips dialogue animations.
6. Travel to Hyrule Castle (10:00–18:00): Use paraglider + arrow boosting to cross large gaps. Employ horse launches from cliffs to minimize ground travel. Avoid all combat unless necessary for knockback.
7. Castle Entry (18:00–20:00): Enter through south wall using OOB climb or paraglide through broken tower windows. Skip all minibosses via precise navigation.
8. Final Dungeon (20:00–24:30): Defeat Ganon using the Master Sword and minimal dodging. Use shield parries only when required for stun locks.
9. Ending Sequence (24:30–25:00): Allow credits to roll—if recording for submission, ensure timer stops at Ganon’s defeat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is sequence breaking considered cheating?

No. The speedrunning community distinguishes between banned cheats (like external mods) and sequence breaks that use in-game mechanics, even if unintended. As long as no outside tools alter gameplay, these tricks are accepted in appropriate categories (e.g., “Any%”).

Can I perform these tricks on the Nintendo Switch version?

Most can, but some—like the full Great Plateau skip—are only possible on Wii U due to differences in input processing and physics timing. Switch players focus on optimized routing and damage boosts instead, still achieving sub-30 minute runs.

Do I need special equipment to practice these techniques?

No. A standard controller and patience are enough. However, recording software and slow-motion playback help analyze failed attempts. Many runners use capture cards to review frame-perfect inputs.

Checklist: Essential Skills for BotW Speedrunning

• Master stable rolling on varied terrain
• Practice guard-slides against common enemies
• Perfect bomb jump height and direction control
• Learn camera boosting during jumps and rolls
• Memorize key OOB entry points (e.g., Hyrule Castle south wall)
• Optimize fast travel usage with dash storage
• Skip all non-essential NPCs and dialogue
• Use no hearts/stamina upgrades in Any%
• Minimize inventory management and cooking
• Study world record runs frame-by-frame

Expert Insight: The Mindset Behind Fast Runs

Speedrunning Breath of the Wild isn’t about reflexes alone—it’s pattern recognition, memory, and emotional control under pressure. One mistake in the first two minutes can ruin a 25-minute attempt.

“It’s not about playing perfectly every time. It’s about knowing which risks pay off and when to reset. A good runner fails more than they succeed—but learns from each try.” — pannenkoek2012, Pioneering Speedrun Theorist

Top runners spend hundreds of hours practicing single segments. They map out RNG patterns, test route variants, and simulate worst-case scenarios. The visible run is just the tip of a massive preparation iceberg.

Conclusion

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild rewards curiosity—and speedrunners take that to the extreme. By mastering movement tech, exploiting damage mechanics, and rewriting progression logic, what was designed as a 50+ hour epic becomes a lightning-fast showcase of player ingenuity. These tricks don’t diminish the game; they celebrate its depth and flexibility.

Whether you're chasing a leaderboard spot or just want to see Hyrule in a new light, applying even one of these techniques transforms how you interact with the world. Start small: learn stable rolling, try a bomb jump, skip a minor puzzle. Each step brings you closer to understanding the hidden systems that make speedrunning possible.

🚀 Ready to cut your time? Pick one trick from this guide, practice it for 20 minutes today, and feel the difference in your next run. Share your progress or ask questions in the comments—every master was once a beginner.