While we await the arrival of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo deployed developers Omega Force to bring us a prequel, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Taking place a century before the events of the highly-rated 2017 release, Age of Calamity has you play as legendary characters like Link, Impa, Princess Zelda, and the Four Champions to lead Hyrule’s battalions against the armies of Calamity Ganon.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity offers you a vast array of controls to help you conquer each battlefield, all of which are detailed below.
For the purposes of this controls guide, (L) and (R) refer to the left and right analogues, with L3 and R3 denoting the button activated when you press either analogue. Controls on the d-pad are shown as Up, Right, Down, and Left.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity controls list
While the attacks and moves that each character performs will differ, the basic input to initiate attacks and use items remain the same throughout. Here’re the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity controls that you need to know:
| Warrior Action | Switch Controls |
| Move | (L) |
| Run | (L) + B (hold) |
| Move Camera | (R) |
| Regular Attack | Y |
| Strong Attack | X (press or hold and release) |
| Special Attack | A (when yellow bar is full) |
| Midair Attacks | Y / X (in midair) |
| Weak-Point Smash | X (when enemy’s weak-point gauge is depleted) |
| Dodge | B |
| Flurry Rush | B (dodge at the last moment), then press Y |
| Guard | ZL (hold) |
| Unique Action | ZR |
| Open Crates | Y |
| Interact | Y |
| Change Character | Up / Down |
| Items Wheel | L (hold) – will slow time |
| Use Healing Item | L + B |
| Use Fire Rod | L + Y |
| Use Ice Rod | L + X |
| Use Lightning Rod | L + A |
| Sheikah Runes Wheel | R (hold) – will slow time |
| Throw Remote Bomb | R + Y |
| Use Cryonis | R + A |
| Use Magnesis | R + B |
| Use Stasis | R + X |
| Wall Jump | B (off of a vertical surface) |
| Use Paraglider | B (while in the air) |
| Safe Landing | B (after launched into the air by an enemy) |
| Escape Freeze | (L) (shake side-to-side) |
| Lock-On to Enemy | R3 |
| Switch Lock-On Target | (R) (while locked-on) |
| Cancel Lock-On | R3 (while locked-on) |
| Change Map View | L3 |
| Menu | + |
| Give Orders | Press +, select ally, command on the map |
| System | – |
| See Tutorials and Info | – |
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity map controls
When you return from the battlefield, you’ll be taken to the Map Overview screen, from which you can see all of Hyrule, your quests, and scenarios.
| Map Action | Switch Controls |
| Move Cursor | (L) / D-pad |
| Zoom in / out | (R) (upwards / downwards) |
| Select | A |
| Back | B |
| Next Battle | R3 |
| Menu | + |
| System | – |
| Navigate Services, Map, Chapters, Challenges, Quests | L and R |
| Initiate Two-Player | L3 |
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity two-player controls
To play Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity as a couch co-op game, you need to begin two-player mode from the Map Overview screen by pressing L3.
You can then sync two full handset controllers or two separate Joy-Cons to play Hyrule Warriors in two-player mode. When you enter a scenario or battle, the game will go into a split-screen view, with Player 1 on the top screen and Player 2 on the bottom screen.
If you’re playing the two-player mode of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity with two dual Joy-Con controllers, both players can use the warrior controls detailed above. If you’re using one Joy-Con each, these are the Joy-Con controls that you need to know:
| Two-Player Warrior Action | Joy-Con Controls |
| Activate Two-Player Mode | L3 (from Map Overview screen) |
| Move | (L) |
| Lock-On to Enemy | (L3) |
| Regular Attack | Left / B |
| Strong Attack | Up / Y |
| Special Attack | Right / X |
| Dodge | Down / A |
| Guard | SL (hold) |
| Unique Action | SR |
| Sheikah Runes / Items Wheel | SL + SR |
| Menu / System | + / – |
How to use Sheikah Runes
Each of the Sheikah Runes can be used by your Hyrule Warriors, with the wheel that shows all four of the runes being brought up by holding R. The four Sheikah Runes have their own controls and are suited to tackling different types of enemies, as detailed below:
| Sheikah Rune | Controls | Use Versus… |
| Stasis | R + X | Enemies using spinning attacks to stop their move and make them lose balance. |
| Remote Bomb | R + Y, aim with (L)/(R), ZR to detonate, B to cancel | Defensive enemies to break their guard or floating enemies out of reach of standard attacks. |
| Cryonis | R + A, aim with (L)/(R), X to fire, ZR to detonate pillars | Enemies that surge towards you with an attack by spawning a massive ice block. |
| Magnesis | R + B, ZR to launch magnetised object | Enemies wielding metal weapons and equipment. |
How to use Rods
Located on your Items wheel, which is brought up by holding L, you can use three different Rods with the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity controls. Each of the Fire Rod, Ice Rod, and Lightning Rod can cause massive amounts of damage to a large area and induce an elemental effect.
| Rod | Controls | Effects |
| Fire Rod | L + Y | Use in grassy areas to cause additional burning damage to enemies. |
| Ice Rod | L + X | The ice can freeze enemies in their place and freeze bodies of water. |
| Lightning Rod | L + A | Bursts of electricity can electrify metal boxes. Struck enemies will also be stunned. |
How to heal in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
At the top left of your screen, you can see a bar of hearts, which represents your health. If that health bar is low, you can heal your warrior by holding R to bring up the items wheel, and then press B.
You’ll often find yourself healing while foraging around the battlefields. Sometimes, when you smash boxes and crates, apples will fall out. These apples can be consumed by walking over them, which will either heal your warrior or add the apple to your inventory so that you can heal later.
How to give orders in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
While you can change character by pressing Up or Down, you’ll sometimes find that you just want one of your other warriors to do a job themselves. To give orders in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, you need to:
- Press + to bring up the menu;
- Under the ‘Allies’ tab, hover over the character that you which to give an order;
- Press A;
- Navigate the mini-map using (L) to move, R3 to zoom-in, and A to give an order.
While your allies are following orders, you’re free to carry on as you wish with the character that you’re controlling. After giving orders, you’re still free to change to the other character by pressing Up or Down.
How to save the game in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity utilises an auto-save feature; whenever you see the small blue sword in the bottom right corner, the game is saving.
While you’re on the battlefield or in the middle of a quest, you can’t manually save the game. However, when you’re back on the Map Overview screen, you can press – to bring up the System menu and then select the ‘Save’ option.
From initiating a two-player game to using the Sheikah Runes, you now know the controls needed to command your Hyrule Warriors in Age of Calamity.
