All signs indicate that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will be very similar to its predecessor. For one thing, Nintendo has indicated that it uses the same map as the previous game, meaning fans will probably explore a lot of familiar places. Link also has a curious new arm in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 that seems to give him powers similar to his Shiekah Slate abilities. With these core features making a return, there's little doubt that Breath of the Wild 2 will reuse Link's ability to collect his own weapons and adopt all kinds of different fighting styles.

However, Breath of the Wild 2 promises to bring major changes to the first BotW's Hyrule with new floating islands, and Link's enchanted arm seemingly offers some brand new abilities. Nintendo is building on these core aspects of BotW, which means it should build on BotW's weapon system too. There's a ton of weapon types that haven't made an appearance in this family of Zelda games yet; Nintendo should bring these weapons into the new game while introducing creative new takes on familiar weapon categories. Breath of the Wild 2 is a perfect opportunity to give Link a broader arsenal than ever.

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Building on Breath of the Wild's Innovations

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Breath of the Wild advanced The Legend of Zelda's combat system by leaps and bounds. Previous entries like Ocarina of Time offered Link some alternatives to the Master Sword, but nothing compares to BotW, which actively encourages players to seek out their own equipment. Between greatswords, spears, clubs, magic rods, and more, BotW offered Zelda fans more ways to fight as Link than ever. It's extremely satisfying to collect rare and powerful weapons, then switch to just the right weapon for the occasion whenever Link finds a new enemy.

Still, there are some shortcomings to Breath of the Wild 2's weapon system, aside from BotW's controversial durability numbers. To a certain extent, there's actually only a very limited number of fighting styles available to Link, in spite of all the weapons he can find. Many clubs and one-handed swords feel pretty similar, as do two-handed swords and heavier bludgeons, while spears form a unique but pretty basic category. Breath of the Wild 2 has a lot of weapons built into it, but the ways they're used aren't very distinct from one another.

Breath of the Wild 2 should change that. Not only should it introduce new weapons, but it should add wholly new categories of weapons that introduce Link to new ways of fighting. The first BotW only covered some of the most basic martial weapons out there, meaning there are many more niche categories that could come into play in the BotW sequel. If Nintendo builds even more melee and ranged weapons into Breath of the Wild 2, then Zelda combat could feel more diverse and engaging than ever.

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Potential New Weapons in Breath of the Wild 2

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Link's bread and butter has always been melee weapons, and there's plenty of room to build more melee equipment into Breath of the Wild 2. Aside from making axes more prevalent, BotW2 could introduce new categories like flails and whips. Flails could fill a valuable niche between one-handed and two-handed bludgeons, having more range than a mace but less damage than two-handed options. Whips would offer a long-range rival to spears while focusing on fast, low damage attacks, compared to a spear's slow but deadly strikes. Nintendo has only scratched the surface of melee weapons.

There's room for more ranged weapon options in Breath of the Wild too. Although The Legend of Zelda games almost always give Link a bow, it'd be nice to let Link try on a new weapon. For instance, crossbows could crop up in Breath of the Wild 2, offering a slower ranged weapon than a normal bow that packs a greater punch. Crossbows could use arrows just like normal bows, but there's plenty of other ways that BotW2 could give Link ranged options. Slings could offer a particularly fast ranged option, while packs of throwing axes or throwing knives could shake things up too.

Aside from martial weapons, it'd be nice to see Link get some more arcane options in Breath of the Wild 2. Wizzrobes drop magic rods that Link can use in BotW, but there's not a ton of options. It'd be great to find more rod types in BotW2, whether they're aggressive options or more utilitarian rods with buffs or healing spells. Nintendo could even consider introducing staves which could double as spellcasting tools and polearm-style weapons. Link's mysterious new arm might give him some magical options, but it shouldn't be his only magical resource.

Optimism for Breath of the Wild 2's Combat

Thankfully some early signs suggest Breath of the Wild 2's combat is getting experimental. The E3 2021 BotW2 trailer suggests Link might be able to find and wield some kind of flamethrower, incinerating any monster that stands in his way. It's not clear if this is an ability from Link's arm or a found weapon, but it certainly sounds more like a piece of equipment than an innate ability. If a flamethrower is the standard for new weapons in BotW2, then Zelda fans should expect some major changes to the weapon system. Nintendo might already have plans to rebuild BotW's weapon catalog from the bottom up, vastly enhancing the options available to the next game's players.

Although the flamethrower is a good sign, Nintendo has to be sure to expand the basics of Breath of the Wild's weapons. Basic new categories like flails and crossbow are just as valuable as the occasional extravagant weapon; flamethrowers probably aren't the new combat baseline in Breath of the Wild 2, so Link's more common tools deserve improvements too. More basic weapon types mean more ways to fight each of Breath of the Wild 2's enemies, giving players new heights of freedom to find their favorite playstyles and the most optimal approach to every adversary. Link has already learned so many fighting styles in Breath of the Wild; hopefully, he keeps learning in the sequel.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.

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