When I was first introduced to the Zonai Wing gliders in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, my eyes lit up with the possibilities of launching Link across perilous chasms Evel Knievel-style. And while I have a good handle on how to launch a glider now, it took a lot of tumbling off ledges and fiddling with different items before I realized the best way to get these things airborne. A few Zonai Devices can make this process easier, but there are also some efficient techniques using Link’s new abilities to do a quick and easy launch of your glider in Tears of the Kingdom.
Use Zonai Devices for Extra Lift and Momentum on Gliders
You first encounter the gliders when you complete the Nachoyah Shrine on the Great Sky Island, sitting conveniently by a ledge with a track to let you sail right back to the Temple of Time and continue the story. But if you’re like me, you immediately grabbed those wings and tried getting them to go off in other directions from different points in the island, and just the fans alone really don’t give you the thrust you need to launch off. Most of the time, the glider nosedives off the edge since you’re trying to place it farther and farther out.
It’s useful to master how to use the Zonai Wing gliders because they pop up frequently not only on the Sky Islands, but even at vehicle stations in the Depths where they’ll be invaluable for crossing some huge pits without falling into the void below. They’re also very customizable, with tons of room for stacking items that will boost speed and even some offensive options like tracking turrets to shoot cannons or laser beams from the sky.
For now, though, let’s just focus on liftoff. All you’ll need are a glider and a few fans. One will suit you just fine, but I prefer to use at least two for a good starting boost. You can grab capsules containing fans by feeding Zonai construct parts to either of the two Device Dispensers in the Great Sky Island.
Link will eventually discover other useful, attachable portable devices that help facilitate movement. Carts are great to put on the bottom of them so they can actually move when you turn the fans on. If you really want a burst of speed, then attaching rockets to your glider is also a great option. But honestly, these parts also have their limitations and really shine when you have a ramp of some sort to launch from, which still restricts your options a little. It’s also way more fun to save your rockets to attach one to your shield for a sweet rocket arm.
How to Launch a Glider Anywhere in Tears of the Kingdom with Ultrahand and Recall
If you want to save your items, you can use Ultrahand and Recall to give yourself a boost from anywhere! The timing is a little tricky at first but feels natural after a couple tries. Once you have your flying machine assembled to your liking near a ledge, just grab it with Ultrahand, pointing the direction you want it to go, and leave it up there for a few seconds. It’s good to give yourself a generous time window before placing it back down. Once you place it down, stand on top of your glider and use Recall, which will bring it back to wherever you were just holding it. Then you can strike your fans to activate them, press L to deactivate the Recall, and start flying along! You should stand towards the back of your glider as you first come out of Recall, since it usually pitches downward a little bit at the beginning, but then you can stand in the center as it rights itself.
The beauty of Tears of the Kingdom is how many unique solutions players devise for their problems, so you may very well have your own flying method by now for how to launch a Zonai Wing glider anywhere. But if you’ve been struggling with the wing devices and really wanting to use them more, like I was when first playing through the tutorial, then I hope this guide helps you soar to beautiful new heights.
