Like the fans, Link is no stranger to screen time, despite living in a world that doesn’t even have television. His trusty Purah Pad is an absolutely indispensable tool to ensure his success in his adventures across Hyrule. A substantial upgrade from the Sheikah Slate in Breath of the Wild, this all-in-one device in Tears of the Kingdom tracks everything Link needs on his journey. While not an absolutely essential feature, Hero’s Path Mode is a fun and fascinating addition that allows Link to see exactly where his travels have led him, showing all of his movements in the past 256 hours of gameplay.
Unlike in Breath of the Wild, this feature is not tied to purchased DLC and instead can be unlocked in-game with no additional cost. Hero’s Path Mode is one of the upgrades available for Link’s Purah Pad, along with the Camera, Shrine Sensor (and Sensor+ upgrade), and Travel Medallion. Link can unlock these upgrades by completing short quests, once available, for Robbie located in the Hateno Village Research Lab. Here’s how to unlock Hero’s Path Mode in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
How to get Hero’s Path Mode in Tears of the Kingdom
Hero’s Path Mode is quite easy to unlock once the player has completed the proper prerequisite quests. With these two quests finished, the player should head to Hateno Village Research Lab, located on a hill at coordinates (3779, -2111, 0250), northeast of Hateno Village. Here, Link will meet up with Robbie, the talented researcher in charge of developing neat features for the Purah Pad.
In order to be able to start the quest “Presenting: Hero's Path Mode," the player must first complete the following quests:
- "Camera Work in the Depths" - Unlocks the Camera
- "A Mystery in the Depths" - Unlocks Autobuild
- "Hateno Village Research Lab" - Unlocks the Shrine Sensor
Once these quests have been completed, Robbie will offer three new upgrades to the Purah Pad. Selecting the “Hero’s Path Mode” upgrade when asked will start the quest, “Presenting: Hero's Path Mode." To complete this quest, the player must show Robbie that they have collected location data from 15 shrines in Hyrule. This is an easy task, especially for players who have consulted this guide to all the shrines in Tears of the Kingdom.
Once the player has met this requirement, they need to speak with Robbie, and he will upgrade the Purah Pad to activate the Hero’s Path Mode feature.
How to Use Hero's Path Mode in Tears of the Kingdom
The Hero's Path Mode feature can be toggled by opening the map and pressing the X button. This will activate Hero’s Path Mode and show a green line traversing the entire past 256 hours of Link’s adventures in Hyrule, in the order he experienced it. The player can even replay their entire journey so far by pressing X once Hero’s Path Mode has been activated. This will redraw the entire recorded path of Link’s journey, which is quite fascinating.
Once the player has exceeded 256 hours of playtime, the path will continue but start overwriting the oldest sections of the path. Hero’s Path maps all areas of Hyrule, including the sky islands and the Depths, with the color of the green line fading when the player has the wrong map active. As such, Hero’s Path Mode can be extremely helpful for determining areas not yet explored, making it an extremely beneficial unlock in Tears of the Kingdom.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.