The Champions' Ballad Beginner Tips - DLC Scope, Trials, and Rewards

The Champions’ Ballad is the second paid DLC pack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is not a separate sequel, not the base game, and not The Master Trials. Treat it as late-game Breath of the Wild content built around a new main quest, extra shrines, Champion-focused memories, a final dungeon, hidden gear, horse gear, and the Master Cycle Zero.

You should start only after freeing all four Divine Beasts. You do not need to turn this into a full final-boss cleanup run first, but you do need enough comfort with Breath of the Wild’s combat, runes, armor swapping, weather, climbing, gliding, and regional traversal to survive fights where a single mistake can end the attempt.

This guide keeps to broad, beginner-safe decisions rather than a shrine-by-shrine route. The DLC has many exact puzzle and combat details, but the biggest early wins come from understanding the scope, preparing correctly, and not rushing the One-Hit Obliterator trial.

Essential Tips

1. Confirm You Are Playing the Right Content

The Champions’ Ballad starts after the four Divine Beasts, then points Link back toward the Shrine of Resurrection. If you are instead seeing Trial of the Sword, Master Mode, Hero’s Path, Travel Medallion, or Korok Mask content, you are looking at the other DLC pack or the broader Expansion Pass.

That distinction matters because the advice changes. The Champions’ Ballad is structured around the Divine Beast Tamer’s Trial, Champion-specific songs, new shrines, Illusory Realm rematches, and a final trial. Do not prepare for it like Trial of the Sword, where stripped inventory and room-by-room survival are the whole point.

2. Restock Before Returning to the Shrine of Resurrection

Before you follow Zelda’s prompt, refresh your arrows, meals, armor, elemental protection, and travel supplies. The opening trial sharply limits your margin for error, and later branches send you into multiple regions with different climate and traversal demands.

You are not trying to overlevel the DLC into boredom. You are making sure a basic oversight, like arriving without cold protection or enough arrows, does not turn a clearable challenge into repeated resets.

3. Think in Phases

The DLC is easier to manage if you break it into phases. First comes the Great Plateau trial with the One-Hit Obliterator. Then the quest expands into four Champion branches. Each branch centers on regional trials, emblem collection, and a rematch tied to a Divine Beast. After that comes the Final Trial and the Monk Maz Koshia fight.

This phase structure helps you pace the run. Finish one chunk cleanly, regroup, refill supplies, and then choose the next branch. The Champion branches can be approached flexibly, so there is no need to force the hardest-feeling region first.

4. Mark Clues Immediately

When the DLC gives you monument images, maps, or trial hints, pause and translate them into practical map markers. Use pins to preserve your interpretation before you leave the clue site.

Breath of the Wild is at its best when you read the world carefully, but it is easy to forget which ridge, lake, range, or desert area you meant to investigate. Marking first saves backtracking and keeps each branch from becoming a memory test.

One-Hit Obliterator Tips

1. Respect the Quarter-Heart Rule

The One-Hit Obliterator can defeat enemies in a single hit, but Link is also reduced to a state where nearly any damage ends the attempt. That means the weapon is powerful, not forgiving.

Play as if every arrow, Keese touch, stray elemental hit, fall, or blind corner matters. The safest plan is to remove threats before they can act, not to trade blows and recover afterward.

2. Use Your Bow Before Your Weapon

Do not treat the One-Hit Obliterator as permission to sprint into the center of every camp. Use arrows from high ground to thin out lookouts, archers, casters, and enemies that can interrupt your approach.

Once the camp is smaller and safer, use the Obliterator for isolated targets. If the weapon has a cooldown between uses, pause, reposition, and let the situation reset instead of standing exposed.

3. Fight From Angles, Not From the Camp Floor

The Great Plateau gives you slopes, ruins, trees, broken structures, and approach routes. Use them. Starting above or outside a camp lets you choose the first target and retreat if something goes wrong.

The camp floor is where enemies can surround you, projectiles can come from multiple angles, and tiny mistakes become expensive. A slow approach from cover is faster than repeating the same rushed opening.

4. Keep Runes in Your Rhythm

Remote Bombs, Stasis, Magnesis, Cryonis, and the paraglider still matter in Champions’ Ballad play. They create space, stop threats, solve shrine puzzles, and give you ways to interact without walking into melee range.

If you catch yourself solving every problem with the new weapon, slow down. The DLC rewards the same tool-mixing that made the base game work.

Champion Trial Preparation

1. Bring Regional Armor and Elemental Answers

Champion branches send you back into familiar regional problems. Cold, heat, flame, electricity, water traversal, vertical movement, and ranged accuracy all come back in some form.

Before starting a branch, check whether your armor and food support the area. If you are going near Eldin, Gerudo, Hebra, Lanayru, or the Rito flight areas, prepare for that region rather than assuming one general kit covers everything.

2. Enter Rematches With Abilities Ready

The Illusory Realm fights revisit Divine Beast bosses under constrained conditions. Because your normal loadout may not carry the fight by itself, Champion abilities and runes become especially valuable.

If a rematch is available but your key abilities are still recharging, do something else briefly. Starting a limited-equipment boss with your strongest tools unavailable is usually self-inflicted difficulty.

3. Solve the Trial Type Before the Exact Location

Many Champion tasks are built around a clear action idea: shoot, race, follow rings, defeat a special enemy, or solve a shrine built around a familiar rune. Once you identify the action type, prepare around it.

For shooting tasks, bring bows and arrows. For ring routes, think about stamina, movement, and terrain. For combat tasks, check armor and food. For shrine puzzles, slow down and test the rune interaction before hunting for a complicated trick.

4. Take Breaks Between Branches

Each Champion branch has its own rhythm. Finishing one branch and immediately charging into another can leave you understocked or mentally locked into the wrong toolset.

After a branch, review what changed. You may have an upgraded Champion ability, new memories, and fresh map context. Refill, save, and then choose the next region intentionally.

Rewards and Optional Content

The headline reward is the Master Cycle Zero, earned after completing the main Champions’ Ballad questline. Think of it as a late-game mobility reward, not something that helps you break into the DLC early.

The Champion ability upgrades are also meaningful. Faster access to familiar Champion powers changes exploration and combat pacing after the DLC, especially if you still have shrines, side quests, Koroks, armor upgrades, or final-story cleanup left in the base game.

The hidden tribute items and Ancient Horse Gear are separate from the main trial flow. They are worth collecting if you enjoy armor hunting or horse travel, but they are not the same task as clearing the Divine Beast Tamer’s Trial. Keep those item quests as a side checklist so they do not distract from the main quest structure.

Also look for the Champion diaries and story scenes if you care about character context. The DLC’s story value is tied to the Champions, Zelda, Kass, and the memories around the original Divine Beast pilots. Rushing only for the motorcycle misses much of what the pack is built to add.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not start before freeing the four Divine Beasts - The DLC’s main quest expects that late-game milestone.
2. Do not confuse The Champions’ Ballad with The Master Trials - The challenge structure, rewards, and preparation are different.
3. Do not rush monster camps with the One-Hit Obliterator - Thin enemies from range before using the weapon up close.
4. Do not ignore archers and small enemies - A minor hit can end the opening trial.
5. Do not leave region gear behind - Champion branches revisit climate, terrain, and traversal problems.
6. Do not enter boss rematches with key abilities on cooldown - Wait until your best tools are ready.
7. Do not skip map markers after reading monument clues - Pins turn vague trial hints into manageable objectives.
8. Do not treat optional gear quests as the main quest - Hidden items and horse gear are useful side goals, not the core trial path.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Scope	Treat this as DLC Pack 2, separate from the base game and The Master Trials
Prerequisite	Free all four Divine Beasts before expecting the main quest to begin
Opening Trial	Use arrows, terrain, runes, and patience before committing to melee
Champion Branches	Prepare by region and keep Champion abilities ready for rematches
Rewards	Expect upgraded Champion powers, new memories, optional gear, and the Master Cycle Zero