You’ve probably seen the clips. A player hops onto the back of a Silver Lynel, swings a glowing, red-cracked sword three times, and the beast just... evaporates. It looks like a cheat code. Honestly, it basically is. That weapon is almost always the Royal Guard's Claymore TotK players obsess over, and for good reason. It is the single highest-damage-per-hit item in the entire game, provided you’re willing to play a very dangerous game of chicken with its durability.
Most people pick this thing up in Hyrule Castle, swing it until it breaks on a Moblin, and never think about it again. That’s a massive mistake. If you actually want to trivialize the hardest bosses in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you need to understand the "Breaking Point" mechanic. It’s not just a flavor text description; it’s a math-breaking multiplier that turns a fragile blade into a nuke.
Where to Find the Royal Guard's Claymore TotK (Decayed and Pristine)
Before you can start deleting Lynels, you actually have to find the damn thing. There are two versions: the Decayed version (the one you find on the surface) and the Pristine version (the shiny, high-durability one in the Depths).
The Hyrule Castle Loot Run
The easiest place to snag a decayed version is Hyrule Castle. You don’t even need to fight anything if you’re sneaky. Head to the Sanctum (the main throne room area). If you climb up to the second floor and look behind some rubble or check the side chambers like Zelda’s Study, you’ll usually find one leaning against a wall.
It has a base attack of 32, which sounds okay, but the durability is absolute garbage. It’ll break in about 10 hits. But here is the trick: you want it to break. At least once.
Hunting the Pristine Version
You cannot find the "clean" or Pristine Royal Guard's Claymore TotK in the Depths until you have broken a decayed one on the surface. Once you’ve shattered that rusty prototype, head to the Depths. Specifically, check the Gerudo Highlands Depths or the area near the Korom Lightroot.
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Look for those ghostly shadow soldiers standing on stone pillars. They hold pristine weapons. If you see one holding a traveler's claymore, just take it and throw it away. The ghost won't cycle its inventory until the next Blood Moon. Pro tip: save your game before the ghost soldier spawns in your render distance. If he’s holding the wrong thing, reload. It’s tedious, yeah, but getting that base 39 attack (before modifiers) is worth the five minutes of save-scumming.
The Math Behind the Madness
Why do we care about a weapon that’s about to snap? Because of the Breaking Point perk.
The Royal Guard series has a unique hidden stat. When the weapon is in its "badly damaged" state (meaning it has 3 durability points or fewer), its damage doubles. But wait, there’s more. On the very last hit—the one that actually shatters the weapon—the damage doubles again.
When you fuse a high-level material like a Silver Lynel Saber Horn (55 damage) to a Pristine Royal Guard's Claymore with an Attack Up +10 modifier, your base power is already sitting around 104.
- The "Red Glow" state: Damage jumps to 208.
- The "Final Hit" state: Damage jumps to roughly 416.
Now, normally, a 400+ damage hit is cool but useless because the weapon disappears. But mounting a Lynel doesn't use durability. You can stay on that final 1-HP sliver of durability forever as long as you only swing it while sitting on a Lynel's back.
The Ultimate "Lynel Killer" Build
If you want to reach those "one-cycle" kills you see on YouTube, you have to stack multipliers. It’s not just about the sword; it's about the outfit and the food.
- The Weapon: Get a Pristine Royal Guard's Claymore TotK version with a +10 Attack modifier.
- The Fusion: Use a Molduga Jaw. Wait, why not a Silver Lynel Horn? Because of Bone Proficiency.
- The Armor: Wear the Evil Spirit Set or the Radiant Set (upgraded to level 2). These give you a 1.8x hidden damage multiplier when using bone-fused weapons.
- The Buff: Eat a Level 3 Attack Up meal (5 Mighty Bananas). This adds another 1.5x multiplier.
When you combine Bone Proficiency, Attack Up food, the Breaking Point perk, and the final-hit crit, you’re looking at over 800 damage per swing. A Silver Lynel has 5,000 HP. You do the math. It’s a massacre.
How to get it to 1 HP safely
Don’t just swing at the air. You might lose track. Watch the notifications.
- Swing it until you get the "Your Royal Guard's Claymore is badly damaged" message.
- From that moment, you have exactly three hits left before it breaks.
- Use two hits on the ground (jump attacks are good for tracking).
- Stop. - Now, your weapon is on its final breath. Open your menu. If the weapon is flashing red and the damage number hasn't changed, don't panic—the "final hit" double-damage doesn't show up in the menu UI, but it's there in the code.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
I’ve broken so many of these by accident. It’s heartbreaking.
One big mistake is using the weapon for a "flurry rush." Even if you’re a parry god, those hits count toward durability. If you’re at 1 HP and you trigger a flurry rush, your masterpiece will shatter on the first swing. Only use this for mounting.
Another thing: Rock Octoroks. If you have a decayed version with a crappy modifier, head to Death Mountain. Drop your claymore in front of a Rock Octorok. He’ll suck it up, polish it, and spit it back with a fresh modifier and full durability. Note that you can only do this once per Octorok per Blood Moon cycle. If you don’t get the +10 Attack Up, kill the Octorok, wait for a Blood Moon, or just reload your save.
Is it Worth the Effort?
Kinda depends on how you play. If you’re just exploring and hitting shrines, this is total overkill. You’ll spend more time prepping the weapon than actually using it. But if you’re farming the Floating Coliseum for Lynel parts to upgrade your armor, the Royal Guard's Claymore TotK build is mandatory. It saves your other weapons from breaking and turns a 10-minute boss fight into a 30-second chore.
It’s the quintessential "glass cannon." It represents everything weird and breakable about Tears of the Kingdom's combat system. It’s ugly, it’s temperamental, and it’s arguably the most broken thing Link can carry.
If you're ready to build your own, start by hitting the Sanctum in Hyrule Castle tonight. Grab that decayed blade, break it against the nearest rock, and head into the Depths. Just remember: once it's at 1 HP, do not press the Y button unless you are firmly seated on a Lynel's shoulders.
The next thing you should do is head over to the North Akkala Foothills to farm some Molduga Jaws; you're going to need them for the Bone Proficiency multiplier to actually make this build hit its peak potential.