Skyrim amiibo support explained: How to unlock Master Sword, Champion's Tunic and Hylian Shield with or without Zelda amiibo in Skyrim Switch
How to get the platform exclusive items, with or without Zelda amiibo.
Skyrim amiibo support provides free items for tapping your figurine collection into the game.
Similar to Breath of the Wild, all amiibo will give you something, but only Zelda-specific amiibo gives you a chance of receiving one of three Zelda-themed items - the Master Sword, Champion's Tunic or Hylian Shield.
Even if you have Zelda amiibo they aren't a guaranteed drop, but thankfully, they can also be collected without them if you know where to look.
Once you are done, you might also be interested in our other Skyrim guides that could come in handy if you're revisiting Skyrim, or playing for the first time.
How to use amiibo in Skyrim on Switch
How to use amiibo isn't clearly explained in-game. First, open up the menu and head to Magic. Then, go to either All or Powers, and select amiibo to equip it. (Use the shoulder buttons and make sure the arrow icon appears next to the list.)
Now, look at the ground or a nearby surface, and press your Magic or Power button (by default this should be the L button).
This will create a glowing aura, which will be active for around 15 seconds. Grab your amiibo and press it against the lower right side of the right Joycon (or the centre of the Pro Controller) and the chest will then appear.
A couple of notes and limitations - you can only use each amiibo once per 24 hours in real world time - so if you scan at 5pm, you can next scan after 5pm the next day.
Reloading a save doesn't appear to allow you to rescan an amiibo, suggesting each amiibo use is profile-wide.
If you plan to use amiibo often, remember you can add the power as a 'favourite' by pressing the X button in the Magic menu to save time.
Now you've worked it out, what exactly do you get from each chest?
What amiibo are supported in Skyrim Switch
By tapping amiibo into the game, you will receive a chest with a series of items. The good news is that any amiibo will work, however only certain amiibo will give you Zelda-themed items.
Special Zelda chests
By tapping a Zelda-themed amiibo, you will drop a special gold and silver chest, accompanied by a familiar sound effect.
Crack it open to receive a variety of items, including basic weapons, armour and fruit, and a chance at a Master Sword, Champion's Tunic or Hylian Shield - there's no guarantee you'll receive a Zelda item in each chest.
Out of six Zelda amiibo we used, two contained Zelda-themed items, suggesting a reasonable drop rate.
All items received were of fairly standard armour and attack strength for our level one character, and there is a chance they will scale with you as you play. We'll know for sure when players get into the late game.
If you're unsure if you amiibo will give you a special chest, here's a list of Zelda amiibo supported in Skyrim Switch:
- Bokoblin (Breath of the Wild series)
- Daruk (Breath of the Wild series)
- Ganondorf (Super Smash Bros series)
- Guardian (Breath of the Wild series)
- Link (Super Smash Bros series)
- Link - Archer (Breath of the Wild series)
- Link - Rider (Breath of the Wild series)
- Link - Majora's Mask (30th Anniversary series)
- Link - Ocarina of Time (30th Anniversary series)
- Link - Skyward Sword (30th Anniversary series)
- Link (30th Anniversary series)
- Link - Twilight Princess (30th Anniversary series)
- Mipha (Breath of the Wild series)
- Revali (Breath of the Wild series)
- Sheik (Super Smash Bros series)
- Toon Link (Super Smash Bros series)
- Toon Link - The Wind Waker (30th Anniversary series)
- Urbosa (Breath of the Wild series)
- Wolf Link (Twilight Princess)
- Zelda (Super Smash Bros series)
- Zelda (Breath of the Wild series)
- Zelda - The Wind Waker (30th Anniversary series)
Regular chests
Any other amiibo aside from the above will drop you a regular amiibo chest. What you'll receive inside is stuff of low quantity and value - some scraps of food or fish, or a handful of gold.
There might be a rare item or two, but we haven't found one yet in our experience - so you might be better spending your time exploring the world for valuables instead.
Want more help with Skyrim? Find out how to join every guild and faction, how to earn Gold fast, learning about XP and levelling to 100, max Crafting skills, max Warrior skills, max Thief skills and max Mage skills, how to get married, where to buy a house, how to start Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn DLC expansions. If you're on PC, we have a list of console commands and cheats, and you can learn about the remastered version and how to install mods with our Skyrim guide. Finally, with Switch owners, we have Skyrim amiibo support explained to help unlock special Zelda-themed items.
How to get Master Sword, Champion's Tunic and Hylian Shield with or without Zelda amiibo in Skyrim Switch
If you don't have any of the above Zelda-themed amiibo, then don't fret, as the Switch-exclusive items can all be found in-game.
They are located specifically at the Throat of the World, which is the very peak of the tall mountain right in the centre the map.
You will scale the mountain fairly early on as part of the main quest, where you will end up at High Hrothgar.
However, you need to keep going - to the Throat of the World itself - to find the chest. While there is a path that can take you up from another direction, it is difficult to pass thanks to strong winds.
Our recommendation is to take a horse with you to High Hrothgar, then scale the mountain from there.
It's very difficult to do on foot, but provided you are persistent on horseback, the steep rocks are manageable.
Once there, locate where the Word Wall is in the Throat of the World, then head south.
You should then see a cave, with a gold and silver chest inside - this is the same colour as the Zelda-themed chests you receive when using certain amiibo.
Pop it open and all three Zelda-themed items - Master Sword, Champion's Tunic and Hylian Shield - are yours for the taking.
As with the amiibo chest, all items received here were of fairly standard armour and attack strength for our early game character, and there is a chance they will scale with you as you play - something to consider before you head here straight from the start of the game.