If you don’t have a Link amiibo but were bewitched by the potential to cosplay as the pointy-eared adventurer in Skyrim on Nintendo Switch, we have some good news. You don’t actually need the amiibo to dress up like Link. All that’s required is the ability to speed through the main quest (and possibly go against every instinct you have to avoid the main quest in RPGs until the last possible minute). Here’s how to get the Link outfit, and how good it really is.
SPOILERS FOR THE SKYRIM MAIN QUESTLINE BELOW
Getting to the Throat of the World
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So, as the above header might have revealed, the chest with Link’s armour is waiting at the Throat of the World but if you’ve dabbled in Skyrim before, you’ll know it’s not as easy as just wandering over and collecting it. If you haven’t, here’s the fastest way to do it.
First off, you have escape the dragon attack on Helgen. Make your way to Riverwood with either the Stormcloak or the Imperial soldier (it’ll be marked on your map), then talk to the innkeep to find out where Whiterun is on the map. Run on to Whiterun and tell Jarl Balgruuf, who you’ll find in the massive building at the top of the town (probably lounging in his throne), about the dragon threat to Riverwood.
He’ll warm up to you considerably and give you the Bleak Falls Barrow quest, where you’ll have to go and find the Dragonstone for Farengar in the Bleak Falls Barrow, an old Norse ruin near Riverwood. After you’ve completed the task and got the Dragonstone, return it to Farengar. Speak to Jarl Balgruuf again. Gasp! You’ll suddenly hear of a dragon sighted outside Whiterun. Not good. Thus begins the Dragon Rising quest, where you’ll meet Irileth by the Western Watchtower and kill the dragon there, handily unlocking your shout ability at the same time.
On your way back to Whiterun you’ll be summoned by the Greybeards via a giant booming voice in the sky. Nope, not terrifying at all. After you’ve spoken to Jarl Balgruuf about the Greybeards, make your way to a small town called Ivarstead which will be marked on your map. You can fast-travel to Riften to speed up your journey if you want, or you can buy a horse for 1000 gold and gallop there yourself.
Once you’re at Ivarstead, talk to Klimmik. He’ll give you supplies to take up to High Hrothgar, the home of the Greybeards in the mountains above the village. Climb up the path (watch out for Frost Trolls and wolves), speak to Arngeir of the Greybeards and complete the Way of the Voice quest. Although you can see Skyrim’s tallest mountain called Throat of the World as soon as you get to High Hrothgar, the path up the mountain is blocked by a highly damaging blizzard. Any attempts to go through it will be met with a lot of blood, pain, and death on your part. If you want to try and climb up the mountain, go ahead, but it appears to be impossible when you’re at a low level.
So to get past that swirling snow and survive, you’ll need Arngeir to teach you the Clear Skies shout to get rid of the blizzard. This means you have to get quite a bit further in the main quest to unlock this dialogue path. So complete the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest, which Arngeir will give to you once you’ve completed the Way of the Voice quest. Then return to Riverwood and talk to Delphine, who you’ll find in the Sleeping Giant inn. Kill the dragon with her at Kynesgrove, return the horn to the Greybeards, then do the Blade in the Dark quest.
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Once that’s done, you’re almost there (and, yes, that is the majority of the main quest). Now it’s just time to sneak into the Thalmor Ambassador’s house in the Diplomatic Immunity quest to find out if the Thalmor are involved in the sudden appearance of dragons. Completing Diplomatic Immunity will lead you directly onto the A Cornered Rat quest. Once you’ve found the elusive Esbern in the sewers underneath a town called Riften, you’re almost close enough to access the Throat of the World.
Follow Esbern’s instructions and complete the quest titled Alduin’s Wall. This will take you to the Blades’ historical hideout, Sky Haven Temple. Huzzah! Now, finally, you have the excuse to go and command Arngeir to teach you the shout that brings dragons down from the sky, Dragonrend. Travel to High Hrothgar and you’ll find out that Arngeir actually doesn’t know the shout - but instead he’ll teach you Clear Skies. Praise Talos!
Once you’ve learned the shout, make your way up the mountain path. Use the shout periodically to clear the blizzard, and watch out for Ice Wraiths. Incidentally, you’ll be well on your way to completing the Throat of the World quest, which requires you to climb all the way up the mountain to meet with the mysterious leader of the Greybeards, Paarthurnax.
Once you’re at the top of the mountain, chat to Paarthurnax for as long as you see fit. If you exit the conversation early, he’ll perch on the Word Wall nearby so you won’t lose any dialogue options, don’t worry.
Where to find the Link chest at the Throat of the World
Run up to the Word Wall where Paarthurnax will be perching, and run west until you see a stone cairn near the edge of the mountain. Now go south, and you’ll see the grey and gold chest underneath a rocky ledge. Da-da-da-daaaa! Inside is the Master Sword, Hylian Shield, and Champion’s Tunic.
How good is Link’s outfit?
First off, the Champion’s tunic is pretty decent light armor. Its armour rating is 47 for a weight of 5, making it better than Elven armour but not quite as good as Glass or Scaled. If you get it at a relatively low level before Glass armor has started to spawn in shopkeeper’s inventories, it’s well worth keeping. Plus it’s worth 300 gold, so selling it is always an option if you’re all decked out in Ebony armor by the time you find the chest.
The Hylian Shield falls in a similar category, falling between the Elven shield and Glass shield in terms of strength. With an armor rating of 23 and a weight of 3, it’s hard not to pass up as it won’t weigh on your carrying capacity very much at all. It’s value is middling at 115 gold, so it’s probably worth keeping as a memento and putting up on the wall of Breezehome.
Lastly, let’s take a look at the stabby, shiny Master Sword. Out of the lot, the Master Sword is the least remarkable (insert sob here), with a damage of 9 and value of 235. It’s better than a steel sword, but unlike the other bits of Link’s outfit it isn’t as good as the Elven weapon set. So, it’s probably another one for your trophy wall.
None of the pieces of the outfit are enchanted, meaning you can always apply your own enchantments to make them more valuable, or simply more useful when you’re adventuring around Skyrim. Enjoy the outfit, and hopefully it’ll help you become the Champion of Hyr- err, Skyrim!
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