On your adventures in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you will eventually come across a multitude of temples that, once beaten, unlock unique abilities from the five main Sages scattered throughout Hyrule.
These Sages come with their own distinct powerups, weapons, and attack types and provide something different to help Link on his quest to defeat Ganondorf.
After 100 hours of gameplay, I’m sure I can speak for the rest of the Zelda community when I say these abilities can be annoying at best. They clog up your screen and are a pain to activate at the best of times during split-second decision-making and can also be an eyesore. But there are some benefits to them, and some are still definitely better than others.
With that in mind, here is what I feel are the best Sage abilities, ranked from worst to best.
Sage ability tier list in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
5. Sidon (Water Sage)
Sidon just sucks.
Not only is the quest to complete the Water Temple incredibly difficult but what you are rewarded with is a subpar bubble shield that can only be used to fire an art shot. While it’s great for the boss of the temple, its use throughout the overworld is never repeated. I can’t remember the last time I used Sidon’s ability or saw him actually get up close and personal in a fight.
4. Riju (Lightning Sage)
Riku is equally as bad. Again while it’s great for the temple and area surrounding Gerudo Town, its usefulness, and how much I’ve actually used the lightning charge ability to smite enemies with arrows, are too few and far between. The charge-up takes way too long and with the annoyance of trying to activate it in battle along with everything else, I find the only times I have ever activated this ability is by accident when I’m trying to spam A to activate one of the more useful Sages abilities in the party.
3. Mineru (Spirit Sage)
Yes, even I’m surprised Mineru made it this far up this list.
One of the last Sages you find, Mineru inhabits the body of a mechanoid that aids you in battle. You can attach different weapons to her arms and back to use as weapons but they break far too easily. You can also ride Mineru’s mech form in battle, but as you become a bigger target when you do, you’ll more than likely take more damage than you would just remain as Link.
Granted, her only saving grace is that you can use the mech to walk in the Depths and climb over Gloom without taking damage. It’s a shame, though, that anything you do with her costs battery energy.
2. Yunobo (Fire Sage)
Now we finally come to the two actually useful Sages.
Yunobo might seem a little useless at first until you realize how important his ability is. It has the effect to blow up anything you throw at it, including any stone or mines you come across, saving you from using a weapon and reducing its ability, and saving you from using Bomb Flowers and more crucial items in favor of just constantly using the bomb roll ability provided to you.
Not to mention he is one of the only two sages to feel useful in battle, tanking hits and using his ability to clear the most menacing of enemies including Gloom Hands.
1. Tulin (Wind Sage)
I think I speak for the entire Zelda community when I say Tulin is by far the best Sage in the game. Not only does he provide great ranged attack power that can sometimes snipe enemies in the head during crucial battles to stun them, but his ability is also essential for traveling through the sky and large portions of the game.
With his ability, he fires a gust that propels you forward while using the Paraglider at great distances, making it easier to reach distant locations. It’s a worse version of Revali’s Gale from Breath of the Wild but we will take what we can get here considering the alternative options.
