Weaponsupporting

Throwing Spear

A specialized metal polearm in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the Throwing Spear is balanced for unusually long-range throws and can be found in treasure chests across Hyrule.

Importance

supporting

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom · weapon

Key Takeaways

The Throwing Spear is a specialized spear whose main distinction is its unusually long throwing range, not a higher melee damage profile.

Built for distance

Its balance lets it travel significantly farther than a standard spear, making it useful for striking targets that ordinary melee attacks cannot reach.

A decayed standard form

The standard Throwing Spear has a decayed tip, so its sharpness is diminished even though its long-distance throwing behavior remains effective.

Found in regional chests

Treasure chests in areas including West Necluda and Hyrule Field are documented sources; the weapon is also associated with the side quest The Legend of the Throwing Spear.

Metal-world trade-offs

As a metal weapon, it conducts electricity and can attract lightning during thunderstorms. Unlike wooden weapons, it does not burn when exposed to fire, but it sinks in deep water.

An intact variant exists

The undecayed version is called the Throwing Spear Plus. It should be treated as a separate condition or variant rather than merged with the decayed standard weapon.

A ranged spear with a narrow role

Compared with a standard spear, the Throwing Spear gives up some close-range sharpness in its decayed form in exchange for a distinct long-range throwing role.

Overview

Throwing Spear is a standard spear in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom whose defining feature is unusually long throwing reach, making it a ranged option within the melee weapon roster.

Unlike an ordinary spear used mainly to control space at close range, Throwing Spear is balanced for being released at distant targets. Its identity is therefore tied less to sustained melee exchanges and more to creating separation: Link can attack an enemy from farther away without switching to a bow. The weapon remains a thrown melee item, so each attack commits the spear itself rather than an arrow.

The version normally encountered on the surface is decayed. That condition reduces the weapon’s physical sharpness compared with an intact counterpart, but it does not remove the characteristic that makes the weapon worth carrying: its specialized throwing behaviour. This gives Throwing Spear a narrower role than a general-purpose spear, but also makes it a useful option when distance matters and a player wants to preserve bow ammunition.

Throwing Spear is especially distinct from bows because it is governed by the game’s melee-weapon and Fuse systems rather than arrow ammunition. A Fuse material can change the result of a throw, while the spear’s metal construction also gives it the ordinary environmental properties of metal equipment: it conducts electricity, attracts lightning during thunderstorms, and sinks in deep water. These traits matter when choosing where and how to use it.

The weapon belongs to the standard Tears of the Kingdom roster rather than being presented here as a legendary or story-exclusive arm. Players may also encounter the intact variant known as Throwing Spear Plus, which should be treated as a separate condition or variant rather than merged with the decayed weapon’s behaviour. Its association with the side quest “The Legend of the Throwing Spear” reinforces its throwing-focused identity, but the weapon’s main distinction remains its long-range spear throw.

Statistics

Attack and durability are the game’s own published values, not a 0–100 scale. Taken from the project’s verified weapons database, not from generated text.

Attack
3
Durability
20
Class
Spear
Condition
Decayed
Compendium
#410

Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

Compared to similar melee weapons

Weapon	Attack	Durability	Class
Throwing Spear	3	20	Spear
Rusty Halberd	3	12	Spear
Traveler's Spear	3	24	Spear
Wooden Mop	3	8	Spear
Feathered Spear	4	25	Spear

Attack and durability are the game’s own published values. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

How to Obtain

Before you start

No confirmed DLC, NG+, vendor, currency, boss, or mandatory story prerequisite is established for the standard chest route.
Chest contents are not confirmed as guaranteed across all West Necluda and Hyrule Field locations; search additional chests if the weapon does not appear.

01Search treasure chests in West Necluda and Hyrule Field. These chests are the normal acquisition route for the decayed Throwing Spear; the available evidence identifies the regions but does not establish one fixed chest as the universal location or guarantee that every listed chest contains it.
02The Throwing Spear is also associated with the side quest “The Legend of the Throwing Spear.” Treat the quest connection as an alternate lead rather than a guaranteed reward unless the quest-specific chest or reward is confirmed in-game. The undecayed Throwing Spear Plus is a separate Depths variant, not the standard weapon’s normal acquisition state.

Mechanics and Handling

The Throwing Spear is built around a different use of the spear moveset: it remains a close-range polearm, but its Long Throw property makes its thrown attack travel substantially farther than an ordinary spear. This gives it a practical opening option against distant enemies without turning it into a bow or removing the need to recover or replace the weapon after use.

Long-throw handling

At close range, the Throwing Spear uses the normal spear-style thrusting attacks. Its distinction appears when Link throws it: the weapon maintains a flatter, longer-reaching trajectory than standard spears, making it useful for tagging enemies across a gap or starting an encounter before closing in. The throw is still a single projectile attack, not a multi-shot action, and it does not use arrows or another separate ammunition resource.

Spear attacks and commitment

The regular spear sequence favors repeated forward pokes and controlled spacing rather than broad one-handed swings. Its charged attack follows the spear category's spinning pattern, trading stamina and commitment for wider coverage around Link. Because the Throwing Spear is still a spear, its reach is most valuable when Link keeps enemies at the end of the thrusts; the Long Throw property improves its ranged option but does not change the underlying melee pattern.

Fuse and thrown effects

Fuse can give the weapon an additional material effect when it connects, while also improving the weapon's durability under Tears of the Kingdom's fusion rules. The fused material's behaviour depends on what is attached, so the Throwing Spear is better understood as a long-reaching delivery tool than as a fixed elemental weapon. Fusing does not replace its Long Throw identity, but the resulting projectile should be judged by both the spear and the attached material.

Durability and metal behaviour

Throwing the weapon and using it in melee both expose it to the normal durability limits of a decayed weapon. Its standard form is not an unbreakable ranged option, and its long throw does not make it disposable ammunition. As a metal weapon, it conducts electricity and can attract lightning during thunderstorms; unlike wooden weapons, it does not ignite when exposed to fire. It will sink if dropped into deep water, which can make an unsuccessful throw difficult or impossible to recover.

Upgrades and Variants

Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses

Strengths

The Throwing Spear’s balance gives it substantially more throwing distance than an ordinary spear, letting Link pressure targets from farther away without switching to a bow.
Its spear moveset still provides normal close-range thrusts, so it remains usable when an enemy closes the gap.
As a metal weapon, it does not burn when exposed to fire, and its material can support electrical interactions such as attracting lightning during thunderstorms.

Weaknesses

Its main advantage is tied to throwing distance rather than a special defensive or crowd-control effect; it does not replace the broader utility of a bow or a weapon with a stronger unique trait.
Throwing commits the weapon to a projectile attack and can make recovery inconvenient if the spear lands far away or breaks.
The standard form is decayed, so it is a weaker starting point than the intact Throwing Spear Plus found through Depths weapon-generation rules.
Like other metal weapons, it sinks in deep water and creates a lightning hazard during thunderstorms.

Best uses

Use it to open encounters or harass exposed enemies from outside ordinary spear range.
Keep it as a situational ranged option when arrows are limited but a disposable melee weapon can be spared.
Choose the intact variant when repeated throwing matters, since its condition provides a better foundation for the same long-throw role.

Compared With Similar Weapons

Compared With Similar Weapons
Weapon	Class and role	Throwing use	Best fit
Throwing Spear Plus	Retains the Throwing Spear’s long-range throwing focus	Choose when an undecayed version is available and the same throwing identity is desired	—
Soldier’s Spear	Supports ordinary spear use without the Throwing Spear’s defining long-throw specialization	Better suited to players who want a conventional melee spear for thrusting and occasional throws	—
Gerudo Spear	A practical alternative when throwing is secondary to close-range spear use	Choose for a conventional spear moveset and Fuse-based weapon customization	—

Lore and Design

The Throwing Spear has little story lore beyond its item description. That text presents it as a purpose-built spear whose unusual balance allows it to travel farther when thrown than ordinary spears. This is a functional description rather than an explicit connection to a character, faction, historical event, or regional tradition. The weapon’s identity therefore rests primarily on its specialized throwing role, not on a documented narrative association.

No official development commentary or confirmed real-world design reference is established here. The existence of an intact counterpart in the Depths is relevant to the weapon’s condition and progression, but it does not by itself establish separate lore or a canonical relationship to a named character or faction.