Windcleaver
The Windcleaver is a signature two-handed sword associated with high-ranking Yiga Clan Blademasters, known for releasing vacuum projectiles and a powerful wind slash. It is not part of the standard equipment roster in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Key Takeaways
Windcleaver is a Yiga Clan two-handed sword whose defining feature is a wind projectile released by its attacks, giving it a ranged pressure tool without changing its core role as a heavy melee weapon.
Yiga Blademaster weapon
Windcleaver is associated with high-ranking Yiga Clan Blademasters and is a two-handed sword rather than a general-purpose one-handed weapon. Its handling therefore favors committed swings and deliberate spacing.
Wind projectile on attack
Swinging the sword emits a short-range vacuum projectile. This gives Windcleaver more reach than its blade alone and lets a player pressure enemies before committing to close range.
Charged wind slash
Its charged attack produces a broad wind slash that can knock enemies back. The attack is most useful when there is enough room to charge safely and line up the projectile’s path.
Obtained through Yiga encounters
In Tears of the Kingdom, Windcleaver is tied to Yiga Clan Blademasters; its acquisition should be treated as an enemy-related route rather than assumed to be a universal shop item or ordinary ground pickup.
Powerful but commitment-heavy
The wind effects improve Windcleaver’s spacing and crowd-control potential, but its two-handed moveset and charged-attack commitment make it less convenient when a quick, compact melee response is the priority.
A distinct alternative to Eightfold Longblade
The Eightfold Longblade is often discussed as Windcleaver’s functional successor, but Windcleaver remains the more direct choice when the weapon’s characteristic wind projectile and knockback are the reason to use it.
Overview
Windcleaver is a two-handed sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, associated with the Yiga Clan and distinguished by a charged attack that launches a wind blade. It occupies a specialized role among heavy weapons: its value comes from combining close-range swordplay with conditional, short-range projection rather than from ordinary damage alone.
The Windcleaver is a named two-handed sword used by high-ranking Yiga Clan Blademasters. In Tears of the Kingdom, it is a normal equipment item rather than a downloadable-content weapon or a Breath of the Wild-only quest reference. Its defining behaviour is tied to the charged attack: after the weapon is wound up, the swing releases a broad wind projectile that can extend the weapon’s reach and create space between Link and nearby enemies.
That wind attack gives the Windcleaver a different combat role from a conventional heavy sword. A regular two-handed weapon is primarily about committing to close-range swings, while the Windcleaver can threaten targets beyond the blade and use the resulting knockback to interrupt positioning. The projectile is still part of the weapon’s attack pattern, not a replacement for melee combat, so the weapon is most distinctive when the player has room to charge and release it safely.
The weapon is especially relevant when comparing it with the Eightfold Longblade. Both are associated with wind-based attacks, but the Windcleaver is the earlier named option in the weapon family and is built around the Yiga-associated cleaver identity. The Eightfold Longblade is commonly treated as its functional successor because it offers a related wind-oriented role; that comparison is useful for deciding between the two without treating them as the same weapon or merging their stat and trait data.
As a metal weapon, the Windcleaver also follows Tears of the Kingdom’s broader material rules: it can conduct electricity and is unsafe to expose during a thunderstorm unless the player has accounted for that property. Its main progression value is therefore situational rather than universal. It suits players who want a heavy weapon with an added spacing tool, while a faster one-handed sword or a different two-handed weapon may be more convenient when charged attacks cannot be prepared.
How to Obtain
- 01Windcleaver cannot be obtained through the intended equipment roster in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It has no confirmed Surface, Sky, or Depths location, vendor listing, quest reward, chest placement, or enemy drop in this game.
- 02Do not search for a Windcleaver at Yiga Clan locations: in Tears of the Kingdom, the comparable weapon used by high-ranking Yiga Clan Blademasters is the Eightfold Longblade. The Windcleaver's documented quest appearance belongs to Breath of the Wild, not this game's acquisition pool.การ
Availability
Requires Reach an encounter containing a Yiga Clan Blademaster.
The Windcleaver is available in Tears of the Kingdom; it is not a DLC-exclusive weapon. Its availability is tied to Yiga Clan Blademaster encounters rather than vendor stock or a purchase price.
Requires Access the Depths and meet the conditions for pristine weapons to appear from a Spectral Figure.
The pristine form is a separate condition of the weapon and should not be merged with the decayed surface form. No separate price or DLC requirement applies.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- In its Breath of the Wild implementation, the Windcleaver’s charged attack releases a wind slash at short range, letting a two-handed sword threaten targets without requiring direct contact.
- The charged wind slash covers a broad area and can knock enemies back, making it useful for creating space or interrupting groups when the attack connects.
- Its distinctive projectile gives the weapon a situational reach advantage over ordinary close-range two-handed sword swings.
Weaknesses
- The Windcleaver is not part of Tears of the Kingdom’s standard obtainable weapon roster, so it has no normal TotK acquisition route or TotK-specific combat role.
- As a two-handed sword, it prevents simultaneous shield use and commits Link to slower, more deliberate attacks than one-handed weapons.
- Its wind slash is tied to the charged attack rather than being a universal property of every swing; missing or being interrupted forfeits that ranged pressure.
- The metal weapon conducts electricity and can attract lightning during thunderstorms, creating an environmental risk while it is equipped.
Best uses
- Use it in Breath of the Wild when a charged wind slash can push back or finish enemies from just outside ordinary sword range.
- Favor it against clustered or positioning-sensitive enemies where the broad wind attack can create separation, rather than treating it as a general replacement for a faster one-handed weapon.
- For Tears of the Kingdom, choose the Eightfold Longblade or another available two-handed sword if the intended role is a Yiga-associated weapon with comparable close-range handling; do not plan a TotK build around the Windcleaver itself.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class and role | Distinctive mechanic | Practical trade-off | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windcleaver | Wind Razor releases a short-range vacuum slash, with the charged attack producing a broader wind projectile that can push enemies away. | The wind effect adds spacing and crowd-control utility, but the weapon remains a committed two-handed sword and its metal construction conducts electricity. | Players who want melee reach plus a ranged-feeling pressure tool without switching to a bow. | — |
| Eightfold Longblade | Uses the same broad wind-slash concept associated with the Windcleaver, making it the closest practical alternative in the same role. | It fills the wind-projectile niche but does not serve as a direct substitute for every Windcleaver-specific acquisition or collection goal. | A player seeking the same general combat identity through a more commonly discussed Yiga-associated alternative. | — |
| Mighty Eightfold Longblade | Retains the Eightfold Longblade family’s wind-oriented role while offering a stronger progression target than its ordinary counterpart. | Its value is tied to obtaining and maintaining the upgraded variant; it is not simply interchangeable with Windcleaver for collection purposes. | Wind-oriented builds that want to continue using the Eightfold family as their equipment improves. | — |
| Gerudo Claymore | Strong Fusion increases the contribution of an attached material, shifting its advantage toward fused attack power rather than a built-in wind projectile. | It gives up Windcleaver’s intrinsic ranged pressure and crowd-control identity, but can be preferable when the player has a high-value Fuse material available. | Fusion-centered setups that prioritize material synergy over an innate weapon effect. | — |
Lore and Design
The Windcleaver is presented as a weapon associated with the Yiga Clan’s upper ranks, particularly its Blademasters. That connection gives the sword a clear place within the Yiga’s military hierarchy: it is not described as an ordinary tool or common battlefield weapon, but as equipment used by especially capable clan warriors. Its distinctive wind-producing form also ties its identity to the Yiga’s stylized combat techniques, rather than to a conventional blade design.
The item’s significance is primarily factional rather than story-critical. The game does not establish the Windcleaver as the personal weapon of a named Yiga character, nor does its description document a specific smith, historical event, or relationship to another faction. Its wind effect is described as a property of the sword’s unusual shape, supporting the weapon’s identity as a specialized Yiga design. No official development commentary or documented real-world inspiration is established here, so broader claims about cultural influence or creator intent should not be treated as canon.
Trivia
- Windcleaver appears in both *Breath of the Wild* and *Tears of the Kingdom* as a weapon associated with high-ranking Yiga Clan Blademasters. In *Breath of the Wild*, it is also one of the weapons requested during the side quest “The Weapon Connoisseur,” linking the sword to an equipment-collection challenge rather than only to Yiga encounters.