Everything you need to know about Zonai units in Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment giving us many new battlefields and regions to run around in while wiping out waves upon waves of enemies for that excellent musuo experience we all know and love from Koei Tecmo. While this entry is heavy on story and lessons, its combat shines brightly and is thrilling from start to finish.

This is largely thanks to its unique Zonai Device system, which builds on the amazing gimmick found in Tears of the Kingdom, which allows you to use ancient tools and devices to clear large waves of enemies, inflict status effects on them and target their weaknesses. Zonai units are a crucial aspect of the game, but they can be easy to overlook, which can come back to bite you if you don't take advantage of their massive powers!

Complete Guide to Zonai Devices

There are total nine Zonai units in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, so you can exploit specific enemy weaknesses, find hidden Koroks and much more as you make your way through the game's beefy story. Despite requiring a completely different resource that you have to manage and hold on to in order to use, it's worth doing as they are incredibly powerful.

Regardless of whether you want to clear slime from enemies or extinguish flame-based enemies, Zonai units can make your life significantly easier and allow you to avoid the frustration of an enemy continuing to freeze you or slow you down by simply allowing you to counter them with a specific tool and deal massive amounts of damage to them in seconds!

Each Zonai unit

How to get Zonai units

While some characters will gain access to specific Zonai units as you progress through the game, you can equip them with others by Device Dispensers via World map. After put in enough material to fully charge these dispensers, you will get a Zonai device, so you can assign it to a character.

Each Device Dispenser has a specific Zonai Device assigned to it, so once you find one with, say, a shock emitter, it will always give you that Zonai unit, so you can roll it as many times as you like if you want multiple party members to have it available. This is especially important to note as some areas will be overrun by frost based enemies, allowing you to equip everyone with Flamemitters to dominate them quickly and effectively!

How to equip Zonai units

Once you have acquired a Zonai unit, you can equip it with opens the preferred character's inventory and blunders over to Zonai Department. Well here, select the Zonai device you want to use then assign it to the input you want to use with it. We strong recommend placing it on your ZR button, as your face buttons will be better used for unique skills that counter specific enemy attacks and actions.

Now, once you are in battle, you can press ZR to take out the Zonai unit and start using it to clear out waves of enemies, Slam, or exploit the enemy's weakness. It's that simple, but it can be easily overlooked as the menus can be a bit clunky and unintuitive at times. Nonetheless, now that you know how to use these potent tools, you'll be virtually unstoppable. That is, of course, until your batteries run out!

How to charge Zonai devices

Because you likely are use the Zonai devices more often now they are probably die on you a lot more. Fortunately, you can recharge them via batteries. But they are a finite resource, so you need to manage them wisely to get the most out of your Zonai units.

On start a battle, you will have access to three batteries which you can use to top up your battery meter. Resting at camp will recharge your batteries, and you often can find batteries inside crushable boxes, so you can keep them topped up pretty reliably. Also, your battery meter will slowly fill up over time, but it's not a reliable way to keep track of your battery's health.

We recommend using your Zonai units frequently but strategically, because you never know when you'll unlock a new camp or if the next area will have a battery waiting for you inside a box. They are very powerful tools that can really turn the battle in your favor, especially if you have access to a boss' weakness in your back pocket!

Elementary calculators

Finally, we want to highlight when you should use each Zonai unit to get the most out of them. As expected, some elements are super effective against others, so you can strategically use specific Zonai units in certain battles to dominate the battlefield!