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What is the most useless item in the series?

thePlinko

What’s the character limit on this? Aksnfiskwjfjsk
ZD Legend
I’m not asking what the worst item is, that would require a combination of uselessness, how annoying it is to use, and how lame it is.
I just wanna know the item that is never helpful in any situation, or if it is helpful it is very limited and situational.

For me it would have to be the pre-OoT mirror shield, so the ones found in LttP and LA. Not only do they look very boring, but they only protect you against one singular enemy. They were never used for any puzzles (at least not in LttP, I can’t remember if it was in LA) and were overall something you didn’t care if you had or not.

Another item I just had to mention was the Windwaker. As much as I adore the game, I hate the item. It only has 6 songs, only 4 of which are useful, and out of THOSE only 2 were original, and those 2 were also annoying and situational. So while it’s not the most useless item ever it’s still a lot less useful than it seems.
 

Azure Sage

March onward forever...
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Most of the items in Twilight Princess. The Spinner and the Dominion Rod particularly, but the slingshot is useless because you get the bow as your very next item. The fishing rod, too, because there's a different fishing rod used in the only place worth catching fish at. The Ball and Chain is barely useful outside of its dungeon too, but at least it has combat potential. The Spinner is useless outside of the Arbiter's Grounds save like one spot in the world, same goes for the Dominion Rod. TP has the worst item usage in the entire series.
 

thePlinko

What’s the character limit on this? Aksnfiskwjfjsk
ZD Legend
Most of the items in Twilight Princess. The Spinner and the Dominion Rod particularly, but the slingshot is useless because you get the bow as your very next item. The fishing rod, too, because there's a different fishing rod used in the only place worth catching fish at. The Ball and Chain is barely useful outside of its dungeon too, but at least it has combat potential. The Spinner is useless outside of the Arbiter's Grounds save like one spot in the world, same goes for the Dominion Rod. TP has the worst item usage in the entire series.

Ya know, I was gonna talk about the items in TP, but I think I would just sound like a broken record. At least those items are useful in their respective dungeons.
 

Azure Sage

March onward forever...
Staff member
ZD Legend
Comm. Coordinator
Ya know, I was gonna talk about the items in TP, but I think I would just sound like a broken record. At least those items are useful in their respective dungeons.
I'm glad that the series is moving away from dungeon-specific items. They have been getting a lot more useful because of it. The runes in BotW and the items in ALBW for example were pretty well done. SS was pretty good about item usage, too. But that's kind of the opposite of the point of this thread, lol. At any rate, the more specialized items are, the less use they have outside of that. I like my items to be useful in many kinds of situations, not just in specific places.
 

thePlinko

What’s the character limit on this? Aksnfiskwjfjsk
ZD Legend
I'm glad that the series is moving away from dungeon-specific items. They have been getting a lot more useful because of it. The runes in BotW and the items in ALBW for example were pretty well done. SS was pretty good about item usage, too. But that's kind of the opposite of the point of this thread, lol. At any rate, the more specialized items are, the less use they have outside of that. I like my items to be useful in many kinds of situations, not just in specific places.
That being said, I would rather find important items inside of dungeons than all at the beginning. That’s why I hated the mystical iPhone in BotW.
 

Castle

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The early useless items in TP - the wooden sword and the sling shot - seem like "throwback" items that are there simply for the sake of nostalgia. The only thing the sling shot is good for is knocking down bee hives while fishing. And the wooden sword is only good for handicap playthroughs for the extra challenge and lulz.

The latter useless items, the spinner and the dominion rod, are useless because ninty never implemented any use for them. TP was clearly not developed to its fullest extent, particularly near the end. Whatever uses the spinner and rod could have had outside of their dungeons, ninty just never got around to adding. It's a shame too because there is much potential for both items, the spinner especially.

In ALttP, the Book of Mudora is a one use item that opens a dungeon and then burns a hole in links bag of holding for the rest of the game.

The masks in OoT are arguably useless. But I tend to see them as a fun side diversion to partake in, even if there's no tangible payoff for doing that trading sequence. I mean, you get rupees, sure, but big whoop. I think it was just meant to be played around with. But the masks have no real use in the game.
 

DarkestLink

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Oct 28, 2012
Probably the spinner. To be honest though, it's not that Nintendo didn't bother utilize it. They went out of their way to use it in most of the subsequent dungeons. It just didn't have that much potential to begin with. It was a fun item, it served its use, and it was time to put it to rest. To a lesser extent, I'd say the same is true for the Dominion Rod. If you aren't using the Ball and Chain though, you're playing the wrong way...
 

Jirohnagi

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Sand Rod, Water Rod, they are literally step summoners but for only specific situations. Light Arrows from Minish Cap, Mirror Shield from Minish Cap, Magnifying Glass from LA, Flippers from ALTTP (i know of only a few spots outside of racing that use it), Slingshot OOT (replaced by Boomerang) most of the masks from MM serve only one use and that's heart containers.


Funny enough i find most of WW items to be damned useful bar Iron Boots, Ice/Fire Arrows and magic armor
 

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