How exactly does Daruk’s Protection work, deplete its charges, and recharge

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So I recently earned Daruk's protection, and am excited to use it, but I'm a little confused about exactly what it does, and how often I can use it.

The explanation I got when it was granted basically told me two things, and one more is obvious:

  • It protects you from damage
  • It is activated by holding down LT
  • It has 3 charges

But I'm not clear on a how it actually works, and what "uses up a charge". Specifically:

  1. What are the types of damage it can protect from? (Are any excluded, like falling, fire, etc?)
  2. What are the limitations on using it? (Can I hold LT… forever? and why wouldn't I? Can I swing a weapon while using it? does it work on a horse? Does it shut off after some amount of damage is absorbed?)
  3. What actually "uses up" a charge, and how does recharging work? (I'm pretty sure I tested it right after I got it quickly, but it didn't deplete a charge. Is that because I didn't take any damage? Does it only recharge after all 3 are used, or does each one recharge? How long does it take?)

Note: I thought about whether these should really bemultiple questions, but I think the real question is "What are the core mechanics of how Daruk's protection is used?," and I'm fairly sure the answers to that will be more useful than breaking it up.

Best Answer

  1. According to Zeldapedia, Daruk's Protection blocks damage from everything, except for some environmental/undefendable damage, such as:

    • falling into molten lava
    • falling into an abyss,
    • a pummeling from Magda
    • damage caused by drowning.

  2. You can hold LT indefinitely, and doing so doesn't use up a charge until you are attacked or something else happens that wouldn't normally cause you damage.

  3. A charge is used up each time you are attacked, or when the skill protects you from another damage causing event. (Note that there seems to be a short period of ongoing invincibility after the initial attack, so one charge may protect you from a few hits if they come in close succession.) It stops working after absorbing three attacks, a.k.a. using three charges. After this, it takes 18 minutes for the three charges to become available again.

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