When I first started playing BotW, whenever monsters attacked me, I engaged in battle. But soon I noticed that:
- I'm basically getting the same stuff back that I spend and break fighting them;
- Shrines contain much better loot;
- Zelda doesn't have an XP system like other RPGs;
- Monsters respawn regularly, so I can't even clear the region;
- Monsters can be a source of potion ingredients, but very soon you have enough of that for all your potion needs, ever.
Now whenever I get attacked, I just run away, or sometimes run straight through the monster camp (if that's the quickest path to where I'm going to), getting a few arrow hits but saving a lot of time.
What's the point of fighting free-roaming monsters or monster camps in BotW vs. just ignoring them? Am I missing something?
Best Answer
In addition to all the reasons other people have already mentioned, IMO there is an even more important reason:
The entire difficulty scaling system in Breath of the Wild is based on enemy kills.
Difficulty scaling?
Difficulty scaling is the game mechanic that results in enemies and weapons being progressively replaced by more powerful variants.
It's why some Red enemies become Blue, then Black, then Silver over the course of a playthrough.
It is also why most weapons you can find in treasure chests and in Hyrule receive upgrades and modifiers (such as Durability Up).
The scaling system is based on a point system. Killing enemies is the only way to receive points.
If you don't kill enemies, you'll just keep finding low level enemies and weapons that will never upgrade.
For more details, see: https://zeldamods.org/wiki/Difficulty_scaling