Hey folks, it's your favorite gaming pal here, diving straight into the chaos of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! 😄 As of this July 2025, I've been grinding away on the Switch 2 version, and boy, do I have some juicy updates to share. Despite Nintendo rolling out patch 1.4.2 earlier this month, aimed at squashing other pesky exploits, those beloved item duplication glitches are still kicking strong. Seriously, I tested them myself over the weekend, and it's like nothing changed—except for the performance boost on the Switch 2, which, let's be real, feels smoother but costs an extra $10 if you're not an NSO + Expansion Pack subscriber. Talk about a double-edged sword! Now, I'm not complaining too much, though, because duping items is practically a tradition in Zelda games, and it saves so much time when farming rare components for those epic builds. 🤯

So, what's the deal with these duplication exploits? Well, according to my hands-on sessions and chatter in the community (shoutout to legends like Telkic, WinnerBoi77, and mulberry for their genius), the split item duplication (SID) technique is still the MVP for easy item farming. It's one of those tricks that feels almost intentional, like Nintendo left it in as a secret gift to us players. 💡 But hold up—let me break down how SID works in the current 1.4.2 build, 'cause it's a bit fiddly but totally worth mastering:

1. Start with the basics: You need at least three units of whatever item you're duping (say, rare gems or monster parts), a bow, and a consumable that sorts left of the target item in your menu—think apples or basic food items.

2. Drop and fuse: Chuck all but one of that consumable, then whip out your bow and fuse the target item to it. Easy peasy!

3. Menu magic: Open your materials menu, make sure the consumable is to the left of your target, eat it, and unequip the bow.

4. Get airborne: Now, hop onto Mineru, do a shield jump, or glide with your paraglider—any action that keeps Link in the air works.

5. Duplication time: While midair, open the menu again. You'll see two stacks: one with a single item and the real one. Hold as many items as you can from the real stack, press minus to open and close the album, and boom! All held items drop duplicated on the ground. 🎉

This whole process is surprisingly robust, and I've used it to stockpile materials for hours without a hitch. But here's the kicker: while item duping thrives, Nintendo did crack down hard on another exploit in the 1.4.2 update. Players can no longer side-load impossible creations using Switch 1 save file editors and Autobuild QR codes. That was a wild loophole where folks imported custom builds that broke the game's physics—like floating fortresses or invincible weapons—and it's now patched out. Kinda bummed about that, 'cause it was fun to experiment, but it makes sense for fairness in multiplayer or speedruns. 🛠️

Now, let's talk about the bigger picture with this game. The Switch 2 upgrades launched in June 2025 with patch 1.4.0, bringing snappier load times and better visuals, but locking them behind a paywall feels greedy. For solo players like me, it's a minor annoyance, but for competitive folks, it adds pressure to subscribe or pay up. Plus, Nintendo's been dropping smaller fixes since then to iron out glitches introduced in those initial updates. Honestly, it's a constant dance between devs and the community—we find exploits, they patch some, we adapt. 😅

To put things in perspective, here's a quick comparison of the current working exploits vs. the patched ones in Tears of the Kingdom as of mid-2025:

This table shows how SID remains king for efficiency, while the QR code exploit is history. As a dedicated player, I'm all for balancing, but it raises questions: Why leave duping in? Maybe it's Nintendo's way of acknowledging that fans love these shortcuts for casual play. After all, farming hundreds of items manually can be tedious, and glitches like this add a layer of strategy that keeps the game fresh. 💭

Wrapping this up, my mind keeps jumping to the ethical side of things. Should we embrace these glitches as part of the game's charm, or push for a pure experience? I mean, on one hand, they're harmless fun that fosters community sharing—players swap tips and builds all the time. But on the flip side, they could unbalance the game for newcomers or in competitive modes. What do you think? Is Nintendo right to focus on patching only the game-breaking exploits while letting others slide? Or should they overhaul the whole system? Let's chat in the comments—I'd love to hear your take on where Tears of the Kingdom should head next! 🤔