"THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST"
Minimalist Quest FAQ
by Javeman
Version 1.11
[JULY 31ST, 2007] - Version 1.11
- Fixed a small mistake. No biggie.
[JULY 31ST, 2006] - Version 1.1
- Thanks to something that was pointed out to me by Altimadark, and after
going through the game again, I've redone a few portions of the walkthrough
so it can be accomplished without having to temper the sword. Now the game is
beaten by destroying Ganon with the Blue Master Sword.
[JULY 25TH, 2006] - Version 1.05
- Small note added to Final Battle with Ganon.
- E-mail changed.
[JULY 22ND, 2006] - Version 1.0
- First (and hopefully last) version of this guide.
- All sections complete.
- What is this guide?
This guide is to showcase the most challenging way to beat the ever-popular
game "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past". For that, we're skipping a lot
of items and upgrades, making it a very hard quest even for the most skilled
players.
- But why are you doing this?
It's a great way for those who think they can't do anything new with the game
to undust their old cartridge and try something new. This quest is a REAL
challenge, and can be extremely frustrating when you're late in the game and
start dying a lot.
- But... why are you REALLY doing this?
I just got out of my finals and I have lots of times to spare. So there.
- So... this is for skilled players?
Yes. If you've just started with the game for the very first time, this guide
is not gonna help you. In this guide, I assume you have already beaten the
game, which is why there are no specific directions in the walkthrough.
- Are there any glitches used for this quest?
Nope. There's no cheating in this quest.
*********************
2.- ITEMS AND WEAPONS
*********************
Here's a rundown on what we're taking and what we're skipping:
Sword: The game forces you to take the Fighter's Sword (You Uncle at the
sewers) and the Master Sword (Lost Woods after getting the three Pendants).
The Tempered and Golden Swords are completely skippable.
Shield: We're not getting neither the Red Shield nor the Mirror Shield.
Mails: The Blue and Red Mails are entirely disposable. Skip them.
Pegasus Boots: We need these. Can't skip them.
Power Glove/Titan's Mitt: Both are needed. Get them.
Zora's Flippers: Needed as soon as you arrive to Swamp Palace. Buy them.
Moon Pearl: Required to go through the Dark World appropietly. Get it ASAP.
Bow & Arrows/Silver Arrows: We need all of this. Get the Bow & Arrow as soon
as you arrive at the East Palace. The Silver Arrows are only for Ganon, so
wait until the final fight for them (get them as early as possible if you want,
but it's more challenging by saving them for the end). We ARE skipping the
arrow upgrade from Venus at the Pond of Happiness. 30 arrows is more than
enough to beat the game.
Boomerang: This item is very skippable. Don't get it.
Hookshot: Required to navigate Swamp Palace and later dungeons. Get it.
Bomb: Needed all over the place. Get them, but don't upgrade with Venus.
Mushroom/Magic Powder: Not needed. Skip it altogether.
Fire Rod: Needed to navigate Skull Woods. Get it.
Ice Rod: Needed to beat Trinnex. Get it prior to going to Turtle Rock.
Bombos: Not needed. Skip it.
Ether: Required to enter Misery Mire. Go get it.
Quake: Needed to enter Turtle Rock. Get it from the fish at Lake of Ill Omen.
Lamp: Needed for Hyrule Castle. Get it as soon as you start the game.
Magic Hammer: Get it ASAP. It's required to explore the Dark World completely.
Shovel/Flute: Required items. Get everything and free the Duck.
Bug-Catching Net: Skip it. We're going to miss this item a lot.
Book of Mudora: Needed to open the Desert Palace. Get it.
Bottles: We're skipping all four bottles. This is perhaps what adds the most
challenge to this quest.
Cane of Somaria: Needed to fully explore later dungeons. Grab it.
Cane of Byrna: Not a needed item so skip it. We can't get it in this quest
anyway even if we wanted to.
Magic Cape: Comepltely disposable. Skip it.
Magic Mirror: You can't skip this item. So yeah, get it.
Extra Hearts: Skip all 24 Heart Pieces and the Heart Container at the
Sanctuary. We're beating the game with a total of 13 hearts.
Double Magic Meter: We're skipping this too. We can't get it since we're also
skipping the Magic Powder.
***************
3.- WALKTHROUGH
***************
I'm not gonna go into details for the dungeons. I'm assuming you know what to
do so I'm just telling you what to get and what to skip and giving you some
general tips for certain portions of the game.
- Hyrule Castle
Start a new game. Wake up and get the Lamp. Go to Hyrule Castle and enter
through the secret sewer passage as normal. Follow the road to the basements
and rescue Zelda. Remember to skip the Boomerang. Take Zelda to the Throne
Room, navigate the sewers, and leave her at the Sanctuary. Don't open the
chest that's there, as we're skipping all extra hearts.
You can go to Kakariko if you want, but don't get the two Bottles, the Bug-
Catching Net and any of the Heart Pieces. The Boomerang also shows up in a
chest behind a bombable wall (I think, not sure exactly which chest) since you
didn't get it at Hyrule Castle. Get some bombs and rupees, and talk to the kid
if you want to get the location of Sahasrahla.
Go all the way to Sahasrahla's hut and then go to the East Palace. Enter it.
- East Palace
The East Palace isn't all that hard (it IS the first dungeon, after all).
Navigate the Palace normally, getting everything in the process, as you can't
skip anything important from this dungeon. This includes the Bow & Arrows
since we need them to beat the Red Cyclops. They're also useful against the
boss, fire arrows at the Armos Knights and use the sword if you run out. Get
the Heart Container and the Green Pendant.
Go talk to Sahasrahla and he'll give you the Pegasus Boots. Go to Kakariko and
get the Book of Mudora. Go to the Desert Palace, open it, and go inside.
- Desert Palace
It's still pretty much the same thing. Navigate it by getting keys, opening
doors, etc. Get the Big Key and the Power Glove to access the second section.
Remember to ignore the Heart Piece in the ledge outside the palace. Go to the
second section. Remember to light all candles with the lamp to access the boss
room. Slash the Lanmolas with your sword to get a Heart Container and the Blue
Pendant.
Now, if you want, you can go get the Ice Rod. We don't need it until Turtle
Rock but it's your call. You can also get the Flippers if you have enough
money, but we don't need them until the Swamp Palace, so it's your call.
Go to Death Mountain. Follow the road normally and get the Magic Mirror. Go to
the warp tile near spectacle rock and use the Magic Mirror to arrive to
Mountain Tower (careful not to grab the Heart Piece). Enter Mountain Tower.
- Mountain Tower
It's a little tricky, but it's still not that hard. Do everything you need to
do in here as you can't skip anything, so don't forget to get the Moon Pearl.
As an overall tip I'll tell to stay away from the Octopus creatures since they
take out a lot of energy when they hit you, and remember you only have 5 hearts
in your life bar. Keep going your way to the top of the Tower to fight Moldrom.
Be very careful since he's still moving like crazy and falling means starting
the fight all over again. Fortunately there are hearts down there to refill
plenty of times. Slash him in the tail 6 times and get the Heart Container and
the Red Pendant.
Now you can go to the Lost Woods (skip the Mushroom) and get the Master Sword.
You'll get a cry from Zelda saying she's kidnapped from the Sanctuary. Go there
and you'll be late. The Sage will dissappear, and now you have to go back to
Hyrule Castle.
- Hyrule Tower
Enter Hyrule Castle normally and go to the upper bottom left (or right, hope
that made any sense) and slash the barrier at the Tower entrance with the
Master Sword and go in. This place is pretty much straightforward so no real
directions are needed (and I'm assuming you know the way). I'll tell you this:
run from enemies any chance you have because there are a lot of skippable
enemies here. You need to save energy as any mistake could lead to a death,
but don't worry too much, as this place isn't all that hard. Once you arrive to
the top floor you'll find Agahnim who'll make Zelda vanish and he'll run away.
Slash the middle curtain and enter the boss room. Agahnim is still incredibly
easy because any kind of upgrade at this point barely affects the outcome of
this battle. Keep reflecting the fireballs he throws with the Master Sword and
you'll beat him. Watch out for the ice balls and the lightning strike. Once you
beat him he'll send you to the Dark World.
Now that you're in the Dark World is where things get tough. There's nothing
pretty much to do here aside than going to the Dark Palace. So head there. Pay
Kiki 10 rupees so he'll follow you and another 100 so he'll open the Palace for
you. Go inside.
- Dark Palace
The only thing that's kinda tough about this place is the boss fight.
Everything else is avoidable or easy to handle in a fight. You really need to
be careful, though, with the little Helmasaurs and the turtle-like creatures,
they can be tricky when finding them on narrow places. Navigate the whole
dungeon getting the Magic Hammer. When you arrive to Helmasaur King, be VERY
careful because getting hit by this beast takes away lots of health, and we're
STILL with only 6 hearts in the life bar. Throw bombs at his mask (use the
hammer if you run out) and then throw arrows at his green gem in his head. Get
the Heart Container and the first Crystal.
After leaving the Dark Palace, there's some stuff to do. Go get the Flippers
if you haven't done so yet. It's now when we need them. I also reccomend
getting the Flute (by getting the Shovel and digging up in the Light World)
because it'll make things a little faster at this point. Remember to free the
Duck. Now go to the Swamp Palace. Remember to drain the water in the Light
World for the Palace to be walkable in the Dark World.
- Swamp Palace
Believe it or not, this is easier than the Dark Palace. You shouldn't have much
trouble here as most of the fights are avoidable and most enemies are
relatively weak. The flying puddles of water can be annoying, though,
therefore, AVOID. You can navigate the dungeon as normal by draining the water
when required and filling with water certain rooms. You have to get the
Hookshoot since we need it to fully explore this dungeon and the boss fight.
Once you finally arrive to Arrghus, use the Hookshoot to take the spores out of
him and slash them, then use the Sword Spin Attack to hurt him. Easy as pie.
Get the Heart Container and Crystal and leave.
Go back to the Light World and Flute your way to Kakariko. Go to the Lost Woods
and go into the warp to the Dark World. Go into the Skull Woods and into the
dungeon.
- Skull Woods
Things get tough at this point. Skull Woods is tricky to navigate as it has all
of its entrances scattered through the forest, meaning you constantly have to
enter and leave the dungeon. The enemies here are vicious, as they suck out a
lot of your energy if you get hit. Be careful specially with the mummies, they
take away three hearts when they touch you. I'm not giving an exact guide to
navigate this dungeon because you should if you're reading this guide. Just
enter and exit when needed, grab the Fire Rod (required to open the last part
of the dungeon) and get to the boss. Mothula can be a huge pain. It takes out
a lot of your life bar when it hits you. The moving floor and bouncing spikes
certainly don't help. When you first fall, use your Fire Rod until it runs out
and finish it with the sword. Get the Heart container, the Crystal, and leave.
(Note I refer to Mothula as an "it" because I'm not sure if it's male or
female, oh well.)
Now go directly to the Village of Outcasts and pull the Gargoyle's trident. Go
inside into Thieves Town.
- Thieves Town
Not as hard as Skull Woods as it's easier to navigate and the enemies are
slightly weaker. Still no cakewalk. Get everything in the first section, go to
the top floor and bomb the cracked floor behind a fence. Go rescue the Fake
Maiden in the Basements, get the Titans' Mitt, and take the Fake Maiden to the
supposed boss room. Now you have to fight Blind. He's not as hard as Mothula
but it can still be tough to beat. Just keep slashing him with the sword and
avoiding the lasers and fireballs. Careful when the other heads show up
because it becomes a lot harder, just keep slashing him and you'll beat him.
Get the usual stuff and leave the dungeon.
Now, go rescue the Blacksmith. DON'T TEMPER YOUR SWORD. We're doing this
because the Big Bomb won't appear if you don't rescue the Blacksmith. However,
we're not tempering the sword because there's no need to, so we're with the
Master Sword for the rest of the game.
Now warp to Lake Hylia. Go to the entrance to the Pond of Happiness (we're not
getting any upgrades from Venus, so ignore that cave), and enter the warp to
go to the dark World and into the Ice Palace.
- Ice Palace
This place can be a little annoying since it requires a lot of backtracking and
use of magic items to navigate it completely. The Fire Rod will be needed but
it's important you don't abuse it. The first three basements are quite linear
and they don't require much work. Just make your way through them, guarding
yourself from the enemies, particularly those duck-enemies that launch at you.
We're also skipping the Big Treasure here. That's right. DON'T GET THE BLUE
MAIL. Remember in order to solve the puzzle for keeping the last door open, you
need to hit a switch and leave it blue, then do a good deal of backtracking to
push the block into the hole (it HAS to be lower left one, no other one works)
in the room where there's a hole in the middle guarded by blue blocks. After
that you can use it to keep the switch pressed and the door open. Now, it's
important that before fighting Kholdstare your magic meter is full. I repeat,
YOUR MAGIC METER HAS TO BE FULL IN ORDER TO SUCCESFULLY BEAT KHOLDSTARE. You
need to fire the Fire Rod 8 times in order to break the Ice Kholdstare is
sealed inside, which racks up all of your magic meter. After you break the
ice, keep slashing the three eyes with your sword while avoiding the falling
blocks of ice. It will take a while but you can beat it for sure. Get the stuff
you always recieve at this point and exit.
Now, if you haven't done so yet, go get the Ether Medallion. It's required to
open Misery Mire. In case you forgot, it's in Death Mountain left to Mountain
Tower. Once you get it, warp to the Desert and open the portal to go to the
Dark World. Use the Ether Medallion while standing on the symbol and enter the
dungeon.
- Misery Mire
Misery Mire is incredibly easy even without the upgrades. Most of the enemies
are weak (the Wizzrobes are supposed to be super powerful yet they die with one
hit of the Master Sword) and there's no much backtracking involved. Navigate
the dungeon as you normally would, getting everything in the process. The Cane
of Somaria is a needed item so don't even think of skipping it. Again, I'm not
giving out specific details as this dungeon is pretty easy to figure out
(specially just coming out of the Ice Palace which has one of the game's
hardest puzzles). However, be very careful in the darkened area. You need to
keep a switch pressed (use the Cane of Somaria) while avoiding the fireball-
shooting statues (man, those things are ANNOYING!). Keep navigating the dungeon
until you arrive to the boss, Vitreous. This is, by far, the easiest boss in
the game, and one of the poorest excuses for a boss in videogame history. Just
stand in the lower right corner, facing up, and keep slashing your sword.
That's it. The small eyes will come out to get you and they'll meet your moving
sword, they'll all eventually die. Then Vitreous, the big eye, will come just
to be constantly hit by you. And that's it. Get Heart Container, get Crystal
blah blah blah, leave this place now.
If you haven't gotten the Quake Medallion yet, go get it because it's required
to open Turtle Rock. You may get the Big Bomb to open the Fat Fairy Fountain
and get the Silver Arrows, but those aren't needed right now. The only
difference is one particular battle at Ganon's Tower which is made easier with
the Silver Arrows (the Armos Knight rematch) but other than that, it's not much
difference, it's your call. You also have to go get the Ice Rod if you haven't
done so yet.
Now, warp to Death Mountain and make your way to the Warp east to Mountain
Tower. Hammer the pegs in counter-clockwise order to make the Warp appear. Go
into it, open Turtle Rock with the Quake Medallion and go inside.
- Turtle Rock
You're probably thinking: "What?! Turtle Rock with an undoubled Magic Meter, no
chance to refill, unupgraded Sword, and Green Mail? That's freaking
impossible!" Fear not, because beating Turtle Rock with those requirements is
more than possible. In fact, once you know your way through this dungeon,
you'll realize how overrated this place is. Navigate the first big room by
going into every other room in it. In the part where the four candles need to
be lighted remember to light them as you're coming back to the starting point
and lift the skull pot AFTER getting the key so you can leave with your magic
meter fully charged. After this the dungeon is pretty much the same, as there
are enough refills throughout the dungeon to keep you afloat. Ignore the Big
Treasure, because WE'RE SKIPPING THE MIRROR SHIELD. Now, when you get to the
room with many treasures get only the one that is far down, because it is the
only required item (a key). Don't forget to bomb the door down in this room
because it takes you outside the dungeon and works as a halfway point in case
you die. Keep going normally, and when you get to the room before the boss,
PUT THE BLOCK WITH THE CANE OF SOMARIA BEFORE LIFTING THE POTS, that way you'll
arrive with a full magic meter before fighting Trinnex. This is a key factor.
Now, fight Trinnex. This is gonna be long. Chances are you won't beat him on
the first try. You need to use the Fire Rod on the ice head and slash him with
your sword. If you're fast enough, you can slash up until three times for every
time the rod is shot. Once it's done, repeat the process with the Ice Rod on
the fire head. Once that's done, hit Trinnex in the shiny rock with your sword.
Be VERY careful because Trinnex takes away four hearts when it touches you, and
with only 12 hearts in your life bar (assuming you got here complete), Trinnex
will get you on three hits. Also, missing one shot of the Rods (specially the
Ice Rod, which moves slower and therefore harder to time right) will most
likely mean on running out of magic before you can beat the heads, forcing you
to get yourself killed or mirroring your way out of the battle. Be very, VERY
patient and you'll manage to destroy Trinnex. After that, get... do I even
have to tell you what you have to get by this point? Well, I suppose I should
since that's no ordinary Maiden inside that Crystal... eh, anyway, leave this
place.
Make your way to Ganon's Tower by walking to the left. The power of Zelda and
the Maidens will break the barrier and allow you in. Go inside.
- Ganon's Tower
This place is more tedious than anything, but aside from having less hearts, no
refills and upgrades, this is pretty much the same as normal. Navigate the
first floor the same way as normal. When you arrive to the Armos Knights
rematch, use your Arrows to beat them (if you got the Silver Arrows this battle
is a lot easier) and go to the door in the upper wall for the Big Key. SKIP THE
RED MAIL, we're not opening the Big Treasure here! After navigating the first
floor you can keep going up (it's really the Big Key all you need). Now this
part is pretty much linear and doesn't require any extra tips. Just keep going
and you'll make your way through this place. The Lanmolas and Moldrom rematches
shouldn't be much of a problem. If you need energy, in the room with the moving
cannons, you can access a secret room by running towards the two blocks, as the
bounce will send you to an apparently unreachable balcony. OK, keep moving and
you'll reach the boss room. It's Agahnim again! He's still pathetically easy
though. Keep bouncing the fireballs with your Sword, ignore the two fakes, and
you'll beat him quickly. A bat will come out and fly away, use your Duck buddy
to follow him to the Pyramid of Power.
Now, if you haven't done so yet, get the Silver Arrows. After doing so, and
making sure you have a full life bar and magic meter, go to the Pyramid of
Power and fight Ganon.
- Final Battle
Ganon is the same as normal. It's important to know, however, than when using
the Blue Master Sword you can only hit Ganon with a fully charged spin swing.
First phase is easy, just keep avoiding the trident while charging and
unleashing the spin near him. It is recommended, through the WHOLE battle, to
charge the sword NOT facing Ganon, because if you approach him with the sword
pointing directly at him there's a bigger chance of you touching him, therefore
losing valuable heart points. When he starts throwing flaming keeses is when
the battle gets tough. Keep avoiding them while hitting Ganon with the charged
sword. Then it's the phase where Ganon starts destroying the floor. From this
point it takes a determined number of hits for Ganon to be beaten no matter the
sword you use, but the fact you have to still charge and unleash the sword
makes it harder. Beware of the fire keeses, avoid falling off the edge until
you arrive to the "Secret Technique of Darkness" phase. This part is HARD. You
can't harm Ganon while he's briefly blinded because the game doesn't give you
time to light the candles and charge the sword to hit him. So, you need to
light both candles and charge the sword in order to hit him the brief instant
he is visible while firing the keese. Problem is, it's very hard for the slash
to connect without getting yourself hit by the keese. When you manage to hit
Ganon successfully, inmediately fire a Silver Arrow to him. After 4 of these
he'll be toast and you would have beaten the game with the least possible
amount of weapons and items!
Get the Triforce and enjoy the ending with Link wearing a Green Mail and
holding a Blue Master Sword!
Total Games Played: 27 (I told you it was hard)
***************
4.- CURIOSITIES
***************
- Early versions of this guide stated that the Tempered Sword was required to
beat Ganon. This was now proven false and portions of the guide were rewritten
because of this.
- As I said earlier you can't get the Cane of Byrna even if you tried. Having
13 hearts, no refills and wearing the Green Mail kills you before you can make
your way through the cave. I die while I'm lifting the stone block.
- You only need to spend 710 rupees in the game: 500 for the flippers, 10 for
Kiki to follow you, 100 for Kiki to open the Dark Palace, and 100 to buy the
Big Bomb. Everything else is skippable.
- Once you beat the game using this quest, I reccomend copying it to another
file to keep your original accomplishment and using the other file to finish
getting the remaining items. By skipping the Boomerang, you're probably
wondering how to get it. Well, if you go into a house in Kakariko that has a
bombable wall to the right, the Boomerang will be in that chest. But you can
also skip that and go to the Village of Outcasts and enter a small hut (you
need to bomb it to create an entrance), and you'll find the Boomerang there.
If you get it in the Village of Outcasts, you'll get the Red Boomerang right
away.
- You can also skip getting the Lamp at Link's House and wait until you're
inside Hyrule Castle and get in Zelda's cell. It's your call, I didn't mention
this because it hardly makes a difference.
- Finally, if you want to prove yourself as a true Zelda:LttP player, try doing
this quest with zero deaths. Considering it's hard to even do this allowing
yourself to die, imagine doing it on a perfect game. If you do so, get a
picture of the screen with Link having 13 hearts, Green Mail, Blue Master Sword
and 000 as the number of deaths. Good luck!
You may print this guide partially or totally for personal use so it can help
you beat the game, which is the purpose of this guide. You MAY NOT, however,
make money out of this guide by printing and selling it, or any other activity
that constitutes financial earnings.
This guide is Copyright (c) Javier Vera (Javeman) 2006. The only website that's
authorized to publish this guide is GameFAQs. Please do not post it elsewhere
and if you notice anyone doing inappropiatte use of this guide please report it
to me via e-mail [javeman[at]gmail[dot]com].
Many special thanks to Altimadark for catching a mistake regarding the Master
and Tempered Swords and the final battle with Ganon, along with some early help
with this guide.
Special thanks to radblast and TCCPhreak from the GameFAQs message boards for
catching some stuff and helping me in the early stages of this FAQ.
