Zelda II: Adventure of Link

Copyright Nintendo 1987
Written By Brian P. Sulpher
E-mail: briansulpher@hotmail.com
Verion 2.5
Dates Written: November 27th to November 28th, 2002

I dedicate this to my love of the game.  This is the BEST of all the Zelda
games (I do not want e-mails explaining how I am wrong either), hence
writing this guide.

Also, for Cougar.  I miss you, and I hope you are living it up in the
afterlife as you did in this world.  You will always be in my memories, and
you will never be forgotten.

Also, In memory of Howler and Koonce.  You two never had a good start in
your lives, but you had a good time when you spent your time at my house.
It was oh so unfortunate that you both had your already tragic lives cut
short, but I can only hope that I helped make your life a more enjoyable
experience.  You too will be missed, but not forgotten.

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Version 1.0
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-Submitted guide on November 28th, 2002

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Version 1.5
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-Submitted guide on March 21st, 2003
-Added to Riding Blue Ironknuckle section with a new strategy (thanks to the
 multitude of e-mails)

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Version 2.0
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-Submitted guide on February 1st, 2004
-Added in an alternate strategy for Gooma (thanks to GameFAQs user White
 Tiger Shiro for the information)

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Version 2.1
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-Submitted guide on February 1st, 2004
-Altered format to make it easier on the eyes

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Version 2.2
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-Submitted guide on 8th of November, 2005
-I added in Retronintendo and Honestgamers as sites allowed to use my FAQs
-Altered the format to make it easier on the eyes of the reader

-----------
Version 2.3
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-Submitted guide on June 4th, 2006
-I added in a third strategy for the Riding Blue Ironknuckle (thanks to Marc
 Lumsden for his contrubtion)

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Version 2.4
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-Submitted guide on January 8th, 2008
-I added in a third strategy for Gooma (thanks to Jimi for the information)

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Version 2.5
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-Submitted guide on August 9th, 2009
-I added in a second strategy for Thunderbird (thanks to Kyle Shaw for the
 contribution)

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-----------------------------Table Of Contents------------------------------
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1) Horsehead
2) Helmethead
3) Riding Blue Ironknuckle
4) Carock
5) Gooma
6) Barba
7) Thunderbird
8) Dark Link
9) Final Word

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---------------------------------Horsehead----------------------------------
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1) This is the Boss of Palace One.  He will march slowly onto the screen
   where he will begin his slow trek toward you.  If you have the extra
   magic, cast the spell Shield upon yourself (you will take half the damage
   you would normally), Jump also works well if you have problems timing
   your jump to strike Horsehead, and then move forward to take to battle.
   There are two techniques that work well on Horsehead (they will be listed
   under a), and b)).

a) This strategy calls for you to stand in one place, and let Horsehead come
   toward you.  Just as he starts to enter your short sword range, jump and
   stab him in the head.  This will cause him some damage, but it will also
   knock Horsehead backwards, which will take the club swing he was doing
   out of range of you.  Just repeat these steps to put Horsehead down for
   the count.

b) This strategy calls for you to be more aggressive, but it will win the
   battle in a much quicker fashion.   You need to be able to gauge your
   jump accurately, as you will be hopping at Horsehead, strike him as you
   come towards him, and once landing, move out of the range of his club.  I
   feel this strategy has too much risk involved in using it, but it does
   work well if you can control Link well.

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--------------------------------Helmethead----------------------------------
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2) This is the Boss of Palace Two.  He is somewhat similar to Horsehead,
   but he is shorter, and the first two hit he takes will knock his head off
   (they will float in the air sending fireballs down at you).  Once again,
   Shield might be a good spell to use at the start, and then switch over to
   Life so you can recover your low health (if he starts to beat you up).
   There are two techniques that work well on Helmethead (they will be
   listed under a), and b)).

a) This strategy starts out similar to Horsehead A) option, but you will
   have to start moving to avoid the fireballs of the heads.  Knock his
   first head off with a jumping slash, do the same for his second head, and
   then use the Downward Thrust to bounce on the Bosses head.  You will
   quickly make Helmethead submit.

b) The other option is to start the same way by knocking his first two heads
   off of his body, and then you will use jumping slashes to beat him into
   submission.  This option will take longer, but you will have more
   defensive options when you fight this style.

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------------------------Riding Blue Ironknuckle-----------------------------
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3) This is the Boss of Palace Three.  You have run into many Ironknuckles on
   your journey, and this one is a Blue Ironknuckle (you might have tangled
   with one or two in this very same Palace).  The main difference between
   them all is that this guy starts upon a charging horse, and he is a MUCH
   better defender than normal Ironknuckles (who use their shield quite
   well).  Once again, Shield is a great spell to use right at the start,
   and then you are best to save your magic for a Life spell.

a) For the beginning, move to the middle of the room, hold DOWN to prepare
   for a Downward Thrust, and then jump when the mounted monstrosity charges
   at you.  He will keep going across, and you will know if you hurt him if
   you see him flash as he passes.  Keep repeating the pattern of wait and
   Downward Thrust until he dismounts to fight you one-on-one.  It usually
   takes two Downward thrusts to dismount him, but it will sometimes take
   three hits.  Now that he has been unhorsed, you will need to use your
   slash and defend technique you have been developing since you fought your
   first Ironknuckle back in Palace One.  Remember that the best way to
   fight ANY Ironknuckle is to match whatever their sword thrust is, so keep
   swinging your weapon as you match your shield level to the sword swing
   headed your way.  This bad guy is arguably the toughest boss you will
   face in the Six Palaces where you plant the crystals.

b) For the beginning, move to the middle of the room, hold DOWN to prepare
   for a Downward Thrust, and then jump when the mounted monstrosity charges
   at you.  He will keep going across, and you will know if you hurt him if
   you see him flash as he passes.  Keep repeating the pattern of wait and
   Downward Thrust until he dismounts to fight you one-on-one.  It usually
   takes two Downward thrusts to dismount him, but it will sometimes take
   three hits.  Now that he has been unhorsed, you will jump towards the
   Blue Ironknuckle, and swing your sword as link starts to land.  If timed
   correctly, the Blue Ironknuckle will lower his defense because of your
   upcoming crouch, which allows your sword to hit the exposed upper body.
   However, rememebr that you will have to take into account the throwing
   knives of the Blue Ironknuckle, so only attempt this between the various
   flurries of knives.

c) For the beginning, move to the middle of the room, hold DOWN to prepare
   for a Downward Thrust, and then jump when the mounted monstrosity charges
   at you.  He will keep going across, and you will know if you hurt him if
   you see him flash as he passes.  Keep repeating the pattern of wait and
   Downward Thrust until he dismounts to fight you one-on-one.  It usually
   takes two Downward thrusts to dismount him, but it will sometimes take
   three hits.  Now that he has been unhorsed, get close to him and
   purposely take damage (sounds odd I know, but bare with me), followed by
   running right into the Blue Ironknuckle (hard to do due to his retreating
   antics) and perform a Downward Thrust.  If done correctly, half of his
   life meter can be removed, leaving one more round of this to defeat the
   evil creature.

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-----------------------------------Carock-----------------------------------
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4) This is the Boss of Palace Four.  He is a larger version of the Wizzrobes
   that have accosted you in your passage through Palace Four.  He will
   shoot energy waves, disappear, reappear, and then re-enter the cycle.
   Since he moves around so quickly, only one strategy will work well
   against him.  Be sure to cast the Reflect spell before entering battle,
   and have the Life spell on standby in case he starts to hit you.

a) With the Reflect spell cast upon yourself, you will be able to "reflect"
   the energy waves of Carock back at him (this is how you hit and hurt the
   otherwise invincible foe).  As soon as the fight is joined, walk into one
   of the corners of the screen (either side will do nicely), face towards
   the opposite side of the room, and crouch.  Then all you have to do is
   continue to hold DOWN until the boss eventually wipes himself out with
   his own energy waves.  He may appear on top of you, but if he does so,
   just go back into the closest corner, and resume your crouch till Carock
   has met his demise.  Definitely one of the easier Bosses in the game,
   possibly THE easiest as he only requires ONE spell, and for you to hold
   DOWN the whole time!

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-----------------------------------Gooma------------------------------------
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5) This is the Boss of Palace Five.  Like most of the fifth Palace which he
   guards, Gooma is deceptively tougher than your first impression of them.
   No spells are required, but you may WANT to cast Shield before entering
   the Boss room and have your Life spell queued so you can cast it quickly.
   Gooma is a big, mean primate wielding a very wicked Ball and Chain (also
   known as a Mace).  His attack takes a couple seconds to deliver once he
   starts it, so take note of the timing involved.

a) Gooma will enter from the right in a slow, methodical fashion.  Approach
   slowly, wait for him to start whirling his Mace, wait for one second of
   the weapon rotation (this is the hardest part), jump his strike, and then
   land a blow on Gooma's lower body (head shots will not help as they do NO
   damage).  Then you need to repeat the pattern until he is finished (that
   is easier said than done).  Just be ready on that Life spell as he can
   put a huge hurt on you in such a short amount of time!  Gooma ranks up
   there with the Riding Blue Ironknuckle for overall difficulty of the
   Bosses.

b) An alternate strategy id to jump towards Gooma, land a sword slash as you
   land (make sure to crouch), and then leap clear.  However, if you jump in
   too close, you will get knocked backwards, and if he starts whirling his
   Mace as you jump, then you will be smoked as you come towards him.
   Another method of performing this is to use the Jump spell, walk in to
   slash him, and then jump high into the air to move away from Gooma, thus
   assuring Link's safety.  Repeat this set as necessary to defeat the this
   big, bad annoyance.

c) A third strategy for Gooma (from Jimi) is to keep advancing on Gooma,
   making him back up towards the right.  You might get a few hits in at
   this stage, but the point is to back him up towards the right side of the
   screen.  When he's partially off the screen he will be unable to use his
   morning star due to a glitch, but you will be able to hit him.  when he
   takes a hit, he will back all the way off of the screen, so Link should
   stand in front of the nearby pillar.  Gooma will slowly come back on
   screen where Link can hit him again before he gets far enough on screen
   to use his weapon.  Once mastered, Gooma will be unable to attack Link,
   making this a very easy fight to win!

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-----------------------------------Barba------------------------------------
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6) This is the Boss of Palace Six.  Barba is a dragon that lives in the fire
   pits of the Palace.  It is a tall necked, fire-breathing monstrosity, and
   it is all that is left between you and the last crystal placement.  The
   Jump spell is an essential, the Shield spell is useful for cutting damage
   taken in half, and the Reflect spell will block the fire breath of the
   fire dragon (be sure they hit your shield square on though to assure no
   damage).  The following strategy will add dragon slayer to your list of
   accomplishments.

a) Since you already have your Jump spell, Reflect spell, and possibly the
   Shield spell invoked, just get onto the edge of one platform, and start
   stabbing into the air.  If Barba comes out of the pit you are stabbing
   at, he might be damaged as he goes up to full height.  Now you can jump
   up to quickly stab Barba in the head, and then stand there (if he starts
   to use fire breath immediately), or jump to another platform (if he does
   not use fire breath immediately).  After that, try to stab Barba in the
   head once before he dives back into the lava.  Now you just need to
   repeat this cycle to wear the mighty fire dragon down!

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--------------------------------Thunderbird---------------------------------
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7) This is the Boss of the Great Palace.  He appears as a large red being,
   floating majestically onto the screen, but as deadly as anything on the
   planet.  Before you enter the screen, you should check the left side of
   the room BEFORE Thunderbird to see many breakable blocks, and bust them
   till you release either a Red Bird (you should run off screen right away),
   or a Red Jar (refills your magic completely).  This will allow you to
   cast all the spells that will be helpful to you in your battle.  Before
   the battle with Thunderbird, cast the following spells: Shield for half
   damage, Jump for higher jumping to reach the Thunderbird’s face, and
   Reflect to stop most of his fireball attacks.  Then enter to start the
   battle off.

a) As he floats into the screen, he will be red, and you will be unable to
   damage the behemoth.  As soon as he is on the screen, cast the spell
   Thunder to cause a flash of light to make Thunderbird reveal it's
   weakness (his face!).  Now all you have to do is jump up and stab away at
   his face while he continues to rain fiery death upon you (he speeds up
   every time that you hit him), and once he has gone down, you have done
   it!  But wait...  The game has yet to end, so head into the next room to
   find...

b) A very useful technique is to stand on the far right side of the screen,
   where most of Thunderbird's fireballs will not reach the ground!  It is a
   great way to take some bite out of the attack of this floating
   monstrosity as an add on to the strategy above.

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--------------------------------Dark Link-----------------------------------
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8) The ultimate test of your courage!  You enter the room, the Wizard has
   deemed you worthy to finally contend for the Triforce of Courage, but
   first you must face your own dark side!  You must face the EVIL within
   yourself!  You must face DARK LINK!

a) This method of fighting is the easiest way I have come across beating
   Dark Link, and I have yet to lose a battle using it.  Before the battle,
   cast Shield spell upon yourself.  As soon as the battle is joined, run to
   the left side of the screen, turn around, and then just stand there
   swinging your sword rapidly.  Now Dark Link will try to stab you in your
   chest (since he is defending your swings at him), and after a bit of
   this, he will usually try to jump in to attack you.  Unfortunately for
   him, since you are still swinging, you will hit him to knock him
   backwards!  Now he will come back again and again to commit the same
   mistake again and again!  The one thing that he can do to counter this is
   to Downward Thrust into you, but he rarely gets close enough to do so.
   After you kill him, you have succeeded in your mission to recover the
   Triforce of Courage, and you have been able to get the spell lifted off
   of Zelda!  Congratulations!!!

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--------------------------------Final Word----------------------------------
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9) As is the usual, this walkthrough is copyright property of Brian P.
   Sulpher, 2003.  The only website, group, person, etc. to have access to
   post it is www.gamefaqs.com, www.ign.com, www.retronintendo.com, and
   www.honestgamers.com.  You must ask for permission before posting this,
   as doing so without consent is a violation of international copyright
   law.

   If you liked it, hated it, have anything to add, then please E-mail me at
   briansulpher@hotmail.com.  You can also contact me through MSN messenger
   through the same E-mail address.

   I created this FAQ because the one that existed previously was not
   completely correct, and it lacked the proper detail.  I also noticed that
   none of the guides contain very detailed info on the Bosses, so this
   should be more than enough to help out any trouble spots you come across.
   I hope that this will help all of you gamers out there getting ready to
   tackle this classic!