ZELDA II: THE ADVENTURE OF LINK
Copyright 2001 Clasher. All rights reserved. Any attempts to
plagarize will be... handled.

My e-mail address is: j-d-walker@worldnet.att.net .

Zelda II is sort of a part RPG, part adventure game. Unlike all
other Zelda games, instead of moving around from a top view, you
move like in an RPG on the world map, and move in a 2-D setting
when in battles or palaces. It also has over Zelda I the bonuses
of experience and levels, magic power and spells, and a whole new
fight system. Let's go. Note that this is a FAQ, not a
walkthrough, and it's up to YOU to figure out what to do. I will
give you information about all aspects of the game.

***<<<EXPERIENCE AND LEVEL GUIDE>>>***

This, friends, is the ultimate experience and level guide. It
tells you how much experience each enemy gives when beaten, and
then what each level means. Note that sometimes when you beat an
enemy, it instead of giving experience, gives a magic jar or
power bag. Power bags, which are found sometimes when you kill an
enemy, give experience, up to 200. You can also find them lying
around.

Note that many enemies have different colors, orange, red and
blue. Blue is usually the toughest, as in Zelda I. So, DairaO
means an orange Daira. Enemies will be described in detail later.
The number after each enemy is the amount of experience they
give.

ENEMY LIST

Overworld

Bot (type 1) 2
DeelerR 2
MoblinO (type 1) 0
MoblinO (type 2) 10
Geldarm 5
OctorokR 10
Megmat 5
MoblinR 20
Moby 2
DeelerB 10
MoblinB 30
Bago-Bago 3
MoaR (type 1) 30

Tektite 50
Killer Bee 50
MoaR (type 2) 20
Leever 10
OctorokB 20
Fire Dragon 50
LizardmanO 150
Scorpion 150
LizardmanR 100
MoaB 50
LizardmanB 200

Cave

Lowder 3
Ache 3
GoriyaR 20
Acheman 10
GoriyaB 30
DairaO 70
DairaR 100
Myu 3

Palace

Mini-Horsehead 0
StalfosW 30
Skull Ball 50
Hammer Brother 50
IronknuckleO 50
Rope 20
StalfosB (type 1) 30
Skull HeadB 20
IronknuckleR 100
Stone Warrior 100
MoaO 50
StalfosR 70
Skull HeadR 5
IronknuckleB 150
Doomknocker 100
StalfosB (type 2) 70
Fire Dropper 200

DreadhawkR (type 1) 200
Bot (type 2) 10
RopeR 30
Skull HeadO 50
DreadhawkR (type 2) 70
DreadhawkB 100
Giant Skull Ball 0
Giant Bot 0

Boss

Horsehead 50
Helmethead 200
Ironknuckle 300
Carock 300
Gooma 500
Barba 700
Thunderbird 1000
Link's Shadow 0

LEVEL GUIDE

This chart shows how much experience you need to get to each
level. Each time you go up, you get reset to 0. The letter right
of each number tells which ability, life, magic or attack, will
increase when you reach that level.

50 L
100 M
150 L
200 A
300 M
400 L
500 A
700 M
900 L
1200 A
1500 M
1800 L
2200 A
2600 M
3000 L
3500 A
4000 M
5000 L
6000 A
7000 M
8000 A
9000 1-UP

*When you get to a new level, press start and your life, magic or
attack strength goes up one. The maximum for each is eight.

Life - Reduces damage you take when hurt.
Magic - Reduces the amount of magic you use when you cast a
spell.
Attack - Reduces the number of hits an enemy takes before dying.

If you can get 9000 experience, and by then all your abilities
are at 8, you get a 1-UP.
Your abilities all start at 1.

***<<<MAGIC>>>***

In each and every town in the game, there is an opportunity to
learn a spell. Some spells require nothing. Some spells require
something that can be found in the town. Still others require
that you find something outside the town and bring it there. Each
spell causes something to happen, and drains you magic meter. To
refill your magic meter, hit jars with your sword. They are
sometimes dropped by enemies. A blue jar refills one magic
container. A red one refills your entire magic meter. Here are
the spells. Sadly, I am unable to make a chart showing how much
each one uses. This is because: I usually play already beaten
games these days, and there my magic level is at eight, so I've
forgotten how much they use at lower levels. Also, it's kind of
hard to make it to Darunia on magic level 1.

SPELL          WHAT TOWN           EFFECT         COST AT LEVEL 8
Shield       Rauru         « damge on current screen           16
Jump         Ruto          2x jump height on current screen     8
Life         Saria         3 health containers restored        50
Fairy        Mido          Morph into fairy on current screen  40
Fire         Nabooru       Sword shoots fire on current screen 16
Reflect      Darunia       Reflect spells on current screen    16
Spell        Secret Kasuto Enemies become Bots on currentscreen16
Thunder      Visible Kasuto Enemies destroyed on current screen64

Here's how to get each spell:

Shield: Enter the fifth house in Rauru. Now, it's the same as
every other spell. Walk right, into the basement, and talk to the
old wizard to learn the spell.

Jump: There is a cave in the Tantari Desert in the north, to the
east of Ruto. Be sure to have the candle! Go through the cave,
kill the enemies, or just dodge them. Be careful not to fall in
the lava - it kills you. At the end, you will find a trophy. Take
it to a woman in Ruto and she'll let you into her house, where
you learn the spell. You can always tell a woman who needs
something before letting you into her house (which usually
contains a spell) because she'll walk out of the house when you
walk near it, instead of being outside it when you first see her.

Life: One of the houses in Saria is open. Go inside. There are
several of these but it's not hard to find the right one. It
contains nothing but a table. Walk in front of the table and
press B to find a mirror. Take it to the woman who has lost her
mirror and do the usual.

Fairy: A woman in Mido says her daughter is sick. Now, to the
north of Saria is a large swamp. At the north end is a cave
blocked by a boulder. You'll need the hammer. The cave contains
some pretty tough enemies like Dairas, so be careful and enter
with full life. At the end is some medicine. I think you can
figure out what to do now - bring it back to the old woman!

Fire: In Nabooru is a thirsty chick. She's too lazy to go to the
fountain herself, so you'll have to bring the water to her. Walk
in front of the fountain and press B. Ta da! Water! Now, just...

Reflect: Now this will really make those little ones happy. In
the Maze Island, Before going to the Maze Palace, from the
entrance to the maze go south, as far right as possible, then up
and to the dead end. You'll enter a hidden square. Don't bother
fighting the orange Lizardman, he's very, very strong. Instead,
jump over him and bag that lost child over there. Then get the
heck out of there. Then go to Darunia. In case anybody's
wondering, we're going to have a big family reunion now...

Spell: In Secret Kasuto (see the FAQ for where to find it) go
into one of the last houses in town. Aw man, nothing but a
fireplace and some other stuff. Well, we walk in front of the
fireplace, and for some reason press up. Wait, we're in a whole
new area! Go right and a wizard is waiting for you...

Thunder: This spell is in Visible Kasuto. DO NOT get it before
the 3-Rock Palace. If you try, you'll get ripped to pieces by the
blue Moas infesting the place. I can see why they decided to
leave, as the blue Moas are invisible until you get the cross!
And guess where that is located... anyway, it's in the very first
house. (The spell, not the cross, in case you didn't know).
There's nothing else here except smashed buildings and blue Moas,
so just leave.

***<<<TREASURES, SWORD TECHNIQUES AND CONTAINERS>>>***

This will be a long section that covers the eight items and
containers in the game Six of the items are found in palaces, one
each. The other two are in the overworld. The containers are all
found in the overworld, or in caves. There are four heart and
magic containers, and each increases your health or magic bar by
one container. You start with four and must have eight before
beating the game. We'll start with the containers.

MAGIC CONTAINERS:

1. Right below the starting palace is a cave. You'll need to go
around the water to reach it. Inside are Lowders, Octoroks, and a
magic container. I suggest getting this before even getting the
candle, although that is risky as without a candle, the monsters
are mostly invisible.
2. This can be really easy if you know what you're doing, and
almost impossible of you have no idea what you're doing.
IMMEDIATELY after getting the hammer, use it (press A) to bash
the boulder right next to its cave. Then walk onto where the
boulder was, and... wait, what's this? You're falling into a
hidden pit... with a magic container!

3. Even easier. Note that in Maze Island, there are a lot of
squares which take you into battle, but some can be avoided by
going through detours. On one of the detours, which is a corridor
that folds back over itself and takes you by a shortcut with a
battle - it's about midway through - you'll walk into a hidden
hole with a magical vial.

4. In Secret Kasuto, the very first house contains a magic
container. But, as usual, life's just not that easy. You can only
get in by talking to the woman, and she'll only let you in if you
have all the other containers.

HEART CONTAINERS:

1. Due south of Parapa Desert Palace is a long path. As always,
the curious one wins, as going down this path eventually leads to
a small meadow where a heart container and two orange Goriyas
reside. Trouble is, one of the squares en route is a square with
thin ledges and lethal water, and you'll need some fancy footing
to make it across. And just to top it off, there will be some
floating bubbles who can knock you into the water, so have fun.

2. You need the hammer for this. From Rauru, go south, crush that
builder, and continue south. To the east is a cave blocked by a
boulder. No problem, dude. Just walk in, bust the stuffing out of
some Lowders and Myus, and voila!

3. You should get this right before entering the Sea Palace, and
it is very hard to find. In the water, note that there is a
narrow corridor near the palace that you can walk through.
However, there is a hidden and completely inconspicuous exit to
the north. From the palace, go onto the water, and keep trying to
go north, and if you can't go west one step and try again. When
you finally succeed, go north four squares, and then east until
you enter a square with a high ledge. A use of the jump spell and
you've got this one in the bag.

4. East of 3-Rock palace, go along the edge of the desert, just
testing every square on the beach, and eventually you'll find it.

SWORD TECHNIQUES

Downthrust: With this tactic, the game will be a heck of a lot
easier. You can just jump over enemies by jumping and using
downthrust to tap them on the head, and bouncing on your way. It
also makes Skull Balls and Heads much easier. In Mido, you'll see
a very suspicious looking door that's a bit out of reach on the
top of a church... use the Jump spell, you fool! Then go right
and talk to the warrior.

Upthrust: Very useful for killing Moas and other flying monsters.
It's in Darunia. In the second scene (I think) you'll notice the
first house has a chimney on it. Using the Jump spell and other
houses, climb up to there, and go down the chimney. Same as
before.

ITEMS

Candle: You will get absolutely nowhere on your quest without
entering caves. The problem is, without a handy candle (you'd
think, after games like Shadowgate and Dragon Warrior it'd be a
torch) you can't see any monsters in there. So, get it ASAP. It
is in Parapa Desert Palace.

Hammer: They tell you how to get this in Nintendo Power,
remember? Anyway, go through Death Mountain, always choosing
caves to the east when you have a choice, until you reach a
desert. Also don't take the elevator up in the third cave. In the
desert, go west to a cave. It looks a bit suspicious... it's not
in a rock wall. Well, guess what! This is where you find the
hammer! Take the elevator down, go right, and there it is. All
these caves are stuffed full of Dairas, so either have extremely
good swordplay, or make sure you gain levels, to about 4 in life,
I'd say.

Glove: For most of the quest you take it for granted that you can
destroy blocks with your sword, but without this, you can't do
any of that. And blocks are EVERYWHERE in palaces. So, get it,
and get it ASAP. It's in the Swamp Palace.

Raft: No game effect, except when you walk onto the dock at Mido
with it, you'll sail to the eastern half of Hyrule. Look for it
in the Island Palace.

Winged Boots: Again, no real game effect, except to reach the Sea
Palace. You can use it to walk on some water, but most of the
water you can walk on is near the Sea Palace.

Flute: Found in (surprise!) the Sea Palace, again it has no game
effect. You need it to enter the 3- Rock Palace and defeat the
River Devil.

Magic Key: Found in Secret Kasuto. The place is stuffed, huh?
After getting the spell of Spell (!), go to the very end of town.
Hmmm... this place looks a little boring. Let's give it some
help. Cast your new spell, and a building will appear, inside is
the magic key. Now we have NE NEED WHATEVER for any of the keys
in the palaces! A good thing, because there ARE no keys in 3-
Rock Palace.

Cross: Guess where this is found. It's only function is to make
blue Moas visible. Just in case you're wondering, these pests are
everywhere on the road to the Great Palace.

***<<<PALACE GUIDES>>>***

PARAPA DESERT PALACE

How do I get there?: Go through the cave northeast of Rauru (be
careful, you won't be able to see the enemies, but it isn't too
bad) and you'll be in the desert. Go northeast until you reach
the palace (you may want to get the heart container to the south
first).

Where's the item?: From the start go down, right until you see an
elevator, down, and then left until you find the candle.

Key and lock info: One key is directly to the left when you start
a palace, and it is needed to open the lock to the right. All
that's guarding it is a Stalfos. Another lock is before the
candle. To get through it, don't go down the second elevator,
continue right. When you find another elevator, go up (a fairy is
to the left, take it now or later, whenever you need it most).
Then go right, up the steps, and grab a key. Then continue right
to another key, guarded by a Hammer Brother - be careful! Now,
see the dirty cheat section for reasons why you don't beat the
boss yet. For now, just take it for granted that you should exit
the palace the way you came after getting the treasure. When you
leave after getting the candle, you'll have an extra key. Don't
worry - you'll use it in a later palace.

Anything else I should know?: Your attacking strength is very
weak now, so killing the Skull Balls will take so long you'd be
too old a weak to care about experience. So avoid them instead.
If you have trouble with a particular enemy, such as an
Ironknuckle, use Shield when in battle with that foe. The bridge
in the room before the candle will crumble... what, are Link's
boots acidic? Oh well. Getting the power bag here is a bit
dangerous and only worth 50 experience. Guarding the candle is an
Ironknuckle who may give you some trouble if you're unfamiliar
with their strategy.

SWAMP PALACE

How do I get there?: South of Rauru you'll see a huge swamp to
the west. Slog through it as best you can and eventually you'll
reach the palace.

Where's the item?: Go down the elevator one floor. Then go left
as far as possible. Down one floor, then left again and you'll
find the glove.

Key and lock info: There are three locks you must pass through.
Two are guarding the glove, one is in the first passage to the
left of the elevator at the start. One of the keys is in plain
sight in the broken bridge room. The other two are found by
riding the first elevator down. Go left on the second floor and
right on the third floor to reach a key on each. Be careful
though. You'll face some rather hard monsters, like Hammer
Brothers and blue Stalfos. Be careful.

Anything else I should know?: It's impossible to kill the heads
on the ceiling, just dodge the fire they drop. To the right of
the broken bridge room is a room with some blue Skull Heads. Your
best bet for beating them is to jump above them and keep hitting
them with downthrust until they die. Do the same to Skull Balls:
jump above them, and just keep smashing away at them from above.
The broken bridge room is pretty tough - the bridges don't
crumble here, but they are covered with Bots and have gaps which
you must jump over. On your return trip, be careful not to use
downthrust - the glove will break through the blocks and you'll
have a hot bath. In the room before the candle are some falling
blocks which can do two things: give you a big, big headache
(both meanings), and trap you in their walls. Blaze through this
part like crazy if you can. Guarding the glove is a red
Ironknuckle, who can be pretty tough to beat. Use the Shield
spell when fighting him.

ISLAND PALACE

How do I get there?: It's a little complicated. From Mido go down
into the graveyard. DO NOT GET ATTACKED. If you do, just get the
HELL out of there! A lone grave in the middle is the "king's
tomb". From it, go directly south... you'll fall not a hidden
pothole! Problem is, how to get over that huge wall? Use the
Fairy spell and float to victory. Exit the cave, loop around and
you're there.

Where's the item?: Down 1 on the elevator. Then right until you
see another elevator. Go down again, then right as far as
possible to find the raft.

Key and lock info: You'll need to pass only two locks here, both
are guarding the raft. This means you'll come out with an extra
key. One key is in the room with the lava in plain sight. Another
is in plain sight, buried under blocks, just use downthrust and
the glove. Also, before going down the second elevator, go right
one more room. This place is outside, so it seems, and there's
another key. Well, that was TOO easy.

Anything else I should know?: This palace is trouble. The enemies
are the most troublesome part. To deal with Stone Warriors, use
the Shield spell, and don't kill them, they're too hard. Jump
over them and run like mad. (When jumping over something, use
downthrust to bounce off it). If you become good at this, you can
do it without shielding yourself. The orange Moas are impossible
to kill now, just dodge the fire they drop. In the room with
block steps, do not release the Ironknuckles (you probably could
have figured that out). Use the Jump spell - it makes it quicker,
and is needed to reach the room to the right with a key. In the
falling block place, run through without abandon. As for the red
Skull Heads, adjust your shield carefully and stab them, or just
jump over them. Use Shield when battling red Ironknuckles (unless
you're very sure of yourself). The room before the raft has
several lava pits which you must jump over. Don't use Jump, just
use caution. Finally, guarding the raft is... a blue Ironknuckle!
This guy is so hard fighting him, even with shield, will usually
result in you getting killed, until you raise some levels. Best
bet here is to use the Fairy spell, although you can't avoid
getting hit at least twice if you do that.

MAZE PALACE

How do I get there?: Go to Maze Island (through the cave north of
Nabooru, then east as far as possible and onto the bridge).
Traverse the maze and enter the palace.
Where's the item?: Down one (as always), then right until you
reach an elevator, then down one floor. Then again go right, to a
hole. Drop down, and go right to the winged boots. To get out,
drop down another screen, then go left until you find the
elevator. Go back up and you're in familiar territory.

Key and lock info: As long as you don't get lost you'll only
encounter two locks. Now, most of the keys here are appallingly
hard to get. Many are at the end of broken bridges with really
tough enemies like Stone Warriors on them. Use the two excess
keys you got earlier to get through these locks. Also do the
Fairy trick (see the dirty cheat section) if you can't get
through a necessary lock. Never get a single key here, just
don't.

Anything else I should know?: This palace is very short as long
as you don't get lost. You'll meet a new enemy, the type 2 blue
Stalfos. These guys can do a lot of damage, if you feel insecure,
use Shield. You'll encounter in the two rooms guarding the winged
boots a Stone Warrior and blue Ironknuckle. Again, Fairy is your
best bet for the latter. When you drop down the hole, be careful
- the bridges you land on collapse, and if you fall, you must
loop all the way around. Quickly jump to the right and solid
ground. When you drop down again, you'll land on another
crumbling bridge over lava, so just run left (NOT RIGHT) and
you'll do fine, the key is remembering it's there. You probably
won't run into a Doomknocker but if you do, jump over its spells,
you need reflect to kill it and you're really strapped for magic
here.

SEA PALACE

How do I get there?: Walk east from Nabooru onto the water with
the winged boots, as straight shot, just keep going until you
find the palace.

Where's the item?: It's a LOOOOONG way away. Here's what to do:
go down, then right as far as possible, and down again. Then left
as far as possible, down, left until you see an elevator. Down
one floor, then right until you see another elevator. Down, then
finally left until you reach the flute. WHEW!

Key and lock info: The three keys you'll need to pass through the
locks are all in plain sight, but each has a catch. Hey, it could
be worse, though I don't know how... anyway, the first is on top
of a tall wall. To get it, revisit the room after you leave it.
You need to be able to use your sword to get it. The second key
is on a REALLY high ledge. Wait until most of the blocks have
fallen, then take your time and burrow through them and form some
steps up to it. If you can spare the magic, use Jump. The last
one is on top of a ledge you need Jump to reach. It's also
guarded by a red Ironknuckle. Isn't this fun? Oh, and to get
through the last lock, use the Fairy trick.

Anything else I should know?: Oh boy, this place is living heck.
Soon after you start you come across a huge wall. Use Fairy to
get over, and watch out for those darned Skull Balls. The next
room is the toughest one in the entire palace! It is a crumbling
bridge. Think you can cross it while timing your jumps perfectly
to avoid those Skull Heads? If so, you are very brave. If not,
use Fairy - although this put you at practically zero magic. I
say brave it, but forget the power bag. Next up come two red
Ironknuckles. And that's just the beginning. From now on, you'll
have to dodge Fire Droppers - the wizards who drop fire. They
give mega-experience but take a ton of hits, are almost
impossible to hurt, and do massive damage. Take it slow and watch
your step, and just run. Now, jump and stab that statue thingy on
the wall for a much-needed red jar. Go down the elevator. The
next two rooms aren't too hard, but in the second, just go down
the elevator, don't get that power bag - you need your magic. Go
right... oh no! It's a huge dead end! NOT!!! Jump through the
wall - it's... FAKE! You'll just go right through if you jump
into it. This is a real nasty trap. Also, you'll meet a blue
Ironknuckle here - don't cast Fairy, just jump over him as best
you can, maybe cast Shield. Down the elevator. This next room
reminds me of those little dinosaurs in Jurassic Park II - it
seems that the Fire Droppers and red Skull Heads, wouldn't be a
problem, but if you fight, you'll soon be disproved. Just blaze
through and maybe use shield. You're finally in the room with the
flute... oops, we don't have a key. Use the Fairy trick. If you
think that is too dirty for you, get one of the keys back in the
Maze Palace - there's several, one directly above and below the
winged boots. Oh, and guarding the flute is a blue Ironknuckle to
make your life even more happy.

3-ROCK PALACE

How do I get there?: In the desert east of Visible Kasuto, stand
in the middle of those suspicious rocks. Yep, we're gonna do the
same trick as in Zelda I. Play the flute and 3-Rock palace
appears.

Where's the item: From the start go down two floors, then go
right as far as possible (how many time have I said that? Don't
answer). This is like eight rooms, and each one is worse than the
last.

Key and lock info: None whatever! There are no keys whatever in
this palace, except the keys you get from beating the sub-bosses.
Plenty of locks though. Don't worry, you have the magic key (at
least you better!)

Anything else I should know?: Anything else you should know? I'll
be babbling about every room, for crying out loud! A guide for
this palace will be made later - it's so hard it deserves its own
section. Also, note that, since you'll get the magic key before
entering this palace, you'll actually want to get the item and
beat the boss in the same stroke. Enter with full magic and life,
and have all your abilities at 8.

GREAT PALACE

How you get there is covered in its own section, as is a guide
for it. There's no keys, locks, or item. Just note that at the
very beginning is a huge energy field. If you haven't beaten all
the other palaces, this is as far a you're going.

***<<<PALACE BOSSES>>>***

Now before we beat the first five palaces in earnest, we have to
do something - level up to max. Trust me, it's important, so stop
yer whining! Geez! The best place to level up are in the forests
in southeast Hyrule. Fight the Lizardmen there - these guys are
very tough, so if you want to level up somewhere else, go ahead.
After getting to level 8 on all our abilities, go back to West
Hyrule. Here's the guides for each palace:

Parapa Desert Palace: Remember that elevator you took up to reach
some keys (near the fairy)? Go down instead. Then go right. It's
a few rooms away, but the enemies - mostly orange Ironknuckles -
won't pose much of a problem.

Swamp Palace: Go back to the place where you got the glove, only
instead of getting off the elevator to go left, continue down. Go
right to another elevator (enemies will be easy at best). Go down
it and then go right. I suggest against getting that power bag on
the collapsing bridge - it's risky and worthless, remember?

Island Palace: Ride the second elevator in the palace down. We
went right, if you remember, to get the raft? Go left, until you
reach another elevator. The enemies, mainly blue and red
Ironknuckles, will be a little hard, so don't fight if possible
or use Shield. Go down that second elevator and then go right,
through a large block maze room, to the boss.

Maze Palace: Isn't it just WONDERFUL to have a magic key? All you
must do is go (from the start: down, left, down, left, right.
This is quite a trek, but the enemies won't be a problem. You
know how to kill Stalfos and red Ironknuckles, and the
Doomknockers (wizards) can be beaten with Reflect.

Sea Palace: Another epic trek. Be sure to enter with full power,
this is gonna be hard. For starters, go through the palace, the
same way as you did when getting the flute, until you reach the
elevator leading down with a power bag above it. We went down, as
you recall, to get the flute. Instead bypass it. When you come to
another elevator, go up it. All that's left are a few
Ironknuckles.

BOSSES

Parapa Desert Palace: The first boss is Horsehead, a ruatnec with
the head of a horse and the body of a warrior (you could probably
have guessed that). He's the easiest of the bosses, but was
designed to be fought at the beginning of the game. IOW, he's not
easy now, he's PATHETIC. Don't bother casting Shield, just cast
Jump, and, while trying to dodge his club (easy to do) jump and
downthrust the poor guy's pathetic skull. Two hits is all you
need.

Swamp Palace: This is too easy. Helmethead the warrior is a
little more civilized than Horsehead, attacking with a sword and
also spitting fireballs. Don't bother with Shield of Life, and
it's the same as before - Jump, then downthrust twice. Shows he
need to change helmet stores. After hitting him he'll lose a
head, but the head will fly off and shoot fireballs at you! No
matter. Hit him hard and quick and he'll be dead in a matter of
seconds.

Island Palace: This is easily the hardest boss yet, but it's
still a joke, unless you're like half dead entering it. Unlike
the previous fights, you should cast Shield on yourself to lower
damage. Ironknuckle the knight will ride across the screen on a
horse. Stand about 3/4 of the way to the right and as he charges,
jump and downthrust (I'm getting kind of tired of that). Hit or
miss, he'll stop about 1/4 from the left edge of the arena,
giving you more opportunities to hit him with downthrust. Only
two hits and he'll dismount and attack like a normal blue
Ironknuckle. Beat him like you would any blue Ironknuckle, it
shouldn't be too hard.

Maze Palace: Our foe here, Carock the wizard, may look tough, as
he can appear and disappear and shoot spells like nobody's
business. He is actually the easiest palace guardian. Just cast
Reflect on yourself, and probably Shield, and stand in one of the
corners of the screen, and duck. Unless Carock appears right on
you, he won't hurt you, and his spells, well, will not do what he
expected. This battle may take a little while since Carock only
stays vulnerble for a second.

Sea Palace: Yet another pathetic fight. I promise, they'll get
tougher soon! Next up on our bash the heck out of list: Gooma the
giant. This battle is fun, since we'll be stabbing Gooma in his
pathetic crotch (I couldn't possible make this up, folks...) Cast
Shield and Jump immediately. He's very slow and only attacks by
swinging his ball and chain (is he married???), but that can do a
lot of damage. No matter. Ball and chain or chain and ball, you'd
have to be a complete kook to lose to this guy - after he swings
his weapon, run in close, and duck and stab him right where it
hurts. Then he'll swing again... jump over it, for Pete's sake!
Then stab him again. He takes a good bit of damage, though.

***<<<ENEMY GUIDE>>>***

An enemy guide seems out of place in the middle of a FAQ, but I
wanted to do the Great Palace last, so I stuffed some other stuff
in. Here goes:

(in order of appearance)

Overworld

BOT: This guy is PATHETIC. He's a little blob that hops around.
Duck down and stab him. Any attack factor except one will kill
him in one hit, so you shouldn't worry about this guy at all. In
the Great Palace, there is a naive attempt to make the Bot a
menace, but it's a joke. The Great Palace ones can take more
hits, but are still too easy.

DEELER: This is SO easy. It's a spider that hangs in the trees
and lowers itself down to attack, found only in forests. Dodge
their attack, then jump and stab them from the side. Again, any
attack factor but one will do the trick. The blue ones can be a
problem, though. Instead of staying in trees they drop to the
ground and then leap to attack! For them, duck and stab them with
your sword after they jump. If you have it, use upthrust.

MOBLIN: De-ja-vu, Zelda I! There are FOUR different kinds of
Moblins. This is a rare enemy, found almost exclusively in
forests. There's the orange kind that charges at you, the orange
kind that throws its spears at you, the red kind who runs in
close and stabs you, and the blue kind who does all of the above.
All their spears, thrown or not, can be blocked if you're quick
with a shield. Oh yeah, slash the heck out of them when possible.

GELDARM: Another rarity, you don't really need to worry about
tackling these guys. They are found only in deserts in the early
game and are tall, white, and look like cacti. Stab them once to
cut them down to size. Then repeatedly stab their heads to kill.

MEGMAT: Common in plains, forests and caves in southwest Hyrule.
This thing isn't much of a problem, as all it does is bounce
around like heck. It can be annoyingly hard to land a blow,
though.

OCTOROK: Another common foe, and a veteran of Zelda I. He's easy
enough. You'll usually kill him in two hits. He'll jump and spit
rocks at you, which are easily blockable, so just run in and stab
while crouching. In East Hyrule is a slightly stronger version,
the blue. They can move, jump and spit rocks high and low, but
still aren't any kind of threat.

RED MOA: A very hard foe that packs a powerful attack and is hard
to kill. There are two types. The first is seldom seen, as it's
only in graveyards and all it does is fly back and forth, btu can
be very annoying. The other is found in forests and a few swamps
in East Hyrule. It moves slowly, sometimes stopping to open its
eye, then continues moving. It isn't too hard, just stab it when
it's eye is open.

GORIYA: It's a toss-up whether these wolf-like things should be
covered in the cave section, as they are common there too.
There's three types: orange, red and blue. All do the same: they
move back and forth and throw boomerangs. They can cause heavy
damage early in the game, although good shield-movers can block
their boomerangs. The red and blue kinds throw progressively
more. If you have downthrust, use it - it's their Achilles' Heal.

TEKTITE: This jumping spider, found in fields early in East
Hyrule, is a real pain in the ass. Is shoots fireballs and jumps
like nobody's business, can take a lot of abuse, and can only be
hurt at all with the Fire spell.

KILLER BEE: Ha, and you thought the Tektite was bad. This
annoying little bugger flies above you and drops rocks like
there's no tomorrow, and is really, really quick, so scoring hits
is all but impossible. Use upthrust if you're going to fight
them.

FIRE DRAGON: This blue lizard isn't much of a threat as long as
you're good with a shield. Block their fireballs with it. They
can only be hurt by the Fire spell, and can take quite a few
hits.

LEEVER: You'll probably never run into these on your quest as
they are only found in East Hyrule deserts. They aren't hard
either, just jump and downthrust them. They burrow through the
ground.

SCORPION: A hard foe, well, not really hard, but hard to beat,
but gives quite a tidy experience gain. It shoots fireballs which
can't be blocked and do hell-o damage! Even worse, you can only
hurt them when their eye is open.

Cave

LOWDER: Slug-like creature. It's a joke. Squat and stab, or use
downthrust. Killable in one hit.

ACHE: A flying bat that swoops down at you. Not a problem, just
stab from the side, although you must be quick.

ACHEMAN: Again, not much of a problem. Basically an Ache that
swoops down, becomes a dragon and shoots fireballs. Stab it hard
and fast.

BAGO-BAGO: I'm not sure why I'm putting them here, as they are
more common in the overworld. Anyway, this is a fishbone creature
that flies around on bridges, and shoots rocks at you, which are
blockable. Slash him if you really want to, but I suggest just
running away.

DAIRA: Ah yes, the Daira. One of the tougher enemies indeed. Two
kinds. Both have axes, but the orange ones just swing them at you
and red ones hurl them fast and furious. I shudder to think what
the blue Daira is like... anyway, they are common on the caves in
Death Mountain, and can do BIG damage! They can also take a lot
of abuse. Best bet is to use the Shield spell, then attack them
right after they swing their axe. After they swing it, run in,
stab, then move back. For red ones, jump over their axes and try
to stab them. BOTH types require perfect timing to take down.
MYUS: A little spiky critter that can ONLY be damaged by
downthrust. That's the bad news. The good news is, you'll hardly
ever meet them until you have downthrust!

LIZARDMAN: Sometimes found in the overworld, but mostly on the
way to the Great Palace. It is like an Ironknuckle, only much
harder. Use the same Ironknuckle tactics, stab the head, although
that fails to work annoyingly often. They also attack pretty
well, with spears for the orange ones, axes for the red ones, and
thrown axes for the blue ones. Just keep trying to attack, or
better yet, avoid them altogether!

BLUE MOA: An eye thing that is a real thorn in your side. It is
very fast, zipping around the screen, and steals experience.
Thankfully, they are only found on the road to the Great Palace.
Sadly, they are very common there. Oh, and don't even dream of
fighting one until you get the cross, as they're invisible then.

Palace

MINI-HORSEHEAD: Oh, give me a break. This cute little thing
bounces toward you... I actually pity it. Just slash it once.

STALFOS: If you know what you're doing, this can be real easy. If
not, well... anyway, there are many kinds. A direct attack will
be repulsed by their shields, and they also have swords. No
matter. Just duck and as they come close, stab the things in the
legs. I guess their heart isn't in lowering their shield.

SKULL BALL: Not a very serious threat, but can endure LOTS of
hits and is really annoying as it steals magic. It bounces
around, often in important locations. If you want to beat it,
walk right up to it, and keep slashing like heck until it dies. I
loathe this bugger.

HAMMER BROTHER: A... strange creature that throws hammers at you.
The tough part is just getting under the hammer's arc, after
slipping through an opening, stab the source a few times. They DO
take a lot of hits, though.

IRONKNUCKLE: Ah yes, the Ironknuckle. The single most important
enemy to master bashing in the game. There's three types. First,
the orange and red, who attack by charging, then stabbing you
with their swords and adjusting their shield to block your
attacks. To beat them, and their cousins the Lizardmen, you must
jump, and as you come down, stab the head. This is the only
reliable method. Jump, and stab the head. You MUST master this
technique, it's as important as the one-foot jump in Mega Man I,
as Ironknuckles are very common. Oh, I haven't mentioned the blue
kind. This is a very annoying knight, which throws daggers at you
like nobody's business and takes a LOT of hits. Best bet is to
use the Shield spell, and maybe try to jump over than rather than
slug it out.

ROPE: This little snake isn't really bad, it's like an Octorok.
All it does is slither around, spitting fireballs. Block them,
duck, and slash like crazy. Red ones, which are found only in the
Great Palace, are no tougher, except their fireballs can't be
blocked.

SKULL HEAD: This is a really annoying bugger. Interestingly, the
ORANGE type is the toughest. Red ones will move slowly, and shoot
fireballs, and appear in large groups. Your best bet is to run
rather than be slowly bitten up. Blue and orange ones are
basically the same, except orange ones are found only in the
Great Palace. Both bob up and down very quickly, can steal
experience if they hit you, and are very annoying. Downthrust
repeatedly is your best bet.

STONE WARRIOR: A relative of the blue Ironknuckles, and a tad
less civilized. He's just like the Ironknuckles except he throws
axes which return like boomerangs, he takes a lot of damage, and
he is a major hemorrhoid. Shield is a good idea.

ORANGE MOA: Finally, the last Moa! This darned thing is almost
impossible to kill (except maybe with upthrust), you just have to
dodge the fire it drops.

DOOMKNOCKER: A close cousin of the Wizzrobe of Zelda I. He
appears, shoots a spell, and disappears. If you want to bag one
(and you may want to if they are attacking in full force) you
must cast Reflect, and then duck right in front of one and let it
do itself in (for some reason, that didn't sound quite right...)

FIRE DROPPER: Another wizard, only found in the Sea Palace. He'll
appear, drop a fireball, and then disappear. Forget killing them.
He can take about six hits, can do a lot of damage, and is almost
impossible to hit, as he's only vulnerable for half a second. He
pretty much has to appear right on you for you to hurt him.
Beating them requires too much time and energy.

Great Palace enemies are covered in the Great Palace section.

***<<<FAQ>>>***

Q: HELP!!! I can't get the hammer!
A: They covered this in Nintendo Power. You need to talk to Bagu,
the guy in the woods northwest of Saria, before you can get
within a mile of the hammer. Hang around there until you find him
and receive his note. Then go back to Saria. Go to the end of
town. Whoops! A huge unbridged lake... great. Well, enter the
booth nearby, and the river man will look at Bagu's letter and
let you cross. (If you're playing an already beaten game, don't
bother ,just fly over with the Fairy spell). Congratulations -
you have made it to one of the most dangerous places in Hyrule.
Whenever you have a choice, always CHOOSE THE CAVE TO THE EAST.
Otherwise you'll get nowhere. Each cave has really strong enemies
like Dairas and Goriyas. Use Shield on almost every screen -
thankfully, a few red jars are along the trek. After escaping
this place, you'll come out in a desert. Go west... that cave
there looks a bit suspicious, it isn't in a rock wall! Enter,
beat up some Dairas, and the Hammer is yours for keeps. You'd
better develop your levels to life 5, or you will probably get a
good whacking from these guys.

Q: Where the heck is Secret Kasuto?
A: I could say something really revealing here. I'd best bite my
tongue... what's that? Hey, you're SUPPOSED to spill the beans!
Either spill the beans, or I'll spill your intestines? Okay,
okay! Go to southeast Hyrule and that huge forest. In the
northeast corner is a cave. Inside are Tektites and Lizardmen.
Since fighting these guys is suicidal, just run whenever
possible. After coming out the other side... uh oh, nothing here?
Well, stand facing the second forest block from the west in the
second row from the south, and press A. Ta Da! Secret Kasuto.

Q: Where's the best place to send my levels to the moon?
A: Anywhere the enemies are strong enough to give you good
experience, but not so strong they wipe you out. Just pick a good
spot. Early in the game, the swamps in southwest Hyrule are a
good choice, as they have mostly Octoroks, who are easy to kill
and give a lot of experience. Late in the game, the
Lizardman-infested forests in southeast Hyrule are an excellent
place to gain, but only if you get slaughtering Lizardmen down
pat and regularly do so without sustaining any damage.

Q: Where's the Great Palace? I've looked everywhere and had no
luck.
A: Everywhere but south of southeast Hyrule's graveyard, that is!

Q: Any 1-UPS in Zelda II?
A: You bet. Note that you can only get these once EVER, so DO NOT
get them until you're ready to tackle the last two palaces. You
need all the lives you can get! One is one square southwest of
the boulder blocking the cave with the medicine. One is two
squares southwest of the bridge in Maze Island. And another is in
the swamp in southeast Hyrule in the northwest corner (you need
the Jump spell to get it). The last two are in the last two
palaces, one each.

Q: Okay, I'm on the way to the Great Palace. I'm getting
slaughtered by something invisible!
A: Ever thought that there might be an item in the 3-Rock Palace?
Ever thought that you might need to get it? Well, it's the cross,
and it reveals the invisible buggers.

Q: Thank you very much. I'm still getting slaughtered.
A: Well, you need to have all spells and all your levels at
eight, as well as plenty of lives, before taking the Great Palace
on. Also, don't kill everything. If you can, take to the hills
and avoid fighting. The problem is, the enemies are usually in
narrow corridors which means you kind of have to fight them (the
narrowness isn't exactly, handy, either)... and use Shield and
Jump every screen, unless you're a magic miser.

Q: When should I use the Shield spell?
A: When you feel overpowered by an enemy. Problem is, more often
than not, you either take no or very little damage, and waste
magic. Still, use it on your own whims, and remember that Life is
three times as expensive in MP as Shield, and Shield effectively
doubles your life for one screen.

Q: What spells should I use the most?
A: The first four. The last four will only be used in very
specialized situations.

Q: YIPEE!!! I got the Fairy spell!!! Now I can fly around all my
enemies!
A: Sure, waste all your magic. Good idea.

Q: When does giving water get fire?
A: You win the prize for dumbest question. Another gamer pointed
out that to get the Fire spell, you need to give a chick water. I
loathe riddles. And I don't have a lot of time. So shut up with
your stupid questions and give me something interesting.

Q: Where are the containers, items, power bags, that stuff?
A: Are you out of your skull?!? I dedicated a whole section to
the containers and items!!! As for power bags, they aren't really
important, so there. Now, these questions are just so dumb I'm
ending my FAQ right now.

***<<<DIRTY CHEATS>>>***

1. Fairy Trick

Ever just seen a locked door and thought, oh, wouldn't it be
divine if I could just get through that thing? Well, you can, as
a fairy! Problem? Fairy is expensive. Real expensive. And don't
try it if you have any keys, you'll use the key anyway. I suggest
saving up keys in early game sections and using them later on.

2. Not beating palaces

This is the single most important trick in the game! If you don't
beat the palaces, just go in, get the treasure and leave, you: A:
Will not have to go through the annoying at best process of key
searching. B: Have the sheer pleasure of frigging butchering the
early palaces at level 8. C: Get an extra life for every palace
you beat. Isn't it awesome?

3. Replaying the game

This is another terrific trick. If you start an already beaten
game, you'll start with all your levels at 8, all spells and
sword techniques, but all items and containers will be lost.
Then, you can just breeze right through the early game. It's
awesome!

4. Red jars: the secrets

Red jars, which are really hard to find can really restore magic
AND life. When you find one, use Life, then grab it. Or, if you
don't have enough for Life, grab it, and the second you have
enough for Life, use it. You'll restore life, and your bar will
keep refilling. It'll go almost to full.

5. Red jars: the locales

A red jar is located at the beginning of every palace (except
Parapa Desert and Sea Palaces, the latter of which has a nearby
town), just stab the statue. However, it will annoyingly often
become a red Ironknuckle instead of a jar. If that happens, leave
the screen and try again! In the palaces themselves, be sure to
stab every statue, including the ones on the walls (well,
probably not the ones that spit fireballs). Sometimes you'll get
a red jar, sometimes you'll get an enemy. Some can only be
reached with the Jump spell, which makes it a real casino!

6. Chicks: the secrets

In every town (except Rauru, which has only the life lady) are
two gals, one in orange and the other in red. The orange one is
easy to find. The red one is also easy, she'll, instead of
wandering, constantly patrol her dwelling. Talk to either one and
they'll let you into their house. Inside, you'll get your life
(from the red lady) or your magic (from the... guess) restored to
full!!!

7. Fairy: the problems

Beware when in fairy form. You can still get hurt, you can still
die if you're foolish enough to go into lava or water, and you
can't use your sword. This means you are helpless you defeat
enemies, pass through blocks or collect goodies.

8. The spell of... Spell

Spell, the spell, has strange effects. If used, I believe enemies
on screen will either die, or become Bots. Weird, huh?

***<<<3-ROCK PALACE WALKTHROUGH>>>***

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a tough palace. While it's nothing
compared to the Great Palace, it's stuffed full of old buddies
like Ironknuckles and Doomknockers. It's time to nail down some
basics.

-Be sure to use the red jar at the palace entrance opportunity to
refill your magic and life to FULL before proceeding.
-Have all levels at 8, and several lives in reserve.
-Don't use magic unless necessary: save it for Jump and Life.
-Ignore all power bags and enemies. Well, don't ignore enemies as
in walk right through them. I just meant that since we don't need
experience anymore (you'll have more than ten lives by now,
you'll get one for each of the five previous palaces, and should
also be grabbing all three overworld 1-UPS now).
-Since you don't need experience, you can and should try to run
away from your foes and save your strength for places where you
must fight. This doesn't work as well with Ironknuckles, though,
since they can and do follow you if you do get by them.

Alright, let's go - we aren't accomplishing anything by hanging
around the outside, so let's go down the elevator. Ignore the
first floor, nothing's there. Go down again. Uh, a door... no
problem, just walk right through (you DID get the magic key,
didn't you...) Now it gets interesting.

Use Reflect here in this room. There are THREE Doomknockers, and
without Reflect, you'll have a, well, hard time jumping over all
their spells. So kill them. Also, with Reflect active you can
actually block the Stone Warrior's axes, making him very easy.
One room down, a few zillion to go. Next up comes a spot with a
blue Ironknuckle and some holes. Cast Shield if you're desperate,
but I suggest just running in, slashing the Ironknuckle hard and
fast, and either killing him or knocking him into the hole.

For the longest time I thought that if you fell into these holes
you couldn't get back up, but then I realized that if you fall
down past the bottom floor, the pattern repeats and you're
whisked back up here. Nevertheless, cast Jump, you can't get over
the holes without it. See that statue? It's a red jar/Ironknuckle
thing. However, DO NOT TOUCH IT! We'll get it later, but now,
we've hardly started. Next, continue right... Yikes! Another blue
Ironknuckle! We'll kill him later, but for now, just jump over
him after backing him to the steps, and climb up.
</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
The next room you may want to use Reflect in, as there's some
Doomknockers here, but I wouldn't - just jump over their magic.
If you can, jump over the Stalfos rather than kill them (all
though they're way too easy anyway). The fireball streams from
above are almost impossible to dodge, but do almost no damage.
Then... de-ja-vu, Island Palace! A block steps room! Don't
release the things inside their prisons (you could have probably
figured that out). Cast Jump, it makes it a lot easier. Besides,
you need it to get over that gap on the far right. Make me proud:
did you grab that power bag?

Ah yes, the next room. It's a really nasty one. Go on as normal
jumping over Doomknocker spells until you get to the third
Ironknuckle statue. Take a few steps to the right. Move so you're
standing on top of the block two blocks right of the statue. Then
make a huge, Jump-assisted leap to the right and pray you land on
solid ground. What the hell are you worried about, you ask? Well,
a false floor, which happens to drop you into a Doomknocker and
StoneWarrior-infested area. Heck, cast Fairy if you're desperate.

After making it across, you'll enter.. The boss room?!? No, it's
NOT the boss room. This is a sub- boss room, where you'll meet
another MBI, back from the Island Palace! The only reason it's a
boss is to force you to beat him. Same as before, don't bother
casting Shield, Ironknuckle will die in four hits, two to get him
off his mount. After scrapping him, enter the final area to
get... the Cross! Now we have every single item in the game!

Now, get ready for some serious backtracking. Head back all the
way to the room with the two pits, using spells as necessary. You
are probably almost out of magic by now, so you may want to kill
yourself on the trek back. Resist that urge. In the room with the
holes, time to recharge ourselves with that statue! First, trash
the BI (Blue Ironkncukle). Then cast Jump and leap up and stab
the statue. If it's the knight, get the heck out of there and try
again until you run out of magic or get the jar (in the former
case, kill yourself). Then drop down the holes. Nothing but a
power bag here, so drop down again, and this time go right.

Now that we've got the treasure, the real fun begins! First on
your search and destroy mission of Barba (the boss): a BI. Kill
or jump over him and continue. Uh oh, a room with some lava pits
that you've got to leap over. Don't use Jump: the pits are rather
small. Problem: BLUE SKULL HEADS!!! Kill all three BEFORE making
any jumps. Then cross at your leisure. The next room isn't too
bad, it's an orange Moa and some RI's. Oh no. Not a giant, Skull
Ball infested lava pit. The Skull Balls won't be a problem, but
how to get over... use Fairy (you could probably have figured
that out).

A few more enemies in the next room, shouldn't be a problem. That
elevator going down? Forget it. Continue right... ah, another
MBI. You know the drill. Then comes the final room. You'll be on
a ledge and a hole is before you. What do you do? Well, if you
have at least three magic containers, you can just plow on to the
boss. If you don't, cast Jump, jump over the gap, and say hi to a
BI and two Skull Balls. You can't defeat them: run through, grab
a 1-UP at the end there, but it's gonna be a short life... kill
yourself. DO NOT get this if you are not going to kill yourself,
as if you do, the BI and Skull Balls (who can steal magic) will
make short work of you anyway. When you're ready to take on
Barba, drop through the hole. You're in a chasm place... pause
the game NOW! Select Fairy, and use it BEFORE you drop off the
screen. Otherwise, consider yourself Doomknocker and Ironknuckle
food. After casting Fairy, go through that little hole (no, you
CANNOT get through in your normal form) and go right, into a room
with some lava, but with something in it...

BOSS: As we know, there's no such thing as an adventure game
without a dragon. Zelda II lives up to that tradition, with this
next boss, Barba the Dragon.

Finally, a challenge. Barba is not really hard, but he's LONG.
Also very scary. Cast Jump for this battle. Don't cast Shield.
Why? Because if you get hit, you'll die! Die by being knocked
into the lava... the platforms are pretty darned thin. See why
it's so tense? Anyway get onto the middle island. Barba will
randomly rise up on one of the three holes... if he rises on the
far left, ignore him and wait for him to go back down. If he
rises up on either side of you, jump up, and get CLOSE
(practically kissing the creature, not that anybody would want
to, but...) to his head, with the help of Jump, and slash. He
will then shoot a laser beam at you (you'd think it would be a
fireball). Immediately after hitting him, jump to the island away
from him. Then immediately jump again and you'll be cool as ice.
Jump back to the middle island and repeat. Hit him eight times
and he'll sink for good.

***<<<GREAT PALACE: HOW TO GET THERE>>>***

Before you embark on this journey, from which you will never
return, you MUST have: full magic and life, all abilities at 8,
all spells, all items, all palaces beaten, and at least ten
lives. Don't have ten lives? Hang about the nearby forests and
fight Lizardmen. When you're ready, go to southeast Hyrule. Stay
east of the bridge, near the graveyard. Notice the path leading
down south from it? Don't go there just yet. Instead, step into
the swamp and QUICKLY step back onto the path. The wandering
monsters will then hit you on the path, resulting in a no fight.
Then after leaving, QUICKLY (before more monsters attack) head
down through the graveyard into that path, and you'll enter a
battle scene.

The rest of the trek is a mixture of normal battles on a new kind
of terrain, lava field, and also there will be some caves and
battle squares. Here's some basic advice:

-Try not to cast Shield often, unless you absolutely have to, you
need your magic.
-In every battle square except the first, (in which you must
cross a fence dodging flung rocks and a Moa or two) you'll be in
a cave with two orange (in the last one, red) Lizardmen and
plenty of Moas. Also some lava pits. In each and every one, start
off by casting the Jump spell. It makes hitting blue Moas easier,
and it is needed for the final lava pit, and makes the others
much easier to make.
-You sort of have to kill enemies because they will keep hitting
you if you try to run, and you do not, under any circumstances
want to get hit while jumping over a lava pit. You might want to
run in normal battles, though.
-Fighting conditions aren't exactly ideal, because there's plenty
of lava pits, and when fighting Lizardmen, you're often in a thin
corridor, making hitting them hard indeed.
-Now that you can see them, you'd think the blue Moas would be
easy. You'd be quite wrong. They hit for pretty good damage and
can steal experience, but the real problem is their movement,
zipping across the screen at fast speed and changing height,
makes attacking them hard. Since fighting normally is pretty much
out, your best bet is upthrust or downthrust, depending on their
elevation, twice. A few red Moas are also thrown in, and they can
be really annoying.
-The first cave contains nothing but Moas, but the second - your
final challenge - has all colors of Lizardmen and a Scorpion.
-Ah yes, the Lizardmen. When fighting them, be aggressive - don't
cast Shield, just leap and lash their head as best you can, and
keep fighting forward. You'll usually best them. Orange ones
won't be too bad. Red ones are pretty much like orange ones. Only
difference is they take three hits instead of two, and their axes
can't be blocked, but the orange one's spears are very hard to
block, so it's not a problem.
-In a few battles, you'll encounter the very last, and very
hardest, overworld enemy: blue Lizardmen. They are basically red
Lizardmen and red Dairas into one. They throw axes, although not
as fast as Dairas, but otherwise are the same as their cousins,
jump and attack the head.

After the second cave, you'll reach a palace. Let's see... what
could it be...? Now that you've made it to the Great Palace, the
real fun begins!

***<<<GREAT PALACE WALKTHROUGH>>>***

No, there's no magic refill here. Sorry. But there is a giant
energy field before the elevator going down. Yep, the binding
force from the story! However, it won't be a problem, because
you've beaten all the other palaces (at least you'd better!) Now,
the Great Palace is... WEIRD. For one, all the enemies here are
either new outright, or v2.0s of previous enemies. Next, there's
no keys, locks, item, or need to gain experience. Second, there's
a lot more "puzzles" - some of the rooms can be very tricky.

Also, half the palace is a gigantic loop! You'll think you're on
a roll, you're going without fail, then you'll either hit a dead
end, or end up back where you were before, hopelessly lost. So
either meet that rather grisly fate, or follow my directions from
start to Thunderbird. OK? Also there are a few shorter dead ends,
and to ease your suffering, some fairies, red jar opportunities
and a 1- UP.

To start off, when you come to a fork, go left. The path to the
right is a dead end. It's... A DREADHAWK! This younger cousin of
the boss is the toughest enemy group in the game, found only
here. Surprise! This one is the most common, a deep red, type 1
red Dreadhawk, which is, while the easiest, very menacing. It
gives up awesome experience, but if you can, jump over and run.
He can endure like six hits, and attacks by throwing fire. He
throws the fire in an arc like the Hammer Brother, only when it
hits the ground, it remains and sometimes moves. You can try
jumping over the bugger, but you'll probably have an encounter
with his fire as he throws it upward, and it may be more
economical to simply get in close and cut the hell out of him in
the first place.

The next room has a high path and a low path. The high path leads
to the elevator but has a small false floor just after the first
pillar. And on the lower part? A dozen Dreadhawks? No... Bots.
Yes, in the Great Palace, BOTS. These aren't normal Bots though.
They can endure an amazing two hits, and do pretty good damage,
but Bots or Bots, and these guys are easily killed by simply
walking up and chopping away. If you don't have full magic, get
it by killing the Bots, leaving and coming back. They'll
reappear, and every sixth kill you score is worth a blue jar.

Anyway go down the elevator. Do you realize we've spent two
paragraphs talking about two rooms (or three, maybe)? I think we
need to go a little faster. At this fork, go right (the left path
dumps you into the loop). Ah, a nice, enemy-free room to catch
your breath. But paradise just doesn't last that long. Your next
challenge is a red Rope (same as blue, only unblockable
fireballs), some orange Skull Heads (same as blue, only take
additional hit and do more damage) and another of those darned
type 1 red Dreadhawks! And now, there's nada in that Dreadhawk
statue.

Go down the elevator. Unless you conside ornage Skull Heads hard,
this won't be a problem. Just cut through the blocks and keep
going. In the next room, you'll meet (gulp) a TYPE 2 red
Dreadhawk! This guy, while he pails to the blue kind, is really
hard. He can jump and throw knives like nobody's business, gives
alarmingly low experience, but only requires two hits to beat.
That's two too many. Get by him by running under him and climb
the steps. He'll be chasing you, so do this next part very fast.
Jump over or kill the Bot, and quickly cut through the top four
blocks in the column. Then use downthrust and zip down the right
column, and get away from that bird by going down the elevator.

STOP!!! In a small, tiny elevator passage? Well, if it wasn't for
the fact that the left wall, about 1/3 from the bottom, is fake,
I would be nuts, but as it is, go through for a secret area. Yup,
that statue contains a red jar... or maybe a type 2 red
Dreadhawk. In the latter case, RUN! Come back and do it again. It
requires the Jump spell but is worth it, as Jump is very cheap in
magic by now, and a red jar will completely heal you. After
healing up, continue down two more floors... another fork. Right
again (left takes you to the loop). Another type 1 red Dreadhawk
will give you a run for your money.

Another orange Skull Head room, only this time, there IS a red
jar in that statue. We just restored, but why not - just make a
running, normal leap up and stab it. Again, be prepared to run if
it's... not what you want. Refill, and then into the next room
below. Cut through those blocks and defeat the Bots inside with a
thrown sword before doing so. When you reach the other side,
you'll meet the toughest enemy in the game... the blue Dreadhawk.
He's basically a type 2 red one, only all around tougher.
However, this particular one can be beaten with a special trick
(thanks to Nintendo game Atlas for this lovely cheat!)

As you cut through the blocks, leave the FOURTH BLOCK ON THE FAR
RIGHT INTACT. Then stand on it, duck and face the blue bird. As
he jumps at you, slash. You'll hit him in the head, maybe just
use your sword continuously, don't use magic, just sit there,
slashing as he jumps up to you... four hits does him in. Whew, I
thought we were dead! Onward, through more blocks, and into the
next room. Oh no, not a crumbling bridge... complete with a red
Rope. Not a problem, just jump and downthrust the reptile as you
come near, and dodge his fireballs. Then jump over another hole
(the Skull Ball will be a no problem). Roll up the big guns on
these next two rooms...

The first one contains a giant Skull Ball as your first foe. He
can do awesome damage but shouldn't be a problem, just hit him
from below with upthrust until he goes down. He gives no
experience, though... waa waa. Ahhh!!! A blue Dreadhawk! No
blocks here, so instead of fighting, run under him when he jumps
as long as you don't freeze in terror, and get the heck out of
there! As if that wasn't enough, the next room contains ANOTHER
BD. Here, you'll be much more hard-put to escape, but do so
anyway - fighting these guys is sheer suicide. Run under him, and
up those steps fast... you'll get hit by the giant Skull Ball,
sorry. Now get through those blocks, and FAST! Go down the
elevator to escape.

Yep, another red jar here, same as before. Be ready to run and
keep trying with Jump. After your get that lovely vial, go
down... STOP!!! Since we just refilled, there's no point in
grabbing the fairy to the right, but instead go left. Wait fro
the Bots to jump into the lava, or slay them with a thrown sword,
and jump over the small pits. In the next room... no, you're
seeing things! A practically free 1-UP! Bag it and head back to
the elevator and continue down. Going right is a dead end, so go
left. Okay, last Dreadhawk! A type 1 red. Beat it like you always
would, and then continue left.

This is a key room, one that stumps elite gamers time and time
again. It has an upper and a lower half, and no enemies but some
orange Skull Heads. Most people would say that the upper half is
right, after all, it has two ways to get in and out. The lower
half appears to be a dead end. Actually, it's the lower half
we're in now, and that's the right place to be. If you enter from
the left, you'll reach a cut-and dried dead end. If you enter
from above, you'll be only able to exit to the left, and that
eventually takes you right back where you started. So if you're
in the upper half, reset and try again.

Anyway, the lower half is a dead end, right? Right? No, quite
wrong. Don't those blocks look a bit suspicious to you? Well,
downthrust your way through the fifth block from the left... a
false floor! ARGH! You're almost to the end! Go right (left's a
dead end). A huge Bot will fall! Oh man, what to do? Well, use
upthrust and whack it from below. It splits into six normal Bots.
Don't bother killing them, just go right. A last, gasping try for
a trick. Don't cross the crumbling bridge - dead end again.
Enemies are a joke, just a Skull Ball and some Myus. If you don't
rush through, you'll notice in the center is a small gap in the
lava. Drop through, of course! Now, left is a dead end. Go right
to a room with eight pillars and you've made it to Thunderbird.
Breathe a sigh of relief... which quickly turns into a grimace of
alarm!

***<<<FINAL BATTLE(S) AND CONCLUSION>>>***

Thunderbird, the... thundering bird, is your first final foe. He
looks more like an Indian statue than a bird. He is the toughest
boss in the game, much tougher than Link's Shadow coming up. He
will drop a continuous stream of fireballs, which are very hard
to dodge, and do MEGA damage - more than one container, even with
Shield active! Thunderbird himself is harmless, though. Problem
is, he's blood-red, and has no head! And the head is the
vulnerable point for all the bosses, well, many of them at least.
I think it's time for a little change of colors. I'll assume you
enter with full or near-full magic and life - if you don't,
you'll probably just die. Or, kill yourself and then have max.

When he is FULLY ON SCREEN (otherwise the latter won't work) cast
3 spells: Shield, Jump and Thunder. The latter will cause
Thunderbird to turn blue, and give him a head, that is, a
weakness! He'll hover around the room, dropping fire, more and
more after you hit him. Get up to the side of him, make a big
leap and slash the guy on his noggin. Then keep dodging the fire
and look for opportunities to hit him. Thunderbird will go down
after you whack his skull eight times on attack strength 8.

THE END?

No, it's NOT the end! After killing Thunderbird enter the next
room. A dwarfed wizard will cause the triforce to disappear, and
the screen turns purple, and Link's Shadow, of all things, jumps
out from him, comes to life, and begins fighting you!!! This
isn't too hard... Link's Shadow does surprisingly little damage.
Kill yourself immediately, then come back on full stats. Cast
Shield immediately. Then, when you're down to less than two life
containers, cast Life twice, so you actually have 14 life
containers. Link's Shadow will move around, stabbing like crazy,
high and low. He can jump but cannot use, or can be hurt by,
either "thrust" move. Be aggressive, jump, keep trying to attack
his head like you would an Ironknuckle or Lizardman, and
eventually you'll score a hit. Just keep jumping and striking,
jumping and striking. Also if the shadow jumps, note that the
instant he lands, stab him - you'll catch him off guard and
usually score a hit. Link's Shadow is "dead" after (surprise!)
eight solid hits. Congratulations - you have just beaten a
classic. Enjoy the ending and the replay option - you've earned
it.

Once again, PLEASE do not plagiarize, as I hate having to do the
dirty work of handling that, but I will if you try. If you see
this FAQ/walkthrough anywhere else, please notify me if there is
no credit to Clasher.

If you want more Zelda, the only other option on the NES is Zelda
I, and I found that rather crummy. But I have The Legend of
Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES: It's awesome!  And DO enjoy
Zelda II as best you can. Best of luck to you.

Farewell

(End of FAQ)