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Depending on whether you choose to go to Gerudo Desert or the Jabul Waters region at the start of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Gerudo Sanctum is either the second or third major Dungeon in the game. But it’s far from easy, and requires players to get past some of the toughest enemies in the early game while hunting down two specific objects.
To get to Gerudo Sanctum, players have to complete the introductory main quest in Gerudo Desert, in which Zelda proves her ability to clear Rifts to the Gerudo Chief. After draining the Gerudo Sanctum of the sand blocking the entrance, Zelda is able to get inside and get to work – this guide explains step-by-step everything you need to do to complete the Gerudo Sanctum dungeon in Echoes of Wisdom, including a strategy guide for its end boss, the Mogryph.
Gerudo Sanctum Echoes of Wisdom Walkthrough
Reaching The Tribute Room
After entering the Gerudo Sanctum dungeon, you will see what appears to be Link just ahead of you. Climb the ladder to reach a 2D sidescrolling area.
Block the Wind Cannon on the bottom-right with a Heavy Echo (like a Boulder) then climb up the right-side climbing wall. Jump over the second Wind Cannon to reach the left-side climbing wall, then jump off. Push the boulder in the way of the Wind Cannon blowing at the top of the ladder, then continue up into the next room.
On the second floor now, you will see a locked door ahead and a room to your left. Make a quick detour to the left to get the Flying Tile Echo, which is one of the best Echoes in Echoes of Wisdom for long-range traversal. Then, go right to go back into the room with the locked door, then right again.
Pull the cord on the left side of the room to open a set of doors on the right side. Pull it to its max distance, then quickly make your way to the upper level on the right side before the doors close.
Heading north, you will find a room that appears completely empty. Use your Bind ability (X button) to grab hold of the heavy stone wall in the middle of the room, and drag it backward to reveal a secret room. Enter the room to find a chest containing a Small Key.
Head back down two rooms and left one to get back to the room with the locked door leading up. Open this door with your new Small Key, pick up the Snake-Statue Echo, then continue into the room to the north.
Most of this room is filled with sand, and you can just about make out some kind of door buried underneath to the north. Don’t worry about this quite yet – just deal with the Mothula (and learn the Mothula Echo) then continue to the room on the left once it opens up.
In this room you can see a chest blocked off by a wall in the middle. You can’t reach this until a bit later in the dungeon, when you can enter through the ceiling using a Holmill summon. Just head south for now.
Get onto the conveyor belts in this room and quickly use your Bind ability to move the boxes blocking your path on the other side of the chasm. This may take a couple tries as the timing can be a bit tricky, but you won’t lose any Hearts for falling.
Enter the ladder into another sidescrolling area. Deal with the Caromadillos in the area with a Pathblade summon or an Urchin, as the Caromadillos will run into these and damage themselves over and over. Use Holmills to dig through the dirt for Treasures in the room, and don’t forget to Learn the Caromadillo Lvl 2 Echo.
Once you exit this sidescrolling area you will find yourself in the Tribute Room. Read the plaque to learn that you need “Seek Two Distinct Tributes” to progress.
First, Get The Elephant Statue
The first of the two Tributes is the Elephant Statue. To get the Elephant Statue in Gerudo Sanctum, you will have to head back outside and around the complex to find another entrance that leads to a separate part of the sanctum.
You can optionally head into the room to the right of the Tribute Room to learn that the Elephant Statue is one of the two required Tributes, but this is not required to progress.
From the Tribute Room, head to the left room to be locked in with a Poe enemy. These enemies fly backward and leave purple flames in their wake every few seconds. Summon a Ranged Echo (like a Spear Moblin or several Crows) to deal with the Poe, or chase it down in Swordfighter Form. You can also use the Caromadillo or a Pathblade to deal with this enemy from afar, as they will catch up with the Poe quickly after being summoned as long as there’s nothing in their way.
Learn the Poe Echo when you beat this enemy, then continue south to head back outside into the Still Gerudo Sanctum area.
To get to the other side of Gerudo Sanctum, you will need to loop all the way around. Head down to reach a bridge that leads to an island south of the Sanctum. Defeat enemies on the way and continue to the left, then up onto another platform. Avoid the enemies on the ground by building objects to reach the top-right side of this island, then head up to find a tower out of alignment.
Use your Bind ability on one of the grips on the bottom of this tower, then walk backward to re-align the Ladder that leads upward. Climb the ladder, then head left and make your way clockwise around the platforms. Watch out for the Tornando enemies that will try to blow you off.
Get to the other side, then head down to reach a lower platform, then head right, and down again to get to the top of the Sanctum – remember to pick up the Waypoint before continuing.
If you have the Holmill echo, you can use it on a patch of dirt on the left side of this rooftop to get to the secret Treasure room from earlier that was previously inaccessible. Once you get this Treasure, simply Fast Travel to the top of the Sanctum again.
From the Waypoint atop Gerudo Sanctum, Echoes of Wisdom players should head right and then drop down to find a second entrance to the inner Sanctum area on the right side of the building.
Once inside, pull the cord on the left side of the room to pull open the doors on the top-right side, then quickly get across the quicksand area before they close. The Gerudo Slippers can come in handy here if you are having trouble getting across fast enough.
The door on the right is locked, but only contains a Clue for the correct statue, and is not necessary to progress. Quickly get through the blocked doors to find a room filled with Cat Statues, Re-Dead, and some Gibdo enemies. Defeat them and learn the Re-Dead, Gibdo, and Cat Statue Echoes for your collection (if not already acquired). Note that the Cat Statue and Snake Statue can’t be used as Tributes for the door, only the Elephant and Hawk.
Once you defeat the enemies in this room, move the top-left-most Cat Statue out of the way to reveal a way forward. Enter this room, then go left (picking up Heart Containers and other materials from the Pots along the way), the continue up to find the Dark Link Mini Boss.
Dark Link Mini Boss Guide
Indeed, the Link that Zelda follows into the dungeon is not Link at all – it’s an impostor! And upon entering this room he will turn around and fire arrows at our heroine. This fight is not as hard as it looks: there are two stages, with one Impostor Link and against three Impostor Links at the same time.
For the first phase against one Dark Link boss, summon a melee enemy close to Dark Link (like a Boarblin or a Darknut) who will immediately start attacking. You can also turn on Swordfighter Mode to easily catch up with the Impostor and hit him. An Impostor Link needs to be hit two or three times before it disappears, depending on the strength of the attack used.
In the second phase, after defeating the single Dark Link, three more Dark Links will appear with the same moveset. They are spread around the room and will fire arrows constantly, so summon a Darknut (or other armored Echo monster) and target one of them and get their attention. If you can distract the other two Dark Links with Echoes, it’s easier to deal with the remaining one.
Enable Swordfighter Form and try to get out of the way of incoming Arrows. Use the environment to your advantage to avoid being shot, and either Spin or Block in Swordfighter Form to deflect the arrows. Don’t be afraid to pop a Smoothie if your Hearts get low.
After defeating all three Impostor Links, a short cutscene will play and the Rift Link will explode into dust, leaving behind a new weapon for your Swordfighter Form: the Bow of Might. When in Swordfighter Form, fire the Bow of Might by pressing the X button. This can be targeted towards enemies that aren’t on the same plane as you.
Continuing To The Elephant Statue
After defeating the Dark Link mini boss, head north to reach a Ladder and continue through the dungeon. In this sidescrolling area, turn on Swordfighter Form and fire arrows at the Beetle Mound to stop enemies from spawning. Then continue forward and get across the gap by building stairs or using the Flying Tile Echo.
Climb up the ladder at the other side of this sidescrolling area to reach the top-right corner of the 2F map. You should see two flamethrowers spewing fire across a conveyor belt that leads to the other side of the room – where the Elephant Statue location can be found.
Summon a large, non-flammable Echo (like any other Statue obtained in this dungeon) and use it to block the flames while standing behind it. Do this for both flamethrowers, on either side of the conveyor belt, to safely reach the other side.
Learn the Elephant Statue Echo, then Fast Travel back to the top of the Sanctum (in the Still World) to get to the Hawk Statue location next.
Hawk Statue Location
After you Fast Travel back to the Waypoint on top of the Gerudo Sanctum, head to the right and jump off the side of the building. Don’t head into the other door like you did for the Elephant Statue, though. Instead, continue heading to the right and across several floating platforms – and lots of Sandshark enemies. Use your Bind skill to pull these out of the wall and continue upward until you reach another mis-aligned Tower.
Once again, use your Bind skill to pull this back into place and re-align the ladder leading upward.
The Hawk Statue location can be found on the top of this north-east-most Tower in the Still World. If you get the Elephant Statue first, and deal with Dark Link, all you have to do once you collect the Hawk Statue is teleport back to the Tribute Room for the last time.
Summon the Elephant Statue and the Hawk Statue Echoes on the two platforms in front of the black stone Tribute door to open it. Inside you will find another plug, like the one in the Cryptic Cavern that revealed the Gerudo Sanctum location.
Pull this plug to drain the sand from the door that leads to the Boss Room. Enter through the hole that the plug was occupying before to find a room with a Big Key Chest, containing the dungeon’s Big Key that allows access to the final boss room.
Gerudo Sanctum Big Key Puzzle
The Big Key puzzle in Gerudo Sanctum is not as simple as it looks. When you grab the small wheel on the bottom-left of the room, Zelda will pull the outermost wheel around about 60 degrees with each turn (1/6 of the way around). Pull this three times so that the line in the blue wall aligns with the line on red floor, facing downward.
The blue wall will then sink into the ground.
The green wall is a bit trickier. Use your Bind skill to pull it into a more suitable position for re-alignment, as the wheel will only turn 1/6 of the way around with each pull, and doesn’t do smaller increments. Pull the green wall directly with your Bind skill to re-align the line, then try using the Wheel again to test whether it will rotate correctly.
If positioned correctly with your Bind skill, it should rotate into place and reveal the Big Key chest. Open the chest to get the Big Key itself, then continue up the stairs in the top-right of the room to reach the Boss Door itself.
As always, don’t forget to pick up the Waypoint found just outside and save your Echoes of Wisdom file. You cannot enter the final boss door without the Big Key, but you can activate this Waypoint early if you want to do some more preparations.
Mogryph Boss Fight Guide
The final boss of the Gerudo Sanctum dungeon is the Mogryph, something like a Hippogryph if it had the body of a Mole. There are two phases to the fight, but they can both be beaten using essentially the same strategy.
In phase one, the Mogryph boss has two major attacks: it will either blast a wave of sand in your direction, or burrow underground and suddenly surface and charge at your current location.
To counter both of these moves, either summon a Statue Echo that you learned during the dungeon, or stand behind one of the four statues in the corners of the room.
The Mogryph boss will also roar and spawn more piles of sand regularly. Use the Wind Blaster Echo to get rid of these if they prove meddlesome.
If you stand behind a Statue while the boss charges, it will crash into the Statue and become stunned for a few seconds. Enable Swordfighter Form and slash away at its exposed belly. Depending on your current Swordfighter Form level, this could take two or even three tries.
After dealing enough damage it will transition to Phase 2 and spawn quicksand throughout the arena. Put on your Gerudo Sandals accessory to counter the quicksand, and keep your eyes on the skies.
In the second phase the Mogryph gains two major moves: it can now spawn Tornadoes that catapult Zelda through the air, and can dive-bomb her current location. It will continue to swipe and try to Charge her after it dives, but you can catch him in either state.
If you place down a Statue or other hard Echo (like a Boulder or even the Wind Cannon) underneath the Mogryph when it is about to land, it will become stunned and open itself up to attacks. This can be tricky to time, but when it rises higher into the sky, look for the shadow on the ground as it comes down. When executed correctly, you can skip the second part of his moveset entirely.
If the Mogryph does land, and begin its swipes and Charge move, simply place a Statue in between you and it to Stun it just like in Phase 1.
Repeat this a few times to beat the Mogryph, earn a Heart Piece, and cleanse the Gerudo Sanctum of its Rift corruption once and for all.