In The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Hyrule Castle is the fourth major dungeon players will come across. This iconic location is present in just about every mainline Zelda game, and the Echoes of Wisdom Hyrule Castle dungeon is more of a combination of stealth sections and combat than traditional Zelda puzzles.
Though you can choose whether to go to Gerudo Sanctum or the Jabul Ruins in either order, you will be guided to Hyrule Castle after completing the second of these two dungeons. Hyrule Castle is a little bit tricky, especially if you aren’t good at stealth sections, but with the right Echoes these stealth sections are not as bad as they could be.
This guide explains the full route for the Hyrule Castle dungeon in Echoes of Wisdom and offers strategies to beat the final Hyrule Castle dungeon boss: Ganon.
Hyrule Castle Echoes of Wisdom Walkthrough
Entrance Area & First Hyrule Castle Stealth Section
After getting through the Still Hyrule Town area and getting into Hyrule castle, go forward until you see a stair leading down.
You can check out the rooms to the right, if you like, but there’s nothing important here – the room on the far right of this area is actually Zelda’s room, partially split by the Rift.
Enter the stairs to get to the first Stealth section of Hyrule Castle. There are several guards posted in spots around the room, some of which will patrol and walk from one spot to another. These Rift Guards cannot be killed, and any Echoes that you summon to fight them will be instantly destroyed by their attacks. If you are caught by a guard, you will be sent to a sub-zone that you cannot escape until all enemies are defeated.
Guards have three states: no detection, detection, and hunting.
- If there is nothing above a guard’s head, they do not currently see Zelda.
- If there is a question mark, they know something is up. Spawning Echoes in their field of view, or walking into their view for a moment, can trigger this. If they continue to be triggered they may become alerted.
- If there are lines above their head signaling they’ve been alerted, the Guards will hunt Zelda down in her current location. Guards can move faster and jump higher than you think, and will re-route their normal paths to chase Zelda.
Either using the Crates that litter the surroundings or with summoned Echoes that can block vision, move objects with your Bind skill so they block the view and path of these guards.
- The first guard can simply be blocked with one crate placed directly in front
- The second guard patrols but can be blocked off with two crates placed next to each other on the bottom half of the screen
- Block off the guard on the far right on the top of the screen by pushing a crate right in front of it
- Carefully move crates into the enclosed room with the patrolling guard below, and either block it in or quickly dash around the corner on the bottom of the screen
- Block the guard on the top of the screen from the bottom with one last crate and dash to the second part of this Hyrule Castle stealth section
After getting past the first four guards, it gets a little bit trickier. Some Guards will be above you, and can see Zelda from further away (and will drop down to chase her). There is also a section with two guards patrolling in a circle.
- Lock On to the crates on the higher level to the right, then Bind them and move them to the Guard above you. Try to block it in on the bottom and right sides to pass later.
- Climb up onto the right wall with a Trampoline (or other Echo), and look to the right for the patrolling duo Guards.
- The patrolling Guards walk in a counter-clockwise direction. If timed well, you can get right in between them and follow their pace to reach the exit. But it’s much easier to use a Flying Tile Echo to reach the center of the room, then use another to get to the far right side.
Once you exit the Guard patrol room, loop around and enter the stairs on the far right to enter a sidescrolling section. Defeat the Darknuts and enemies that spawn from the Rift Blobs that fly into Zelda, then head down the stairs at the bottom left of the area to get to the next part of the Echoes of Wisdom Hyrule Castle dungeon.
Torches, Gustmasters, & The Hyrule Castle Dungeon Map
After taking the stairs, you will find yourself in a room with some enemies and four torches.
One of these torches is behind bars that can’t be reached normally. But because you should have leveled up Tri enough to get Long Distance Echoes, hold down Y until your beam extends beyond the bar, then release to summon an Ignozol (Fire Slime) next to the Brazier and light it.
On the right side of the room, summon an Ignizol beyond the bars once again, then Bind to it and drag it to the Brazier on the top right of the room.
Finally, light the Torch at the top of the stairs, then long distance summon one final Ignizol on the Brazier on the top left of the room.
Enter the door going up to find an area filled with Gustmasters, an enemy that will periodically open up and emit a huge gust of air. There are a few ways to defeat these enemies, but they can only be damaged when they are emitting gusts. Time a Bombfish well to blast them open, or use the Swordfighter Form’s Bow of Might to take them out from afar. You can also Bind to them and drag them off the edge, but you will have to re-load the room to pick up the Gustmaster Echo.
Defeat the Rift monsters on the way, then enter the room on the right about 3/4 of the way through this hallway. Blow the sand piles away to reveal a chest which, when pulled out of the sand, rewards the Hyrule Castle Dungeon Map.
Exit this room and continue upward to enter the area outside the Throne Room for Hyrule Castle and continue the dungeon.
Small Key In The Second Stealth Section
From here, remember to touch the Waypoint, then continue into the room to the left. Take the stairs on the platform in the middle of the water to reach an underwater area, where the Zora Slippers can come in handy.
You can blast the wall open here with a well-timed Bombfish throw (or by using Bind on a Bombfish that’s about to explode) to get a nifty 50 Rupees from a chest beyond.
Make your way to the left side of this underwater area by using Swordfighter Form to cut away any webs that are in your way. Use a high-level underwater Echo to deal with most of the fish enemies, like Tangler Lvl 2s. You can get the chest in this area for 20 Rupees by cutting away spider webs leading to the middle. Don’t forget to light up any crystals you find along the way to make it easier to see.
Exit this underwater area via a ladder on the top left side to reach the second Hyrule Castle stealth section. This one is a little bit more forgiving, despite there being more Guards.
- Quickly walk in front of the raised platform on the bottom of the screen to avoid being seen by the guard at the top.
- Use the Water Block Echo to create a tower leading up to the top of the platform. Repeatedly cast the Echo on itself to build it upward. You may attract Guards’ attention when you do this, but they can’t get to you inside of the water.
- Once on top of the platform, wait until the guards aren’t interested in you anymore (or create a distraction), then use either the Flying Tile Echo or more Water Blocks to reach the middle of the room to an area closed in by short walls.
- Get behind the short wall at the top of the room to avoid being seen by guards.
- Build another Water Block tower on the platform to the top-right of the central area, then climb on top. Jump over to the platform directly bottom-right to activate a Pressure Plate.
Activating the Pressure Plate will spawn a chest in the middle of the central area. Either retrace your steps to avoid Guards and then jump across the wall to get to the chest, or use a Flying Tile to land directly on top of the chest.
Get the Small Key, then leave the room via the exit on the right however you can. Being caught by Guards will not take away your Small Key, so once you have acquired it, you can also fast travel back to the Waypoint in the area outside the Throne Room.
Once you are back in the area outside the Throne Room, continue to the right. In here you will see an unopenable door on the right side, a Scorpion enemy in the sand, and a Locked Door below on the bottom of the screen.
Use the Small Key on the locked door below the ladder to get to the final part of the Hyrule Castle dungeon and its Big Key location.
Hyrule Castle Big Key Location
You will enter another sidescrolling area after using the Small Key on this door. This area starts off with a Gustmaster that’s easy enough to avoid, and the second half has a Strandtula puzzle. You can completely skip this puzzle by using a Flying Tile to cross the gap, or by building a bridge. If you do decide to go down, use the Strandtula’s webs to climb across the drops, and use your own summoned Standtulas to cross areas that don’t have any webbing.
Climb out of the other side to reach the final room before the Big Key. In here, Zelda must face off against two Darknut enemies and one Ball-and-Chain Trooper.
Ether use Swordfighter Form or your own high-level Echoes to deal with the low-level Darknuts, then turn to the Ball-and-Chain Tropper. When it swings its ball towards Zelda, if she is next to a wall, the ball will become lodged and the Trooper will take a few seconds to dislodge it. Use this time to wail away at it in Swordfighter Form or your own summoned Echoes.
After defeating these enemies, collect the Ball-and-Chain Tropper Echo, then head into the treasure room. In here, you will of course finally find the Hyrule Castle Big Key location, as well as two other nifty rewards: the Frog Ring, and a Golden Egg.
The Frog Ring doubles Zelda’s normal jump height, allowing her to reach higher areas without using Echoes to help.
After collecting your rewards, exit the room where you fought the Darknuts to the left, then continue back to the throne room. Enter the Boss Arena using your Big Key, and prepare to face a familiar foe.
Ganon Boss Guide (Hyrule Castle Version)
After entering the sanctum behind the Throne Room, the false King, Lefte, and Wright will be there waiting for you. After a brief dialogue, they combine forces to summon a Rift version of Ganon.
This fight is relatively straightforward, but nonetheless very difficult thanks to the amount of damage the false Ganon can deal. There are essentially three phases to the fight – in Phase One, Ganon strikes forward and gives lots of opportunities to attack. In Phase Two, Ganon will start throwing his axe at Zelda. In Phase 3, Ganon uses his iconic Rally move, and Zelda can only cause damage after slashing at the ball each time it bounces between her and the Demon King.
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In Phase One, Ganon will spin his axe around, preventing any Ranged damage from coming through, then teleport around the room. After re-appearing, he charges for a second, then stabs forward. He will linger in this pose for a moment, during which you can summon an Echo to help.
- The Ball-and-Chain Tropper you learned before picking up the Boss Key deals a lot of damage if you spawn it right next to Ganon in a vulnerable state.
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In Phase Two, Ganon will keep his previous moves, and also begin to throw his axe across the room, where it will spin in place after damaging anything in its way. Consider using your Summons as a distraction. After reappearing somewhere else in the room, he will linger for a moment before pulling his axe back. If you have an Echo out, though, Ganon might target it instead of you with this move.
- Attack Ganon with your Swordfighter Form attacks (and a Ball-and-Chain Trooper) when he is waiting to pull his axe back. He will teleport away after a few hits, so it may take a few rounds to move on to the next phase
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In Phase Three, Ganon will launch bolts of fire across the room which hone in on Zelda’s location. When these collide with a wall they will explode and leave behind one Energy. Pick these up quickly before Ganon begins the Rally move.
- Ganon will charge up a ball of magic and fire it towards Zelda. It hones in on her location, so you can’t outrun it. Instead, turn on Swordfighter Form and slash at the ball to send it back toward Ganon. He will hit it again, launching it back towards Zelda even faster. Time your slash just right to hit it again, launching it back again and again until you stun Ganon for a few seconds.
Don’t worry too much about running out of Energy during the Ganon boss fight in Echoes of Wisdom. Ganon’s fire bolt attack spawns Energy that Zelda can collect to build her Swordfighter Form meter, and you must use this Form to be able to hit Ganon’s ball attack back at him.
After each time you stun Ganon by hitting his ball back, if you deal enough damage, he will get stronger and gain another hit for the next Rally (marked by another enrage cutscene). The first time, you need to hit the ball back three times to stun Ganon. The second time, you need to Rally with Ganon four times. The third, and final, time, you need to hit the ball back five times. It keeps getting faster and faster with each hit in the sequence.
When Ganon is stunned you can get a lot of hits in, especially if you summon a Ball-and-Chain Trooper while also attacking in Swordfighter Form. Continue Rallying with Ganon until you defeat the false demon king, seal the Rift, and save Hyrule Castle and its town – and get a Heart Container too, of course.