ZC Playing Tricks and Skills

[WindStrike]

This thread is to help inexperienced ZC players - and maybe a few of the more experienced players as well - to learn some of the tricks and skills used by the highly experienced players. Anyone may post their own posts obviously, as some people tend to have tricks of their own that most others don't.

-1) Bombs vs. Enemies:
It's odd that when you bomb a red darknut, it dies, but then when you bomb another red darknut, it doesn't die. Well, there's a system involved in it, but I'll just tell you the important part. When a red darknut (or any enemy, for that matter) heads at you, turn in the same direction that it is coming at you. Then, right before it would hit you, lay a bomb and run off. It does not matter what direction you run off to - just as long as you dropped the bomb in the same direction the darknut was facing.
Note: If the enemy is stronger than a red darknut and is bombed, it won't die, but it will take a considerable amount of damage - 4 wooden sword strikes.

-2) Sword Hitblocks:
When you slash, or even stab, where it hits is right in front of you and yourself. This trick is primarily for fighting darknuts, as no other enemy has a shield that prevents you from attacking it from the front. Go find a red darknut to first practice this trick on. So... given that the darknut charges you from the right or left, face up or down. Then, right when it is about to hit you, slash or stab and then run away. When an enemy takes damage, it cannot harm anything that it physically touches. That said, you can even run over the darknut - this is if you're in a corner and need to get out. And if the darknut comes from above or below, then you face left or right. After enough practice, you should be able to take out darknuts considerably faster than before. Blue darknuts aren't too hard; splitting darknuts take a lot of practice. Obviously, it'd take a god to pull this trick off on a deathknight and then take no damage by the end - that is, without the use of Nayru's Love.
Part 2:
This part deals with bats and keese. Now... this is where you'll need to create yourself a battle arena if you want to master it, because this is harder than the darknut one... especially versus bats. Right before - and this timing must be VERY precise - a keese or bat is about to hit you from behind or from the side, strike. Running in most cases is not neccessary, but if you're fighting bats, then you may have to.

-3) Attacking through objects:
If you're in a room where there are objects or small walls/barricades of 1 tile in height, get BELOW it - above won't help unless it is only half a tile in height. Right when an enemy comes in to attack from above, strike it through the barricade. Now... if it is a darknut that is coming right at you, from the other side, then the timing will need to be a little more precise. Instead of striking it whenever it is just plain in range, wait for the darknut to touch the barricade. Right when it does touch the barricade, strike it. If you strike too soon, it will bounce off. If you strike too late and it heads back up, then you won't reach it... unless you're striking through a height of half a tile.

-4) Bombing yourself:
Believe it or not, this is very useful for several things... unless your health is low. Pretty much, if you're about to get hit by something that just can't seem to dodge (In this case, I'm pretty much referring to Hero of Dreams, because I KNOW this happens a lot), then bomb yourself past it. Obviously, you'll want to be facing the same way that the attack is coming at you. Then bomb yourself. Up to date, the only quest (that I know of)where you may have to use this is in Hero of Dreams (HoD).
Part 2:
Now this involves more than one quest. If you need to get past something that damages you (it cannot be solid though) or past step-triggers as a shortcut, - possibly to reduce damage through a spike maze - bomb yourself over.

-5) One-bomb Aquamentus:
Quickest way to kill an aquamentus in early game: bomb it. Alright... slightly after mid-way between its left and right movements, place the bomb on it. The bomb should explode and hit it twice: the first time is the initial explosion when it is just changing to move towards the other direction; the second time is the lasting part of the explosion, which should hit it while it is at the midway point. It may take a few tries to get the aquamentus in one bomb.
EDIT: As erm2003 pointed out, this is actually a bug. So... instead, just bomb it once and then stab it twice.

-6) Dodongos and Replenishing Bombs:
When a dodongo heads towards you - make sure it's alone - and is in range of being bombed, bomb it. Wait a very small amount of time and lay a second bomb. If timed correctly, (the period in which you can lay the second bomb is actually pretty long, regardless of how short it is) it should explode on top of the dodongo instead of being eaten. You will then see the dodongo stop moving. Strike it with your sword, and when it dies, it will automatically give you 4 bombs. You actually can take out a dodongo in one bomb, where the bomb is laid right next to the dodongo to explode while it is moving and then stab it, but this is a lot harder. Also, when you super bomb a dodongo for it to eat, it will die and give you a super bomb anyways.

-7) Ladders, Holes, and Enemies:
Out of all the tricks, this is probably one of the cheapest... even so, use it anyways, because in this game, you WANT to be cheap and abuse every trick there is. Let's say you're in a room with a lot of strong enemies and holes that you can use your ladder over. Of course, it's going to be harder to do this if there are ranged enemies like wizzrobes, - block the shots, wait for it to get near, and slash it - but it would still be extremely useful. First, get the heck over that hole... while at the same time, hitting everything that's in the way. Second, slash anything that comes near you from the hole. It's that simple... and that darn cheap. It's especially good versus darknuts - we all want to find the best ways to destroy them at all costs.

-8) Slashing with Stabbing:
This one is really tricky... and this applies more to stabbing than slashing, as multi-slashing is harder to pull off. Pretty much, right when you stab in one direction, turn to another direction. The timing on this is EXTREMELY precise and takes a long time to get down, but when done correctly, you will hit in the direction that you first faced and the direction that you faced second... and of course, yourself. The advantage to doing this over standard slashing is that you can hit something in front of and behind you. Real nifty. I don't think I've pulled multi-slashing off much at all, so I'm really not sure on the details of that one.

-9) The Wand without Magic:
If you're using a wand and it runs out of magic, it is still a weapon. In other words, it's a substitute for the white sword until you get it.
[L says: there is a Quest Rule that, if set, renders the Wand useless as a weapon. If you find the Wand fairly early in a quest, then it's likely that this rule is set.]

-10) Stunning Darknuts, Wizzrobes, and Peahats:
Don't you hate how you just can't seem to stun any of these guys (deathknights and mirror wizzrobes are excluded)? Well, you can. Using either the hookshot or the fire boomerang, you can stun darknuts and wizzrobes from the side. However, these darknuts and wizzrobes CANNOT be stunned while on a full tile. So they will have to be stunned while transitioning to another tile. This may be hard at first, but after you try it out quite a few times, you'll get the hang of it. Note that darknuts will be much harder to stun than wizzrobes. Peahats, on the other hand, can only be stunned by the fire boomerang, and this can be at any time. Sayonara to ye peahats!

-11) Link + Hookshot = Invincibility:
It's this simple: Whenever you fire the hookshot, you are invulnerable during that period of time. Even if you're not targeting anything specifically, this can still be used to dodge a projectile or something that's running over you. Also note that when the hookshot comes back at you, anything that is in the vicinity of where you stand is stunned.
[L says: this is a carry-over from A Link to the Past, where it also applied.]

-12) Diagonal Throw of the Boomerang:
This is one of the most essential skills to playing ZC, next to learning that the A button is to stab with your sword and that the B button is to use your items. To do this, just press two adjacent directions at the same time and throw your boomerang. By adjacent, I mean these sets of directions: up-right / down-right / down-left / up-left. There are a ton of tricks with the boomerang, which can arguably make it the best and cheapest weapon in the game, but those are tricks that cannot really be explained clearly.

Those are most of the ones that I know... as I seem to have temporarily forgotten what the others that I know of are. Hope that this helped out a lot, as I'm sure that it did to just about everyone who reads this.

[erm2003]

-5) One-bomb Aquamentus:
Quickest way to kill an aquamentus in early game: bomb it. Alright... slightly after mid-way between its left and right movements, place the bomb on it. The bomb should explode and hit it twice: the first time is the initial explosion when it is just changing to move towards the other direction; the second time is the lasting part of the explosion, which should hit it while it is at the midway point. It may take a few tries to get the aquamentus in one bomb.

Good idea for a thread. I did want to point out though that this tip is actually a bug. One that has been fixed or at least is being worked on in the latest beta. I am also going to report it in the 2.10 thread... thanks for reminding me!

[ShadowTiger]

I -so- want to pin this. So many pinned threads here already though.

Part 2: (Er .. to the bomb-moving.)
Now this involves more than one quest. If you need to get past something that damages you (it cannot be solid though) or past step-triggers as a shortcut, - possibly to reduce damage through a spike maze - bomb yourself over.

I do this all the time, but I don't use the bombs. The bombs are just a way of only using a small amount of health to start the initial movement. They don't do as much damage as a two-damage floor. I think they do half an HC of damage, ... I hope. .. Oh, but anyway, what you do is, bomb-walk onto the spikes, and faces AWAY From the direction you want to go in. You'll cross the field surprisingly quickly. If you're extra daring, you can take a few steps towards the area, then just before you're about to stop flashing, turn around again so you face the other way to be pushed "backwards" again towards the area you want to go, then turn around and move another few paces towards it. Good stuff. Sometimes, depending on how much health you want to be left with, you won't even need the bomb. Just step into the field, and when you're about to stop flashing, face the other way, ... and you'll be there in no time. :)

[Cloral]

Hammer hits above:
When swinging the hammer, if facing to the left or right, Link will hold the hammer over his head for a moment before pounding it to the ground. As he swings it down, it can hit enemies that are located above and slightly in front of him. Take advantage of this to hit enemies you'd rather not line up with.

This is especially effective against Deathknights, as they have a tendency to charge towards you. If you line up with one horizontally and get it to charge, move downwards 1 row and time your hammer swing. If you connect, it will drive it back, and you can hit it again. Repeat until the Deathknight is defeated. This trick is even more useful in rooms where you can force the Deathknight to come at you via a 1 tile-wide horizontal pathway that opens into a larger space, such as this:

*****  *****
*   *  *   *
*   ****   *
*          *
*  L****   *
*   *  *   *
*****  *****

Just stand where the L is and wait for them to come to you. ALTADD has a perfect room for this in it's house of horrors.

[4matsy]

-1) Bombs vs. Enemies:
It's odd that when you bomb a red darknut, it dies, but then when you bomb another red darknut, it doesn't die. Well, there's a system involved in it, but I'll just tell you the important part. When a red darknut (or any enemy, for that matter) heads at you, turn in the same direction that it is coming at you. Then, right before it would hit you, lay a bomb and run off. It does not matter what direction you run off to - just as long as you dropped the bomb in the same direction the darknut was facing.
Note: If the enemy is stronger than a red darknut and is bombed, it won't die, but it will take a considerable amount of damage - 4 wooden sword strikes.

Yeah, I personally hate the way Ninty programmed this.

Basically, the game takes into account the direction Link is facing at the time he laid down the bomb, then applies it to the darknut when the bomb goes off as if it were a sword slash. WTF?

Note though, that since it works this way, you can also drop bombs from a direction that would be to the side of the darknut, too, and still have the damage count. :)

When an enemy takes damage, it cannot harm anything that it physically touches. That said, you can even run over the darknut - this is if you're in a corner and need to get out.

Yeah, I like to use this on Pols Voices. :p

I try to get them moving left or right, then get to the left or right of them and slash away. If we're heading for a wall or corner, I wait until I'm about to be cornered, slash one last time, and run through PV to his other side. HEY RABBIT-FACE, I'M OVER HERE! :rofl:

If you need to get past something that damages you (it cannot be solid though) or past step-triggers as a shortcut, - possibly to reduce damage through a spike maze - bomb yourself over.

If I ever need to do this, I wait for a weak enemy like an Octorok or Moblin to come along and hit me across, then leave them alive in case I need to come back to that screen and need to re-cross from the other side. No need to waste powerful ammo and 2-4 hearts just to find out it's a dead end until I collect later items to pass further...

-7) Ladders, Holes, and Enemies:

YES.

Even better: if the hole is really long, like in some of the original game's dungeons, wait for any blue wizzrobes to go flying lengthwise across the hole, then sword-slash-'n'-beam them multiple times. :)

[B]I don't think I've pulled multi-slashing off much at all, so I'm really not sure on the details of that one.

It happens because there's a small "window of opportunity" while using the sword where you can change the direction Link is facing, as if he were already walking.

But since you can only change directions while aligned perfectly with the 8x8 grid, that's also the only time you can do this pseudo-spin attack. Best to push up against blocks or walls to align yourself with them, so you can be sure you can do this move.

...I usually only use this to clear large clumps of grass/bushes quickly, really. :rofl:

-9) The Wand without Magic:
If you're using a wand and it runs out of magic, it is still a weapon. In other words, it's a substitute for the white sword until you get it.

Yeah. It's also even effective for bosses such as Gleeok and Patra...heck, I think Wizzrobe, Pols Voice, and Ganon are the only enemies that are affected by the sword but not the wand. :p

-12) Diagonal Throw of the Boomerang:

Yeah, diag 'rang throws work wonders for keese/bat/gel killing. You can take out a room of 10 of those guys in about as many seconds. :p

Also, request for this to be PINNED.

YES PLEASE. THIS THREAD IS WIN.

I'm a go type up some enemy-specific strategies. I'll post them once I'm done (likely in a new post, to get around the charater limit and for neatness).

[Nicholas Steel]

-1) Bombs vs. Enemies:
It's odd that when you bomb a red darknut, it dies, but then when you bomb another red darknut, it doesn't die. Well, there's a system involved in it, but I'll just tell you the important part. When a red darknut (or any enemy, for that matter) heads at you, turn in the same direction that it is coming at you. Then, right before it would hit you, lay a bomb and run off. It does not matter what direction you run off to - just as long as you dropped the bomb in the same direction the darknut was facing.
Note: If the enemy is stronger than a red darknut and is bombed, it won't die, but it will take a considerable amount of damage - 4 wooden sword strikes.

not sure if im right but just pointing out that the middle of a bomb blast does more damage then the 8 tiles surrounding.

[4matsy]

Eh, it's 2:30 and I'm pooped. So here's half of those enemy-specific strats I promised...I'll write the other half when I get up later today. :p

EDIT: Finally, finished! Here ya go. Won't fit in one post now though, so the rest is a few posts below. :p

AQUAMENTUS:

1. If you have a magic shield and no long-range attack, stand close and wait to block his shot, then hit him. Stop hitting him when you see him charging up another shot, since you can't block while using your sword or items.
2. If you have a mirror shield, you can just stand there. He'll kill himself eventually. :p Actually, against multiple Aquas stacked up on top of each other, either this or the kill-him-in-one-hit gold arrow is the recommended tactic, as this setup usually only occurs in close-to-the-end-of-the-quest dungeons where conserving health is important.
3. With only the small shield, and no long-range weapons, watching his mouth becomes more important than ever. You'll have to move in, hit, and get out fast if you want to avoid getting blasted. You may want to go ahead and waste a bomb or two killing him fast, to get the fight done with.
4. All of the above tips are assuming, obviously, that the quest you're playing gives some visual indication of when Aqua's gonna fire. If not, just move in and hit like crazy. You'll likely get hurt, but probably not as much as waiting to wild-guess his moves. :p
5. Against an Aqua on both sides of the room, usually as the level 1 boss, it may be best to just concentrate on one of them and kamikaze him ASAP. You usually won't go hitless long enough that sword beams will help much, anyway, since dodging the fire from both sides can be quite a pain. :p

ARMOS:

1. NEVER ACTIVATE FROM BELOW, DUH.
2. Don't activate, period, unless you have a boomerang and/or a weapon that does at least 2 damage. (And not a bomb, either, if there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 Armoses on screen. Too much of a waste. :p) They also NEVER drop items, either.
3. They ALWAYS start out moving down, so always activate them from above. Get the timing down, so you can stun with the boomerang or hit with your weapon (that will knock them south quite a ways :p) right when they start moving--it's about a second's wait.
4. Against multiple pre-activated ones, if the tileset differentiates between the slow and fast ones, identify--and aim your boomerang to stun--the fast ones ASAP. Might be better to pile up most of the fast ones using the 'rang, then drop a bomb to kill them all.

ZOL, GEL, VIRE, KEESE, and BAT:

1. The regular Zol has 2 health. Regular Vire has 4, Zol Tribble (the regrowing kind) and Zol 2 (the fire-dropping kind) have 4, and Vire Tribble has 8.
2. With Zols and Vires, the basic idea is: if you don't remove all their health on the first hit, they'll split into Gels and Keese.
3. If you split the adults, then kill the kids, that will NOT count as a defeated enemy when you return to the room after leaving. Only instant kills count. If you can clump a few together with the wooden or magic boomerang, then bomb them, that'll get rid of them nicely (well...except for Vire Tribbles). Though, bombs may be too wasteful if they're the only powerful-enough weapon you have at the moment.
4. Zols and Vires also have a chance of leaving behind bombs, if you bomb them.
5. Zols change the direction they're facing (if they want to) as soon as they land on a new tile. They can only change directions when fully on a tile.
6. Hitting Zols from the front or back knocks them a good distance. Either try to make your boomerang land on the spot where the Gels will spawn to kill them instantly, or hit the Zols from the sides while they're switching tiles to prevent the knockback and follow up ASAP with another attack to kill the Gels before they can run.
7. Use diagonal boomerang throws to clean up Tribbles and hurt Bats quicker.
8. Magic boomerang, and direct hit with fire boomerang, do 2 damage to Bats. Wooden only does 1. They have 4 health, so the better 'rangs still take 2 throws to kill them...may be better to use a stronger long-range weapon like the silver arrow or magic sword, if you have one (both do 4 damage).
9. The fire variety of the Zol and Gel leaves trails of said painful plasma on the ground for quite a while. Take the hot slimes out first to keep hot floor area to a minimum.
10. Keep in mind that the boomerang can more easily hit multiple enemies on the way back. Keese and Gels are pretty slow, so you can usually take out 2 or 3 with a returning 'rang by moving around to adjust its trajectory.
11. The Tribble enemies in ZC got their name from the similar Star Trek creatures, in that they'll multiply if unchecked: if you don't kill the kids within 4 seconds, they'll turn into adults. So it's important to first go after Tribble kids in a room, if you can identify them.
12. Then again, Tribbles and leave magic jars, like, 80% of the time. If you need lots of magic late-game, intentionally split a few, let them grow back, then split them again, maybe let them grow back and split and grow back again for a bigger batch...and then send a gold arrow through as many of them as you can. Most likely you'll get magic jars galore, probably even a big one.
13. The gold arrow cleans up ALL of these enemies like Dawn does grease. :rofl:

ROPE and BOMBCHU:

1. These guys act the same way, except that Rope 2 and Bombchu have 4 health instead of 1, and Bombchu goes KABLAMMY when he gets too close (long-range attacks FTW).
2. Actually, Bombchu will also explode if you hit him, though not as large of a blast. But even if you DO get caught in it, it does MUCH less damage than the big blast (half a heart, as opposed to 2 whole hearts). Again, long-range attacks FTW.
3. Once they start charging you, they can't change direction until they hit a wall, so keep Rope 2s at bay by smacking them head-on repeatedly.
4. If there's too many of these guys, and the room is too open, you might get some coming in from the sides while you're fending off a line with the head-on approach. You can usually think ahead and time your slashes so that you catch the Ropes coming in from the sides without having to change direction. (Don't try this with Bombchus from the sides, though, or they'll blow up on you before they even get to your sword. )

ROCK and BOULDER:

1. These guys are hard to dodge, the way they suddenly change their bouncing direction. Just try to stay in the biggest space between them...that's really all you can do. :p

BUBBLE:

1. There are four ways to restore your sword or item atfer a red Bubble takes it: get a Triforce piece, step on a fairy flag, drink a potion, or get hit by a blue Bubble. Note, though, that with the new quest rules, some newer quests may disable the first three methods; and the potion method is automatically useless if the culprit is an item bubble, since the potion is itself a B item. :p
2. You CAN stun them with the fire boomerang, but note that you can't get hit by them when they're stunned--only stun the reds and flashers, not the blues!
3. Bubbles, especially in great numbers, can help you avoid damage from harder-hitting enemies. Though this of course should not be applied to red Bubbles, unless you're in some kind of situation where you don't need your sword (e.g., trying to do a swordless run). :p

DARKNUT 1 and 2 (or RED and BLUE):

1. Red has 4 health, is pretty slow, and does 1 heart of damage to you. Blue has 8 health, is a little faster, hits you for 2 hearts, and is generally a pain in the ass during the middle of the quest. :p
2. There are really three main methods of dealing with these guys: hammer is easiest, sword or wand is hardest, and bombs are kinda in the middle.
3. The thing about Darknuts is, frontal attacks other than the hammer will not work. So if you choose to use the sword or bombs, you'll have to hit them from their sides or back.
4. In general, don't attack them from behind. They usually detect you and turn around RIGHT before the attack hits, and run into you. :p
5. The hammer does 4 damage to them regardless of directions. If the hammer hit is head-on, and the quest author turned on the appropriate quest rule, it'll also break their shields, thereby removing their frontal protection from the sword (and possibly bombs, but I haven't tested).
6. There have been a few jokes about how the red Darknuts don't get much of a chance to use their no-shield tiles (only for 1 frame), because the hammer does a one-hit kill. :p So you don't even need to worry about what direction you hit them from if you have the hammer. :)
7. Blue ones, though, it's still recommended that the hammer hit be head-on, so that they get knocked back. You need 2 hammer hits to kill them; and a hammer hit from the side, like the sword or bombs, won't change their movement at all.
8. If you choose (or are forced :p) to use the sword or wand, then you'll need to know a bit more details on their behavior to do well against them. :p Probably the most important point is that, like the Zols, they can only change directions every full tile, so stab into the tile they're arriving at; that way, you can get in some damage AND be able to move away before they can reach you.
9. The "perpendicular stab trick" WindStrike mentioned. If you're facing 90 degrees from the direction a Darknut is approaching you, you can just stab when it's close enough, and it'll get hit. Best when done against walls, and great for narrow hallways. Better range when you learn the slash move for your sword, too.
10. "Abusing the pseudo-3D system", as WindStrike also mentioned. Get below a block (halfway into it), and when they're on the other side you can swing upward through it to hit them.
11. Actually, blocks in general are good cover. You can stab into their arrival tile, AND be certain they won't turn toward you one tile early and confuse you. Best used when you're below a block, in which case you can hit them half a tile earlier than from the other directions. :p
12. The "wand throw". Stab one head-on with the wand, then turn around during the swing. If all went well, they'll get hit, and since it counts as a hit on their BACK, the knockback will send them right through you and out your backside. Also great for narrow hallways. (Actually, this works for the sword, too. But the range is less, so it becomes quite risky. :p)
13. As Cloral said, try having them come from the left or right, stand one tile below, and hit them head-on with the hammer. It'll be as if you were standing directly in line with them, knocking them back and removing their shields.
14. If you've learned the sword slash move, you can hit them from quite far away...if they're coming at you from the left or right, face up or down and slash, and you'll connect. In fact, with proper timing, you can even combine the slash move with the wand throw and hammer techniques: stand one tile below, with them coming from the left or right, wait until they're almost directly above you, slash into them, turn, and they'll get thrown behind you (if they don't turn, which is more likely since they're not exactly in line with you). :rofl:
15. Bombs work oddly against these guys, as WindStrike and I pointed out earlier. The game uses the direction Link was facing when he SET the bomb, then applies it like a sword hit to any Darknut that walks into the explosion. Best to try to get them to walk into bombs from the side.
16. Red Darknuts drop bombs kinda often, and blue ones hearts. Rooms full of blue ones, therefore, are good for refilling your health. If you're careful enough about fighting them, anyway. :p
17. The hookshot and fire boomerang can stun these guys, but only from the back. I personally find it too time-consuming and useless, as they usually only get stunned as the weapon is going through them on the way back, and then they usually get knocked in a direction you didn't want. :p

SUPER/SPLITTING DARKNUT:

1. Has 16 health, does 4 hearts of damage, and is almost as fast as you. Super bombs (which do 16 damage) will NOT kill him instantly, but instead will just split him. (I guess this is because he works differently than Zol and Vire in that all his health must be worn down before he splits...) Note that, because of this, he ALWAYS returns when you leave and re-enter the room, so be ready for him.
2. Because he's so fast, if there's too many of them (like, at least 3) and you think it'd hurt you less to kamikaze them, then do so--get up against a wall and just use bombs or perpendicular sword/wand stabs willy-nilly (probably not the hammer, it's a bit slow).
3. These guys split into 2 BLUE Darknuts. So rooms full of splitters could also be good life refillers, or at least allow you to break even if you chose to kamikaze.
4. If there aren't that many, try to get them into a horizontal line and use head-on hammer hits to keep things simple. :p
5. If you bought extra super bombs to use for big fights, a group of splitting Darknuts might qualify as such a battle. 16 damage, so immediate split if they connect properly. :p

DEATH KNIGHT:

1. Has 30 health, rams you for 10 hearts, shoots you with sword beams for 20 hearts (), and is faster than you. At least he doesn't split into other Darknuts...
2. Unlike the other Darknuts, for this badass I'd actually recommend the fire boomerang or hookshot for stun attempts. Once you connect, get behind him and alternate between stuns and attacks to keep him from recovering.
3. Cloral's hammer trick might be useful here too, but I usually don't even consider the hammer against this guy because it's so slow. :p
4. All of the above is assuming you're fighting only one of these guys. Against 2, kamikaze one first and hope the other one doesn't run into you during that time. Against 3 or more...good luck.
5. If you can't stun him, you'll pretty much HAVE to kamikaze him. If it comes down to this, I don't care how much defensive equipment you have--get your potion ready. This guy can knock off 2.5 hearts a hit with you having a gold ring...if this guy was in the original Zelda 1, and you had max equipment (red ring, 16 hearts, master sword), you'd have to get 8 sword hits on him, while he could potentially kill you in 4...unless you used your potion in time, which would be difficult to gauge in such a fast-paced fight but unfortunately might be necessary if you want to avoid wasting potions. General rule: if you see that the next sword beam of his will kill you, don't hesitate--use the potion. But don't use it before then unless you're sure you can win without that extra hit--you just might need it. :p
6. As with the splitters, if you have an extra super bomb or two, use them. You only need to get two bombs to hit just right, and you've won. :)

DIGDOGGER:

1. One method I've heard is to lay a bomb, IMMEDIATELY switch to the whistle to shrink/split him, then lay another bomb and hopefully kill the kids before they can run anywhere. I don't like this, though, since your timing needs to be pretty good to pull it off.
2. I prefer the boomerang. Just stun all 3 kids as soon as they appear, and keep them stunned in between hits, and you won't have any trouble at all. :p
3. Or use a gold arrow or super bomb on the kids right away; as the kids only have 8 health, it'll kill them all.

DODONGO:

1. As mentioned in the previous posts, that "bomb and stop" trick everyone and their mother knows by now. :p They'll be stunned if they walk into a bomb's explosion, at which point they die by the sword. :p
2. Also mentioned above, death by super bomb always brings a super bomb, even feeding them (death by feeding of regular bombs doesn't always leave 4 regular bombs behind).
3. Get used to this technique. You never know when someone will put you up against a room full of Dodongos early on, when you don't have enough bombs to feed them all to death...

GHINI:

1. Usually not worth the time to kill. :p
2. If you ever need to kill the phantom ones that pop up when you touch graves, only super bombs will do the trick. Stun them with the fire boomerang to clump many together before using the bomb.

GIBDO:

1. This is basically just a more powerful version of Stalfos that drops bombs more often. :p So treat it as such...just don't get too close to him early on, when 2 hearts is a big chunk of your life. :p

GLEEOK:

1. Strangely, while the fire variety's flames CAN be blocked by the mirror shield, NO shield will block the original version's fireballs.
2. Against the original type, if any door is open, there are 3+ heads, and you have full health, it's safest to snipe him from the doorway until you kill him. (Or get hit and lose the beam. Doofus. :p)
3. For either type, even if there's no door, the sword beam can at least allow you to stay near the wall. Unless blocks confine you to a smaller area, the flame-spitting heads get too close, or you've taken off more heads than you think you can track, in which case the below strats are recommended...
4. For the original type, it's possible to stay 2-3 tiles away, run in between fireballs, hit once, and run away before the next fireball comes. But you have to be fairly quick to pull this off without damage, and it gets quite complicated once 2 heads are off...
5. If you have the health to spare, you're up against the flame type with no sword beam, you've simply taken off too many heads and it's getting too random to use any strategy, or--god forbid--several multiple-headers have been stacked on top of each other, then it's kamikaze time. BUT, it's important to kamikaze WELL against a big-name Gleeok. Try to get RIGHT on top of the heads (especially important with the flame type--the flames do 2 hearts of damage, but the heads only 1), facing left or right, and swing. Move back to your position when you get hit, and try not to waste sword swings by having them cancelled by your getting hit right when you hit the button. :p
6. If there's a ladder-hole near Gleeok's heads, then get on it so that you have to TURN TO THE SIDE to best be able to hit the heads. The hits will try to knock you backward, but since you're turned 90 degrees on the ladder, you won't move at all, leaving you free to swing relentlessly. (Except if you get hit to the side, but that doesn't seem to happen much. :p)

GOHMA:

1. If you know a Gohma is in the next room, and the door is aligned with its eye, shoot as soon as you come in. Most of the time, you'll get a free hit. Instant kill for any Gohma 1 (red), or for Gohma 2 (blue) if you have the gold arrow. :p
2. Try to get the timing down for when the fireballs come (for the first 3 Gohmas, anyway--4 only shoots when its eye is open) and the eye opens. You want to move back and forth to avoid the fire (you usually HAVE to, since no shield blocks Gohma fireballs, although the mirror shield WILL block Gohma 4's flames), but you also want to be ready to nail the eye when it opens.
3. Actually, against Gohma 4, you probably already have the mirror shield and loads of health, so you could just stand in a spot where you think you'll easily get multiple hits on the eye when it opens and ignore the flames. :p
4. Really, for ALL Gohmas, if you have the required quickness, try for multiple hits during one round of open eye. You can get in all 3 arrows if you're fast enough. :)

GORIYA 1 and 2 (or RED and BLUE):

1. Like the Darknuts, red often drops bombs and blue often drops hearts.
2. In older versions, they used to pause before throwing their boomerangs. This wasn't in accordance with the original game's behavior, though, so now the pause has been removed, making them much more dangerous. So don't count on this warning. :p
3. It's recommended to attack them vertically, from half a tile to the right, so that their boomerangs don't hit you, even if it looks like they should...it used to be that half a tile to either side was fine, but as with the pause, recent betas changed this so that getting hit by a vertical 'rang when you're half a tile to the left of it now connects, so best stick with the right side for attacking. If you must take them on horizontally, stun them with your own 'rang or keep them at bay with long-range stuff.
4. One other good way, especially if you're pressed for time by other dangers in the room, is to stun them, then attack from the side to avoid them getting knocked back.
5. In your mind, draw imaginary lines going up, down, left, and right from each Goriya in the room, and avoid them. Basically, just try to stay out of alignment with any Goriyas until you can get a clear chance to kill some.

Other half of the enemy strats...

GORIYA 3:

1. Stun ASAP. Or use long-range attacks, but be ready to dodge or block AT ALL TIMES, as he can directly target you from ANYWHERE on screen, and his 'rang is hella fast.

[*b*]

LOADING A CUSTOM QUEST:

Open zelda-w.exe (the player)
-Select 'REGISTER YOUR NAME' and press Enter/Return
-Type in the name you want, and press Enter/Return
-Press Alt
-Press Alt again
-Browse for the file you want, click it, then click OK
-Press Enter/Return
-Enjoy

Don't deny it, this is a handy trick to know

[Dark Nation]

It's handy to have memorized, sure, but it's not really a trick. :p

[elise]

I think there is some real good info in this thread for the ( new) players , can it be a sticky one in the " Quest Announcement/Discussion " forum that is the place the players are active if they have a question about gameplay