ZZZZZZZ EEEEEEEE L DDDD A /\ Z E L D D A A / \ Z E L D D A A / \ Z EEEEEEEE L D D AAAAAAA /______\ Z E L D D A A /\ /\ Z E L D D A A / \ / \ ZZZZZZZ EEEEEEEE LLLLLLL DDDD A A / \ / \ /______\/______\ A Link to the Past (GBA) Swordless guide (C) 2006 J. L. Garber, A.K.A. LinkTheValiant ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 1.0 1-14-06 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILERWARNINGSPOILERWARNINGSPOILERWARNINGSPOILERWARNINGSPOILERWARNINGSPOILERW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't refrain from spoilers in this guide. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. You should already have beaten this game several times so you are familiar with it and know what you are supposed to do. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT rip this guide off. I spent a good deal of time trying to figure this type of game out. This is my work and I don't wish to be ripped off. If you want to write a guide for LttP, do your own work or ask me for permission to use mine. Only Gamefaqs.com (and its affiliates) may host this guide. NO EXCEPTIONS! DO NOT ask me for permission. You WILL NOT receive it. Sorry. Company policy. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Version Info $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Version 1.0 (1-14-06) I've finished the guide. It's complete but bare-bones. Feel free to e-mail me if you notice any glaring mistakes or missing info. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The point of this guide %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "So, what's the point here?" Glad you asked. I'm here to instruct you how to play through the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA version) without geting the sword. "Wait, wait. Don't you need the sword to fight Ganon?" You do. You also need a sword to open a couple of dungeons. Thus you will get the Master Sword at one point to open dungeons, and then after doing that you will drop it at the smiths' house. Then you will go to the Pyramid of Power to lose against Ganon. You will save, pick up your sword, gild it, and go whoop up on Ganon. "So it's not a FRUE swordless game then?" Nope. But neither is a swordless game in the original LoZ either. "Then what's the point?" It's actually more difficult than you might think. In order to do this you have to do a certain portion of the game without screwing up, and it's not easy. You also have a large portion of your arsenal gone. The Hammer is about as powerful as the Sword, but it's FAR harder to use. "No, no, no. Why do a swordless in the first place?" Because. . . it's a different way to play? "But how do you get through without the sword? The game forces you to pick it up." A-ha! That's the trick. We use glitches to fix that problem, and then more glitches to fix the problems those glitches caused. Now, on to the explanation of how we do it. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Glitches used %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This form of play relies on a certain set of glitches to skip the sword. I'll do my best to explain what they are and how to do them. For an advanced look at how to do them, though, look at Zanapher's guide in the SNES section for this game. Please note that the glitches I use were suggested by Zanapher. The path through the game is mine. The actual glitches are his. Everything in this document can be done on the cartridge. However, it's far easier (and less annoying) to do it emulated. Note that I have done this ONLY for the GBA version. I don't know whether it's possible on the SNES version, but I do know it'll take more route planning if it is. ~~~ Zelda's message skipping ~~~ This is a neat trick. When Zelda's message plays, it supersedes EVERYTHING. We abuse this to skip the sword. ~~~ Up-Down-Left-right stair walking ~~~ I'm not sure what Zanapher calls it, but this name tells you exactly what the trick is. You hold all the directional buttons as you walk down a set of stairs. You then walk up normally. You fall through the stairs into the exploration zone. Presto! ~~~ The Death Mountain Descent ~~~ This is a neat trick that allows us to skip the fight with Aghanim. It uses the mirror and forgetfulness on the part of the programmers. ############################################################################## Before we begin ############################################################################## Until we get the Bow, we are going to be relying on the Lamp to deal damage. Also, magic pots don't seem to drop until you're out of Hyrule Castle. . . Therefore, you must be conservative with your magic power. Also: Playing with glitches is risky business. I didn't experience any problem when I did this, but just so you know, you do this at your own risk. Projectile weapons will be your only means of dealing damage for a while. Get used to running from enemies instead of fighting. Yes, this will be a LONG and annoying quest. Didn't say it would be easy. . . Did I mention that you will be without a shield for a while? Bear in mind that I do expect you to know how to beat the game. I'm not going to give you a step by step guide, as you should know how to get places or what to do in a dungeon. I WILL tell you what to do to get around areas that need sword in a normal playthrough. Other than that, I expect you to be intelligent You're also goingto have to plan your own route for getting extras like heart pieces, bottles, and story items that are no different without the sword. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Press START &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& So, wake up, listen to Zelda's message, grab the Lamp, yadda yadda. Go outside and hold the D-pad's directional button against the guards. I recommend doing this against the ones on the right. Now REPEATEDLY press A while holding right against the guards. I can't stress this enough. YOU MUST ALWAYS PRESS A AND HOLD RIGHT UNTIL YOU GET THROUGH. Zelda's message will interrupt every thirty seconds or so, and Link will move one pixel into the guards. After ages of waiting he will be through. DON'T GO SAVE AND QUIT. You will restart inside Link's house. Instead, walk to the East Palace. (You can glitch into Hyrule Castle right now, but it's MUCH easier with the Bow and an extra Heart Container.) Notice that it's still rainy and there are no enemies. Yay. * * * EAST PALACE * * * Enter the Palace. Run from everything. In the room where the four skeletons must be defeated, throw pots at them. Keep running from everything. Grab the Compass if you want.Grab the key and run to the room with the Big Key. This room CAN be done. Throw pots at the two Cyclopes. Use the Lamp to kill the enemies that are left. Now step on the switch and grab the BK. (If you would like you can do what TSA did in his speed run and just attack the switch while it's still guarded. You'll take damage but can do it without releasing the Spinners.) Now run and get the Bow. Save your ammo. Go recharge in a fairy room if you need to. Now go and run through to the boss room, killing with the Bow. Make sure that you save at least 12 arrows for the boss. (20 if you're not good with the Bow) ~~~ Boss: Armos Knights x6 ~~~ Kill the Armos Knights using the Bow. If you run out, use the Lamp. Congratulations. You have just defeated the East Palace without a sword. Take your well-deserved Heart Container. * * *Overworld* * * Go talk to Shasrala. Get the Pegasus Boots. Run to Kakariko. Enter the cave. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hardest part !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do what I tell you. This is where you can easily get lost and have to do it all over again. Stand at the top of the stairs. Now hold all four directional buttons. Link should walk backward down the stairs. (A little like walking with a charged sword.) Now hold Down, Left, and Right. Link should walk back up the stairs and glitch through. As soon as he starts moving left, let go of everything. Now walk Down. Keep walking till you see a room with Faeries. Walk back Up so that the screen scrolls. Walk back Down and stop walking as soon as the screen begins to scroll. This has the net effect of starting you at the very beinning of the room with Faeries. Now walk Right. Keep walking right until you see the throne room in the castle. It'll look "cavey". It's supposed to, don't worry. Walk Right until you have centered the screen. Walk Down. Link should walk right off the stairs and into Hyrule Castle. Walk out to the Courtyard. Walk back in. (This removes all graphical glitches.) Congratulations. You have just successfully entered Hyrule Castle without a Sword. ****************************************************************************** If you actually made it ****************************************************************************** You have just unglitched the overworld. No more rain, and people will be where they're supposed to be. Now go forth and do the castle as normal, killing with the Bow or Lamp. Kill the Mace Knight with a pot. Rescue Zelda and run to the Sewers. Run through, killing only what is needed to get the key. You know the drill from here. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Link goes solo again @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Now that you are out of there, SAVE. You DEFINITELY do not want to redo that glitch. Head to the Desert Palace. Don't forget the Book of Mudora. Run from enemies. Otherwise this place is basically the same as normal. Grab the Power Gloves. Complete the second part of the palace as normal, killing with the bow when needed. Grab the keys in the flying tile rooms before stuff starts flying at you. ~~~ Boss: Lanmola x3 ~~~ Make sure you have plenty of arrows. This is going to be long. You have to time your shots so that a Lanmola will get hit. It just takes practise. On the last one, stand well away so that you can hit it and not be hit in return. There were rumors on the board that it was possible to hit them with the Ice Rod. This is FALSE. I've tried it and it doesn't work. Remember that it is possible to hit them when they are in the air. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Now, on to the Dark World! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% We have two of the pendants. But there's a problem. With the current arsenal it's impossible to damage the Moldorm. What to do? The answer is to skip him. That's right. Skip him. We need the item the Tower of Hera contains, though. To skip the Moldorm temporarily, you need the Flippers. I know this should be obvious, but this is the one case where I will put in a reminder. YOU MUST have the Flippers before skipping Moldorm. So, go and beat the Tower up to getting the Moon Pearl. Warp out. Now, go to the warp and enter the Dark World. Go to the bottom and head right to where the bridge should be. Place yourself at the top right corner of where it is in the Light World and warp with the Magic Mirror. Before you warp back, position yourself one pixel farther to the right. (I know it's tough. Use the point of Link's cap as a reference point against the bridge.) Wait till the warp pulls you back to the Dark World. Now stay put. DO NOT move. Hit the mirror again. In the Light World, go to the right from the warp. Wait till it activates again. Now walk one frame at a time (as best you can.) into the warp again. If you do it right, you will be able to walk to the right in the Dark World and will be standing on nothingness. Walk Down. When you can go no farther, walk Right. See that rock that looks like a visor? Go directly below that. Walk Right while hugging that rock. See that short lava stream sticking up from below, to the right of the visor? Walk to the right of it, and then walk Down. You will be on a small platform of land. Walk Left and you will jump into the water. Get out and warp to the Light World and back to de-glitch. Welcome to the Dark World. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& To the Dark Palace &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& So, we're in the Dark World without defeating Aghanim? Yay. Off we go to get a reusable weapon! But before that, let's get another item, shall we? Head to the spot where the Waterfall of Wishing is in the Light World. Throw something (I personally throw the sign in ^_^ ) into the circle to receive the Quake Medallion! Now to the Dark Palace. The Dark Palace is easy even without the Sword, as most enemies are easier to defeat with other weapons. You should know how to run from enemies. It's a little tricky to evade the mini-Helmasaurs on the collapsing walkway without the Sword, but you can do it. Once you get the Hammer, you have a true means of attack available. (Just like the Rod in Zelda 1, heh?) Bear in mind that its hit detection is glitchy if you don't have the Sword, so you have to be very careful about hitting enemies with it. Kill the Helmasaur King. Hammer his mask and fill his weak spot with Arrows. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Running Around ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now that you have the Hammer, you can whoop up on everything. Go complete palaces 2-5 with the Hammer. I shouldn't have to tell you how to do this. Oh, maybe I should mention that the best place to stand when you are exposing Arrghus is below him because then the hammer will be guaranteed to kill the droplet. To open the vines in Skull Woods, use the Lamp. Freeze the Gibdos and hit them once with the Hammer. Mothula is vulnerable to the Staff of Byrna, and so is Blind. They are both vulnerable to the Hammer. ****************************************************************************** Die, you evil wizard! ****************************************************************************** Alright. It's time to get the Master Sword and use it for the short period that it's needed. To do this, we need to get the third pendant. Let's clear the Tower of Hera. Warp to Death Mountain and go to the top of the tower. Fight the Moldorm. He will go down after 3(!) hits of the Hammer. Warp to Kakariko. Go get the Master Sword. Warp back to Death Mountain. Get Ether. Go to where Turtle Rock would be and open the dungeon. Warp to the Light World. Warp to spot 6 and open Misery Mire. Now warp to the Light World and head to Hyrule Castle. Use a spin attack to open the barrier. Use the Bow or the Hammer to kill where needed. When you need to open the curtain, use the Lamp. Reflect Aghanim's firebals with the Net. You are now in the Dark World as you should be. Warp and go to Kakariko to drop the sword at the smithy. ______________________________________________________________________________ Finishing up ______________________________________________________________________________ Go through Misery Mire and Turtle Rock as usual. Use the Bow on Vitreous and the Hammer on Trinexx. Get the Silver Arrows. Defeat Ganon's Tower. Use the Silver Bow to kill the Armos Knights Revisited, and the Hammer on the Lanmolas and Moldorm. Reflect Aghanim's fireballs with the Net. Go lose against Ganon. Save, pick up your sword, gild it if you wish, and go beat the king of evil. Don't you wish we could do it without the sword? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ That's all, folks! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Only it isn't. You can now go glitch into the Palace of the Four Sword, kill everything, and see how many times you used the Sword. It should be in the single digits. ****************************************************************************** Contacting me ****************************************************************************** Feel free to e-mail me at linkthevaliant [AT] juno [DOT] com. Please do not send me questions that are answered in the guide (dude, how can you beat Ganon swordless?) or that are meaningless to the guide (what's the difference in the SNES and GBA versions?). If you have practical help or questions, I'll take them. Please put the word "Zelda" or the string "LTTP" in the subject so I know what it's about. Please use good grammar and spelling. Stuff written in 1337sp34k may be deleted out of hand. No flames. Constructive criticism is okay. Please provide a name to be credited by if you contribute something. I prefer not to have to worry about ripping somebody else off. ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Changes to come ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() I will be adding a history of the swordless game (and challenges in general) in the Zelda series. I will also be adding a useful gameplay hints section. ############################################################################## Credits ############################################################################## God, for a world in which such awesome fantastic (insert every positive adjective here) games like this exist. (Yes, I love this game and my God.) GameFAQs, for hosting. Zanapher, for his great info about glitches. I worked out the specific methods for each glitch mentioned here, but he told me about each one. He deserves a lot of credit, and if he wants his name as a co-author he can have it. The LttP message board for support.