VIII-3. Desert Palace

Required

Sword, Shield, Bow, Pegasus Shoes, Book of Mudora.

To Get There

Upon returning to Sahasralha’s hut, he will tell you that you should get the two remaining Pendants, and gives you the PEGASUS SHOES. To get in the Desert Palace, you will need the BOOK OF MUDORA. (See its entry on the Items page.) Once you have it, proceed to the southwest of the Swamp, where there is a passage leading west. Head northwest, south, and west, and you will be in the Desert of Mystery. The Desert Sanctuary is the cave in the northeast (there is a PIECE OF HEART there, through a weak south wall). If you speak to Aginah, the elder, there, he'll tell you about the Book of Mudora (if you haven't gotten it yet, he'll tell you where it is). Anyway, the Desert Palace is to the west. Head in that direction (mind the Vultures and other creatures) until you see a large platform with a stone tablet and several large rocks, one of which is blocking the entrance to the Palace. Use the Book of Mudora to translate the runes, and the rocks will rotate, moving out of the way of the entrance.

Inside the Palace

Enemies you'll see in the Desert Palace: Leevers, Rocklops, and Beamos (stone columns which will shoot a laser beam at Link whenever their eye sees him). There are also plant-like creatures that burrow under the sand, then come burrowing out right underneath Link, so be careful. The larger ones (in sand-pools) spit out fireballs.

Make your way to the north, avoiding the Beamo’s sight as best you can, and head west from its location, moving a pot out of the way and making your way north. Kill the large sand creature, and go through the nearest door. This room has some sand creatures and two green Rocklops; the pot between the Rocklops hides a switch that will reveal a chest with the MAP. Head back through the southwest door, and go west to another north door (killing the sand creatures as necessary). In this next room, Dash Attack the northwest torch to knock the KEY off of it (beware the Beamo).

Go back through the south door, and head all the way east. The north door here has a group of sand creatures, but south is the way to continue. Go through the locked east door to reach a room with a Beamo and some Leevers; the chest in here contains the COMPASS. Unlock the north door by killing all the Leevers, and go through. This next room has some rock-throwers on the sides of the room; Dash to the north of the room to reach the chest with the BIG KEY. Backtrack to the room with the Beamo, and go out the west door.

Head north and then all the way west, taking out enemies as you go. In the northwest area, go through the west door, and lift the northwest pot to reveal the switch that opens the north door (the other pots contain powerups). Go through the north door to reach the big chest with the POWER GLOVE. Head back through the south door, hitting the switch to open the east door. Go all the way south from here, and through the west door (watch out for sand creatures). In this room is a Beamo with two groups of four blocks. If you'd like, you can push the third block from the left up to open the north door, which has a Faerie Fountain. Exit through the south door to proceed.

You’re outside of the Palace (temporarily). Head down the steps and as far south along the plateau as you can go to collect a PIECE OF HEART; head back to the Palace exit and then northeast to proceed. You’ll find a cave entrance surrounded by light-colored stones; now that you have the Power Glove, you can lift them out of the way and enter the dungeon once again.

In this room, beware of the Beamo as you push the middle block of the second set of three over to open the north door. Go through the north door, but don't enter the room! If you do, the Magic Tiles that spring out of the floor will fly right at Link and are very hard to avoid. You can, in fact, break them with the Sword, but it’s tricky. Your best chance is to stand in the doorway, just out of their reach, and let them crash against the wall harmlessly. Wait for the floor tiles to finish (there are 22 of them), and then grab the KEY from the southwest pot and go through the locked north door and up the stairs.

Head south across the gantry to a room with four Leevers and a Beamo. Kill the Leevers to open the east door, and in the next room be wary of the many Leevers and Beamos as you make your way north. The third pot from the group of four that’s in your way hides a KEY; grab it and quickly head through the locked north door. More Magic Tiles here; again, don’t enter the room just yet; wait for the tiles to stop flying. The northeast pot has a KEY; grab it and go through the locked north door. The last room has a red Rocklop; kill him with Arrows, and use your Lamp to light all four torches. This causes the west wall to move back, revealing the door to the boss room, which opens with the Big Key.

Keeper: Lamolas

The Lamolas are long worms with weak heads. When they pop out of the sand, they’ll release some rocks in the diagonal directions. If you have plenty of Magic, I highly recommend using the Ice Rod, but hitting the Lamolas’ heads with it can be very difficult. Otherwise, stand next to where one of the three Lamolas is about to pop out (not diagonal from it, otherwise you’ll get pelted with rocks), and use a Spin Attack. It takes several Spin Attacks or two blasts from the Ice Rod (or a combination of both) to kill each one. When the last one is gone, you'll receive another HEART CONTAINER and the PENDANT OF POWER.

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VIII-3. Desert Palace

Required

Recommended

To Get There

Inside the Palace

Keeper: Lamolas