The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Inside the Deku Tree

The entrance to the game’s first dungeon lies in the far east of the Kokiri Forest, in the very mouth of the Deku Tree. Eliminate the parasites that are destroying the tree from within, and you’ll walk away with Link’s slingshot, the Kokiri’s Emerald, and a destiny to pursue. Fail, and you’ll end your quest as little more than Gohma food.

The Dungeon Begins
A few things change when you enter a dungeon. For one, if you die or save the game, you will continue from the beginning of the dungeon, not from Link’s house, as normal. Also, your world map has been replaced by a dungeon map that records the shapes only of the rooms you’ve visited (until you pick up a completed Dungeon Map somewhere in the dungeon).

You’ll face constant combat here, so it’s important to keep a steady supply of coming. Fortunately, the grass around the sides of the main room and elsewhere in the dungeon grows back after it’s been cut, granting unlimited hearts to anyone with the patience to wait for them. These same weeds will also provide a steady supply of enemy-stunning.

1F & 2F
Once you’ve vanquished the Babas, head for the ivy (or the ladder) and pull yourself up to the next level. You’ll have to run around the second-floor catwalk, trusting the game’s auto-jump feature to make it over the gaps. Before you even make it to the first door, you’ll come across the chest containing the. Hit your Quest Status Subscreen to check out where you are in relation to the rest of the dungeon. So far, so good.

In the hallway that leads to the next area, you’ll encounter a projectile-firing Deku Scrub. Use your shield to block the shot and reflect it back at the Scrub (it may take practice aiming your shield, so be persistent).

When he gets hit, he’ll run, and you can chase him down. But before you can deliver the killing blow, the Scrub will break down and talk, giving you a hot tip before he runs away.

You can enter the room at the end of the hallway, but you won’t be able to get out until you open the chest, and use your prize, the, to shoot the ladder over the entranceway (you can -target it when Navi turns green). It will fall to the ground, giving you an opportunity to return to the trunk of the tree.

Before you go, cut down some of the grass in the lower pit of this room. You’ll reveal (the ammo Link uses in his slingshot) to replace the ones you spent shooting down the ladder. And they grow back!

3F
Onward and upward, to the top of the tree... Except that a pack of Skullwalltulas are blocking the ivy leading up. You could try to dodge them, but if you cross the line of vision for any of these little buggers, you’ll take some damage and be knocked back to the beginning. Best to use your slingshot to clear a path. You can -target the first couple, but after that, you may need to switch to manual targeting to pick off the last one.

When you drop from the ivy at level 3F, you’ll be ambushed by a Big Skulltula that doesn’t seem to care much for the way you slaughtered its children.

Don’t do anything or you’ll provoke its deadly spin attack. Just stand medium close, -target it, wait for it to turn its back on you, and then go for the kill. One jumping slash will do the trick, or you can use two regular slashes or slingshot shots (you’ll need to wait for it to turn its back twice, in that case).

A Big Skulltula awaits at each of this room’s four platforms. If they have you worried, just kill ‘em now, from behind, with a few manually-aimed slingshot seeds.

If you take the door to the west, you’ll find a room with a switch, three pillars, and a chest at the end. Hit the switch to make the three pillars rise, jump across, and grab the. But don’t be so hasty you miss the alcove in the southern wall! In addition to a recovery heart, your first is standing right here. Kill it, grab the token it leaves behind, and revel in the fact that you’re only 99 Gold Skulltulas away from having killed them all.

To get out again, you’ll have to use a Deku Stick (if you don’t have any, jump down and kill a Deku Baba for one). Hit the button that it’s equipped to, and then let the tip catch on fire from the lit torch. Transfer that flame to the unlit brazier on the other side, then hit to put it away before it burns all the way through and you lose a stick.

You’ll have to make your own path to level B1, the Deku Tree’s largest area. Just slowly, carefully step (don’t jump) off any of the four platforms on the Deku Tree’s top level, aiming for the spider web lining on the hole below. If you nail it right in the middle, it will stretch and break, and Link will fall to the relatively expansive basement area below.

B1
The large, half water-filled room where you land contains two more. The first is located on the water gate on the north wall. It’s easy to see and easy to kill, but you’ll have to do a carefully timed jump off the ledge to the right if you want to pick up the token it leaves behind — it’s too high off the ground to simply be taken.

The second is on the giant wall of ivy to the east, and you can get the token easily by just climbing after it.

This part’s a bit tricky. You have to use a Deku Stick, lit by the nearby torch, to burn away the web blocking the door. If your flame hits the water, it will be put out, so make sure you carefully plan your course so you’re running over the shallow water (you’ll automatically jump over the last part).

Another Deku Scrub awaits you in this small room. Use the same Deku Shield trick to bounce his bullets back at him, and then listen carefully as he betrays his friends elsewhere in the dungeon. When he goes, you’ll have to use your slingshot to hit the eye above the sealed door, opening that door permanently.

There’s a switch located underwater, just past the spiked log. Swim down and push it to lower the water level slightly, then head back to the east ledge and jump on the platform when it gets close. If you’re quick enough, the water level should be low enough that you can cruise right under the log and jump onto the ledge on the other side.

Once there, you’ll have to kill a Big Skulltula (watch for his shadow) and then push a block (stand near it and press ) to create a step up to the door.

Another simple torch-lighting puzzle here that shouldn’t give you too much trouble. Also note the grass in this area; cut it down for hearts if you need ‘em, and they’ll grow back with more.

If you look up as soon as you enter, you’ll see three Gohma Larvae hanging from the ceiling. They’ll only drop down to attack if you cross through the center of the room, making it possible to avoid confrontation altogether if you carefully circle around the outside of the room, or snipe them with your slingshot. If you do provoke a confrontation, try to keep a safe distance away from them, stepping back whenever their eyes turn red (indicating they’re about to pounce). Use jump attacks to kill them quickly and without risking getting too close.

The suspicious wall at the northwest end of this room can be blown up... as soon as you get your hands on some bombs a bit later in the game. Behind it is a small room with a single Gold Skulltula, but you won’t be able to get its token until you get the boomerang much, much, much later.

Yet again, you’ll need to use your Deku Stick to bring an open flame to the webbing at the east end of the room, opening a path back to the half-submerged room that you originally landed in.

First, push the block over the edge to create a stairway so you can get back up here without having to go all the way around. Then run down to the lit brazier to grab some fire one last time, and use it to burn up the web at your feet (you’ll need to swing it to hit that low, or roll with torch in hand), and you’ll plummet to the final room before the boss.

B2
This is where that “twenty-three is number one” thing comes into play, as you have to hit the Scrubs in middle (2), right (3), left (1) order to open the boss door. They might get a couple of cheap shots off on you, so save some of the underwater hearts for after combat.