The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest/Dodongo's Cavern

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To access this dungeon, you must get Zelda's Lullaby , Saria's Song , and the Goron's Bracelet . Then you bomb the rock sitting in front of the cavern, walk inside and bomb the odd wall.

The first visit to the central room

Get the Bombs Early

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Bomb skip

You can skip most of this dungeon by getting the bombs  immediately upon entering. By jump slashing toward the green column hanging from the ceiling, you'll bounce off and land on the ledge with the bombs, enabling you to open the mouth early, thereby skipping the dungeon.

Once you enter the dungeon, jump to the center platform in the room. If you look to your rightleft you will see an odd wall. Pick up the bomb flower and carry it over to the wall, and blast open the wall. You will find a treasure chest inside. The chest contains the Dungeon Map .

Now jump back to the central platform and look at the bottom of the room near the same side you found the map on. You should see a lone boulder lying down there. Go blow it up. Beneath it is a yellow switch. Stepping on it causes one pillar to go up to the second floor of the room. Use it to get to the top.

Up here you will see a wooden bridge. Cross it and on the other side you will find another yellow switch. Step on it to open a door below you. Now either jump down, or ride the pillar back down, and go through the door you opened.

A Compass, three Dodongos, and five silver Rupees

Gold Skulltula Sidequest

This Gold Skulltula requires the Song of Time . Go in the room behind the bombable wall in the giant pillar room. Keep on playing the Song of Time on the leftright side of the room. The Gold Skulltula  is under the back most time block.

File:Zelda OOT Master Quest Dodongo Skulltula 1.jpg

You come into a room with a giant pillar in the middle of it surrounded by bomb flowers and guarded by two Beamos . Picking up a bomb and throwing it at the Beamos will kill them. There is also another bombable wall in front of the pillar. Use another bomb flower to destroy it and uncover yet another bomb flower. Use the torch near it, and a lit Deku Stick  to cause it to drop, and quickly throw/set it in the gap between all the bomb flowers. If you do it right, it will cause a chain reaction of explosions, causing the pillar to lower and reveal a staircase.

Now it is time to collect some Silver Rupees . There are five of them throughout this room, and you probably already have the first one. They can be found by:

• Blowing up the Beamos on the far side of the room from the entrance
• Rolling into the crate behind the same Beamos
• Rolling into the first crate on the leftright path at the top of the staircase
• Rolling into the second crate on the rightleft path at the top of the staircase
• Climbing the vines where the two paths meet at the very top

This will unlock the door to the next room.

This room has three Dodongos  moving around a small pillar. On top of the pillar is a bomb flower giving you two ways to fight the beasts. You can either run around slicing the tails of the Dodongos three or four times each, while avoiding their fire breath and when they spin around after their tail is hit; or you could climb the ladder to get to the top of the pillar and start throwing bombs at them. After you kill them a chest will appear that holds the Compass . Now leave through the westerneastern door.

Path of a pyromaniac

Gold Skulltula Sidequest

In the room with the three floating torches is a door that opens when all three torches are lit. In that room, a Gold Skulltula  hides in one of the crates by the rightleft wall.

File:Zelda OOT Master Quest Dodongo Skulltula 2.jpg

You find yourself in the central room again. Just jump across the bridge to the next room. In here there is a lit torch next to you, three unlit torches hanging on walls below you, and a golden torch on a platform in front of you. Drop down to the bottom and you will also find three blocks that you can push. Drag them beneath the torches so you have platforms you can jump on to be able to light the torches. Now climb up the ladder back to where you started, light a Deku Stick , and use it to light the three torches. This will cause the golden torch to light up.

Now run over to the other side of the room and pull the block under the ladder out just enough so that you can climb both. Jump over to the golden torch and light a Deku Stick. Jump the gap to the opening you jumped from and run to the next room. You will see a web in front of you. Don't burn it right away, instead throw a Deku Nut  so that the Skulltula  waiting for you is stunned. Then burn the web and light the two torches. This will light another golden torch on the other side of the room.

Now drop to the rightleft of the platform and drag the block to the other side of the room. Use it to climb up. Kill the Skulltula and Keese  in the hall and light another Deku Stick. Run it over to the bomb flower to make it drop and blow up the bombable wall.

Lizards and rings of flame

Gold Skulltula Sidequest

This Gold Skulltula requires bombs . In the back of the room where you first fought the Lizalfos  is a line of boulders. Bomb the ones in the center to open a path to the Gold Skulltula .

File:Zelda OOT Master Quest Dodongo Skulltula 3.jpg

This room has two blade wielding Lizalfos  in it. The easy strategy is to just have them come to you, then hit them, and guard when they jump over you and attack. You can get about three hits on them before they switch off to the other. They don't take too long to get rid of, and from here on out, you should just get used to them. Once you kill them go through the easternwestern door.

This room has two rings of fire on two platforms. First thing to do is kill the Keese  immediately to your rightleft. Then jump down to your leftright and go to the opposite side of the room and smash the crate. Behind it you will find a crystal switch. Don't hit it yet. Instead go back to where you entered from. If you stand on the edge of the platform you should be able to see the switch. Shoot it with your slingshot  to get rid of the closest fire ring.

Jump on to the platform and look to your leftright. There is a little alcove with a Keese and a bomb flower. Shoot the Keese and jump over to get the bomb flower. Pick it up and take it to the side of the crystal switch (same half of the room) where you will find a boulder. Blow it up and it reveals a yellow switch. By now the crystal switch should be reset, so go over to it and hit it again. If it hasn't reset yet, just wait for it to do so. After you hit it quickly go over to the yellow switch and step on it. Now even quicker, climb back to where you entered the room and jump across the platforms to the opposite side.

Gaining the bombs with bomb flowers

Gold Skulltula Sidequest

This Gold Skulltula requires the Boomerang . In the Poe  room is a door to the rightleft of the entrance. Unlock the door by using the bomb chain on the pillar right in front of the door. Kill all the enemies inside; the Gold Skulltula  is in the top leftright corner of the room.

You'll be back in the room with the torches all over the place. Just jump across in front of you and move on. If you need another Deku Shield , there is one in the chest to the leftright. Now you will be back in the central room again. Use the bomb flower where it is at to get rid of the boulders. Now if you look at the bottom floor to the leftright you should see another wall that can be bombed. Pick up the bomb flower, and jump down there. You will not drop the bomb so do not accidentally drop it or throw it. Just carry it over to the wall and throw/set it. If you mess up you can just ride the pillar that rises to the top to get back to the bomb flower.

In the next room you will find two white blocks on the ground. The leftright one rises up to reveal a bomb flower, and the one on the rightleft will reset the leftright one if you mess up. Carry the bomb flower to the boulder a little bit farther in the room. It has another bomb flower underneath it. You can use this to break open the wall on the south side and enter a room with a Business Scrub  in it. If you don't have a Deku Shield, leave.

Now if you look just a little bit farther down the hall on the rightleft side you will see a chain of bomb flowers going up the wall to the ceiling. Use the bomb flower near you to cause a chain reaction and destroy a rock on the wall. You will have to throw the bomb up the gap since you can't climb it while holding a bomb. Shoot the gold eye with your slingshot  to open the door on the eastwest side (to the Lizalfos ).

There are another two Lizalfos in this room. Take care of them like the first time and leave through the northwest door. In this room is a bunch of Poes . Just run forward to the opposite end of the room. On the last column you will see another line of bombs going up, and a bomb flower beyond it. Use the bomb flower for another chain reaction. Go through the door it opens, and open the chest. Huzzah! You no longer need to use the bomb flowers, as you now have bombs  of your own.

Opening the maw of the dead Dodongo

Gold Skulltula Sidequest

Near the wall of fire rings lying on top of the wall is a Gold Skulltula. This one can be acquired by roll-jumping from the top of the clear box to the ledge with the Gold Skulltula . Or, if that is too difficult, use the Boomerang  to kill and collect it.

Now you will be back on the first floor of the central room. Ride the pillar back to the very top. Drop your bombs  through the gaps in the bridge to turn the dead Dodongo's eyes red, causing its mouth to open. Going through the door brings you to the last big room before the boss.

Head to the hole to the rightleft and go through the hall. At the end be careful of the two Baby Dodongos  below you so you don't jump into them. After they dig into the ground they won't come back. Head to the leftright to get to the center of the room. Another Lizalfos  will attack you. This one won't run away from you since it can't send a buddy after you. After you kill him, grab the tombstone closest to the rings of fire and pull it back. Now use the tombstone to get high enough to throw a bomb across. It will hit a crystal switch that gets rid of the fire for a little while.

On the other side you will see seven Armos  statues and a door to your rightleft. If you go through the door and kill the Poe  inside, you can pull the tombstone to reveal a little chest that contains a free Hylian Shield  for you. Back to the Armos statues; you can kill them by throwing lots of bombs at them while staying near the door to the Hylian Shield. More than likely you will also set off the bomb chain right next to them. The chain hits a crystal switch that causes the cobweb block behind the statues to make a step for you. After climbing over it, on your leftright you will find pots. One contains a Fairy  if you want it or can use it. Moving on, you will find another tombstone. Pulling it reveals a yellow switch. Stepping on it unlocks the door to the boss. Go through the door, drop a bomb in the middle, open the chest for more bombs  if you need them, and fall down the hole you made.

Boss: King Dodongo

For more details on the full King Dodongo strategy, see The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Dodongo's Cavern#Boss: King Dodongo.

• Throw a Bomb  in his mouth as he gets ready to breath fire on you to stun him.
• Attack him with a jump attack.
• When he rolls around the room either defend with the Hylian Shield  or stand on the edge of the platform near the lava.
• Chase him after he passes you and repeat.