Water Temple Dungeon Walkthrough - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Guide - IGN

Welcome to IGN's Guide to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake. After 28 years, Ocarina of Time has been fully remade, and while much of it remains the same, there's plenty of new differences to be found while exploring Hyrule. Zora Domain has frozen over, plunging the realm into the deep freeze and drying up the once vast waters of Lake Hylia. Link will need to descend to the Water Temple below the lakebed to undo this curse while seeking out the Sage of Water.

Equipped with a new Zora Tunic and Iron Boots to take him below the watery depths of Lake Hylia, Link will have everything he needs to enter the new Water Temple that can be seen at the bottom of the lake. This can be done by using the hookshot on the target in the remains of lakebed to open the door to the temple.

New to the remake, you'll be able to swap between Iron Boots and swimming normally just by tapping down on the D-Pad, which will come in handy for quickly navigating this dungeon's underwater depths.

Take off the boots as you enter to swim up to the platform above, and you'll be met with an impressive entrance scene. The main room is comprised of a large pagoda-like tower stretching several stories down, with the water risen all the way up to this top floor.

Navigating this dungeon will require a lot of puzzle-solving related to the water, but more importantly, you'll need to find ways to change the water level, as several doors and platforms can only be reached when water levels are at a specific height.

Snipe any pesky Tektites in the way as you swim over to the pagoda and look around. Most of the paths here are inaccessible -- a hookshot target to the north that's too far away, and a locked door to the west. The most interesting path includes a sealed gate blocking access to a familiar looking mural to the east along with an enticing chest.

Making that your first order of business, swap on the Iron Boots and descend downward. You can't enter the pagoda from below yet, and many doors have no landing for you to stand on. Instead, sink all the way down to floor 1F, and watch out for rolling enemies called Spikes -- so named for their ability to extend giant metal spikes when you approach as they roll toward you. Thankfully, even underwater, you can shield against their attack to stun their spikes back into their body, and follow up with a Hookshot to defeat them.

Look for a doorway with two glowing blue pillars, and note the icon above, which displays three tiers and only the bottom tier lit up with blue light. This is your indication that the room leads to a way to lower the water level, so head inside.

It's here you'll be reunited with your "fiancee", Princess Ruto of the Zora! She's here for the same reason as you, to put a stop to Ganondorf's evil and save her people from a frozen death. She's been unable to locate the creature infesting this temple, but an insignia of the Royal Family may provide a clue that only you can solve, so she'll leave things in your hands and swim off.

Once she departs, follow the blue glowing lights up to the top floor by unequipping your Iron Boots, and you'll find a large Treasure Chest with the Dungeon Map you spied behind the bars earlier!

Next, inspect the mural on the wall nearby, which holds the Royal Family insignia with the Triforce. Play Zelda's Lullaby here, and it will trigger a shift in the Water Temple, lowering the water levels down to floor F1!

With the water level receded, hop down the pit to land in a small pool of water back on Floor 1F. Now that the place is dry, you may notice two unlit brazier opposite a lit torch. You can aim your Fairy Bow through the torch to hit the other two with fire arrows (or flex on hitting both braziers with Din's Fire) to open the sealed door to the east.

This room will lock behind you, forcing you into combat with three Spikes. Play defensive and block their assault, then quickly slice them apart when they retract. Doing so will reveal a small Treasure Chest in the room holding your first Small Key.

There's a couple directions to go from here, but you can't get back up to the top floor to open the locked door on 3F -- at least not yet. Instead, stay at ground level and look around. Look for a cracked wall on the south side of the pagoda, and blast it open to find a passage down to the west.

Equip your Iron Boots to descend down to floor B1, and you'll be met with an angry clam called a Shell Blade. Like the Spikes, underwater combat here is all about remaining defensive with your shield out until you can spot a moment to attack with your Hookshot. Block its charge, and wait for the clam to open wide and expose its innards before firing off your Hookshot to take it out.

Swim upwards past the Shell Blade to climb some steps over to a switch, raising a statue that holds a Hookshot target to send you over the gap. There's two Tektites below another pair of Hookshot targets, but your real worry should be the Like Like waiting above.

If you want to play it safe, just hit it with your Fairy Bow to remove the threat from afar. This is not a good time to get eaten and have your items stolen, as unlike the original Ocarina of Time, the Zora Domain shop is sealed up meaning you won't be able to get a replacement Zora Tunic if you lose it! If the Like Like does swallow you, immediately kill it to get anything you lost back!

When the Like Like is defeated, you'll be awarded with another large Treasure Chest that holds the Compass!

Return the way you came to the room with the pagoda. There's one more optional area to check out, which you can do by heading west of the pagoda tower to push a large stone block forward until it falls into a pool below.

Put on your Iron Boots to drop in after it and be ready to deal with another Shell Blade here, then swim up to an opening to the north. There's a small Treasure Chest on a high ledge, but not close enough to reach.

Instead, hop into the water and get ready to fine-tune your Iron Boot usage. A large whirlpool will send you in circles in this pool of water, and you'll want to carefully descend to land on a narrow serpent-like platform next to a statue of the serpent's head. The head holds a switch in its mouth, and hitting it with the Hookshot will open a nearby underwater gate.

Alternate putting your boots on and off to get enough movement to float over through the gate and out of the whirlpool. Keep your boots on when you pass the threshold, as you'll have two more Shell Blades here to contend with. When they've been defeated, swim up the far side to find a platform to climb onto holding the chest with another Small Key.

Since you can't reach the locked door to the north of the pagoda tower, it's time to enter the tower itself using the locked door with the green pillars on either side. Inside the base of the tower, you can look up to find a target to Hookshot to to head upward, onto a ledge with another mural where you can play Zelda's Lullaby, raising the water level to 2F!

With the water level risen, note that a floating block inside the tower has risen up with you, leaving behind a hole leading down to the basement level. Put on your Iron Boots and descend down to the bottom, where three Spikes are waiting.

Once they've been defeated, aim your Hookshot at the green switch above you to open a gate on a low ceiling nearby, dropping down a Shell Blade you'll need to deal with. Once it's gone, swim up the newly opened gate to find an underwater chamber with a small Treasure Chest holding a Red Rupee.

In this small underwater chamber in the basement level below the pagoda tower room, be sure to check around the walls here to find the first of several Gold Skulltulas, which you can defeat with your Hookshot and claim its token.

Swim back up the pagoda tower to exit outside thanks to the floating block in front of the door (there's another spider in here you'll have to leave for later). Outside on floor 2F, you'll have a few options on where to explore next.

Start by swimming back over to where you met Princess Ruto to the east, using the Iron Boots to drop down to the bottom level. You may remember there was a cracked wall halfway up to the top level where you drained the water, and while you can't swim all the way up, the wall is sitting high and dry, with a ledge to plant a bomb at.

On the other side, you'll find a room of Shell Blades you can slice up with your sword, and then inspect the wall behind you for a Gold Skulltula trying to hide.

Next, swim back up to the water line east of the pagoda to find another alcove with a cracked wall you can bomb, opening a path to the northeast. Put the Iron Boots on to sink down to the passage, and here there are several Stingers here underwater -- same as the ones you fought in Jabu-Jabu's belly that like to swarm and dive bomb, but you can Hookshot them after blocking their dive.

Take the Iron Boots off on the far end to end up in a room with a large geyser at the end reaching up to an alcove. There's a switch in a small pool of water nearby you can hit with your Hookshot to lower the geyser. Step on and hit it again to ascend upward, and in the alcove you'll find another small Treasure Chest with a Small Key.

With your two small keys, swim around to the other side of the pagoda tower to the west side, where the line of floating blocks has lined up to lead to a locked door with red glowing pillars, signaling a water level change mural is near.

Inside the next hall is another geyser you can lower by hitting the switch, though it will also bring down an angry Tektite with it. Defeat it, then stand on the platform before hitting the switch again with a ranged shot to ride it up to floor 3F, putting you in front of the final water level-changing mural.

Play Zelda's Lullaby to bring the water up to Floor 3F, bringing you full circle (but with an extra small key this time)!

As you hop down to the pagoda tower platform below, look back to the ledge you jumped from. There's a gust of straw up there, and if you play the Scarecrow's Song, you'll be able to summon Pierre to quickly get back to that mural to change the water level as needed.

Head west once again to the second locked door along the floating platforms. This leads to a long room with a pit in the middle, in which moving platforms on the far side continually move toward the middle and sink into the pit below.

Deal with the nearby Keese first, then carefully slide down this side of the pit onto a moving platform. It will alternate moving up and down, so line up a shot with the targets on each of the far moving platforms to cross the pit.

You'll need to quickly move along the platforms before they drop too far, but you can take a breather on a stationary platform to the side.

There's even some Fairy Writing here, and a note about wanting to beat the humidity with a but of sunbeams means you can play the Sun's Song to get healed by fairy essence!

From the stationary platform, wait for the highest platform to get in range to zip to, and then quickly zip up to the ledge above to get out of the pit.

In the room beyond, you'll find a large room with high platforms over looking a watery pit below filled with Tektites. You can snipe them from afar with your Fairy Bow so they don't hassle you if you accidentally fall down later.

To get across, aim for the blue switch in the middle of the room to raise the various statues around here -- all with Hookshot targets. Zip across the closest one to the west, but don't Hooskhot the target on the statue to the north afterward, or you'll just fall down into the pit below.

Instead, hit the switch again to lower the statue, that way you can zip across to the target to the left of the statue and get past it on the narrow alcove.

Hit the switch again to raise the statues, allowing you to zip to the northeast one leading up to a high ledge. Since you need help getting up to the ledge, hit the switch two more times to bring the statue down so you can jump on top, then ride it upwards. Be sure to break all the pots here for any extra items, and then head inside.

This large foreboding room is more like an endless shallow lake, with a single tree on a small patch of land the only point of interest. Are you even really inside the temple anymore? It's hard to see...

Run past to the far side of the "room", only to find the way forward sealed. As you turn around, you'll spot that an opponent is waiting for you by the tree.

Dark Link as he's known is a nearly exact copy of Link, but filled with evil magic. This means he can match you in a lot of ways, and yet still surprise you if you aren't careful, so take this fight very seriously!

Using his own version of the Master Sword, Dark Link will usually perform three hit slashes, with the last attack in his combo having a red trail on. This is one of the main points you need to remember on when to counter-attack, as dodging that last slash will leave Dark Link open for several moments.

Don't try and get pushy with your own moves, as he can deflect them all with his Hylian Shield. Get too sloppy, and Dark Link can even stand on your sword when you try to stab. If you don't shake him off fast, he'll deal a damaging slash as he jumps off.

While Dark Link is ready for most gadgets like your Bow or Hookshot, it is possible to catch him off guard with Din's Fire early on, which can not only deal damage but stun him for a moment and let you press the attack.

However, after he fades into smoke, he'll respawn after a moment, becoming more powerful and wiser to your tricks. At this point, he's more likely to simply backflip away from any slow attacks like Din's Fire or your Spin Attack.

Dark Link becomes a lot more aggressive and tricky in his second phase, usually opting to perform a quick two-hit stab and follow with a jump attack for his third hit. Blocking it will stagger you, so you'll want to be ready to dodge to the side when you see him leap. However, Dark Link can also feint, and put a pause after his first two stab and delaying the jump attack to bait you into attacking while he sidesteps and then jumps.

Several times, he can also feint into a forward roll, and come out charging his sword into a tier 2 spin attack! Other times, he may try to perform two side slashes before holding the blade out to charge up. In either case, immediately backflip away!

The moment he launches his spin attack is the time to race up for your own jump slash. Don't try to match his spin attacks with your own as you'll almost always be too late. Instead, focus entirely on watching for his jump attacks or spins to find a spot to get in and counter with some damage before backing off.

When you deal enough damage, Dark Link will be banished for good, and the mists will dissipate to reveal the normal room. Head on through to find your grand prize: The Longshot! With this upgraded gadget, you can now latch onto targets much further away than with using the Hookshot!

Step onto the platform behind the chest and test out your Longshot on the distant targets over on the high ledge above you. Up here, you'll find a waterfall pit leading down to a cavern path to take all the way back to the entrance of the Temple.

Move carefully along this cavern river, as there are several whirlpools you'll need to avoid. Get caught swimming through one, and you'll be sucked into a pit. Instead, use your Iron Boots to hold your ground until you can reach ledges to climb up and bypass these pits.

Once you've navigated most of the river and the path curves down to the south, be sure to look behind you. There's a Gold Skulltula up high on a cavern pillar, and while hard to see while underwater, you can still target it with your new Longshot to pull the token down while wearing the Iron Boots.

Move through the final two whirlpools by trudging through the center to the southeast corner, and be sure to look around for some ledges just after the whirlpool, as you can find a pot with a Fairy here to catch in a bottle!

From here, stay on the ledge and look for a large gate with an eye target to shoot, and then use your Longshoot to hook across before the gate closes on you, and exit back toward the entrance hall.

Now that you're back in the are with the pagoda tower, the water level should still be up to the third level. Sink back down to the bottom to return to where you met Princess Ruto, and lower the water level down to floor 1F.

You can now re-climb the inside of the pagoda tower, raising the water level, and look up for a high ceiling with targets to hit with your new Longshot.

This time around, there's more to find at the very top of the tower. Since you have your Longshot, you can look up to find a high ceiling target at the very top of the inside of the pagoda tower and zip up to a high platform. Here, you'll find a Gold Skulltula to claim on the other side of the ceiling that was previously out of view!

With the water up to floor 2F, exit onto the pagoda tower's balcony and head to the north side. You can now hit the eye target on the far wall to reveal the distant target your Longshot can now reach, taking you to the northern room.

Here, you can spot a small Treasure Chest behind a fence, so hop into the pool to the left and sink down with the Iron Boots. There's a small opening here with a large stone block, but all you can do from this angle is pull it back all the way.

Hop out of the pool and look to the right of the fence to spot a high waterfall alcove with a target on the ceiling. Longshot to it to fall down to a different part of the underwater area, allowing you to push the stone block north, and unblocking access to the chest holding to the last Small Key.

Return to the pagoda tower room, and this time sink all the way to the bottom of the north side, dropping all the way down into a basement pit heading north.

Swim up to the ledge, and you'll finally be able to reach the far door thanks to your Longshot, and use your last small key to open the locked door.

The large area beyond features a big pool of water covered in Tektites, and water streaming in from several side alcoves that boulders continually roll out of and through the water into two whirlpool pits.

Take out your Fairy Bow to deplete the Tektite population in the room so they can't hassle you as you try to cross. Wait for a boulder to pass before sinking down with the Iron Boots, then unequip them to cross a ledge before re-equipping them and stopping short of the next boulder path. Wait for the second one to cross before swimming up to the ledge and avoiding the whirlpools.

If you didn't kill all the Tektites, make sure none of them are by the ledge so you can haul up quickly, then ready a spin attack to deal with the remnants.

The room beyond features a small pool of water teeming with Stingers floating about, and three cracked walls on the left side. Go fishing by tossing a few bombs into the water, and deflect any who fly up to attack with your shield.

Once the pool is clear, turn your attention to bombing all the nearby walls. The middle wall has a large stone block, and the two on the side allow you to push it from behind and into the pool of water onto a switch, which raises the water up to the high ledge.

Head through to the next area, where you can step on a switch to raise several geyser platforms. There's a few pesky Tektites that may try to interrupt your crossing, so have your Fairy Bow ready.

On the far side, you can spot a big blue Treasure Chest behind a gate. Head through the nearby door to find the waterway the boulders travel through back to the earlier whirlpool room.

Wait until a boulder rolls on buy to dash east and then north toward an alcove with a door, guarded by a Shell Blade. Defeat it, then claim the Boss Key in the next room!

As you return to the watery alcove of rolling boulders, note the small water fall coming from above (not where the boulders are dropping from). There's a Gold Skulltula hiding up above opposite the falls that you'll need to be quick to target before another boulder rolls on by.

Make your way back to the pagoda tower room one last time. For an easy shortcut, head to the southwest corner and play the Scarecrow Song to summon Pierre up on the third floor ledge where the mural is to raise the water level (otherwise you'll need to head through the red door).

Return to the water level to floor 3F, and head to the north side of the pagoda tower. Use your Longshot on the far target to reach the high ledge, and continue toward the boss door.

The road to the boss door is a bit tricky -- it's a long upward slope with water rushing down from above, and spike traps bouncing from side to side. Equip your Iron Boots to get some footing, and then slowly and carefully forge up the slope, angling yourself to skirt around the spikes as you go. One at the top, steel yourself for another big fight, and head inside.

A wild and unorthodox opponent, the Giant Aquatic Amoeba, Morpha, is a gelatinous ooze of a boss that shouldn't be underestimated. Your on its territory, and that means being extra cautious around water!

Somewhat similar to the Flare Dancers of the Fire Temple, the actual body you need to target is the strange little core that hides in the elongated goopy creature you see before you. And just like those Flare Dancers, your Longshot will be key to exposing its weak point!

Getting it exposed is no easy task, as Morpha will use the waterways around the four major platforms to sneak around you, making it difficult to target. When it does appear, it will soon slam down and try to crush you, so you'll need to react fast and get away. Don't even bother trying to sink down into the water, as you have no means of hurting it while submerged.

Instead, stay mobile and keep moving around the platforms when Morpha appears. It will slam up to three times in a row, changing its position to track you, but then have a moment it needs to recover afterward. Turn back and ready your Longshot to pull it out of the goop, and get to slashing with your sword!

After taking several hits, Morhpa will bounce around and seek out water to get away from you. You can try to get in a few more hits, but don't get too absorbed in your task that you leave yourself open.

Soon after getting back into the water, Morpha will reform its gelatinous arm, and start to sweep wide circles around where it appears. This can happen fast, and the best way to quickly avoid this sweeping attack is to target one of the Longshot points along each wall, to zip away to safety. Morpha will still move along the water as it spins, which is why zipping into the air can really help you get some distance.

If you get caught by its spinning attack, Morpha will wrap around and constrict you, dealing heavy damage if you don't break free quickly by mashing you attack buttons!

Wait for Morpha to stop spinning an exhaust itself, then race back over to the platforms it draped itself on to Longshot the body out of its goop, and repeat the process of slashing it apart.

After taking enough damage, Morpha will play dirty in its next phase, and appear within a tendril somewhere in the arena, but also raising up tendrils all along the water in every corner. This makes it hard to track its actual spot, and you'll also need to dodge the slams every stray appendage as you make your way toward the core!

Once you spot it, bait it into slamming down to extract the core and keep slashing away. If you don't kill it here, it may come back with extra appendages to perform its spinning attack again, so be careful!

Keep using your Longshot to pull Morhpa's core to a safe spot to slash it apart, and the creature will soon wither and die, leaving you with a new Heart Container as the water drains out of the arena!

Enter the blue light, and you'll be transported back to the Chamber of Sages. Your new Sage of Water will be there to meet you, though unfortunately it looks like the wedding might have to be postponed. A bittersweet parting, but Princess Ruto will stand firm in her resolve to take the fight to Ganondorf, and add her strength to yours by bestowing yet another gift to Link, the Water Medallion.

With the destruction of the creature fouling the waters, the curse will lift on Zora Domain, breaking away much of the ice and restoring water flow to Lake Hylia, completely filling up the mighty lake once more! Sheik will congratulate you on your endeavors thus far, before making another stealthy retreat.

Before you head out to the next temple, be sure to inspect the large plaque by the pedestal for the temple. You've fulfilled the prophecy of restoring the waters to the lake, and the sun should be rising any moment.

Take aim at the rising sun to the east, and fire your bow when the light hits the sky brilliantly. Some of that light will fall to the earth, in the form of a brand new upgrade! Swim to the small island to obtain the Fire Arrows! With this, you can supercharge your Fairy Bow to shoot elemental arrows (without needing to fire a regular arrow through a torch), and can deal incredible damage at the cost of a lot of your magic power.

Up Next: Biggest Changes and Differences