Cave of Ordeals

[Mases]

So what did you guys think of the Cave of Ordeals. Was it just a useless toss in, a lot of fun for the hardcore Zelda fanatic, or just something that was too darn difficult.

I personally just played through the Cave of Ordeals early this morning for the first time ever, since I'm in the midst of writing the Twilight Princess Walkthrough. I have to say, for a game that often gets criticized for being quite easy, I thought the Cave of Ordeals was pretty darn difficult.

The rooms at the end of the Cave of Ordeals are ridiculous. The one with 3 darknuts was pretty hard, but even harder than that was the one with 1 darknut and 2 aeralfos, that was ridiculous. Perhaps the toughest floor for me was the 38th floor. There were 3 Ice Bubbles, 3 Ice Keese, 4 Chilfos, and 2 Freezards. In general I found all the ice based floors to be quite difficult. Of course the dark nut floors were hard as well. Even the floors with the ReDeads were hard and annoying.

Overall though, I would have not been able to beat it my first time around if I didn't have a full wallet of 1000 rupees and the magic armor. I had all 20 heart containers by the time I entered as well as the bomb and quiver upgrades. In addition to 2 bottles filled with potion. I had wasted both bottles by the 42nd floor or so, and was down to just the magic armor for the last few floors.

My only beef with the Cave of Ordeals was the reward. Why not something more useful then fairy fountains. Perhaps even more useless upgrades would be more rewarding for Zelda fans. I did enjoy the Cave of Ordeals and it's something that I might try again on my spare time, perhaps without any bottles, and maybe in the future using only the Ordon Sword instead of the Master Sword. It's one of the few areas that has clear replay value in my opinion.

[Avenged]

I thought it was a fun playthrough, 50 rooms of non stop killing enemies...awesome. But huh Mases are you suire you beat it? You dont just get 'fairy fountains', you get Great Fairy's Tears at any fountain which if used if replenishes all of Link's hearts and will increase your attack strength for a period of time.

[dark_link01]

I think it was just something to throw in. You had to start all over if you died once, which sucked. And what you got in return wasn't really all that great, especially when you've already beaten the game and got everything in it. I wasn't that motivated to beat it all after a few tries.

[Dabombster]

It was pretty fun in my opinion. The reward isn't the reason I went through it, I just did it for fun. I didn't get potions or the Magic Armor when I did. I did have the Arrow upgrades, so for a few of the rooms I sat back and killed everything I could with them.

[king_of_minish]

it was okay but wen you actually think about it they could have mad it so much beater.(>:() like another dungeon that dos not have to do with the story. and i mean a rilly hard dungeon with all these like expert puzzles and traps. something to rilly challenging ppl. ya know. and not just some strait run throw and kill monsters type of thing. they could have mad it so much more.:cool:

[Y2K3]

It's alright. I found it more of a pain, really. I just wanted to try it to say that I tried it.
I tried it one or two times, and the last time I made it to floor 49 before I died. I got a little angry at that. haha
Haven't tried it in a while though.

[linkman8]

The Cave of Ordeals was more of a toss-in than an actual side-quest, and even though it was really difficult, it was fun nonetheless. Like you've said, though, the reward could've been... well... greater. I mean, I seldomly use the Great Fairy's Tears, because I had already beaten the game by the time I beat the Cave of Ordeals.

[Zelda Granny]

I have yet to beat the "Cave Of Ordeals" (d**n darknuts!*! ). I found it most annnoying that : #1- the great faries didn't re-fill your life and #2- you had to re-start at the beginning (with MORE enemies) if you died or just ran out of items and needed to get re-fills. I will probably keep trying even though it's optional, it's a matter of proving to myself that I CAN do it. I agree that the reward is pretty pathetic, I mean as hard as it is you'd think it would have something? better. Btw, does anyone know if there is a way to get close enough to the Freezards to hit them without them freezing you?

[linkman8]

I have yet to beat the "Cave Of Ordeals" (d**n darknuts!*! ). I found it most annnoying that : #1- the great faries didn't re-fill your life and #2- you had to re-start at the beginning (with MORE enemies) if you died or just ran out of items and needed to get re-fills. I will probably keep trying even though it's optional, it's a matter of proving to myself that I CAN do it. I agree that the reward is pretty pathetic, I mean as hard as it is you'd think it would have something? better. Btw, does anyone know if there is a way to get close enough to the Freezards to hit them without them freezing you?
They're a difficult enemy, I won't lie to you. I have issues with them too. Mainly, just use the Ball & Chain on them, because it only takes a couple of hits, and they have to recover after being hit.

[Onilink89]

i think its a good thing for people who love to fight enemies all the time.
i will be honest, against 3 darknuts was quite hard.

weird thing is, the second time when i went in to the last room there were 4 or 5 darknuts.
now thah was annoying. i even could not prefrom a decent help splitter, so i took out my bombs until they lost their armor.

[Avenged]

Funny how 3 or 4 Darknuts are hard in these newer Zeldas...I find them kind of easy. You want hard? Play LoZ and go to Dungeon 8 with the room with over 10 Blue Darknuts.

[Dabombster]

Funny how 3 or 4 Darknuts are hard in these newer Zeldas...I find them kind of easy. You want hard? Play LoZ and go to Dungeon 8 with the room with over 10 Blue Darknuts.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm assuming people think they're difficult to defeat because if there are more than one it can be difficult to keep track of the rest. All in all though, Darknuts aren't that hard anymore...

[Zelda Granny]

i think its a good thing for people who love to fight enemies all the time.
i will be honest, against 3 darknuts was quite hard.

weird thing is, the second time when i went in to the last room there were 4 or 5 darknuts.
now thah was annoying. i even could not prefrom a decent help splitter, so i took out my bombs until they lost their armor.

You can get their armor off with bombs?!?! That's good news to me... thanks.

[Avenged]

You can also take off their armor with simple techniques that Link learns throughout the game a lot easier than 'bombs' or anything else.

[Zelda Granny]

You can also take off their armor with simple techniques that Link learns throughout the game a lot easier than 'bombs' or anything else.

Well, I learned all of the "hidden skills" and they didn't seem to help me get rid of the armor. I guess some of us just aren't as skilled as others.

[Avenged]

Well if the skill is done correctly, Link will tear the armor apart using his sword. Its not really a matter of the players skill at playing the game, just as long as the technique is performed. Use the Back Slice and/or the Helm Splitter along with the Shield Attack to breaks difficult enemy's defenses'.

[Zelda Granny]

Well if the skill is done correctly, Link will tear the armor apart using his sword. Its not really a matter of the players skill at playing the game, just as long as the technique is performed. Use the Back Slice and/or the Helm Splitter along with the Shield Attack to breaks difficult enemy's defenses'.

That's how I managed to finally beat them and finish the game, it was very frustrating to me though because it took so long and a bottle of blue potion for me. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, just frustrating at the time. Also, I have found that the more I fight them they aren't quite as hard as the first one I faced in the "Cave Of Ordels".

[LinkDescendant]

I found the Cave of Ordeals to be pretty fun. I wish there was a better reward because I had already beat the game when I beat the Cave for the 3rd time hoping for it to be even harder a third time. I thought it was very challenging the second time and the third time I was forced to make it harder by using only the normal tunic and lack of blue potion. Whew that was ridiculously hard.

[Mases]

Are there many differences at all between the 1st and 2nd times playing through the Cave of Ordeals. I heard towards the end there are areas where you have to fight multiple darknuts simultaneously. Are all the floors harder or just the last few ones?

[BlueLink57]

theres the postman in the final florr who comes at the 2nd time.

[linkman8]

I don't think there's a difference between the first and second time, but the floors gradually get more difficult as you go along, with three darknuts being at the last floor.

[Inflexus]

This was the funnest part of the game for me. The best fights and the best practice were all in this cave.

I wouldn't say that it gets more difficult, but it's supposed to. Some enemies are supposed to be more difficult but will die in less hits based off of tactical decisions and attacks.

[Mases]

I'm pretty sure there are more darknuts towards the end of the cave of ordeals the second time through. The darknuts though... while really tough at first, I don't think they were as difficult as the floors that had the ice creatures.

Those were extremely annoying and hard. I kept getting frozen over and over. I always used the ball and chain against ice enemies and when you try using it your guard is done... so I kept getting frozen.

Nonetheless, the Cave of Ordeals is much harder than any of the main quest in my opinion and that alone gives it some replay value after beating the game.

[Inflexus]

I'm pretty sure there are more darknuts towards the end of the cave of ordeals the second time through. The darknuts though... while really tough at first, I don't think they were as difficult as the floors that had the ice creatures.

Those were extremely annoying and hard. I kept getting frozen over and over. I always used the ball and chain against ice enemies and when you try using it your guard is done... so I kept getting frozen.

Nonetheless, the Cave of Ordeals is much harder than any of the main quest in my opinion and that alone gives it some replay value after beating the game.

The ice floors were probably the biggest annoyance, but I'll take any chance I can to use the ball and chain.

The Darknuts are the funnest, for me, because they actually are what the sword is used on. You can't just bomb or shoot them or anything, you have to get up close and take them out and that's where I think TP was developed further than any other Zelda game.

I'd love to see more swordplay in future Zelda's, and I think TP has set the bar rather high for the series.

[Twili123prince]

Its a good challenge i also do it to complete the game.

[Kybyrian]

There are 4 Darknuts on the last floor on your second time through.

The Cave of Ordeals was awesome. Not really a main part of the game though, sort of the reason why I refer to the game as "easy." It wasn't too easy, that's for sure.

Going through the Cave of Ordeals was pretty fun, because it actually had challenging battles and stuff like that, you really had to use you weapons to your advantage, and I liked that.

[octorok74]

It' pretty hard seeing as to how the 2nd time through some of the rooms have twice as many enemies. The reward was okay to though.

[Zant22]

i think it was way to hard way to long and in the end it dosn't give u much

[Chris]

I think the Cave of Ordeals is a great oppertunity to battle every enemy in the game. The Cave of Ordeals was a real challenge. The farther you go, the harder it gets. In conclusion, the Cave of Ordeals was an excellent edition to Zelda Twilight Princess.

[waldo12]

it was a good bonus for like doing somthing after the games over but once u beat it then it pointless

[Josh]

I haven't really played that much through Cave of Ordeals, mainly because I tried for fun I didn't have the items necessary to get through. Now if we're talking about Savage Labyrinth, I just tried to get through that, I couldn't. :(

[Hanyou]

I much preferred the savage labyrinth in The Wind Waker. The cave was kind of uninteresting and I never felt like replaying it.

[Kitsu]

The Cave Ordeals was quite difficult, and a good chance for practicing certain skills, like the bow, or sword skills. However, I personally would prefer the Savage Labyrinth in The Wind Waker. I thought it was much more unpredictable, and challenging.
In the labyrinth, I spent hours, even days, trying to beat. And yet I kept coming back to it. The Cave of Ordeals was still a decent, albeit difficult, challenge, and it did have h the benefit of producing faeries in the springs.

However, I became bored with the Cave, and started to play it to kill time[in real life]. I personally think that the Cave of Ordeals was a downgrade to the Savage Labyrinth.

[Majora]

I really liked the Cave of Ordeals, but I never tried the Savage Labrynth. I'm gonna have to compare the two later.

[Akiranon]

I once failed at the final level. Recently the same happened again in Super Paper Mario (pit of 100 trials). They're pretty challenging alright, but it also feels I could do something way more productive when I try them. :)

[Majora]

I remember the pit of 100 trials. They need to make something like that in LoZ.

Like, 100 levels per dungeon, and on each 100th level you fight a boss that's been powered up a bit.

Like, for OoT, floor 100 would be Gohma. Floor 1000 would be Ganon.

[owenshev]

I was killed on floor 94 in super paper mario. That made me sad.

I like majora's idea ^^

[Majora]

I was killed on floor 94 in super paper mario. That made me sad.

I like majora's idea ^^

I think I should make my idea a bit more detailed. I think length and difficulty should both be factors, and I think saving every 100 levels should be good too. But here's what I mean:

Levels 1-99: Every enemy you SHOULD face after starting the game and before fighting the first boss.

Level 100: Boss of the first dungeon.

Level 101-199: Every enemy you SHOULD face after beating boss 1 and before fighting boss 2.

Level 200: Boss of the second dungeon.

I love fighting huge number of various enemies, but it's so generic nowadays. They need to mix it up and throw in some grudge matches against defeated bosses.

Mach-speed king dodongo anyone? :D

[owenshev]

Twin King Dondogos?
Three Ghomas?
Dominion Rod Gone Wrong? Evil Statues?
Zant and Ganondorf Tag Team?

I don't know; I'M THE NOOB OF TIME!

[Swiftblade]

I'M THE NOOB OF TIME!

You got that right. .

[zeypherlink]

I thought it was kind of fun... Kind of...
Though the Darknuts at the end were annoying. Those bastards.

[Ando]

I was disappointed with the Cave of Ordeals. It was too easy. :/ I hopped in on accident (I didn't realize where I was until a couple of floors in) unprepared with nothing but a single bottle of Great Fairy's Tears, a few arrows, and a few bombs, and I beat it with no problem. My second run-through I beat without getting hit at all.

[skullkidsreveng]

Hmmm... well I did enjoy the cave of ordeals as it was somthing that us hardcore players could enjoy... but the problem with it is that compared to other games, twilite princess is fairly easy throughout most of the game (expecially if you've already played a zelda game) so whene it just randomly throws a exxescivly hard 50 pit cave from hell, I felt kind of unprepared. (though I litarly was unpreapared as I went in with no potions or fairies)
Though it is fun to do and kind of a nice change, they need to make the whole game a little more difficult or at least have a "Zelda" player name to up the difficulty as they did with the early zelda games. So yes, it did seem like a last minut, Throw-in-just-to-shut-up-the-hardcore-gamers thing, but overall it was a nice change of pace.

By the wayI don't think there's a difference between the first and second time, but the floors gradually get more difficult as you go along, with three darknuts being at the last floor.


There is at the very end. Don't jump off the final legde if you want to see him... I mean it.

[Ando]

Aye, there are a few differences the second time around. The room with two Darknuts has three that time, and the final room has four Darknuts. Some of the other rooms have increased enemy counts, too.

[Matt]

Anyone know what the Postman says? I can't remember.

[Hylian Hobbit]

Anyone know what the Postman says? I can't remember.

Why? Does he say something about the Cave of Ordeals? I don't remember anything like that.

I liked the Cave of Ordeals. It was very tedious, but I made it through without the Magic Armor and with one red potion. The last room with the three Darknuts is my favorite part of it. But I must say, the prize at the end was pretty lame. =\

[Ando]

Why? Does he say something about the Cave of Ordeals? I don't remember anything like that.

Actually, right after the final Darknut room the second time 'round, if you look to the left right before you jump off the platform, you'll see the Postman sitting there with a letter. He says (and this is straight from the text dump): "I think you are lost. It's got to be around here somewhere..."

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN D:<

[Abyss Master]

The Cave of Ordeals was a pretty nice addition to the game, like Gerudo Training Grounds was to OoT. Challenging and required more out of me than any boss in the entire game.

Darknut battle at the end was a b**** though :(

[DarkLink0602]

I found that is wht not that big a challenge, The only part I find hard in it is when you have to fight the Ice Keese, Ice Bubbles, Those things that can only get killed by the ball and chain that stand in front of doors, and then those other things that can summon ice javalins

[HylianPrincess]

I really liked the Cave of Ordeals. It took me about two hours to finish it the first time. And I came really prepared I mean I had 3 blue potions, 1 fairy, 3 bomb bags full of 60 bombs, 100 arrows, 1000 rupees and magic armour, all of the hidden skills and of course all the other items. Unlike all of you I really thought the prize was usefull. When I go and fight ganondorf for fun I can just get a bunch of fairys and some tears. Same as for replayin the Cave of Ordeals. Also I really like the TP Great Fairy she was instantly up with my favourite characters Tatl and Zelda. So yes did enjoy the Cave of Ordeals. One thing I do not have though is all the heart pieces! *runs off to get heart pieces*

[Ando]

Those things that can only get killed by the ball and chain that stand in front of doors, and then those other things that can summon ice javalins
Freezards and Chilfos, respectively. ;)
Speaking of the Ball and Chain, the Cave of Ordeals was actually where I learned that you could kill a ReDead Knight in two hits with one of those. Excellent stuff.

Also I really like the TP Great Fairy
But... she's, like, naked. Gross.

:P

[Smitie]

I liked the cave of ordeals. it was fun and challenging at the same time. the only downside was you needed special items to get further (like the double clawshot). Once I fought almost for an hour and realised I needed the double clawshot (which I didn't have) so all those fights for nothing >.<

[DarkLink0602]

Speaking of the Ball and Chain, the Cave of Ordeals was actually where I learned that you could kill a ReDead Knight in two hits with one of those. Excellent stuff.

:P

Same here, I was thinking if there was any easier way to kill redeads and ended up throwing bombs and firing bomb arrows at them until they died and when I ran out i used the ball and chain

[HylianPrincess]

HUZZA!!!
I know how to kill Redeads in one hit! I bet you want to know how. right?
Well you use that move were you charge up a jump attack for area effect. So you charge it up and release so that the sword hits the ReDead and they will die in one hit! You can even do it far enough away that its scream wont efect you!:D

[Ando]

HUZZA!!!
I know how to kill Redeads in one hit! I bet you want to know how. right?
Well you use that move were you charge up a jump attack for area effect. So you charge it up and release so that the sword hits the ReDead and they will die in one hit! You can even do it far enough away that its scream wont efect you!:D

Holy cow, really?? I should try this later. Thanks for the tip!

[DarkLink0602]

HUZZA!!!
I know how to kill Redeads in one hit! I bet you want to know how. right?
Well you use that move were you charge up a jump attack for area effect. So you charge it up and release so that the sword hits the ReDead and they will die in one hit! You can even do it far enough away that its scream wont efect you!:D

Sorry to says this about your idea but the Ball and Chain thing is so much easier to pull off, You can stay far away enough that they don't scream at you at all, All you do is go just close enough so that it will start walking towards you

[mewtwolord]

what's the cave of ordeals again ain't that in tw

[DarkLink0602]

what's the cave of ordeals again ain't that in tw
The Cave of Ordeals is a side quest in Twilight Princess. It has 50 floors of continuing battles (except every ten floors there is great fairy who will release fairies into the springs. You can only heal yourself with the bottles of stuff you bring in to heal yourself except for about 5 hearts you can dig out of the floor in Wolf Form.

[mewtwolord]

oh yeah i remember now i never beat it thanx :wave:

[Ando]

what's the cave of ordeals again ain't that in tw

You're thinking of the Savage Labrynth. Same idea, different game.

[Dragon Tamer]

It was fun in my opinion, They did a great job with it.
It took me a couple of times to get to the end but I did! :p
The darknuts was pretty hard for me.

[Onilink89]

I don 't think the darknuts where THAT hard.
yeah i also had trouble with them and then at some point i started to use bombs, and it helped to get rid of the armor.

No most annoying room for me would be:

Freezards and Chilfos and Ghoul Rats.
On my first try, this room almost got me killed because of the Ghoul Rats, that was the least i expected in that room.

While they slow me down, Chilfos throws ice spears and if you come close to them...Stab.
And not to mention you have to pay attention to the Freezard.

Now everytime if i cross that room, i first try to kill some Chilfos from above with bomb arrows. but thats easier said then done. it takes 2 bomb arrows to kill one Chillfos.
One to break its spear and then one to kill it. So after you break his spear, you have to be quick with the second one, or else he would just pull out a new spear.

Yeah i 'm wasting a lot of ammo here, but i don 't then i will be wasting a lot of hearths! -.-

[Kybyrian]

^ Why thank you for bringing that room up. There was one other room that annoyed me to no end and I couldn't remember it.

I never was good with Chilfos, as I'm not really the defensive kind of person. And those Ghoul Rats really caught me off guard and I find it frustrating to fight as a wolf. And while you were tied up in those two things, right out of nowhere you would walk in front of a Freezard and get pwned.

[Zeanith]

I loved it, but at times it was overly difficult.

I love the fairy! She's so pretty.

But she NEEDS TO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON.

[Kitsu]

The Cave of Ordeals was indeed difficult at times, but it wasn't as fun as the one in The Wind Waker. I felt that it wasn't as fun. It didn't make me want to just play for hours until I beat, as I did with The Savage Labyrinth.

[Onilink89]

The Cave of Ordeals was indeed difficult at times, but it wasn't as fun as the one in The Wind Waker. I felt that it wasn't as fun. It didn't make me want to just play for hours until I beat, as I did with The Savage Labyrinth.

Yeah i also got that feeling.
Somehow i enjoy the WW one more then the Cave of Ordeals.
I don 't know why, maybe its because you can fight more recklessly in WW, while in TP you really have to look out that you don 't get yourself killed.

[Kybyrian]

Yeah i also got that feeling.
Somehow i enjoy the WW one more then the Cave of Ordeals.
I don 't know why, maybe its because you can fight more recklessly in WW, while in TP you really have to look out that you don 't get yourself killed.

Yeah, and probably one of the things that propelled me to go even farther into the Cave of Ordeals in The Wind Waker was that each time you completed a certain number of floors you would get a ton of rupees from the pots. :P I did that a lot whenever collecting rupees to give to Tingle.

[Ver-go-a-go-go]

I found it insanely difficult at first, but after I nabbed the Magic Armour, it was much easier.

[LinkOwnsYou]

A total waste of my time and hearts, it's not a big deal the only good things that you get there are the 3 or 2 poe souls, those where worth to go in there

[linkman8]

A total waste of my time and hearts, it's not a big deal the only good things that you get there are the 3 or 2 poe souls, those where worth to go in there
Ultimately the Cave of Ordeals is more of a sidequest than anything. It bears very little relevance to the actual plotline, but it's just there as a challenge, and if you complete it, a reward.
Although I have to admit I was a little disappointed as well, but at least after you finish it, you have an infinite amount of (spoiler reward).

[DarkLink0602]

I found that it was quite fun to do, It took me 2 tries to get to the end since the fiirst time I went in with no health potions. I thought the hardest room was the room with all the ice type enemies, I am no good with Chilfos.

I did not find the area with the Dark Nuts that hard in the end because I am quite good at fighting those things, The way I fight them is by waiting for one to take a shot at me then hitting it while Its weapon is stuck in the floor then I keep attacking that singe Dark Nut until it dead then move on

[UsayEldaZay]

this drove me INSANE! i got sooo mad when i would get a game over and have to start all over! and when you warp you have to start all over too so that also makes you mad! i had to go in there with fairies, red potions, AND magic armour! the game over screen and i became very good friends :)

[Steel Lover]

Wow...The cave of ordeals...good...and terrible..times lol =P

i ended up having to beat it 3 times like everyone else who missed the post man the second time around, the way i always handled it was to snipe the hard portions from the ledge as I went, and as i got to the ice parts (O God i hated those rooms, made me expect to see a Yeti with soup waiting for me) I would just kill everything as fast as possible and hope i got lucky and didnt lose to much health.

The last room kinda threw me the first time and i ended up winning with only one heart left. BUT I DID IT :D Si i was happy, the second time SUCKED...and the third time was boring.

Ive never completely beaten WW since i dont particularly like the gameplay, but i might have to search out this other pit yall are talking about.

[ZeroJinKui]

i thought it was pretty fun, the hardest room to me was anything with more than 1 freezard... i think there was a room with 3 freezards in it.. god, that was so irritating!

fire arrows would've been nice to have in situations like that...

that was also the only time i used my magic armor i think, so i could clear atleast one of them out so i could have room to maneuver around.

i enjoyed the final room, i just love fighting darknuts, they're so much fun! ^^

its more like a traditional sword fight against just one of them, but against several, theres just something really exciting about it.