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Skull Woods B1
- The first room of the Skull Woods dungeon is largely unremarkable... save for the floating hand that constantly appears and tries to grab Link. These creepy creatures won't hurt you, but if they grab you they'll whisk you back to the beginning of whatever room you're in at the time. No big deal in this room, but very annoying elsewhere. Don't dawdle!
- Start by taking a left. You'll come out in a narrow, southbound corridor. Equip your Lamp so you can see where you're going and make your way south. A button here will open the way back east. A mummy will harangue you on the way out; if you set it on fire (Fire Rod) you'll turn it into an earier-to-defeat skeleton.
- You're now in a room containing narrow, zig-zagging passages surrounded by pits. Carefully make your way along here, avoiding the flaming chains and killing enemies as necessary. If you have a ranged weapon on hand, this is the place to use it.
- Go through the door in the south and you'll wind up back outside. Follow the path to a pit and hop in.
- You're back int he previous room, but on a higher level. Hop on the floating platform revolving around the stone column to the south. A hand will appear to try and grab you; merge into the column to avoid being caught. After you leave the platform you'll find a Small Key in a chest.
- Go through the door near the chest. Back in the dark. Use the Lamp or the Fire Rod to light the three braziers in this room, if you feel you need the extra light. Otherwise, simply traverse the narrow walkways, kill mummies, and try not to get caught by greedy hands. Make your way to the bottom-right corner of the room, and use the Small Key you found on the door.
- Back outside. Walk north and drop down into the first pit you find. It leads to a chest containing 100 rupees. Drop down into the pit with the spinning fire and check this chest for the Compass.
- Head back south through the darkened room again and back outside. Go west past the pit to find a clump of purple bushes. Hidden beneath them is a second pit. Drop in and go south through the next room.
- You're now on gridded flooring. To the north is a section of stone you can break through; either use the Hammer or lure the floating hand to slam down onto it for you. Walk west and north to find another patch of stone to bust through. Beneath are some monsters, a button for creating a path back east, and a chest containing a Small Key. Use the Key on the locked door in the southwest.
- Back to the entrance hall. Walk east to the pull switch and drag it out to reveal a stairway. Jackpot.
Skull Woods B2
- Merge with the wall in the next room to get onto the southern section of floor. Kill the enemies here, then push the stone gargoyles onto the first and second floor tiles from the left. This will extend two flush sections of wall above you. Using the stairs to the west, you can merge into these walls and get across to a pull switch that'll create stairs, allowing easier access to the door in the east.
- Walk south and stand on the button in the next room to activate a moving block. Merge with the block and use it to get to the central pathway in this room. (Note that the stupid hand can't get at you down here, thanks to the floor above.) Walk north, underneath the button, and wait for the hand to slam down and press it. This will trigger a block to your right into movement. Use it to access the northernmost stretch of floor, where a door waits.
- Combat room beyond. When you stand on the button, two Moldorm-esque wriggles and a mummy will be released. Wait for a hand to show up and kill it, then hit the button. Take out the monsters that appear, and, if necessary, hide in their cages to avoid being plucked up by the hand. Once the floor-dwellers are gone, walk under the two mummies in the north and let the hand squash them out of existence. Kill all five monsters and the northern door will open. A teleport spot leading back to the entrance will also appear.
- Step onto the moving platform in the next room and ride it west. Merge with the wall halfway to avoid being plucked up by a hand. Walk left along the wall, drop down onto the lower platform in the northwest corner, and wait for a platform to come back. Hop into the bottom of it and ride it to the chest in the middle of the room. It contains a Small Key. Use it on the locked door ahead.
- Run to the far end of the darkened corridor beyond and light the brazier. Two mummies will appear. Kill them to open the door north of the brazier.
Skull Woods B1
- Slip through the bars to the south of the stairs. Run to the east wall and merge with it. Emerge again near the decorative eye sitting on the northern platform and throw it across the gap in the floor. Stick it on the nearest eyelid statue to reveal a huge chest.
- Head south through this room, either riding platforms or merging with walls to get to the doorway in the south.
- Back outside. Look to the west along the path to find a chest containing 50 rupees.
- Walk through the ribcage to the north. Beyond is an open area with four pits: two in the open, two hidden under purple bushes. The only pit that's of use is the one hidden under the bushes in the east. Merge with the wall once you're back in the dungeon and shimmy west to find the second decorative eyeball you need - but before you grab it, remain merged and go for the big chest across from the eye. It contains Master Ore. Sweetness.
- Grab the eye and hop down to ground level. Getting past the monsters with it isn't difficult; the platforms are another matter... unless you think ahead. Rather than riding across with the eye, toss it onto one of the platforms, merge with the north wall, and wait on the east side of the pit for the platform to deliver it to you. Then chuck it into the remaining statue to reveal the chest containing the Big Key. Wooooooo!
Skull Woods B2
- Use the Big Key on the big door in that long, dark hallway you previously came through. Boss time!
Giant Hand Thinger
As if you hadn't fought enough of these by now. This enormous, gauntleted hand starts out with a simple pattern of trying to punch you. You'll know it's going to punch when it starts to glow. Lure it to a wall and merge with the wall just before the hand hits. This will stun it, exposing the eye on its palm. Slash at the eye until it rights itself.
Do this twice and the hand will change tactics slightly. It will spend most of its time trying to palm slam you, usually breaking the cracked floor beneath you. Retreat to the north of the room where there's plenty of uncracked floor and merge with the wall. Wait out the palm slams, emerge, regenerate a bit of your meter, and merge again. After two sets of three palm slams it will go back to punching. Do this twice.
Again a change of tactics, though not to any great degree. Once the hand is flashing red it will move more quickly, particularly on the punches, but otherwise it's the same fight. Retreat, reappear, retreat, reappear, slash. After six full rounds of slashing it'll go down for good.
For wiping out the boss of the Skull Woods you'll receive the usual Heart Container, always a plus. Go through the door in the north and you'll also find the portrait of Sage Seres, who is quite happy to be freed from her prison. Two sages down!