The Dark World’s first dungeon opens up most of the rest of the the Dark World for exploration.
Palace of Darkness
The Palace of Darkness introduces four new enemies: Baris, which sometimes surge with electricity and shock Link if he hits them; Helmasaurs, whose defining feature is the protective mask they wear on their face, making them immune to some attacks from the front; Goriyas, who no longer throw boomerangs but mimic Link’s movement; and turtle enemies called Terrorpins1, who are immune to any damage as long as they’re upright. Once Link gets the hammer from the dungeon, he can flip them over, and it’s generally easiest to freeze them with the ice rod or Ether so they won’t flip back, then smash them with the hammer again to refill the magic spent freezing them.
The dungeon itself is a maze, and I know how to do it with minimal backtracking now, but man I must have gotten lost so many times. The end boss is the Helmasaur King. I don’t know why I insist on chipping away at the mask with the hammer instead of using bombs like a normal person; I guess I like the extra challenge of constantly having to walk up to a giant monster whose movements are erratic and takes off two hearts if it hits Link2. Once it’s finally dead, Link recovers a crystal with one of the seven maidens. She tells Link where the other six are, and the Dark World quest has begun.
Exploring the Dark World
Getting the hammer opens up most of the Dark World, so it’s time to go exploring. The first stop is the Dark World version of the Haunted Grove, where Link finds Flute Boy alive, but transformed into a… I don’t know, looks like some kind of fox, and clinging to the Dark World equivalent of his favorite place. He asks Link to find his flute, which he buried in the grove with some flower seeds. It’s tempting to warp back to the Light World right there, but if Link does it where Flute Boy Apparition can see him, he’ll immediately poof and Link can’t move until he’s done, at which point he’s lost the protection from the Mirror’s portal and he goes right back to the Dark World. Anyway, the flute’s buried under a patch of flowers, but when Link takes it back to the Flute Boy, Flute Boy says he can’t use it anymore and asks Link to play it for him one last time. After the song finishes, Flute Boy turns into a tree3.
Continuing on, there are four pieces of heart available now. The first is just southwest of the Haunted Grove, and is a simple mirror to the Light World, enter the cave, and grab piece. The second is buried with a bunch of other treasures in a field that costs 80 rupees to get to dig up for 30 seconds. This one can take forever, and a lot of rupees, although there are plenty buried in the field so Link probably won’t lose too many. The third requires going back to the Light World and finding a warp point between Kakariko Village and the Lost Woods and exploring the Village of Outcasts. While in Kakariko, Link takes the flute back to Flute Boy’s father, who asks Link to keep it and play it for the weathercock, which shatters and frees a bird which can now take Link to eight convenient locations around the Light World. Also, jumping in a well by the blacksmiths’ house leads Link to find a strange contraption. Sprinkling magic powder on the contraption awakens the Mad Batter, who… honestly, I don’t know what to make of him. He “curses” Link so he uses half as much magic as usual; not so important for the next dungeon, but after that, much more.
The Village of Outcasts piece is hidden in a chest game: open two of sixteen chests for 30 rupees. Like the treasure field, this can go very badly, but there are 600 rupees hidden around the village, so some quick math says there’s only a 6.92% chance of using all those rupees and not getting the heart piece; plus the game’s chests have rupees of their own. Still, random heart pieces are annoying. The final heart piece for now is in a cave on a small cliff overlooking the Light World graveyard, and it’s like the first one. While in the area, Link can access the Dark version of the area that has a blocked-off tomb in the Light World, warp back, open the tomb, and get the magic cape. There’s one more heart piece Link can get now, but it’s so much easier with the hookshot, so I’m going to wait on that.
There are two more items to get right now. First is the Cane of Byrna. It’s up on Dark Death Mountain, and requires a tough journey walking over spikes to get. The easiest way to do it is to wear the cape on the way in, grab the cane, drink a green potion, and use the cane on the way back out. For the second item, Link takes a hidden portal in the Great Swamp and goes to where the entrance to the Desert of Mystery was, warps back, and gets the Bombos Medallion.
Next: Swamps, skulls, and thieves.