Item Rental Early

Discovered By TDutchNick96

Theory

The ability to rent items from Ravio's shop is unlocked by triggering one of the following:

  • The Death Mountain eruption cutscene. Requires the Power Gloves to remove some rocks blocking the path.
  • Obtaining the Flippers from Oren (Zora queen) by returning the Smooth Gem. Requires Ravio's Bracelet.
  • Activating the Weather Vane in front of House of Gales.

It's possible to obtain the Flippers early but it isn't convenient. The recommended and most common method is to skip the Power Gloves, allowing you to trigger the Death Mountain eruption cutscene early.

Using the House of Gales Weather Vane method to unlock renting is not possible in normal play, mainly because it requires the Flippers to reach it. Although you can reach House of Gales without Flippers, that requires being able to rent items already.

What it skips

  • The Eastern Palace can be accessed before completing the Sanctuary. Talking to Dampe will give you access to using your sword, then deathwarping will take you back to your house. You will, however, have to complete Sanctuary anyway to gain access to Hyrule Castle, so skipping it isn't recommended.
  • The visit to Zelda can be skipped for a while, but will have to be done later on when going to Hyrule Castle.
  • You won't have to go talk to Sahasrahla in his house.
  • When going back to your house, you will immediately be able to rent items, so it'll be possible to have the bow and go directly to Eastern Palace, skipping the small "Ravio signs" cutscene in that area.
  • Osfala won't be waiting for you outside of Eastern Palace.
  • By getting the Tornado Rod early, it is possible to skip the Boss Key in Eastern Palace.

Equipping rented items

Even if you have items rented from Ravio's Shop, the game will not let you equp and use them by default. In order to unlock the Y slot to equip items, you need to obtain the Lamp inside the Sanctuary grave.

Getting the Lamp after unlocking renting does not have any negative side effects, but it will be placed in the menu after any other items you rented beforehand.

Oddities

  • Since having Ravio's shop in your house completely modifies it's layout, the cutscene after beating Sanctuary will be all messed up.
  • There will be two Ravios in your house from this point on, one standing still in front of the Bow, one moving around following you.
  • Due to this, it will be almost impossible to access the Bow (in order to rent it if you haven't already, or to buy it later on). It can however be done by using the other Ravio to push you further in between the immobile one and the table.
  • NPC's & Cuccos in Kakariko are duped as well. The characters will say the same thing.
  • If you attempt to get the pouch without beating Sanctuary, it will not work. The pouch will show up on the tree stump, but when you press A to get it, the pouch will disappear and nothing will happen.
  • The visit to Zelda will still have to happen, even after getting the Master Sword. By then, the Castle will be filled with hostile guards, and a red one will be standing in Zelda's place.
  • The cutscene where Zelda turns around won't happen, so the visit to her room will be shorter. Also, the camera will remain centered on the entrance, so we will see Link disappear upon entering the room, and then the camera will center back on him at the north of the room, after the final textbox.

Accessing the Bow slot

As part of the oddities caused by this sequence break, one of the Ravio's will stand in front of the northernmost shop slot, blocking the Bow from being bought or rented again.

You can still access that slot from the corner of the stationary Ravio. You can either use the moving Ravio to push you farther into the corner, or talk to the stationary Ravio from the side to make him turn and give easier access to it. It's possible to do it unassisted, but it's unclear what makes it possible.

Last updated 07/03/2022 – RickWithAnH