Formation Hover

Formerly among the most useful of techniques in Four Swords Adventures is the formation hover, which utilizes the C-stick and the Links' various formations to hover over certain types of chasms. There are several methods for performing this trick, with the general shape and positioning of the gap/chasm determining the type of formation hover used to cross it.

Scenario 1 - Crossing "Vertical" Gaps

Discovered by TheOnlyOne & Wobbaone

One of the simplest types of chasms to cross with a formation hover is a "Vertical" gap--meaning that there is land "above" and "below" the gap, with walls on the its right and left sides. Examples of such gaps occur in 1-1 (Lake Hylia), and 2-2 (The Village of the Blue Maiden). To perform the hover:

1. Get against the right wall and stand along the edge of the chasm.
2. Press right on the C-stick, then hold up on the C-stick and the control stick and immediately roll.
3. If performed correctly, you should be hovering over the void against the wall*. Now to fully cross the gap, continue to roll until you are on the edge of the other side. You should notice that you cannot simply roll onto land.
4. Instead you must perform an action that causes Red to touch the other side. Most often you can simply press B and R in quick succession until you see the Red "hop" onto the ground in front of you; however sometimes a jumpslash must be performed.
5. Once you see Red touch the ground on the other side, press X to fall. When you respawn, Red will be on the opposite side of the gap. From here, just switch to Red and call everyone over with L or Y.

*Note: From this point onward, you must hold up on the c-stick the entire time until after you press X and fall.

Scenario 2 - Crossing "Horizontal" Gaps

"Horizontal" gap formation hovers, as the name implies, cross chasms which have land on their left and right sides, and have walls "above" and "below" them. Crossing these types of chasms can be a bit more difficult, and less consistent than crossing "vertical" chasms. The most common of these chasms is found in 5-1 (Lost Woods) and 2-1 (The Coast)*.

*Note: Neither of these gaps are crossed using formation hovers any longer. For more information, please visit these levels' respective pages.

There are two main methods for crossing this type of gap. When crossing horizontal gaps, the technique to reach the other side varies whether you are crossing on the left or right side (as compared to "vertical" gaps where they are always crossed "upward"):

Crossing to the Right

Discovered by Zmaster91 & Geno

When crossing a gap to the right:

1. Get on its edge, hold C-left and roll to the right. The nature of the formation should automatically begin to pull you over the chasm.
2. Now hold C-down, roll to the other side of the chasm, and then release the control stick and switch to C-Up.
3. Then comes the tricky part--you must roll until you see the Links roll onto land, then immediately press X. If done properly, one or two of the Links should be on the other side of the gap.

Note: Pausing between each attempt to roll onto land can make it easier to see when the links successfully get on land, and thus when to press X.

Crossing to the Left

Discovered by Wobbaone

For crossing a gap to the left:

1. Get on the edge and hold down on the C-stick and roll to the left.
2. Once you have rolled over to the other side though, you must hold C-left, and do a jump slash.
3. Just after you slash and the Links are above solid ground, immediately press X and one or two of the Links should be on the other side.

Wall-less Formation Hover

Discovered by everycheat & Sergi

On particular levels (mainly in Level 8), by getting on the the edge in front of a chasm, and holding C-right, Link will get pulled off the ledge and continue moving right — essentially hovering without the aid of a wall. Once in the air, you can change the direction in which you are moving by quickly changing the direction you're holding on the c-stick (pauses are typically used to make this more feasible). This same method can be used to go down (with C-down) or in the "SSW" direction (with C-left).

Although typically touching land or performing any other action in additional to holding a direction on the C-Stick will cause you to fall, running into walls or scene transitions can allow you to skip certain areas and/or tasks. This is particularly helpful in Level 8-1 (Realm of the Heavens), where it can be used, at points, to skip entire screens.