Faron Woods

─────── Sealed Grounds ───────

Skip First Log Cutscene

This trick is only useful in categories where you run up this log once. If you have to run this way again, and would have to repush the log, this would be slower.

After rescuing Gorko, you can skip the cutscene from pushing the first log by only pushing it twice, then getting on top with a jumpslash and roll-jumping to grab the ledge.

This saves 1-2 seconds, depending on whether you grab the ledge with one or two hands. It is often used in Faron Back in Time, since the progress of pushing the log isn't saved in BiT.

Sealed Grounds Skip

This trick requires saving at the Sealed Grounds Spiral statue. In normal progression, this statue is not activated until you save the goron at the Behind the Temple area, which is at the end of the Sealed Grounds. However, the statue is activated if you can reach the Sealed Grounds Spiral on layer 0. This requires not having the Hero's Tunic. This is possible by setting up Faron BiT using the Faron Light Pillar and a Sky RBW.

Method 1 - Faron Entrance BiTSave

At the beginning of the game, talk to Fledge inside the academy in order to set scene flag 5x80, which corresponds to the log to behind the temple in the Sealed Grounds area. Then set up Faron BiT with the Faron Light Pillar and a Sky RBW. This will allow you to reach the Sealed Grounds Spiral without the Hero's Tunic, which means you can save at the statue there.

Once that is done, activate BiT. Go to Faron in Back in Time and use your file saved on Skyloft to BiTMagic the log down. You can then run to Behind the Temple. Because you do not have the tunic, Behind the Temple is on layer 0, which means that the gate blocking the access to Faron Woods does not exist. Run to Faron Woods and BiTSave at the Entrance Statue. Because you've watched the Sealed Grounds Introductory Cutscene, Faron Woods will be on layer 1, making the slingshot obtainable. Start your file and you can now rescue the kikwis for the slingshot.

This skips everything in the Sealed Grounds area: the sealing spike, activating the air vents in the spiral, unlocking the door to the Sealed Temple, meeting Impa and the beacon ability, unlocking the door inside the Sealed Temple to Behind the Temple and the bokoblins at Behind the Temple. The air vents and the door to the Sealed Temple will activate by defeating an Imprisoned fight later.

Due to skipping Impa, the gate to Faron Woods will stay closed forever. This can be circumvented by loading Behind the Temple on layer 0. The reason we skip the Sealed Grounds by BiTSaving in Faron Woods is to also skip the Faron Woods Entrance Cutscene, which would set Behind the Temple to layer 2, making the closed gate appear on that file.

Because this is otherwise a simple BiTSave, it can be good to combine this with another trick. Tricks that combine rather well with this are:

  • Skyview RBW, which can be seen as an extended version of this skip. If you want to get the B-Wheel you will then have to perform the B-Wheel in Back in Time trick after beating Skyview (see Unused Strategies on this page).
  • Song of the Hero Skip (BiTSave at Behind the Temple instead of Faron Entrance to stay in the Sealed Grounds area).
  • Ancient Cistern CSWW (Load your BiTSaved file at the Bazaar Statue and enter the Academy. Leave through the Academy Left Door for entrance 4 and save at the Lower Academy statue. Put your run file on slot 3, and perform the CSWW in Floria Waterfall by dying to the lilypad. Perform the Death Trick by starting the file with entrance 4 and perform a file dupe. Entering the Ancient Cistern sets Floria Waterfall to layer 2, which will allow you to re-enter the Ancient Cistern later without the Water Dragon's Scale by jumping to the entrance from a lilypad).

Method 2 - Reverse BiTMagic (Normal Mode Only)

In order to save at the Sealed Grounds Spiral statue on layer 0 on Normal Mode, you must set up Faron BiT using the Faron Light Pillar and Sky RBW method. However, you can not perform the Sky RBW with a file dupe, as this only works on Hero Mode. Instead, BiTSave your file at the Academy Save Prompt, then RBW that file into the Sky.

After saving at the Sealed Grounds Spiral statue on layer 0, it is possible to use Reverse BiTMagic in order to set the log to Behind the Temple down. However, this only works if you are playing on Normal Mode.

The corresponding flag is 5x80. On Skyloft it is set by talking to Fledge inside the Academy before meeting Zelda. The reason this works only on Normal Mode is because there is no way to commit this RBM on Hero Mode. On Normal Mode, you can commit it by bonking between two pillars next to the statue in order to make a heart appear. You can then run to Behind the Temple and then to Faron Woods.

This skips everything in the Sealed Grounds area: the sealing spike, activating the air vents in the spiral, unlocking the door to the Sealed Temple, meeting Impa and the beacon ability, unlocking the door inside the Sealed Temple to Behind the Temple and the bokoblins at Behind the Temple. The air vents and the door to the Sealed Temple will activate by defeating an Imprisoned fight later. Due to skipping Impa, the gate to Faron Woods will also stay closed forever on that file.

Beat Sky Keep Early with CSWW

Discovered by peppernicus

By using the Cutscene Wrong Warp glitch, it is possible to wrong warp into an unused version of the last part of the Sky Keep ending cutscenes, which sets Sky Keep as being defeated. This requires going to Faron in BiT. To perform this glitch, a file must be saved in room 2 entrance 6. Being saved at this entrance and performing Death Trick (or Fadeout Trick with Impa on layer 1) in the Sealed Temple will force the Sky Keep Beaten Cutscene to start. The corresponding entrances are:

  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after landing at the Volcano East Statue.
  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after being launched by the Groosenator to the Thrill Digger game.

Note: The used version of this cutscene occurs on a special Sealed Temple stage only used during some cutscenes (F407). Despite this, the cutscene still exists on the normal Sealed Temple stage (F402) and sets all the same flags the normal cutscene would set.

Method 1: Standard Method

For this first method, your run file is saved at one of the aforementionned entrances.

Perform BiT. Go to Faron in BiT. Then do one of the following methods:

  • Enter the Sealed Temple and die with bombs. Press Continue and start the file saved at one of the aforementionned entrances precisely (the frame window is 2 frames).
  • Enter the Sealed Temple on layer 1 specifically. Start your file then run into the Impa fadeout (the frame window is 20 frames).

If done correctly, holding 2 should skip a cutscene while your file is loading. Depending if you skip the cutscene quickly or late, you will either perform a Reverse BiTWarp into the Sealed Temple (large frame window), or respawn in Eldin (two frame window), while setting the Sky Keep defeat flag with Reverse BiTMagic.

Video forthcoming

Method 2: Combined with Song of the Hero Skip

For this second method, File 1 is saved at one of the aforementionned entrances, and the 3rd file slot contains your run file saved anywhere in the Sealed Grounds.

Perform BiT. Go to Faron in BiT. Then do one of the following methods:

  • Enter the Sealed Temple and die with bombs. Press Continue and start the file saved at one of the aforementionned entrances precisely (the frame window is 2 frames).
  • Enter the Sealed Temple on layer 1 specifically. Start your file then run into the Impa fadeout (the frame window is 20 frames).

If done correctly, you should see a skippable cutscene while your file is loading. During that short period of time, open the Title Screen by pressing A then skip the cutscene. Opening the File Screen will perform a file dupe: it will copy all the information from file 3 and put it on file 1, but still attempt to load the file 1 entrance which is necessary for the trick to work.

Skipping the cutscene will perform a Reverse BiTWarp into the Sealed Temple, while setting the Sky Keep defeat flag with Reverse BiTMagic. But because file 3 was saved in the Sealed Grounds prior to this trick, this will also RBM scene flag 7x04 onto your file, which unlocks the door to Hylia's Realm in the past.

Gate of Time Skip with CSWW

Discovered by peppernicus

By using the Cutscene Wrong Warp glitch, it is possible to wrong warp into an unused version of the Gate of Time opening cutscene early and enter Hylia's Temple without ever opening the Gate of Time. This requires going to Faron in BiT. To perform this glitch, a file must be saved in room 2 entrance 5. Being saved at this entrance and performing Death Trick in the Sealed Temple will force the unused Gate of Time Opening Cutscene to start, which will trigger a load into Hylia's Temple. The corresponding entrances are:

  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after leaving the upper cave (normally only accessible after Bokoblin Base, but can also be accessed early with lava hops, see Eldin TAS strategies).
  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after exiting the Din's Silent Realm (forced layer 2). If using this entrance, you also must enter the Sealed Temple in BiT in layer 2 for the trick to work, which requires obtaining the Harp and talking to Groose at Behind the Temple.

If you are saved at the first of these entrances, then you can also perform this glitch using a Fadeout Trick with Impa on Sealed Temple layer 1 instead of Death Trick. This will not work with the second entrance however, because that entrance requires the Sealed Temple to be in layer 2.

Perform BiT. Go to Faron in BiT. Enter the Sealed Temple and die with bombs. Press Continue and start the file saved at one of the aforementionned entranced precisely (the frame window is 2 frames). If done correctly, holding 2 should skip a cutscene while your file is loading. This performs a Reverse BiTWarp into Hylia's Temple, which skips the Gate of Time.

By default, Hylia's Temple is in layer 0. The door to the Horde fight does not exist on layer 0. Thus to actually beat the game with this trick without opening the Gate of Time, you will also need to beat Sky Keep to get Hylia's Temple in layer 2. This can be done with the Beat Sky Keep Early with CSWW trick.

This trick does not open the Gate of Time despite being a warp into a Gate of Time cutscene. Indeed, the trigger to open the Gate of Time is to skyward strike the closed gate of time after beating the Imprisoned 2 and with scene flag 2x40 or the Master Sword, and it is not the associated cutscene.

Note: The used version of this cutscene occurs on a special Sealed Temple stage only used during some cutscenes (F407). Despite this, the cutscene still exists on the normal Sealed Temple stage (F402) and sets all the same flags the normal cutscene would set.

Credits Warp

Discovered by peppernicus

By using the Cutscene Wrong Warp glitch, it is possible to wrong warp into the Credits. This requires going to Faron in BiT. To perform this glitch, a file must be saved in room 2 entrance 5. Being saved at this entrance and performing Death Trick in Hylia's Temple will force the Fi Farewell Cutscene to start. The corresponding entrances are:

  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after leaving the upper cave (normally only accessible after Bokoblin Base, but can also be accessed early with lava hops, see Eldin TAS strategies).
  • Saved at Volcano Ascent or Volcano East in Eldin after exiting the Din's Silent Realm (forced layer 2). If using this entrance, you also must enter Hylia's Temple in BiT in layer 2 for the trick to work, which requires beating Sky Keep (but not Ghirahim 3).

This trick requires going to Hylia's Temple in Back in Time. This requires opening the Gate of Time and being able to load a layer of the Sealed Temple that does not crash BiT where the opened Gate of Time can appear. Thus the Sealed Temple layers 5, 6 or 7 are needed, which requires meeting Levias or beating Sky Keep.

Perform BiT. Go to Faron in BiT. Enter the Sealed Temple with a file that as met Levias or beaten Sky Keep, and that has opened the Gate of Time. Enter Hylia's Temple then die with bombs. Press Continue and start the file saved at one of the aforementionned entranced precisely (the frame window is 2 frames). If done correctly, holding 2 should skip a cutscene while your file is loading. This performs a Reverse BiTWarp into the Credits.

Video forthcoming

Note: This trick can also be done combined with Raising and Opening the Gate of Time, if your Gate of Time is not opened yet.

Song of the Hero Skip

By setting scene flag 7x04 in BiT with Reverse BiTMagic, which corresponds to the door to Hylia's Realm being unlocked in the past, it is possible to enter the Horde and Demise fight as soon as you gain access to the past after beating the Imprisoned 2 and opening the Gate of Time. This skips the entire Song of the Hero quest as well as Sky Keep. Since this skips Sky Keep, this skips all the uses for the bow. This trick saves around 80 minutes in any%.

To perform this skip, you need to be saved anywhere in the Sealed Grounds. Activate BiT and maneuver to Faron in BiT. The corresponding flag is set when opening the doors to Lake Floria in Faron Woods. While opening the Lake Floria doors regularly is really slow, it is luckily possible to BiTMagic the flag that triggers the lake floria door cutscene. The wanted flag is set right as that cutscene starts.

While this skips a huge portion of the game, the Gate of Time still needs to be opened, which requires beating the Imprisoned 2. To be able to fight the Imprisoned 2, it is necessary to beat the Fire Sanctuary (to have the correct Sealed Temple layer to start the fight) and the Ancient Cistern (to have the racetracks in the Sealed Grounds, necessary to avoid the Sealed Grounds from crashing after triggering the Imprisoned 2 fight). You can also "beat" the Imprisoned 2 by performing Early Lanayru Song of the Hero.

Method 1 - SotH Skip in one Back in Time

The file setup will be the following:

  • File 1: Saved in the Sealed Grounds
  • File 2: Faron BiT enabled File

To perform SotH skip in a single Back in Time, follow closely the steps as you need to carry over scene flag 7x02 from Skyoft BiT to Faron BiT and not lose it.

  • Activate BiT. Check the Upper Academy Statue with File 1 (VERY IMPORTANT), switch to File 2 after checking the Statue and Save it to unlock your loftwing
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time. It is extremely important to not trigger any scene flag change with File 1. Do not enter loading zones with File 1 either.
  • If you want to BiTSave at the Behind the Temple Statue, check the Statue with File 2/File 3, switch to File 1, select Save and Quit, and switch to File 2/File 3 during the save. (Saving this way is needed because saving normally at that statue sets a temporary flag, which causes you to lose the flag you are carrying)
  • Enter Faron Woods with a File that has never entered the Woods before to trigger the Introductory cutscene with Fi in BiT
  • Open your run file, start your file and only then hold 2 to skip the cutscene. This will trigger the Lake Floria Door opening cutscene during the fadeout.

Commit this RBM to unlock Hylia's Realm Door and skip the Song of the Hero and Sky Keep.

The way this works is that checking the Upper Academy Statue with File 1 sets the flag related to checking the Upper Academy Statue to a dummy scene flag array used only for the Title Screen. This flag can be carried accross loading zones and areas: simply reselect File 1 and it will take effect. The flag for checking the Upper Academy Statue on Skyloft corresponds to the flag that triggers the Lake Floria Door opening cutscene in Faron Woods (see stealing flags on the BiTMagic page)

Video forthcoming

Method 2 - Combined with Beating Sky Keep Early

See the Beat Sky Keep Early with CSWW section.

Method 3 - SotH Skip in two Back in Times

This method is quite a bit slower, but is easier to understand for new runners. The complicated issue around Song of the Hero Skip is that you must BiTMagic a flag to start the lake floria door cutscene. However the flag that you need is set at the beginning of the cutscene. As such, you need the flag that you want to BiTMagic to be on your run file, saved in the Sealed Grounds. The issue is that that specific flag is unknown in the Sealed Grounds. As such this is how the two Back in Times method works:

  • Save your run file in the Sealed Grounds. Perform Back in Time and Reverse BiTMagic the flag needed for SotH skip. The corresponding flag is scene flag 7x02 and it is set by checking the Upper Academy Statue on Skyloft. After this, commit your RBM (with a hidden rupee for exemple). This RBM does not do anything to the Sealed Grounds specifically, but will make the following Back in Time possible.
  • Save your file again in the Sealed Grounds. Go to Faron in Back in Time and enter Faron Woods with a file that has never entered the Woods before to trigger the Introductory cutscene with Fi in BiT; Open your run file, start your file and only then hold 2 to skip the cutscene. This will trigger the Lake Floria Door opening cutscene during the fadeout. Commit this RBM to unlock Hylia's Realm Door and skip the Song of the Hero and Sky Keep.
Video forthcoming

Ballad of the Goddess Skip

With clever use of your files in Faron Back in Time, it is possible to raise the Gate of Time while skipping the Ballad of the Goddess and more importantly all the cutscenes inside the Sealed Temple. The method is slightly different whether or not you are saved at a Save Prompt, but the general idea stays the same.

Note that after performing this skip you will not be able to fight the Imprisoned 1, since that fight is triggered by playing the Ballad of the Goddess with Impa legitimately. You will also not be able to summon gossip stones as they require you to have the Ballad of the Goddess in your inventory.

There are many different versions of this trick.

From a Save Prompt

For this method, you will need the following file setup:

  • File 1: Must have obtained the Harp in Lanayru but not beaten the Fire Sanctuary yet. Must also be saved at a Save Prompt.
  • File 2: Faron BiT enabled File, preferably saved on Skyloft.

If your Faron BiT enabled file isn't saved on Skyloft, make sure one of your files has scene flag 3x20, which in the Sealed Grounds corresponds to "Ballad of the Goddess Played with Impa". Check the Scene Flag Documentation spreadsheet on the Reverse BiTMagic page.

Now, follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.

The following steps are only If file 1 did not watch the Groose Cutscene behind the temple yet.

  • Enter Behind the Temple with File 1 (by getting the log down with BiTMagic).
  • While not opening the splash screen yet, run into the Groose Cutscene Trigger (if you opened the splash screen, reselect File 1).
  • Watch the Groose Cutscene. At the end of the cutscene, a story flag gets set that is required to enter the Sealed Temple in layer 2.
  • WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE, enter the Sealed Temple. You need to keep the story flag you got from the Groose cutscene. (Note: Opening the Title Screen logo counts as selecting File 3).

If you already watched the Groose Cutscene behind the temple, do the next step.

  • Enter the Sealed Temple with file 1 selected

Routes merge here

  • Open the Title Screen as soon as possible once inside the Temple (if you are too late, the cutscene with Groose will start).
  • Select File 2 (or the file that has scene flag 3x20) and enter the circle. You will be granted the Ballad of the Goddess immediately.
  • Select File 1, start your file then close the textbox. This will Reverse BiTWarp you to the Gate of Time raising cutscene, and you will not have the Ballad of the Goddess in your inventory.

From a Statue

This method is around 10 seconds slower but is necessary when you are not saved at a Save Prompt. Here is your file setup:

  • File 1: Must have obtained the Harp in Lanayru but not beaten the Fire Sanctuary yet.
  • File 2: Faron BiT enabled File, preferably saved on Skyloft.

If your Faron BiT enabled file isn't saved on Skyloft, make sure one of your files has scene flag 3x20, which in the Sealed Grounds corresponds to "Ballad of the Goddess Played with Impa". Check the Scene Flag Documentation spreadsheet on the Reverse BiTMagic page.

Now, follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.

The following steps are only If file 1 did not watch the Groose Cutscene behind the temple yet.

  • Enter Behind the Temple with File 1 (by getting the log down with BiTMagic).
  • While not opening the splash screen yet, run into the Groose Cutscene Trigger (if you opened the splash screen, reselect File 1).
  • Watch the Groose Cutscene. At the end of the cutscene, a story flag gets set that is required to enter the Sealed Temple in layer 2.
  • WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE, enter the Sealed Temple. You need to keep the story flag you got from the Groose cutscene. (Note: Opening the Title Screen logo counts as selecting File 3).

If you already watched the Groose Cutscene behind the temple, do the next step.

  • Enter the Sealed Temple with file 1 selected

Routes merge here

  • Open the Title Screen as soon as possible once inside the Temple (if you are too late, the cutscene with Groose will start).
  • BiTSave File 1 inside the Sealed Temple.
  • Select File 2 (or the file that has scene flag 3x20) and enter the circle. You will be granted the Ballad of the Goddess immediately.
  • Close the textbox and let the Gate of Time rising cutscene play.
  • Start your file then, a split second later, skip the cutscene by holding 2. This will Reverse BiTWarp you to the Sealed temple while setting the story flag for the Gate of Time to be raised. Turn around to see the Gate of Time to know if the Back in Time succeeded. You will also not have the Ballad of the Goddess in your inventory.
Video forthcoming

Note: It is possible to RBM flags set by cutscenes by starting your file then skipping the cutscene, all of this while NOT performing a Reverse BiTWarp. This however only works if you skip the cutscene in a specific 2 frame window, making it significantly harder than any other RBM. In this case it is not necessary to BiTSave inside the Temple, or you could BiTSave somewhere else.

Opening the Gate of Time Variation

This method opens the Gate of Time. The file setup is the following:

  • File 1: Must Have Defeated the Imprisoned 2. Must have either the Master Sword or scene flag 2x40.
  • File 2: Must have obtained the Harp in Lanayru but not beaten the Fire Sanctuary yet.
  • File 3: Faron BiT enabled File, preferably saved on Skyloft.

If your Faron BiT enabled file isn't saved on Skyloft, make sure one of your files has scene flag 3x20, which in the Sealed Grounds corresponds to "Ballad of the Goddess Played with Impa". Check the Scene Flag Documentation spreadsheet on the Reverse BiTMagic page.

Now follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.

The following steps are only If file 2 did not watch the Groose Cutscene behind the temple yet.

  • Enter Behind the Temple with File 2 (by getting the log down with BiTMagic).
  • While not opening the splash screen yet, run into the Groose Cutscene Trigger (if you opened the splash screen, reselect File 2).
  • Watch the Groose Cutscene. At the end of the cutscene, a story flag gets set that is required to enter the Sealed Temple in layer 2.
  • WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE, enter the Sealed Temple. You need to keep the story flag you got from the Groose cutscene. (Note: Opening the Title Screen logo counts as selecting File 3).

If you already watched the Groose Cutscene behind the temple, do the next step.

  • Enter the Sealed Temple with file 2 selected

Routes merge here

  • Open the Title Screen as soon as possible once inside the Temple (if you are too late, the cutscene with Groose will start).
  • Select File 3 (or the file that has scene flag 3x20) and enter the circle. You will be granted the Ballad of the Goddess immediately.
  • Close the textbox and skip the Gate of Time rising cutscene.
  • Select File 1 and charge a Skyward Strike. Target the Gate of Time, start your file then skyward strike the Gate. This will set the story flag for the Gate of Time to be opened on your file.
Video forthcoming

Combined opening the Gate of Time and Raising the Lanayru Mining Facility Variation

Discovered by azer67

This method opens the Gate of Time, while also raising the Lanayru Mining Facility without all the Nodes. The file setup is the following:

  • File 1: Must be saved in Lanayru Desert, Lanayru Mines or Temple of Time. Must Have Defeated the Imprisoned 2 and must have the Master Sword.
  • File 2: Must have obtained the Harp in Lanayru but not beaten the Fire Sanctuary yet.
  • File 3: Faron BiT enabled File, preferably saved on Skyloft.

If your Faron BiT enabled file isn't saved on Skyloft, make sure one of your files has scene flag 3x20, which in the Sealed Grounds corresponds to "Ballad of the Goddess Played with Impa". Check the Scene Flag Documentation spreadsheet on the Reverse BiTMagic page.

Now follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.

The following steps are only If file 2 did not watch the Groose Cutscene behind the temple yet.

  • Enter Behind the Temple with File 2 (by getting the log down with BiTMagic).
  • While not opening the splash screen yet, run into the Groose Cutscene Trigger (if you opened the splash screen, reselect File 2).
  • Watch the Groose Cutscene. At the end of the cutscene, a story flag gets set that is required to enter the Sealed Temple in layer 2.
  • WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE, enter the Sealed Temple. You need to keep the story flag you got from the Groose cutscene. (Note: Opening the Title Screen logo counts as selecting File 3).

If you already watched the Groose Cutscene behind the temple, do the next step.

  • Enter the Sealed Temple with file 2 selected

Routes merge here

  • Open the Title Screen as soon as possible once inside the Temple (if you are too late, the cutscene with Groose will start).
  • Select File 3 (or the file that has scene flag 3x20) and enter the circle. You will be granted the Ballad of the Goddess immediately.
  • Close the textbox and skip the Gate of Time rising cutscene.
  • Select File 1 and charge a Skyward Strike. Start File 1 (while holding Z to prevent putting your sword away, then get closer to the Gate of Time to trigger the short freeze that grants you scene flag 2x40, then skyward strike the Gate of Time. This will set the story flag for the Gate of Time to be opened on your file, as well as the scene flag for raising LMF. Note that the timing is quite tight: you need to do a lot of things after starting your file.

Note that the harp CANNOT be on File 1 or else it becomes impossible to enter the Lanayru Mining Facility: the entering cutscene for that dungeon only exists in Lanayru Desert layer 1, and the harp puts Lanayru into layer 2. It turns out that the loading zone to enter the Lanayru Mining Facility only exists after having watched the LMF Intro cutscene, thus you need to enter this dungeon with its intro cutscene.

Reverse BiTWarp into Horde Variation

This method also adds a Reverse BiTWarp into the Horde Fight at the end. This does not set either the Gate of Time to be raised or opened on your file, but it allows you to get past it where it doesn't matter anymore.

The file setup is a bit more heavy:

  • File 1: Must Have Defeated the Imprisoned 2. Must have either met Levias or completed the Sky Keep (otherwise you cannot get to a Sealed Temple layer that has the Gate of Time opened in BiT). Must have either the Master Sword or scene flag 2x40. Since this is a Reverse BiTWarp, your save coordinates also matter.
  • File 2: Must have obtained the Harp in Lanayru but not beaten the Fire Sanctuary yet.
  • File 3: Faron BiT enabled File, preferably saved on Skyloft.

If your Faron BiT enabled file isn't saved on Skyloft, make sure one of your files has scene flag 3x20, which in the Sealed Grounds corresponds to "Ballad of the Goddess Played with Impa". Check the Scene Flag Documentation spreadsheet on the Reverse BiTMagic page. You also need scene flag 7x04 on one of your files, it doesn't matter which one.

Follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.

The following steps are only If file 2 did not watch the Groose Cutscene behind the temple yet.

  • Enter Behind the Temple with File 2 (by getting the log down with BiTMagic).
  • While not opening the splash screen yet, run into the Groose Cutscene Trigger (if you opened the splash screen, reselect File 2).
  • Watch the Groose Cutscene. At the end of the cutscene, a story flag gets set that is required to enter the Sealed Temple in layer 2.
  • WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE, enter the Sealed Temple. You need to keep the story flag you got from the Groose cutscene. (Note: Opening the Title Screen logo counts as selecting File 3).

If you already watched the Groose Cutscene behind the temple, do the next step.

  • Enter the Sealed Temple with file 2 selected

Routes merge here

  • Open the Title Screen as soon as possible once inside the Temple (if you are too late, the cutscene with Groose will start).
  • Select File 3 (or the file that has scene flag 3x20) and enter the circle. You will be granted the Ballad of the Goddess immediately.
  • Close the textbox and skip the Gate of Time rising cutscene.
  • Select File 1 and charge a Skyward Strike. Skyward Strike the Gate of Time to open it. Now, reload the Sealed Temple WITHOUT RESELECTING ANY FILE.
  • Once inside the Sealed Temple again, you will notice that the Gate of Time is opened. Enter the Gate of Time (still without reselecting any file!)
  • Once in Hylia's Temple you can finally select files again. BiTMagic 7x04 to unlock the door to Hylia's Realm. Open the door with that file, but switch to File 3 before the loading.
  • You are now in the broken layer 0 horde cutscene. On this layer, the cutscene does not crash. Select File 1 and start your file, and then skip the cutscene by holding 2 to Reverse BiTWarp into the Horde fight.

If your game crashes, then you skipped the cutscene on the Reverse BiTWarp too early. With good coordinates, it is possible to spawn directly at the bottom of the spiral, skipping most of the Horde fight.

The big benefit from this variation is that it skips the Song of the Hero Skip RBM in some scenarios. The drawback is that it requires meeting Levias/beating Sky Keep which takes even longer.

Ghirahim 3 Escape

See the Early Boss Rush page.

Sealed Grounds Unused Strategies

Imprisoned 2 Story Flag RBM

With a Faron Back in Time, it is possible to start the Imprisoned 2 fight while skipping the cutscene with Groose showing off his groosenator outside. The file setup is the following:

  • File 1: Has Beaten the Fire Sanctuary, the Ancient Cistern, and is NOT saved in the Sealed Grounds
  • File 2: Faron BiT enabled File
  • File 3 (optional): A File saved in an area with scene flag 0x20 to unlock the door to the Sealed Temple in the Sealed Grounds. Check the Scene Flag Documentation on the Reverse BiTMagic page. You can also perform a small timesaver if you also have scene flag 2x40 (to trigger the Imprisoned 2 fight faster)

If you do not have a file with the flag that can unlock the door to the Temple in Back in Time, then you can still go around and enter the Temple from Behind the Temple. That is however quite a bit slower.

Perform the following steps:

  • Activate BiT.
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time.
  • Check the Sealed Grounds Statue with File 3 (for BiTMagic) then switch to File 1 and BiTSave that file at the statue.
  • Select File 3 to unlock the Door to the Sealed Temple with BiTMagic and open the door. Select File 1 as you are opening the door to load the correct layer.
  • Charge a Skyward Strike, select File 1 then walk towards the Gate of Time to trigger the Imprisoned 2 awakening event (or use BiTMagic if you have the correct flag on a file).
  • Start File 1 right as Groose opens the door to RBM the Story Flag for being able to start the Imprisoned 2 fight.

Note that you also RBM some scene flags but assuming you were not saved in the Sealed Grounds, these scene flags will be lost. That's a good thing because if you were initially saved in the Sealed Grounds then these scene flags will trigger the cutscenes outside, defeating the purpose of this RBM.

You will now spawn in the Sealed Grounds and the Groose cutscene won't play. Jump down to the bottom of the pit to start the Imprisoned 2 fight.

Note: Using BiTMagic to set scene flag 2x40 inside the Sealed Temple will trigger the Imprisoned 2 awakening event. This can be very useful in order to trigger the fight before having raised the Gate of Time. See Harp Skip in the unused strategies section.

Harp Skip

Discovered by azer67

With the ability to open trial gates with Reverse BiTMagic, the harp itself has gotten less and less useful. For some time, the harp was thought to be required in order to raise the Gate of Time in the Sealed Temple. It was however found that it was possible to raise it without the harp. It is however rather complicated and takes no less than 3 Back in Times.

This is not used in speedruns because there is currently no known way to obtain the Fireshield Earrings without setting up the Lanayru Light Pillar (for layer reasons), as well as no known way to enter the Volcano Summit without beating the Eldin Silent Realm. If one of those tricks was possible, skipping the Harp would also skip the entirety of the Earth Temple, but that is currently not the case and it only skips flying to Lanayru, performing the Early ToT Statue RBM and obtaining the Harp, which is faster than skipping the Harp.

Also note that it is not possible to skip both the Harp and the Ballad of the Goddess at the same time using this method.

Part 1: Triggering the Imprisoned 2 fight with Story Flag RBM

First you will need to beat the Ancient Cistern and the Fire Sanctuary, all that without getting the harp and raising the Gate of Time. You will need to trigger the Imprisoned 2 fight via Back in Time first. This is the same trick as explained just above. This RBM is necessary here because normally you would need to trigger that fight by charging up a Master Sword skyward strike in front of the closed Gate of Time, but that is not possible if the Gate of Time isn't raised. For this trick, the file setup is the following

  • File 1: Run File, has beaten the Fire Sanctuary and Ancient Cistern. For extra timesaves, make sure your file isn't saved in the Sealed Grounds area.
  • File 2: Faron BiT enabled File
  • File 3: A File saved in an area with scene flag 2x40 (to trigger the Imprisoned 2 awakening event inside the temple) set. Check the Scene Flag Documentation on the Reverse BiTMagic page. Optimally you would also want scene flag 0x20 to unlock the door to the Sealed Temple in the Sealed Grounds.

Note that if file 1 or file 2 satisfy the file 3 requirements then it would also work perfectly fine to not have a 3rd file. Then follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT
  • Go to Faron in Back in Time
  • BiTSave File 1 at the Sealed Grounds Statue
  • Use BiTMagic with File 3 to unlock the Door to the Sealed Temple. Select File 1 as you are opening the door
  • Use BiTMagic with File 3 to trigger the Imprisoned 2 awakening event
  • Start File 1 right as Groose opens the door to RBM the Story Flag for being able to start the Imprisoned 2 fight.

If you've done this correctly, you will be able to start the Imprisoned fight by jumping down to the bottom of the pit. However, do not do this yet, you need to perform another Back in Time before starting the fight.

Part 2: Triggering the Imprisoned 1 Cutscene with RBM

The next step towards skipping the harp is setting the flag that normally gets set in the Sealed Grounds when Groose asks you to join him to the temple after beating the Imprisoned 2. Setting this flag early makes Groose disappear from the map as you seal the Imprisoned 2's spike into the ground. If Groose isn't on the map at that point, then the Imprisoned 1 Cutscene will trigger after defeating the Imprisoned 2 instead. This cutscene warps you to the Sealed Temple in layer 2. That layer is important as it is the only layer in which it is possible to raise the Gate of Time. That layer is otherwise only possible to reach with the Harp.

The corresponding flag is 4x02 and requires going to Faron in Back in Time. It can be either set in Faron Woods by flying the Beetle to a red rupee near where the Kikwi Elder was at the start of the game (can be done without the Beetle but difficult), or by entering the Lake Floria in Back in Time and starting your file as Link drops from the small waterfall.

Once you've performed that RBM, fight the Imprisoned 2. Skip the Imprisoned 1 cutscene to get warped to the Temple. Save inside the Temple to perform one last RBM.

Note: This RBM is not necessary if you've beaten Sky Keep, since Groose is automatically not there. See Avoiding the Imprisoned 2 Crash below.

Part 3: Learning the Ballad of the Goddess without the Harp with RBM

For this last Reverse BiTMagic trick, you want to set the flag that corresponds to the Ballad of the Goddess played with Impa in the Sealed Grounds. This also requires going to Faron BiT.

The corresponding flag is 3x20. In Faron BiT it is set by pushing the log that is above the In the Woods Statue.

Once that RBM done, enter the circle to immediately learn the Ballad of the Goddess. This only works because you are in the Sealed Temple on layer 2. The Gate of Time will raise and you can now open it, then reload the temple and beat the game.

Avoiding the Imprisoned 2 Crash

In categories that must open the gate of time, defeating the Imprisoned 2 is normally required. To defeat the Imprisoned 2, you normally need to have beaten the Ancient Cistern to make the racetracks appear in the Sealed Grounds. Trying to enter the Sealed Grounds after triggering the Imprisoned 2 fight with Groose on the stage but having no racetracks will cause an error and a crash. This makes skipping the Ancient Cistern troublesome in any category that needs to beat the Imprisoned 2, which is normally required to be able to open the gate of time.

There are five main ways to avoid this crash and beat the game:

  • You can beat the Ancient Cistern, the Fire Sanctuary and then beat the Imprisoned 2 (like in normal progression). You can then open the Gate of Time.
  • You can skip the Gate of Time using the Cutscene Wrong Warp glitch. In this case, you never need to defeat the Imprisoned 2 since you skip the Gate of Time anyway.
  • You can skip the Gate of Time using Early Boss Rush followed by Ghirahim 3 Escape. This also skips the Imprisoned 2 by skipping the Gate of Time
  • You can perform Early Boss Rush. Refight Imp 1 to unlock the groosenator then refight Imp 2 to set the Imprisoned 2 defeated flag. You can then open the Gate of Time.
  • You can beat Sky Keep, the Fire Sanctuary and then beat the Imprisoned 2. Then the Gate of Time can be opened. The way this works however is a bit convoluted, and explaining both how and why it works is the goal of this section.

It is still possible to skip the Ancient Cistern (and the Groosenator) by making sure Groose is not in the Sealed Grounds. The crash only happens when Groose exists on the Spiral map during the Imprisoned fight, but not the Groosenator. Fighting Imp 2 without the Groosenator but also without Groose will not crash. Here is a list of events that will move Groose's location. The later in the story an event is supposed to be casually the higher priority it will have:

  • Farore's Courage = Groose appears
  • Beat Ancient Cistern = the racetracks appear and Groose appears
  • Beat Fire Sanctuary = Groose disappears
  • Trigger Imp 2 = Groose re-appears
  • Imp 2 defeated + scene flag 4x02 = Groose disappears
  • Trigger Imp 3 = Groose re-appears
  • Imp 3 defeated + scene flag 4x04 = Groose disappears
  • Cutscene inside the Sealed Temple after defeating Imp 3 = Groose re-appears
  • Learn the Water Dragon's Song = Groose disappears
  • 3 SotH parts = Groose re-appears
  • Beat Sky Keep = Groose disappears
  • Last cutscene of the credits watched = Groose re-appears

Fighting the Imprisoned 3 or learning the Water Dragon's Song is not currently doable before opening the gate of time without premade files. Thus the only option left is beating Sky Keep.

To skip the Ancient Cistern, you can trigger the Imprisoned 2 fight in BiT to avoid the cutscene in the spiral (which would softlock without Groose present) after beating Sky Keep (if you do it before, then the game will crash during one of the skykeep ending cutscenes on Normal Mode). This wil remove Groose from the Sealed Grounds and put him inside the Sealed Temple instead. The normal sealed grounds spiral and the sealed grounds with the goddess statue are actually two different maps. Thus, you can do BiT and BiTSave your file that has beaten Sky Keep in the sealed grounds without the statue, in order to reach the Imprisoned 2 fight. Because Groose isn't there the game won't crash without the racetracks. After the fight, the Imprisoned 1 cutscene will play in the Sealed Grounds instead of the usual interaction with Groose because Groose isn't there. This will load you in the Sealed Temple layer 2, allowing you to open the Gate of Time.

However, note that beating the Ancient Cistern is faster than beating Sky Keep. This technique would however be preferred in Normal Mode speedruns since these have to beat Sky Keep to avoid a softlock at the Horde cutscene. Also Early Lanayru Song of the Hero makes this problem moot for the most part anyway.

Note: This trick combines rather well with Harp Skip, since then the 2nd part of Harp Skip is simply not needed. See Harp Skip above.

─────── Faron Woods ───────

Knock Vine Down Early

When chasing Machi from mushroom to mushroom, if you roll into the wall at the bottom right side of the sand slope with the Deku Baba on it, you will knock a vine loose. After finishing talking to Machi you can use that vine to reach the Elder's platform more easily.

Early Farore's Silent Realm

Discovered by gymnast86

It is possible to use Reverse BiTMagic to load the trial gate that grants access to Farore's Silent Realm early, and thus obtain the Water Dragon's Scale on the first visit to Faron. This trick in conjunction with Early Thunderhead enables the Combined Skyview route for the first Faron visit.

Video forthcoming

The corresponding flag is 3x02. On Skyloft it is set when cutting down the logs in front of the Waterfall Cave in BiT Skyloft. This can be a little bit tricky to accomplish, but the easiest way to do it is to line Link up in front of the logs, start your file, then spam stabs while the file loads.

Note that the trial gate will not appear unless Faron is set to the correct layer. This is done by obtaining Farore's Courage from the Isle of Songs using the Early Thunderhead trick. It is also possible to combine this back in time with the Early Thunderhead trick, see here.

Deep Woods Extending Blow

Discovered by Venick

In the Deep Woods, it is possible to use an Extending Blow on a Bokoblin to skip from the beginning of the woods to the front of Skyview Temple. This skips either the Goddess Cube Warp or going around the Deep Woods the long way.

This trick saves a significant amount of time compared to the Goddess Cube Warp below; unfortunately, it is quite inconsistent. The distance that the Bokoblin is knocked back varies, meaning that even if the positioning and setup are correct, the Extending Blow trick can still fail. Many runners try Extending Blow once, then use Cube Warp as a backup trick. Other runners just skip the Extending Blow completely and do Cube Warp.

Video Tutorial by Pikastroff
100% Variant by Deesh

It is possible to do an Extending Blow from a modified position to skip movement to the Deep Woods Bird Statue, skipping some extra movement for 100%.

Goddess Cube Warp

Discovered by CloudMax

Hitting the Goddess Cube that is next to the Goron will cause Link to warp up to the ledge, skipping about a minute of Deep Woods. This only works in Hero Mode, as the upgraded Skyward Strike is required.

In order to hit the cube, you must lure the Bokoblin that patrols the area into the right position, so that when you attack it with a Skyward Strike, the strike will angle up and hit the cube. Z-target the Bokoblin and lure it to the section of the path that has a slight angle. Move Link to the right hand wall so that the Bokoblin is aligned with Link near the center of the path. Charge a Skyward Strike and use it when the Bokoblin goes to attack you. If the angle was correct, the strike will hit the cube and warp Link up to Gorko.

One setup for this trick is to get the Bokoblin's attention in the shadow below the arch. Then backflip three times and hold right until Link is touching the right hand wall. The Bokoblin should end up in the right position for the Skyward Strike to hit the cube.

While the above Extending Blow trick has obsoleted this in one sense, that trick is inconsistent enough that this Cube Warp is still used, either as a backup or in lieu of the Extending Blow.

Note: This only works on this particular Cube, as only this cube has a cutscene that moves Link's position.

Fi Text Skip Before Skyview

Discovered by sva

Right before entering the Skyview Temple, there is a long Fi trigger where Fi suggests Link to use the statue to go back to Skyloft and get a shield. This text can be skipped with a precise jump to the left followed by a jumpslash. This gives you right enough distance to get past the trigger. Use the slingshot to enter the temple.

Faron Woods Unused Strategies

Skip Log Falling Cutscenes

You can skip the log falling cutscenes by doing a well-timed front hop right before the log falls. Because this is only faster if you want to fall down with the log, this is rarely used.

The window for this front hop is one frame if you are holding forward for the hop, and two frames if you tap forward for it.

First Visit: Jump to Skip Machi

Discovered by gymnast86

First, use the rope to get on the higher ledge. With a precise jump forward, it is possible to grab the ledge next to the shortcut log, and gain access to all of Faron without saving Machi.

Because saving Machi is a requirement for obtaining the slingshot, this is rarely useful. This should only be used if you intend on beating Skyview without the slingshot, and either skip the slingshot completely or obtain the B-Wheel via BiT after beating Skyview, because beating Skyview sets Machi as being rescued automatically even if you did not save him.

First Visit: Knock Lopsa down early

After defeating the five Bokoblins harassing Lopsa, if you roll into the tree as the first Lopsa cutscene triggers, it will knock him out of the tree immediately. Lopsa will then ask you to help him out of the tree while on the ground, where upon you can talk to him again to trigger the second conversation.

This roll is frame perfect, and saves at most one second, so it is usually not attempted.

First Visit: Early Deep Woods

It is possible to reach the Deep Woods without obtaining the slingshot. After Machi asks you to find the Kikwi Elder, run to the Viewing Platform. Lure the Bokoblin patrolling the lower level to the stairs (either side) and then push it up the stairs. By charging a Skyward Strike at the top of the stairs and hitting the Bokoblin at the right angle, you can hit the vine leading to the Deep Woods.

This trick is not used in speedruns because the Slingshot is required to finish Skyview Temple.

First Visit: Goddess Cube Skip

Normally you are forced to hit the first goddess cube to reach Skyview Temple. However, you can skip that cube using a BiTWarp. Save at the Deep Woods statue and activate BiT. BiTWarp with the Lower Academy statue; the positioning here is important. One position that works is next to the statue on its left side. The BiTWarp will take you behind Skyview Temple, where the walls are not solid. Run over to the Skyview Temple door switch and shoot it with the slingshot to enter the temple.

This was originally used in Harp speedruns to skip a Fi dialogue about Goddess Cubes, saving about 5-10 seconds overall; now the Extending Blow version of this trick has obsoleted this BiTWarp.

Note: This Goddess Cube unlocks all other cubes; if you skip it, you will be unable to get any other Goddess Cubes.

First Visit: Early Goddess Cubes

There are two goddess cubes on branches of the Great Tree that you can obtain on the first visit. Note that you must have hit the Goddess Cube next to Gorko first for any other cube to activate. For this reason, and the fact that getting the cubes later is easier and faster, these tricks are not used in 100% runs.

First Cube

The first cube is on a branch near the grassy ledge where Erla hides. There are three Bokoblins in the area; if you lure one of them into the right position, you can Skyward Strike them and hit the cube on the branch, similar to the cube warp.

Second Cube

The second cube is on the branch with the clawshot target. There is a Bokoblin in the trees near the water; you can lure/push him over to the branch and use a Skyward Strike to hit that cube as well.

Faron Woods High Cliffside OoB

There are two ways to get Out of Bounds on the higher cliffs of Faron Woods. For ways to get Out of Bounds on the lower cliffside, see Lake Floria Early.

Near the Waterfall

Discovered by JadeMinibou

Near Deep Woods Entrance

Discovered by azer67

B-Wheel in Back in Time

It is possible to obtain the B-Wheel in Back in Time using a Story Flag RBM. This is usually done after beating Skyview because it allows you to skip rescuing Machi because beating Skyview sets Machi as rescued. This does not give you the slingshot, but it's useful if you need to get items later on, as you cannot get or use items without the B-Wheel ability.

The file setup is the following:

  • File 1 saved after beating Skyview Temple, ideally on the prompt, with Faron scene flags.
  • File 2 a Faron BiT enabled file, that has watched the Sealed Grounds Introductory Cutscene (for Faron Woods layer 1)
  • File 3 saved on Skyloft after talking to Fledge in the Academy before Zelda for scene flag 5x80.

Then follow the next steps:

  • Go to Faron in BiT
  • BiTMagic scene flag 5x80 with File 2 to set the log to Behind the Temple down.
  • Push the log at Behind the Temple with File 1 to steal scene flag 1x10.
  • Enter Faron Woods with File 2 (for layer 1).
  • Select File 1 and rescue Lopsa, Oolo and Erla without reselecting any file. The Lopsa Bokoblins won't exist because you stole the flag corresponding to their defeat (1x10) with a file saved in Faron Woods.
  • Talk to the Kikwi Elder and still without reselecting, grab the slingshot.
  • Start File 1 right before the B-Wheel goes to the top right corner of your screen.

This performs the story flag RBM that unlocks the B-Wheel on File 1.

Note: If the run file is saved in the Sealed Grounds, it is possible to combine this trick with the Song of the Hero Skip, by triggering the Lake Flora door opening cutscene remotely via BiTMagic.

──────── Lake Floria ────────

Lake Floria Early

Lake Floria Early is a way to get out of bounds in Faron Woods and run to the loading zone for Floria Waterfall. While there are several ways to perform this trick (see Unused Strategies), there are two used in current runs: the Fence Hop and the Rope Swing.

Method 1 - Fence Hop

Discovered by CloudMax, Getting on Fence by Brickguy360G

Make your way to the fence on the right side of the gate leading to Lake Floria. At the third pillar from the far right side of the fence, you can climb onto the fence using a front hop jumpslash. You can then run back along the fence and jump to an OoB ledge. Now make your way to the Floria Waterfall back entrance.

Method 2 - Rope Swing

Discovered by Demoon9

Grab the rope near the Sealed Grounds entrance and climb up 3-5 steps from the bottom. Aim between the tree and the ledge that the tree is connected to and start to swing the rope. When you've reached maximum speed, let go of the rope and you should grab the ledge. Climb up onto the ledge, turn around and hop onto the tree branch. Go into first person view and walk to the far side of the branch. Align yourself with the far ledge, then perform an autojump toward the OoB ledge and then do a jumpslash. If you time the jumpslash correctly, you will end up OoB. Now make your way to the Floria Waterfall loading zone.

Note: It is also possible to roll straight along the log and grab the opposite ledge without the use of a jumpslash. This method may or may not be more consistent, depending on the runner's preference.

Ancient Cistern without Sacred Water

There are multiple methods of entering the Ancient Cistern Early. The first method is the only one that can completely skip doing Farore's Silent Realm. The following three use Back in Time to enter the Ancient Cistern without healing the Water Dragon, but the water dragon scale is used in all three of them. The final method is a really precise out of bounds to skip the sacred water without using Back in Time.

Method 1 - Early Ancient Cistern with CSWW

By using the Cutscene Wrong Warp glitch, it is possible to wrong warp into the Entering Ancient Cistern Cutscene and enter Ancient Cistern without the Water Dragon's Scale. This requires going to Faron in BiT. This method is the only one that can completely skip doing the Faron Trial, be it in gameplay or in BiT. To perform this glitch, a file must be saved in room 0 entrance 4. Being saved at this entrance and performing Death Trick in Floria Waterfall will force the Entering Ancient Cistern Cutscene to start, which will trigger a load into the Ancient Cistern. The corresponding entrances are:

  • Leaving the Lower Academy Left Door to Skyloft
  • Load after the Sky Keep intro cutscene
  • Leaving the Great Tree by the lower exit (not the water)
  • Entering Volcano Summit from Eldin
  • Saving at Volcano Entry in Eldin after leaving the lower cave (normally accessible after Bokoblin Base)
  • Leaving the Lanayru Silent Realm
  • Exiting Molderach 2 in the Shipyard through the upper door
  • Healing the Thunder Dragon
  • Saving at Volcano Entry in Bokoblin Base after leaving the upper grotto (forced layer 1, so this entrance is effectively useless)
  • Going to the Sky for the Wing Ceremony

Perform BiT. Go to Faron in BiT. Enter Floria Waterfall and die with bombs. Press Continue and start the file saved at one of the aforementionned entranced precisely (the frame window is 2 frames). If done correctly, holding 2 should skip a cutscene while your file is loading. This performs a Reverse BiTWarp into the Ancient Cistern, which skips the Water Dragon's Scale and the Faron Silent Realm.

Video Forthcoming

Method 2 - Reverse BiTWarp

Using a Faron BiT file, it is possible to access the Floria Waterfall area in Back in Time. This allows for a Reverse BiTWarp into Ancient Cistern, which skips having to heal the Water Dragon to dispel the waterfall that normally blocks access to the Cistern. Thus Sacred Water and the entire second trip to Skyview Temple can be skipped.

Video Forthcoming

This trick requires a file which has the Water Dragon Scale. There are two versions of the RBW into Ancient Cistern, depending on what version you are running:

  • On NTSC-U v1.0: Save at any statue to activate BiT, then BiTSave at the Bazaar statue while going to Faron BiT.
  • On other versions: Save at one of the following statues: The far right of the 1st Skyview Statue, the 2nd Skyview Statue, the Digging Mitts Cave Statue, the 1st Fire Sanctuary Statue (precise positioning), the 2nd Fire Sanctuary Statue (precise positioning), the North Desert Statue (hard OoB movement), the Sandship Boss Door Statue or the Sky Keep Entrance Statue (precise positioning).

Make sure you can take at least 6 hearts of damage for some of those statues; 7 or 8 is safer.

Activate BiT, then make your way to Faron in Back in Time. Enter Faron Woods with the file of your choice then reselect that file in Faron Woods in order to get the log to Lake Floria door (see stealing flags in the BiTMagic section). Enter the Floria Waterfall area. Load the Water Dragon Scale into BiT by picking up a rupee or a seed, then enter the Ancient Cistern. Start your file about 2 seconds after losing control of Link as he enters the dungeon. One way to judge this is to listen for Link to take 6 steps down the stairs, then start the file.

All of these Reverse BiTWarps allow early access to the Blessed Idol: the NTSC-U v1.0 version uses Cistern Clip after this RBW, while other versions will either land either in poison water in the Cistern Basement and can wade or Brake Slide through the poison to reach the Blessed Idol, or land underwater OoB in the main room and you only need to swim to the cylinder rope to enter the basement early.

Notes:

  • If you perform this trick, you will not be able to borrow the Water Basin from the Water Dragon later. You will either have to heal her then or use Water Basin Skip.
  • On the NTSC-U 1.0 version, the following method is generally faster.

Method 3 - Faron Silent Realm in Back in Time

The Waterfall does not exist on layer 0, and the trigger for layer 1 (which has the waterfall) is a story flag set at the end of the Faron Silent Realm. Thus one way to skip the waterfall is to complete the entire Faron Silent Realm in Back in Time and use Reverse BiTMagic to set the water dragon scale item to be obtained on your file, but not the story flag causing the layer change. Then you are able to enter the Ancient Cistern by jumping to the entrance.

Here is a file setup exemple:

  • File 1: Has Farore's Courage
  • File 2: Has scene flag 3x02
  • File 3: Has scene flag Dx10

Follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT
  • Go to Faron in BiT
  • Enter Faron Woods
  • Commit the story flags from File 1, and the scene flags from File 2
  • Kill yourself. Have File 1 selected before dying and select File 2 during the death cutscene. Press Continue. Now the trial gate should have appeared (this death can be skipped if 3x02 is on a Faron Woods file)
  • Make sure the scene flags from File 3 are committed before the next step
  • Enter the Faron Trial
  • Select File 3, then Skip Cutscene (the scene flag Dx10 skips about 1 minute of Fi text)
  • Go Back to Splash Screen and do the entire Faron Trial without opening file select. It is recommended to use the WiiMotion+ tutorial screen for movement/text scrolling
  • After entering circle with 15 tears, Open File Select
  • After the fi text starts, open File 1
  • Start File 1 and clear the fourth textbox. This will set the flag for the water dragon scale to be obtained, and floria waterfall will still be in layer 0.

This method is especially useful for NTSC-U 1.0 speedruns because they can then enter the Ancient Cistern normally and use the version exclusive Cistern Clip to reach the Basement.

Method 4 - Combined Faron Silent Realm in Back in Time and Reverse BiTWarp

On the Japanese Version, Cistern Clip is not possible, and thus one should Reverse BiTWarp into the Basement. Sometimes, going to Faron in order to obtain the Water Dragon Scale adds a trip that could otherwise be skipped. This is where this trick comes into play: you can obtain the Water Dragon Scale in BiT, and then in the same BiT you can maneuver to the Ancient Cistern Entrance and perform a Reverse BiTWarp. The file setup is the following:

  • File 1: Run File that has Farore's Courage. Make sure to be saved at coordinates that allow reaching the Basement early
  • File 2: Has scene flag 3x02
  • File 3: Has scene flag Dx10

Follow the next steps:

  • Activate BiT
  • Go to Faron in BiT
  • Enter Faron Woods
  • Commit the story flags from File 1, and the scene flags from File 2
  • Kill yourself. Have File 1 selected before dying and select File 2 during the death cutscene. Press Continue. Now the trial gate should have appeared (this death can be skipped if 3x02 is on a Faron Woods file)
  • Make sure the scene flags from File 3 are committed before the next step
  • Enter the Faron Trial
  • Select File 3, then Skip Cutscene (the scene flag Dx10 skips about 1 minute of Fi text)
  • Go Back to Splash Screen and do the entire Faron Trial without opening file select. It is recommended to use the WiiMotion+ tutorial screen for movement/text scrolling
  • After obtaining 15 tears, enter the circle. Still without open the splash screen, obtain the Water Dragon Scale
  • Back to Faron Woods, you still do not want to open the splash screen. Perform the Fence Hop (still on splash screen) and enter Lake Floria early
  • Now you can finally open the splash screen. Spin-dive to the Ancient Cistern Entrance and perform a Reverse BiTWarp into the Ancient Cistern.

Contrarely to the other methods, this one means that you will not have the Water Dragon Scale inside the Ancient Cistern. But because you obtain the Boss Key early it is generally not too much of an issue. Obtaining the small key might however be tricky and requires performing the Lilypad Skip.

Method 5 - Waterfall Clip

Discovered by MysticSoul

Using an extremely precise spin-jump, it is possible to clip OoB on the right side of the Ancient Cistern entrance. From there, you can drop into the water OoB below the entrance, spin to get under it, then spin-jump to loading zone. This trick is extremely difficult and is considered TAS-only.

Lake Floria Unused Strategies

Alternate Early Floria Methods

These are alternate ways of getting to Lake Floria early, which are either slower or less consistent than the one used, Fence Hop Method.

Method 3 - Wall Sprint

Discovered by Kazooie

Make your way to the hole where Oolo was hidden on the first visit. Dash over the brick wall to the right of the tree. You'll be on a ledge near a tree; hop onto the tree branch, go into first person view, and walk to the far side of the branch. Align yourself with the far ledge, then perform an autojump toward the OoB ledge and do a jumpslash in midair. If you time the jumpslash correctly, you will end up OoB. Now make your way to the Floria Waterfall loading zone.

Method 4 - Moblin Sprint

Discovered by Mitjitsu

On the second visit to Faron Woods, a Wooden Shield Moblin will be spawned close to the Floria Waterfall entrance. By luring the Moblin close to the ledge leading to Floria Waterfall, it is possible to sprint up his shield and jump off, allowing you to grab the ledge and then proceed to Floria Waterfall.

───── Flooded Faron Woods ─────

Tadtones Route

Tadtones Map

Tadtones Map

Written Route

Note: This route assumes you use an Air Potion for the Tadtones.

  1. First, run along the tree and jump off the protrusion on the right to flip the lilypad; grab the single yellow Tadtone that comes out.
  2. Tilt down and left to grab the eight blue Tadtones in a circle.
  3. Continue down and right to get the four pink Tadtones in the Viewing Platform.
  4. Turn right at the end and grab the single red Tadtone.
  5. Continue forward and grab the single blue Tadtone.
  6. Tilt upwards and grab the eight yellow Tadtones near the Kikwi Elder.
  7. Swim straight down and get the four light blue Tadtones circling around.
  8. Swim through the arch and over the ledge to grab the four red Tadtones circling near where Erla was.
  9. Use the Froak on the ledge to blow up the rocks and grab the green Tadtone.
  10. Turn back towards the Kikwi Elder, but grab the two purple Tadtones in the grass.
  11. Grab the eight green Tadtones in the tunnel leading to where Oolo was hiding.
  12. Swim through the gap in the wall to the left and grab the two red Tadtones in the grass.
  13. Swim backwards and grab the sixteen purple Tadtones in a long line.
  14. Swim over the wall to the right and grab the four circling pink Tadtones.
  15. Swim to the tree to get the purple single Tadtone inside from outside the tree.
  16. Swim through the tree roots to grab the four yellow Tadtones.
  17. Continue out of the roots and grab the eight pink Tadtones in a circle.

At the end, drown to deathwarp to the top of the tree.

Video Guide

Last updated 06/23/2024 – Deesh