Cave of Ordeals

The Cave of Ordeals is a mini-dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Found in Gerudo Desert where the bridge Link moved used to be, this large cave is made up of 50 rooms, most housing a set of enemies (every ten rooms there is a Great Fairy that will release healing fairies into one of the four springs). These enemies get progressively harder as Link progresses through the cave. Every 10 floors, fairies are released in the springs of the Light Spirits. The final prize is Great Fairy Tears and the releasing of Great Fairies to each spring, where Link could get a bottle of Great Fairy Tears whenever he wishes, considering he doesn't already have some. The Cave of Ordeals is very similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's Savage Labyrinth and is incredibly difficult.

General Strategies
The Cave of Ordeals contains no puzzles but contains 45 hostile rooms containing hundreds of enemies, including most instances of some of the toughest enemies in Twilight Princess. None of the enemies within the cave will drop hearts or ammunition for any of Link's gadgets, leaving only green, blue, and yellow rupees. There is no way out of the cave without starting over. Other than a few buried hearts or taking very quick action to bottle Chu jelly of the right color (before the purple Chu assimilates them), the hero is forced to heal with only what he carries in from the start. In order to succeed, the wise hero will have to defeat all the enemies in the cave while conserving both hearts and resources.


 * Arrows are the most valuable limited resource.
 * Arrows, bombs, and hearts are interchangeable in that using them preserves hearts by keeping Link safer against many enemies than using a sword. Use your best judgement to decide whether to use bombs or arrows (or bomb-arrows) or to get close with the sword, bearing in mind the significantly more difficult enemies in the later rooms.
 * If something takes more than one arrow hit to snipe, consider attaching a bomb to make the arrow better. The ability to abuse this is a good reason to pack 180 regular bombs, and the main reason you want 100 rather than 60 arrows.
 * Always see if the Clawshot, Boomerang, or Ball and Chain can kill or retrieve enemies, or can otherwise make the fight easier, before jumping down to the next room.
 * Wolf Link has less defense than Human Link's Hero Clothes, but its relatively fast jump attack may be useful against nimbler enemies such as Rats or Keese.
 * The hero of the Gamecube version is slightly disadvantaged due to a less convenient spin strike.
 * The hero of the Wii version is slightly disadvantaged because it is easier to overswing near a ledge (causing Link to hang on for dear life) and, some argue, inferior aiming control with ranged weapons.
 * Look before you leap.

Required Items

 * The Spinner to progress beyond room 10.
 * The Ball and Chain to progress beyond room 20.
 * The Dominion Rod to progress beyond room 30.
 * The Double Clawshots to progress beyond room 40.

Highly Recommended Items

 * The 100-arrow Quiver may be the most important optional upgrade. Well placed arrows can translate to a lot of saved hearts.
 * The capacity to carry at least ninety bombs. This generally means all three bomb-bags.
 * At least three bottles; but few heroes have less than four by this point.
 * Hidden Skill: Back Slice
 * Hidden Skill: Jump Strike
 * Twelve or thirteen full hearts; fifteen or sixteen if you only have the 60-arrow Quiver.

Useful Items

 * Bomb-bag upgrade.
 * The Hawk-eye.
 * Any other Hidden Skill.
 * More heart containers.

Magic Armour
The Magic Armour is a useful item to have in order to make it through the cave as quickly as possible. Its ability to make Link invincible in exchange for rupees allows the plentiful rupees dropped by the enemies in the cave to become "healing" items. On the other hand, it has limited application in most rooms, and the drain becomes quite significant in long fights against multiple copies of difficult enemies.
 * The 1,000-rupee Giant's Wallet is a useful item to have. It does not need to be full when you enter; you could potentially gain several hundred rupees throughout the cave.
 * If your wallet is full at the start, stagger the use of Magic Armour, as you will gain back many rupees.
 * Remember that even with the armour on, Link will still take knockback.
 * Always consider briefly using the armour whenever you have a full wallet and have a chance of losing hearts in any room.

Supplies

 * As many arrows as you can hold; preferably 100.
 * At least 90 Bombs. Regular ones are preferred. However, if you have the upgraded bomb-bags, you can afford a sack of bomblings.
 * All bottles full of healing items.
 * Blue Potions and Blue Chu Jelly are worth nearly as many hearts as you have containers. The most efficient healing item. Conserve their use and remember to drink before dying.
 * A Fairy is worth eight hearts, but will save your life if you make a mistake. Having one or two is recommended; as few as the hero is confident taking.
 * Don't bother finding Great Fairy Tears or Rare Chu Jelly because you lose the extra attack power when you take damage, rendering it next to useless in the Cave.

Room 1
This stage is simple so there is no need for a strategy.
 * 1st time: Bokoblin
 * 2nd time: Red Bokoblin

Room 2
The Gale Boomerang can be used to scoop up Keese from the balcony. Targeting each individually can be difficult (especially with the Wiimote), but multitargeting the floor and walls will make the boomerang's tornado scoop up any Keese it runs into as it moves between them. This tactic is useful throughout the Cave of Ordeals against the various types of Keese.
 * Rats and Keese

Room 3
The ones lining the ceiling can be severed with the Gale Boomering at no expense.
 * 4 x Baba Serpent (3 on the ceiling)

There are hearts buried in the center of this chamber.

Room 4
A shield attack followed by several slashes will destroy a Skulltula. If they are not facing Link, one Jump Attack will destroy them.
 * 3 x Skulltula

Room 5
Bulblin Archers are the only enemies besides Bubbles which can hurt Link while he is on a balcony. They can be sniped quickly from the ledge or dealt with at close range. If you do jump down, stay moving.
 * 3 x Bulblin Archer

Room 6
A single hit from the Clawshot will kill a Torch Slug. All the ones on the roof are within reach from the balcony. Then, drop down on the remaining Torch Slugs, targeting and clawshotting each in turn.
 * many x Torch Slug

Room 7
Keese can be a surprising nuisance when Link is forced to concentrate on larger enemies. Use the Gale Boomerang to first clear or thin out the flock of Fire Keese from the balcony, then jump down to deal with any stragglers. The Dodongo's are not hard to separate, and can be dealt with one at a time either with an arrow into the mouth, the Back Slice, or any combination of rolling that safely allows striking its tail. They can also be sniped from the balcony with three arrows each to the tail, but this is very early on to be wasting six arrows. If you have the bomb-bag upgrades however, and packed regular bombs in numbers, it may be possible to bomb arrow their tails.
 * Fire Keese
 * 2 x Dodongo

Room 8
You will have to deal with these enemies with your sword. Jump down, allow them to surround you, then Spin Attack. This is somewhat more difficult on the Gamecube due to inferior accessibility of the uncharged Spin Attack.
 * 4 x Red Tektite, 2 x Blue Tektite

Room 9
On the second time through the cave, it may be wise to snipe two of the easier to target archers from the balcony to avoid taking too much (or any) damage on the ground. However, never snipe if you cannot do it quickly and accurately enough to destroy each archer with a single arrow without taking damage.
 * 1st time: 2 x Bulblin Archer, 2 x Lizalfos
 * 2nd time: 4 x Bulblin Archer, 3 x Lizalfos

Jump down into the room and roll around, staying on the move and dealing with the Lizalfos first as quickly as possible. Spin Attack and Back Slice are very effective against Lizalfos, and will also deflect incoming arrows. Once the Lizalfos are dead, turn on any remaining archers.

Room 10
There is a Great Fairy here that will not heal you. You need the Spinner to continue from here.

Room 11
This is a deceptive room and the first one with a serious chance of knocking out a good chunk of your life. Once you go past the ledge, a swarm of rats will come charging out of nowhere, and can deal a lot of damage in a hurry either by exposing you to Helmasaur charges or by nipping at Link while he concentrates on them.
 * 3 x Helmasaur, many x Rats

Before proceeding, Clawshot away the Helmasaurs' armour and throw them behind you to avoid them getting in the way.

It may be possible to lure some of the rats into spawning by hanging onto the ledge, or lure all of them out by going out and using the room's Clawshot targets to remain safe. Once some or all rats have been lured out, it is then possible to draw them near the balcony's ledge and destroy them by dropping a bomb over.

Alternatively, snipe each of the de-armoured Helmasaurs. Without them around, the swarm of rats alone becomes vastly less dangerous.

If taking the room by force, leap down to a place well clear of any Helmasaur. Thin out pursuing rats with a Spin Attack as quickly as possible, then deal with any stragglers, and finally the Helmasaurs. Consider briefly turning on Magical Armor - there is plenty of chances to replace any rupees you lose here.

Room 12

 * 1st time: 1 x Giant Purple ChuChu
 * 2nd time: 2 x Giant Purple ChuChu

This level consists of a slow enemy with no defense, so it is easily killed with the Clawshot. Large ChuChu will split with each hit; the smallest size will splatter. With any luck, you can do almost all of your killing from the balcony.

On the 2nd time through the cavern, there are two Giant Purple ChuChu. However, ChuChu jellies have a maximum size, meaning that the two giant jellies will eventually merge to form only a single one of the same size.

Warning: Never drink Purple Chu Jelly.

Room 13
Chu Worms are destroyed by pulling out the worm within the bubble with the Clawshot. Drop down somewhere away from all of them and attack one of them at a time.
 * 4 x Chu Worm

Room 14
Link can reach many of the Bubbles with his Clawshot, but this may be more trouble than it's worth. The number of Bubbles noticing him can be reduced by dropping carefully off the ledge rather than jumping into the middle of the room.
 * many x Bubble

Room 15
Bulblin Infantry are slow and large targets. Avoid locking onto one at the expense of facing several others and avoid moves that take Link time to recover from. This is a good rule of thumb for any room containing large numbers of medium-sized enemies.
 * many x Bulblin Infantry

Room 16
The Keese can again be scooped out of battle from the balcony. Consider using Wolf Link due to his swiftness on the attack.
 * Rats and Keese

Room 17
The Poe within this room need only be dealt with once, and will not respawn if destroyed even if Link exits the cave before finishing.
 * Stalhounds
 * Poe

If the Poe is present, dealing with it first may expose you to attacks by the Stalhounds, which will knock Link out of "senses" mode (and deal double damage due to Wolf Link's reduced defence). Dealing with the Stalhounds first may result in getting hit by the Poe once or twice. Dealing with the Stalhounds first as Human Link before switching to Wolf Link against the Poe will likely result in the least damage.

Room 18
No enemies are visible from the balcony, but enter with your sword already drawn. Jump down and roll quickly into the middle of the group of emerging Leevers. Wait for them to close in unison and then destroy them all with a single Spin Attack.
 * 8 x Leever

Room 19
There is usually a single small Purple Chu on the floor, but a large number will drop down once Link is on the ground. Rare, Yellow, Red, and Blue Chu may be present among the pack but will be assimilated by Purple Chu unless you act very quickly. You may wish to attempt bottling one if you have already used a healing item.
 * many x ChuChu

Large numbers of the small jellies can be killed before they merge. If they all merge however, the resulting Giant Purple Chu will contain only eight Small Purple Chu. ChuChu's can be dealt with safely from beyond pounce range with the Clawshot.

Room 20
The ball and chain will be needed to continue.

Room 21
The supporting Ice Keese will cause a surprising amount of damage both due to their greater power and their freezing ability, which makes Link vulnerable to other enemies when he comes out of being frozen. Scoop them out with the Gale Boomerang, or keep the Slingshot handy.
 * Blue Bokoblin, Ice Keese

Room 22
Ghoul Rats cannot be killed as Human Link. Switch to Wolf Link and reserve Spin Attacks to destroy any that become attached. A very cautious hero can scoop out the Keese and then snipe all the regular Rats with the Slingshot before dropping down.
 * Rats, Keese, and Ghoul Rats

There is a diggable spot with three hearts. It is one of the only healing opportunities in the area.

Room 23
The attack power of Stalkin is quite minimal. However, there are enough here that there is a chance even a swinging Ball and Chain will let a hit through. A single well-placed Spin Attack will quickly thin out the army.
 * many x Stalkin (not visible from balcony)

Room 24
This is the first room after Room 11 that can result in large amounts of damage; the ReDead can keep Link frozen for significant amounts of time, taking many hits if he attracts too many by accident.
 * 5 x ReDead Knights (active)

Because these ReDead are already standing, they can be sniped with two bomb arrows each. Clearing away one or two in this way will give Link much more space. The Hidden Skill: Jump Strike will destroy a ReDead Knight in a single direct hit, and can be executed from beyond its screaming range if carefully timed. Much safer is the Ball and Chain; two hits (once on the way out, and once on the way in) will destroy one from a safe distance.

Warning: Stand away from the door to Room 25 as it opens.

Room 25
Snipe the archer on the tower before exiting Room 24. It is difficult to do so with the Hawkeye due to the darkness, but his flaming arrow will give him away. If the arrows are avoided or blocked, Link can also restock his quiver with the spent arrows before they burn up, but this is inconvenient and takes some time. The two archers on the ground can also be sniped afterwards if desired.
 * 1 x Bulblin Tower Archer, 2 x Bulblin Archer, Bulblin Infantry

Room 26
Stalfos can be sniped by one bomb arrow each. To conserve ammunition however, it is best to descend into the room and draw the Stalfos into a cluster, destroying them with a single bomb arrow, or draw them from the ledge to destroy them with a single dropped bomb.
 * 1st time: 3 x Stalfos (active)
 * 2nd time: 5 x Stalfos (active)

Room 27
The Gale Boomerang can be used to put the spiders on the ground to avoid surprises. The Bubbles can be fought a few at a time.
 * 3 x Skulltula (on ceiling), Bubbles

Room 28
Use any ranged tool to attract the enemies' attention. This will provide you with opportunities to slay two or three at a time with well placed ledge bombs or a single bomb arrow. This will conserve ammunition and reduce the risk once melee ensues, although, even two Skull Lizalfos and six Bokoblin are not too difficult to take on with just the sword.
 * 2 x Skull Lizalfos, 6 x Red Bokoblin

Room 29
The three different enemies in this room can make things complicated, compounded with the fact that none of these enemies can be sniped; the Stalfos are invincible until they wake up. Consider briefly turning on magic armour for the melee if you have it. Keep the bomb arrow handy, and try to draw as many enemies together (including both Stalfos) for a single shot.
 * 2 x Stalfos (inactive), Fire Bubbles (active), Stalkin (buried)

Warning: Active Bubbles can see and attack Link on the balcony.

Room 30
You need the Dominion Rod to continue from here.

Room 31
Arrows are required here. Shoot the three easily accessed Beamos from the balcony, then jump down, and roll into the cleared area. Finish off stray Keese, sniping the remaining Beamos only when the Keese are no longer threatening; they love darting in for a shot while you are aiming.
 * 5 x Beamos, Keese

Room 32
Active Bubbles (ones that are already flying rather than lying on the ground masquerading as a skull) have enough lift and detection range to attack Link on the balcony. Beware of this as you snipe.
 * 2 x Dodongo, Torch Slugs, Fire Keese, Fire Bubbles

Use the Clawshot to knock out the ceiling Torch Slugs, then thin out the Fire Keese numbers by retrieving them with the Boomerang. Some of the flying enemies are Fire Bubbles, which you will not be able to scoop up, but it is possible to draw them up to the balcony (intentionally or unintentionally) by standing near the ledge. Any that are can be lured inwards with a turning movement and slain from the balcony's relative safety.

The two Dodongos can be sniped but it is probably not worth sniping more than one at the absolute most.

Room 33
ReDead that are inactive (lying on the ground) are invincible until they way up and cannot be sniped with bomb arrows.
 * 4 x ReDead Knight (active?/inactive?)
 * Poe

Have the bomb arrow handy, then descend near a corner, and quickly shoot the nearest ReDead twice. This is the fastest way to deal with it. The Poe will be lured quickly over and can be destroyed in the corner before the other ReDead (if they are awake) arrive. Ball and Chain the remaining ReDead.

If the Poe is no longer present, the room can be cleared entirely with the Ball and Chain.

Room 34
Several ChuChu of various colors (mostly purple) will drop from the ceiling after you enter. Fighting them is complicated by the presence of Ghoul Rats.
 * many x ChuChu (ceiling), many x Ghoul Rat

Descend as Wolf Link with senses active. Attract and Spin Attack as many Ghoul Rats as quickly as possible, then run to the edge of the room. Become Human Link, and deal with the ChuChu with the Clawshot. Switch briefly back to Wolf Link to knock out any remaining Ghoul Rats.

There is a single heart buried in this room.

Room 35
The Freezard can be destroyed with the Ball and Chain from near (but not at) the edge of the balcony. Do not fall off before this happens unless you have cleared out the Ice Keese from the balcony.
 * 1 x Freezard, Ice Keese

Room 36
Room 36 is by far the most dangerous/expensive chamber in the Cave of Ordeals yet, and is the reason Link conserved ammunition in previous chambers. Each Chilfos will require two bomb arrow hits in quick succession to kill, and they will begin moving evasively after the first hit, making (along with the smoke from the first bomb) the second shot significantly more difficult. If you do not land the second hit quickly, they will regenerate their javelin. Shoot all but one, and deal with the last using shield and sword.
 * 1st time: 4 x Chilfos
 * 2nd time: 7 x Chilfos

Room 37
The Bubbles can be attracted (or pulled with Clawshot) to thin out or entirely eliminate their numbers before descending to deal with the Leevers if desired.
 * Bubbles, Ice Bubbles, Leevers (buried)

Room 38
Another difficult/expensive room - the Ice Bubbles greatly complicate things.
 * 2 x Freezard, 4 x Chilfos, Ice Bubbles, Ice Keese

Begin by attracting, pulling, or scooping the various flying enemies to kill them on the ledge. The Ice Bubbles threaten to disturb you on the balcony while shooting the Chilfos, which can cause you to waste bomb precious ammunition.

Destroy all the Chilfos with bomb arrows.

Finally, descend to deal with the Freezards. Consider briefly using magical armour if you have it. Pick one side of the chamber and destroy the Freezard there with the Ball and Chain after luring out its breath. If more than one or two Ice Keese or Bubbles are still active at this point, you can expect to take a fair bit of damage. Don't forget that the Freezard will break up into four mini-Freezards.

One you have one side of the room to yourself, destroy the mini-Freezards, then lure out any remaining fliers before turning on the final Freezard.

39. Darknuts X2 (On the 2nd time there are three)
This room isn't as bad as it looks (when there are 2). Jump down and target one. Try to get them shoulder-to-shoulder or single-file as they move toward you. Once they're positioned like you want them, do the Rolling Spin-Jump Attack over and over and over. And over. Try to keep the same one targeted and (if at all possible) avoid letting them lunge at you. If you feel daring, try a helm splitter but with 2 enemies it is tough. Just wear one down until he loses all his armor. Make sure to dodge the flung mace, then kill him with the Rolling Spin-Jump. Now there's only one left. Helm Splitter works really well, and make sure to dodge the flung mace.

40. Great Fairy
You need the Double Clawshot to continue from here.

41. Armos X9
Rolling Spin-Jump Attack, is the key to this room. The ball and chain is also quite effective. Hitting an Armos with it will stun it for a moment. If you keep the ball spinning you can keep several Armos stunned at once. Just put the ball and chain away, roll past them and use the ball and chain again to win this level.

42. Baba Serpents, Red Bokoblins
Use some Bomb Arrows if you want. This one is not that bad; just avoid being grabbed by the Babas.

43. Lizalfos X3, Bulblin Archers
You can try bomb arrows if you want, or even the Ball and Chain.

44. Dynalfos, Poe
Become a wolf, destroy the Poe, then use the jump bite to kill one of the Dynalfos. From there you can repeat on the other, or you can try to Mortal Draw the last one.

45. Bulblin Archers, ReDeads, Large Purple Chuchu
This is another hard room. The key is to do everything in your power to take out the archers on the towers before you jump down. Use the clawshot, arrows, or anything else. Just make sure they are dead (or at least on the ground) before you jump in. Stay on the opposite side of the room from the Large Chu and work your way through the ReDeads using the Charged Jump Attack. Chances are, there will be a group of ReDeads and the ChuChu all gathered in one place. Use the Ball and Chain. Alternativly you can kill the archers with arrows then snipe the redeads. After you do this things will be calm enough for you to while on the ledge if you look straight across the room you will see what looks like a shinny thing on the wall. Equip an empty bottle, and shoot the shinny spot. Now immediately run down. You will notice that when you shot the shinny thing a blob of Rare Chu Jelly fell. Quickly bottle it before it disapears. Deal with the purple chu however you like.

46. Freezards X2, Chilfos, Ghoul Rats
The Ghost Rats pose a minor problem in this room. Repeat the strategy of "winning" one end of the room by killing a Freezard then work from there.

47. Bokoblin, Rats, Stalkin
Simply destroy them all. It is best to have 1000 rupees by the end of this room.

48. Aeralfos X2, Darknut
If you take too long in this room, things get quite difficult. Jump to the left and destroy the Aeralfos with the basic strategy: arrow, clawshot, slash. Keep an eye on the advancing darknut, though. After weakening Aeralfos (not killing it, yet) move to the other one while it recovers. You are much faster than the knight so you can grab/slash the Aeralfos easily as long as you don't get hurt by its dive attack. Two repetitions of an arrow, clawshot, sword will take out the Aeralfos, just make sure to go back and forth while the other gets back in the air. After they are dead, the knight is not as bad: Rolling Spin-Jump Attack and Helm Splitter will do him in.

49. Darknuts X3 (On 2nd time there are four)
By this time, you are probably out of healing items, but you have the magic armor. But do not use it yet. The Darknuts have a secret weakness that is difficult to exploit but is absolutely necessary to defeat this room: bombs. If you can land a blast (from a bomb or a Bomb Arrow) at their feet it will blow off a chunk of their armor. The trick is hitting the weak spot between too far where it does not hurt them, and too close where they block it with their shield. Just aim right near their feet and you should get it. Knowing is half the battle.

You will only get two or three shots from the balcony, but you can easily use the Bomb Arrows from the ground if you put some distance between you. Shoot until one of them sheds all his armor. However should you ever run out of arrows at this point or have problems with the bombs, just be resourceful and use your bomblings. These bugs just home in on them so just just let lose all of them and with a little luck watch their armor fall. This is the part where you can put on that magic armor if you want. Do not move in just yet, though. Keep bombing until all three don't have armor on (you can go with 2 if you want but it is hard) then change your strategy. Now you will definitely want to put on your Magic Armor. The unarmored knights will dodge anything you use or shoot them with other than your sword. Move in and target one. In this case, the Rolling Spin-Jump works, but the Charged Jump Attack works a lot better. As they advance, target the middle one. Charge up, release, and (while they are all recoiling) get in a few hits. Repeat this. If you are taking more damage than you want to at this point, it is a good idea to deal fewer hits and retreat faster after each assault. The two you aren't attacking recover a lot faster from your Charged Jump Attack.

50. Great Fairy
Congratulations! You just beat the Cave of Ordeals!! Take you Fairy Tears and get out. Remember that the Tears can be replenished for free at any Spirit Fountain, but you can only have one on you at any time. On a side note, if you beat it a second time, the Postman will appear at the bottom, looking for the Great Fairy to give a letter to.

Glitch
On the GameCube version of Twilight Princess, when one is in the Cave of Ordeals, by standing on any balcony between the torches, the torches can be extinguished with the Gale Boomerang and the next door will open. This has also been confirmed for the Wii version.