Inside the Deku Tree Walkthrough

1. Tip

   This dungeon has no small keys and no Boss Key. It teaches three skills you'll use all game: reflecting Deku Nuts with your shield, aiming the Slingshot, and carrying fire on a Deku Stick.

   #1.1

2. The entrance hall is a tall, hollow trunk ringed by ledges. Cut down the Deku Babas on the ground floor to stock up on Deku Sticks and Deku Nuts.

   #1.2

3. Note the huge spider web stretched across the middle of the floor. You can't break it from here; you'll come back to it from above.

   #1.3

4. Climb the ladder near the entrance and leave the vine wall alone for now. Follow the ledge as it spirals up the inside of the trunk to the next floor.

   #1.4

5. Jump the short gap to the platform holding a large chest.

   #1.5
6. You get

   You obtain the Dungeon Map.

   #1.6

7. Follow the ledge to the door at its end and go through. It seals behind you.

   #1.7

1. A Deku Scrub pops out of the floor and spits Deku Nuts at you. Face it with your shield raised; the nuts bounce straight back and knock it out of its hole.

   #2.1

2. Chase down the dazed Scrub and talk to it. It begs for mercy, and the bars on the next door lift.

   #2.2

3. In the next room, a single platform hovers over a pit between you and the far ledge. Jump onto it and immediately keep going, because it falls away shortly after you land.

   #2.3
4. You get

   Open the large chest on the far side to get the Fairy Slingshot. Assign it to an item button and aim it in first-person view; it fires Deku Seeds, and you can carry 30 at first.

   #2.4

5. With the platform gone, you can't jump back to the door. Drop to the floor and look up: a ladder is folded up above the doorway. Shoot it with the Slingshot so it falls, then climb out.

   #2.5
6. Tip

   Deku Seeds now drop when you cut grass and break pots, so the Slingshot rarely runs dry for long.

   #2.6

1. Back in the great hall, return to the Map chest platform. Three Skullwalltulas crawl on the vine wall above it, and they knock you off if you climb into them.

   #3.1

2. Lock on and shoot all three off the wall with the Slingshot, then climb the vines to the top floor.

   #3.2

3. Work your way around the top ledges to the lone door on this level and go through.

   #3.3

4. A pit splits this room. Step on the switch near the entrance to raise three platforms out of the pit, then hop across before they sink again.

   #3.4
5. Watch out

   If you fall, climb the vines at the edge of the pit and hit the switch again. The platforms don't stay up for long.

   #3.5

6. Cross the raised platforms to the chest on the far ledge.

   #3.6
7. You get

   You obtain the Compass. It marks the boss's location and every chest you haven't opened yet.

   #3.7

8. Raise the platforms again and head for the nook along the side wall. A Big Skulltula drops down to block it; wait for it to turn and expose its soft underside, then strike. A small chest in the nook holds a Recovery Heart.

   #3.8
9. Collectible

   Gold Skulltula: on the back wall of the same nook. You can't lock on to it, so slash it directly, then grab the token it leaves.

   #3.9

10. The door you came through is now barred. Light a Deku Stick on the burning torch beside it, then touch the flame to the unlit torch on the other side of the doorway to open it.

    #3.10
11. Tip

    A lit Deku Stick burns down quickly. Put it away as soon as the torch is lit so you don't waste it.

    #3.11

1. Back on the top floor of the great hall, Big Skulltulas hang in the web-covered openings. Defeat any that get in your way, then walk out onto the wooden platform that juts toward the center of the trunk.

   #4.1

2. Jump off the end and aim for the middle of the giant web on the ground floor far below. The force of the fall tears it open and drops you into the basement.

   #4.2
3. Tip

   If you bounce off the web instead of breaking through, you landed too far from its center. Climb back up and try again.

   #4.3

1. You splash into a flooded chamber ringed with platforms of different heights.

   #5.1
2. Collectible

   Gold Skulltula: high on the vine-covered wall. Shoot it down with the Slingshot, then climb the vines to collect the token.

   #5.2
3. Collectible

   Gold Skulltula: on the barred gate across the chamber. Kill it with the Slingshot, then take a running jump from the nearby platform to snag the token.

   #5.3

4. Climb onto the tall platform and step on its switch to light a torch. A small chest close by holds a Recovery Heart.

   #5.4

5. Light a Deku Stick on that torch and carry it across the shallow water to the web covering the far wall, keeping the flame out of deep water. Burn the web to uncover a door.

   #5.5
6. Tip

   If you run out of sticks, a Deku Baba nearby can replace them.

   #5.6

1. Another Deku Scrub waits in the next room. Reflect its nuts, catch it, and listen closely: it reveals that its brothers must be beaten in the order 2, 3, 1. Remember this.

   #6.1

2. Shoot the eye switch above the far door with the Slingshot to open it.

   #6.2

3. The next room is a pool with a spiked log spinning just above a floating platform. Ride across at this water level and you'll get skewered.

   #6.3

4. Dive in and press the switch on the pool's floor. The water level drops for a short while, lowering the platform enough to pass beneath the spikes, so climb out quickly and ride across.

   #6.4

5. A Big Skulltula drops in on the far side; defeat it. Push the block there against the ledge, climb onto it, and pull yourself up to the door.

   #6.5
6. Tip

   The bushes near the block refill hearts and Deku Seeds.

   #6.6

1. In the next room, deal with the withered Deku Babas, then light a Deku Stick on the burning torch and use it to light both unlit torches. The far door opens.

   #7.1

2. The following room has a Big Skulltula near the entrance and Gohma eggs hanging from the ceiling. Shoot the eggs with the Slingshot before you walk underneath; any that fall hatch into Gohma Larvae, which you can slash.

   #7.2

3. Light a Deku Stick on the torch here and burn the webs covering the walls. One hides a crawlspace; crawl through it.

   #7.3
4. Collectible

   The other web conceals a boulder with a Gold Skulltula behind it. You need Bombs to clear the boulder and the Boomerang to reach the token, so return after Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly.

   #7.4

5. The crawlspace leads back to the first basement chamber, onto a high ledge you couldn't reach before. Push the block off the ledge into the water; it becomes a step between the two levels.

   #7.5

6. Drop down, light a Deku Stick on the torch below, then climb back up using the block. Touch the flame to the web on the ledge's floor; it burns away and you fall to the level beneath.

   #7.6
7. Tip

   If the stick keeps burning out before you reach the web, roll to cover the distance faster.

   #7.7

1. You land in a pool at the very bottom of the tree. Swim to shore, where three Deku Scrubs pop up side by side.

   #8.1

2. Use the riddle from upstairs. Counting the left Scrub as 1, the middle as 2 and the right as 3, reflect a nut into the middle Scrub first, then the right one, then the left one.

   #8.2
3. Watch out

   Hit them out of order and they reset, so you'll have to start the sequence over.

   #8.3

4. Run to the last Scrub before it can burrow away. It lets slip how to beat the queen, and the boss door opens.

   #8.4
5. Tip

   Stock up before you go in: you want plenty of Deku Seeds, a few Deku Nuts, and some Deku Sticks.

   #8.5

1. Boss

   The chamber looks empty, and the door seals behind you. Look up in first-person view to spot Queen Gohma clinging to the ceiling; she drops down to fight.

   #9.1
2. Boss

   She stalks you and rears up to attack. When her single eye glows red, shoot it with the Slingshot to stun her.

   #9.2
3. Boss

   While she's down, run in and attack her eye. Jump attacks deal extra damage, and a Deku Stick hits harder than the Kokiri Sword.

   #9.3
4. Boss

   After taking damage, she scurries up the wall and lays eggs from the ceiling. Shoot her eye while she hangs there to knock her down; if the eggs land, smash them or cut down the Gohma Larvae that hatch.

   #9.4
5. Tip

   A Deku Nut also stuns her if your Slingshot shot misses, though the stun doesn't last as long.

   #9.5
6. Boss

   Keep repeating the stun-and-slash cycle until she collapses.

   #9.6
7. You get

   Grab the Heart Container, then step into the blue light to leave.

   #9.7

1. Outside, the Great Deku Tree thanks you, then tells of the wicked man from the desert who cursed him and of the sacred power he seeks. The curse has gone too deep, and nothing can save the tree now.

   #10.1
2. You get

   He entrusts you with the Kokiri's Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, and urges you to seek out the princess at Hyrule Castle.

   #10.2

3. Back in the village, Mido blames you for the Great Deku Tree's death. The Kokiri at the exit no longer stops you.

   #10.3
4. You get

   Saria waits on the bridge out of the forest to say goodbye and gives you the Fairy Ocarina. Cross the bridge into Hyrule Field.

   #10.4

Every Gold Skulltula and Piece of Heart you can grab around here as child Link. Checking one off here also checks it off in the full trackers.

Gold Skulltulas (4)

• Side Alcove in the Compass Room GS-057

  In the third-floor room with the compass chest, jump across to the small side alcove. Defeat the Skulltula tucked inside and grab the token.

  Child Link

• Basement Vine Wall GS-058

  In the first basement, shoot the Skulltula on the vine-covered wall with the Fairy Slingshot. Climb the vines afterward to reach the token.

  Child LinkFairy Slingshot

• Basement Barred Gate GS-059

  Also in the first basement, a Skulltula clings to a barred gate. Kill it with your sword or the Slingshot, then jump to the floating token from the ledge beside it.

  Child Link

• Behind the Basement's Cracked Wall GS-060

  Return once you have Bombs and the Boomerang. In the first basement, burn the web over the side passage with a Deku Stick lit at the torch, continue to the room where Gohma Larvae drop, bomb its cracked wall, and Boomerang the Skulltula hidden behind it.

  Child LinkDeku SticksBombsBoomerang