Readers may recall our distaste for the Eldin region in Breath of the Wild. It’s a hot, lava-filled, fiery, and generally inhospitable environment. We went to Eldin as rarely as possible and solely as needed to activate shrines, obtain items, or free a Divine Beast. We left as soon as our tasks were complete and our shopping lists were checked off. We didn’t vacation there.
So, we weren’t overjoyed that, after retrieving the Ruby Tablet from Skyview Spring and placing it in the altar inside the Statue of the Goddess, the next hole that opened up in the clouds over Skyloft offered a direct freefall to – ugh. Eldin. Nor were we surprised that it didn’t take us but ten minutes to conclude that we didn’t like Skyward Sword‘s Eldin, either.
True, the SSHD version of Eldin doesn’t require special, flame-resistant armor (that we know of, yet). And we haven’t encountered an Igneo Talus. But there’s a volcano and there’s lava, red Chu Chus, and Fire Keese, all of which can light up Link spectacularly.
Zelder Tip #1: If you find yourself on fire, do a dash-roll or spin-slash to extinguish the flames.
In addition – and strangely more annoying – Eldin is home to a cute little critter called a Pyrup. What do the first three letters in its name suggest to you? Yep. Pyrups like to play with fire. But they’re cowardly little pyros who hide in the nearest cubby, whether it’s a cave or an abandoned skull (lovely). You can stop their fiery attacks on Link by dropping a bomb through the top of their skull hideout or gently rolling a bomb into the cave entrance, but –
Zelder Complaint #1: There are two ways to deploy a bomb in SSHD – throwing them or rolling them. And while we’re passable at the former, we’re fairly awful at rolling bombs. And that brings us to –
Zelder Would-Be Tip #2: To throw a bomb (when using Joy-Cons), first press ZL to pull one out of your bomb bag if you have such a bag; if you don’t, pluck a nearby bomb flower. Hold the right Joy-Con up, aim, then push the Joy-Con down, like throwing a ball overhand, and release ZL as you do so. To roll a bomb, first press ZL, dip the right Joy-Con down, aim, then pull the Joy-Con up as if you were bowling (sort of) and with calm deliberation release ZL as you’re letting loose with the bomb. Alternatively, dip the Joy-Con down, nervously attempt to aim, panic when the aim-arrow isn’t pointed in the direction you want but the bomb fuse is getting shorter and shorter and OMG we’re going to die so why not flail wildly with the Joy-Con to get rid of the bomb in any way possible. (It should be noted that we’re not entirely sure about the whole ZL thing. But, we throw it into the mix because why not.) (Itzal’s desire to also include “stand on one foot, speak Latin, change into green shoes, drink a glass of vodka while humming America the Beautiful,” and other snarky steps has been excluded by the editors.)
The thing is, it’s not as if you can take your sweet time aiming; unlike certain bombs in BOTW, in which one chooses the time of detonation, these SSHD bombs EXPLODE if you wait too long. Knowing an explosion is pending led to any number of panicked throws in lieu of rolls, as per Would-Be Tip #2 above. So why don’t we simply choose to throw bombs from the get-go rather than roll them? Unfortunately, sometimes an overhand throw doesn’t work; you must (sometimes in desperation) roll the bombs, as shown below:
Anyhow. Enough about bombs. How about those Mogmas, then?
Mogmas look like, let’s see, hairless hyenas encased waist-high in dirt. However, they’re friendly. And they like to dig. Indeed, after you’ve advanced a ways into Eldin and defeated a bunch of Bokoblins in a particular room in some cavern or other, one of the Mogmas will provide you with Digging Mitts. After receiving this gift, any time you encounter what looks to be a patch of disturbed dirt, get your mitts dirty to uncover rupees, geysers, hearts, and other helpful items.
As it happens, digging up a geyser is exactly what you need to do to progress into – Hello! Fun! – a maze full of Pyrups!
Zelder Tip #3: You can avoid a fair amount of the Pyrup maze if you don’t care about searching every nook and cranny for cracked rubble that can be bomb-blasted for treasure and rupees. (Note: Demelza cared, Itzal did not.)
Zelder Tip #4: There’s one thing, at least, we did like about SSHD’s Eldin. If you sit on a stool found in various huts and caves, your heart containers are replenished.[1] The experience is not as spa-like as soaking in the recovery hot springs of BOTW’s Eldin, but the result is the same. We discovered the magic of stool-sitting when, just after the maze, we paused to rest after clearing a village of Bokoblins.
And now, having delayed it as long as possible (of course it had nothing to do with our lack of bomb prowess): It’s time to climb Eldin Volcano.
Shoot, we need a stool to rest on before we go further. Or better still, a cocktail to get us prepared.
We joke quite a bit in these pages about drinking, but truth be told, we’re fairly respectable and responsible Zelders (even if it pains us to admit it and we’ll never admit it again). So, please take our advice and don’t make our recommended drink, the Flaming Eldin Volcano, if you’ve already indulged in a cocktail. And don’t make more than the one. We don’t want anyone accidentally shooting flames around like a Pyrup. Because unlike Link, you can’t just dash-roll or spin-slash to extinguish yourself.
[1] After we discovered the stool-sitting thing, we went back to the bathroom at the Knight Academy to visit the, uh, facilities. Sure enough, Link doing his business also results in heart restoration. OMG, the jokes that could go here. We forbear.