Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom main story walkthrough

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a fairly linear game, with the quest marker constantly telling you where to go, like a glowing yellow beacon in the mist. That said, there are a few split paths in the game where you have to decide which region to tackle first.

The specific choices you make at each fork in the road have little impact on the game, since you’ll eventually visit each location anyway. But if you’re stuck on what to do first, we’re here to help.

Below we provide a brief overview of the full walkthrough of the main story in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomwhere you notice the storylines along the way that you might stumble over.

Overview of the main story walkthrough of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

In the course of Echoes of WisdomYou start in the Suthorn Forest. You will then tackle the Gerudo Desert and the Jabul Waters (with the choice of which one to hit first). You will back to Hyrule Castle for another fork in the road: Faron Wetlands, Eldin Volcano, or Hebra Mountains. Once you complete all three, your journey will lead you to the Eternal Forest before ending at the point of no return, Null’s Body.

That’s the bird’s-eye view. Read on for a deeper summary, including details on what these sections entail and what upgrades or unlocks you can expect from each. We’ll also offer our advice on which regions you should tackle first on the two split paths in Echoes of Wisdom.

Start in Suthorn Forest

The beginning of your journey is short, but sudden. As soon as you get out of the starting cave and report back to Hyrule Castle about Link and these void rifts, another rift opens up and you end up in prison. There are a few segments in this opening section:

  1. Escape from prison in Hyrule Castle Underground
  2. Head towards the ruins of Suthorn
  3. Embark on an adventure through the Stilled Suthorn Ruins and the Suthorn Ruins, which serve as a sort of tutorial for your various skills with Tri

After you’ve sealed that crack, you can head over to Lueburry’s workshop, where you’ll discuss a game plan with him and the official you rescued from the Ruins. Tri will mention that they can see some huge cracks, pointing in two directions…

Gerudo Desert or Jabul Waters: What to Do First?

After the opening segment, you must make a choice between helping the Gerudo people in the Gerudo Desert or the Zora help in Jabul WatersDon’t worry, you’ll need to do both to finish the story. But which one should you do first?

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

The Gerudo segment of the game unlocks an extremely useful echo that lets you travel quickly horizontally over holes and pits. You also unlock the Arch of Powerwhich allows you to use a bow and arrow when in Swordfighter form. To complete the Gerudo portion, you must do the following:

  1. Go to Gerudo Valley
  2. Help the Gerudo close the gap to the Stilled Desert Temple Ruins
  3. Enter the Cryptic Cave
  4. Close the gap in the Gerudo Sanctum dungeon

The Zora segment in the Jabul Waters will unlock another very useful echo that will allow you easy vertical cliff climbing (those beds are no longer needed). You will also come across an echo that allows you bombsso you can grab things behind cracked walls and blow up bad guys. To complete the Jabul Waters section, you need to do the following:

  1. Go to the Jabul waters
  2. Help the Zora close the Stilled Upper Zora River gap
  3. Defeat Jabu-Jabu in a short boss fight
  4. Close the rift in the Jabul Ruins dungeon

That said, we personally found the bow and arrow more useful, so by doing the Gerudo segment first, we were able to complete the Zora segment more easily. It’s up to you though, as both dungeons give you useful tools that help you complete the other.

Back to Hyrule Castle

Once you’ve closed those two giant gaps, you’ll be instructed to head back to Hyrule Castle. It’s finally time to save the king and set some things right. This part is extremely linear once you get there, as you have to go through a silent version of Hyrule Castle, which is essentially another dungeon.

After Tri rescues the king, he notices three more giant cracks opening up on the map in three key locations: the Faron Wetlands, the Eldin Volcano, and the Hebra Mountains.

Before you leave for these locations, now is a good time to explore the map further. Between the Water Block Echo you got from the Zora and the Flying Tile Echo you got from the Gerudo, you have the tools to explore pretty much the entire map. You should take some time to explore and do some side quests. Give yourself some power by finding Pieces of Heart and Might Crystals to upgrade your weapons. Enemies will hit a bit harder, so you’ll want to be able to take them out without any problems.

Faron Wetlands, Eldin Volcano or Hebra Mountains: what should you do first?

Once again you will be at a crossroads, but the order in which you do the dungeons doesn’t really matter. You will however get different tools from different dungeons.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

The Eldin volcano is believed to be home to the Goron people and fire based monsters. You will have full access to bombs in this segment of the game (not just bomb-like echoes), which are usable in your Swordfighter form. The Eldin Volcano section goes like this:

  1. Climb Mount Eldin to join the Goron people
  2. Help the Gorons by completing the Stilled Goron City segment
  3. Find the two elders to find out how to reach the top of the mountain
  4. Enter the Eldin Temple to remove the cracks

The Faron Marshes is the home of the Deku Scrubs and electricity based monsters (and their echoes, of course). The dungeon here focuses on spider-like enemies that help you climb walls both in the 2D platforming sections and the 3D overworld parts. The Faron Wetlands section is as follows:

  1. Go to the Faron Wetlands
  2. Help Blossu rebuild his house via the Stilled Blossu’s House area
  3. Deku Scrub Lockup Prison Escape
  4. Enter the Faron Temple to cleanse the cracks in the area

The Hebra Mountains is home to yeti-like creatures and ice based samples. This area definitely felt a lot harder than the others and didn’t offer us much to add to our skill arsenal (but that’s just our opinion). The Hebra Mountain segment follows this trail:

  1. Go to the Hebra Mountains in the north
  2. Help Condé close the Stilled Hebra Mountain Cave gorge
  3. Follow Condé up the mountain to find his brother
  4. Complete the Lanayru Temple to close the rifts in the region

Based on this, We recommend going to Eldin volcano firstbecause having bombs on hand is just a nice bonus. From there you can go to the Faron Wetlands and then the Hebra Mountains once you’ve fueled yourself up a bit.

(Editorial note: We discuss spoilers for the last part of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (below. Make sure you’re actually at this point in the game before scrolling below the comically long image, or you risk being spoiled.)

Graphics: Julia Lee/Polygon | Image source: Nintendo via Polygon

On the way to the Eternal Forest

After the above section you will be sent back to Hyrule Castle and you will be at the final part of the game. Go to the Eternal forestwhich is the only part of the map you might not have been to yet. It’s located directly north of Hyrule Castle, and while your minimap will be hidden once you’re inside, it’s not as deep of a maze as in other Legend of Zelda games.

After solving a short puzzle and watching a few cutscenes, you’ll find yourself in the Stilled Ancient Ruins, a somewhat linear platforming area where all you need to do is get from the southern part of the map to the northern part. Tools like Water Block and Flying Tile Echoes can help you get out of any trouble quickly, but there’s nothing wrong with summoning a few beds if you need to. At this point in the game, you should be able to summon quite a few items.

Once you reach the north, you’ll have a short fight against the Null version of Zelda, after which you’ll free Link from his crystal prison.

You now have the opportunity to actually proceed to the final part of the game. Tri will warn you that if you proceed, you will not be able to go back, so it is best to Make sure your affairs are in order before you leave. Go back to the Pieces of Heart you want, complete any side quests you neglected, and of course, make a bunch of health-restoring smoothies.

The Point of No Return: Null’s Body

Together with Link, you’ll adventure through the game’s final dungeon, Null’s Body. The dungeon portion is actually quite short – but the boss fight is long. After that, that’s it. You’ll unlock a few collectible perks after you’ve beaten the game, but that’s about it!

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