Great Palace

Navigate the massive Great Palace in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. This guide details the direct route to the final boss and a longer path for completionists, including enemy strategies and item locations.

This is it, the grand finale! The nice thing about the Great Palace is that from now on, if you run out of lives and get a game over inside the Great Palace, you'll be taken back to the palace entrance instead of all the way back to the North Castle! Granted, though, the Great Palace is absolutely massive (it's so big that the palace by itself is considered a kind of "disc 2" for the game as a whole) so if you've made it far within the palace, starting over from the entrance will nevertheless be a stiff penalty. Still, it's better than the alternative! Also, by now you should have maxed out your levels, so you won't be needing to fight enemies in here for EXP. This place is home to the most powerful foes in the game, so only fight if you have to--otherwise, just keep moving. (Also of note is that the strong enemies here don't drop 200-EXP Treasure Bags or Red Magic Jars--only the minor enemies drop 50-EXP Treasure Bags and Blue Magic Jars.) It also doesn't help that this place is huge and has a lot of rooms that look identical. Keep your wits about you and follow this guide closely.

There are two routes through the Great Palace. Most players will want to take the most direct route, from the start to the final boss. However, you'll miss out on some minor items along the way like a few Red Magic Jars and even a Fairy. There is of course no bonus from grabbing every item, but if you're a completionist, I've included the longer route as well.

With all that aside, you should have the following before entering the Great Palace:

• Attack: Level 8
• Magic: Level 8
• Life: Level 8
• 8 blocks in Magic Meter
• 8 blocks in Life Meter
• Magic spells: Shield, Jump, Life, Fairy, Fire, Reflect, Spell, Thunder
• Inventory items: Candle, Handy Glove, Raft, Boots, Flute, Cross, Hammer, Magical Key

Entry

As you arrive, go forward to find a magical barrier. Assuming you've inserted all six crystals in the stone statues at the palaces scattered throughout Hyrule, the barrier will lift, allowing you entry. (Alas, there is no statue here to give you a Magic Jar!) Take the elevator down and go left. You'll meet the first new enemy of the Great Palace: a Fokkeru. This red bird soldier will hurl fireballs at you--it's similar to a Guma, except stronger and with fire instead of chain hammers. Also note that the flames stay on the floor for a while and will sometimes even travel along the floor. It will take many hits to take down a Fokkeru, even with maximum Attack power--and likewise it will cause a lot of damage even if your Life is at Level 8. Continue left to the next room.

Take the upper route here, and be sure to jump over the false floor that's right after the pillar below you. (All rooms that look like this will have a false floor at this location--see the screenshot below.) Underneath you are some Bots, but be aware that Bots in the Great Palace are stronger than elsewhere in the game. At the end of this room is an elevator you should ride down.

Now go right. You'll pass through an empty room with a bridge over lava. The room after that looks empty too, but there is a Fokkeru at the end waiting to shower you with fire. Defeat it, then move to the elevator it's guarding and take it down to the next level.

In this room, you'll be met by Ras, but these ones are gold instead of the usual blue. They still behave the same way though. Bust through the breakable blocks while defeating incoming Ras with Downthrust. In the next room, you'll be introduced to a powerful new enemy called a Red Fokka. This is an armored bird that behaves just like a Blue Iron Knuckle by throwing its swords at you--but in addition, it also jumps. A lot. Cast Shield and either dodge past it or defeat it. Take down a Bot up ahead, then Downthrust through the blocks and ride the next elevator down one floor.

On this next floor, it might look like there's nothing but solid wall on either side of you, but that's not the case. Hug the left wall to find you can walk through it (it's a few spaces above the bottom of the screen--I've colored in the false wall for you in the screenshot below). Walk left to find an empty room with a Fokka statue on a high ledge. Cast Jump and then jump up and stab it--you'll get a Red Magic Jar! Sometimes it will spawn a Red Fokka instead, so if that happens, return to the elevator and try again. Now take the elevator down the rest of the way, two more floors.

At this point, the route splits. If you just want the direct route to the final boss, skip to the next section heading. If you're a completionist and want to completely empty the Great Palace of its items and see everything, then the following section is for you. (I personally recommend taking the most direct route to the ending, but I make the next section in case anyone's interested in exploring this palace fully.)

Detour for Completion

From the elevator, go left past another Fokkeru to the next room. You'll meet Anerus, but unlike their counterparts in other palaces, this version is red and spits fireballs instead of rocks--you can only block those if you cast Reflect. Don't worry about Reflect in this room; instead just defeat each Aneru as you come to them, taking the upper route. Watch out, for just as before there is an invisible hole after the pillar below you that you'll need to jump. Take the next elevator down.

You'll find a couple Bots in a structure of breakable blocks. Before you start destroying the blocks, however, what you'll want to do is create some "steps" as you go inside the structure (defeating the Bots as you go) and then position yourself on the right end of the structure four blocks from the floor. A Blue Fokka will come into view then, rapidly jumping and throwing swords at you. If you're standing on a structure four blocks tall, you're in the best possible place to fight this thing. (See the screenshot below.) Crouch, as this will enable you to both block