Ocarina of Time Walkthrough: Best Route, Tips, Water Temple Fix

As a Zelda guide nerd who’s cleared Ocarina of Time more times than I’ve replaced controllers, here’s the fast take: if you’re searching for an ocarina of time walkthrough with clear tips for N64 and 3D, I’ve got the steps, the dungeon tricks, and the boss cheese. No fluff. Just what you need to move, fight, and solve puzzles without crying into your Kokiri tunic.

Quick answers you actually want

• Best early route: Deku Tree -> Hyrule Castle stealth -> Kakariko -> Death Mountain -> Dodongo’s Cavern -> Zora’s Domain -> Jabu-Jabu. Then time skip.
• Miss-this-and-regret-it: get a Bottle, learn Sun’s Song early, grab Hylian Shield cheap in Kakariko, plant Magic Beans.
• Water Temple fix: color-code rooms in your head, mark water levels, and Longshot last. Don’t panic.
• Fast rupees: cut grass in Hyrule Castle town, break pots in Kakariko, shoot gallery.
• Healing loop: Fairy Fountain near Hyrule Castle + Bottles. Keep one Fairy on you always.

If you like organized reference lists, I keep my core walkthroughs here so you can jump between dungeons fast.

Child era roadmap (simple and safe)

Start in Kokiri Forest. Grab the Kokiri Sword in the crawlspace maze. Buy a Deku Shield. Go meet the Great Deku Tree and clear the first dungeon. It’s a friendly warm-up. Mostly vines, webs, and a mean spider mom at the end.

Next, the castle stealth bit. Walk, don’t run at guards. Think light Metal Gear, but with more bushes. Learn Zelda’s Lullaby from Impa. Time well spent.

Now Kakariko Village. Chickens. Weird graveyard. Song of Sun for day-night control. Also, cheap Hylian Shield here—saves money and time.

Hike to Death Mountain Trail. Talk to Darunia, dance a little, unlock Dodongo’s Cavern. Bomb flowers are your new besties. Boss tip: Bomb the big lizard’s face. Not subtle. Very effective.

Then, Zora’s Domain. It’s chilly and full of side paths. Rescue the princess in Lord Jabu-Jabu. Stun jellyfish with Boomerang and don’t get greedy with hits.

I treat this chunk like a classic trip in my broader adventure guides, because the pacing is clean, the goals are clear, and the game teaches by nudging, not nagging.

If you want the history and fun trivia while you play, the Ocarina of Time page does a great job lining up timelines, versions, and weird dev notes. I peek at it whenever I forget which glitch broke which speedrun.

Door of Time, then the real test begins

Pull the Master Sword. Boom. Seven years later. You’re tall, confused, and the world is on fire a little. Go to Kakariko, get the Hookshot from the graveyard race. You’ll use that thing every ten minutes.

Temple order I like: Forest -> Fire -> Water -> Bottom of the Well (as a kid) -> Shadow -> Spirit. Some folks swap Water/Fire. You can, but Forest first keeps the logic nice and neat.

I’ve got a deeper breakdown in my piece on master RPG walkthroughs where I rant (lovingly) about key item gating and how OoT makes backtracking feel smart instead of grindy.

Forest Temple: where the vibe flips

The game stops being cute here. Watch for wallmasters. Shoot torches, hunt Poes, and look up—twisted hallways are the whole trick. Phantom Ganon: bait the real painting shimmer, then ping-pong his energy shots. I still smile every time that fight starts.

Fire Temple: time your runs

Wear the Goron Tunic, because lava is rude. Free Gorons, note every cell switch, ride rising platforms. Volvagia: jump-and-slash when it peeks, hammer when it pops up. Don’t stay airborne long; it’s not a Marvel movie.

Water Temple: the internet’s favorite meltdown

Three water levels: bottom, mid, top. Mark them mentally. Small keys hide in side rooms you skipped because the door looked boring. Dark Link: use the Megaton Hammer or Din’s Fire to disrupt his ninja cosplay, then finish with the sword. Longshot opens the last loop.

If you enjoy puzzle-forward design talk, I compare this to old-school logic puzzlers in my take on point-and-click adventure games. Same brain muscles. Less screaming. Usually.

Bottom of the Well and Shadow Temple: trust nothing

As a kid, clear the Well for the Lens of Truth. Invisible floors, fake walls, and regrets. Shadow Temple uses it nonstop. Bongo Bongo is rhythmic—count beats, roll to hands, jump slashes on the eye. It’s spooky but fair.

Spirit Temple: two-parter with style

Child Link for the Silver Gauntlets, return as Adult for Mirror Shield. Iron Knuckles hit like trucks but turn slowly. Side-hop. Aim for back hits. Twinrova is a patient mirror match—absorb same-element blasts, reflect opposite when it fuses. Easy once you stop panicking.

Sidequests that matter (and a few that don’t)

• Biggoron’s Sword: long trade quest, huge payoff. Great on Ganondorf if you don’t whiff.
• Epona: race Ingo at Lon Lon Ranch. Learn the timing. Carrot management is everything.
• Heart Pieces: do mini-games, plant Magic Beans as a kid, harvest as an adult.
• Gold Skulltulas: night hunts, boomerang tosses, weird wall sounds. Aim for 50+.
• Bottles: more Bottles means more fairies, more chill. Always worth it.

If you’re playing the 3DS version, the item management is smoother and the Water Temple markers help a ton. The official page for that remake lives here if you need features and screenshots: Ocarina of Time 3D.

I keep my open-world takes tidy on a rotating list of open-world rankings, and yes, Hyrule Field is a proto-open-world that still works because it’s small, readable, and not packed with collectible spam.

Gear priorities I actually use

• Hylian Shield early (cheap in Kakariko), switch to Mirror Shield later in Spirit Temple areas.
• Hookshot -> Longshot core mobility. Grapple everything.
• Deku Sticks for early boss nukes (they hit harder than the Kokiri Sword). It’s silly, but true.
• Bombs are universal keys. If the wall looks suspicious, it probably is.
• Lens of Truth + Hover Boots only when needed. They’re overused crutches if you let them be.

Speed and sanity tips

• Roll-cancel movement: roll between runs to keep speed up. It’s not a speedrun, just faster.
• Save before mini-games. Archery, bombchu bowling, fishing—RNG happens.
• Use Sun’s Song to reset night/day for shops and Skulltulas.
• Fish early for a Heart Piece. It’s fun, and also a trap because fishing is a time vortex.
• Plant Magic Beans in every soft soil spot as a kid. Adult you will thank you.

I’ve always found that a good ocarina of time walkthrough doesn’t tell you every footstep. It gives you checkpoint goals and a couple of tricks so you can feel clever. That’s the fun. If you want the longer, framed approach, I stash those in my site’s main walkthroughs hub and branch out from there.

Common boss strategies (plain and fast)

• Gohma (Deku): stun eye with Deku Nut or slingshot; jump slash. You can end it in seconds.
• King Dodongo (Fire): bombs in mouth, two cycles, don’t get cornered.
• Barinade (Zora): break jelly shield with Boomerang, clear tendrils, then face.
• Phantom Ganon: ping-pong. Bow when he goes real. Don’t shoot the fake ones.
• Volvagia: hammer whack-a-mole. Don’t hover near lava.
• Morpha: Longshot the core, corner trap it, spin attack.
• Bongo Bongo: Lens, stun hands, eye hits. Keep rhythm.
• Twinrova: match/reflect elements, then mash.
• Ganondorf: light ball tennis, Light Arrows, then the tower escape. On Ganon, roll between legs and slash tail. Biggoron’s Sword helps.

This isn’t a full ocarina of time walkthrough line-by-line, because I like you to breathe a little while playing. But if you need lore context or a reminder of why this game still rules, the 3D version article lays out the QoL changes and why the remake aged so well.

Songs cheat sheet (you will forget them, it’s fine)

I unpack OoT’s structure the same way I break down LucasArts-style logic in my point-and-click adventure games write-ups: identify the rule set, then exploit it politely.

What I think is simple: the game works because every dungeon teaches a tool, and every field zone shows a new way to use it. After a decade+ of guiding folks through it, I still get a kick out of someone nailing Dark Link with a cheeky Hammer bonk. That first “aha” is the reason I keep writing this stuff. And if you want to compare how other sandboxes measure up, I throw those takes into my rotating open-world rankings dump when they’re hot in my head.

FAQs

• What’s the best order after pulling the Master Sword?

  Forest, Fire, Water, then kid trip to Bottom of the Well, Shadow, Spirit. Clean, simple, low backtracking.

• How do I not get lost in the Water Temple?

  Decide a water level goal before moving. Clear rooms around that level, then change it. Save the Longshot area for last.

• Is Biggoron’s Sword worth it?

  Yes. It hits hard and shaves time on bosses. The trade quest is long but easy if you follow a checklist.

• What items should I always keep on quick slots?

  Hookshot/Longshot, Bow (adult), Bombs. Swap the third slot between Ocarina and Lens as needed.

• Do I need every Skulltula?

  Nope. I aim for 50 for the key rewards. 100 is bragging rights and a tidy map, not a must-have.

Anyway, that’s my brain dump. If something still sticks, ping me. I’ll probably be in Kakariko, chasing chickens again, because I never learn. And yeah, this doubles as my own little ocarina of time walkthrough when I forget where I put my last Small Key…

Thomas Hill

Thomas Hill: Your guide to epic adventures. I cover RPG Reviews, Walkthroughs, Game Lore, and Open World Rankings. Ready for your next quest?