When Link leaves the forest, a voice speaks to him, “Chosen one… The hero called Link… The time has come. You are now ready to test the limits of your courage. At the place where you reunited with the Master Sword, the sacred Korok Forest… Go there and heed the Great Deku Tree’s words. Do so, and a glorious trial will be bestowed upon you.” The Deku Tree explains the rules for the trials that will fully unlock the Master Sword.
The Trial of the Sword is the game’s challenge dungeon; there are three distinct sets of challenges. Each set is further divided into groups of themed fights, ending with a major encounter and separated by recovery floors with treasure chests, fairies, food to find, and a cooking pot [1]. Rather than throwing Link into battle right away, he’s usually away from combat so the player can scout, determine a strategy, and use stealth for the approach. Oh, and Link loses access to his inventory; he has to get by with just the Sheikah Slate, paraglider, and what he can find. However, any bonuses he had before entering carry over, so there’s no reason not to come in with a bunch of temporary hearts and either a defense or attack bonus. Unlike other challenge dungeons, Link can teleport out whenever he wants, but there’s no rewards for anything other than full completion (and doesn’t get to keep anything he picked up during the trial).
(One final note: I didn’t start these immediately, nor do them all at once, but it’s easier to group them together and get it out of the way. I’ll note when I came back to do them as I get there.)
The beginning trials have two sets of battles. The first pits Link against Bokoblins, Moblins, and ChuChus in a forested area. This is all pretty easy and I was paranoid about running out of weapons so I used bombs to blow everything up. The final encounter is a Stone Talus; a far cry from that first one on the Plateau where I didn’t know what to do. The second set is in a swampy area with electric enemies (including a Wizzrobe) and Lizalfos in the mix. This ends with a Hinox battle, and limiting things so Link can’t get far away did add a little bit of challenge (fighting fair is for suckers, but sometimes you’ve got to). Completion gives the Master Sword an extra ten points of damage in its half-powered state.
The intermediate trials begin with battles in an indoor area with constant updrafts. The intended idea seems to be to use the updrafts to enter freefall archery slow time and rain arrows on the Bokoblins, or you could be me and save arrows for when you really need them and finish the trial with a few dozen left over. This set ends with a single Guardian battle. The second set takes place in a dark forest; Link can only see what’s illuminated by fire until the floor is cleared, at which point light returns. The final two levels of this set pit Link against another Guardian (easy), then a Hinox (with a safe place to stand for archery, making this one easier than the one in the beginning trials). The final set is back to shrines, with all Guardian enemies, so getting the hang of the Test of Strength shrines was useful here. The Master Sword once again adds ten points of damage for general use.
The advanced trials have four sets. The first takes place in a dead forest, amidst a thunderstorm, against skeletal and electric enemies. There’s lots of metal weapons here, but the thunderstorm makes even approaching them dangerous. I used bombs to get through the non-boss sections, and kind of regretted not using the skeletal arms to destroy heads, since I was going to throw them away after I got out of the storm anyway. The boss for this section is, of course, a Stalnox. The second set takes place in a volcano where Link needs to wear the armor he got on the recovery floor not to burst into flames. This builds to a fight with an Igneo Talus, a Talus made of volcanic rock that’s basically on fire; cold damage simultaneously stuns it and extinguishes the flames so Link can climb up and whack the weak point, making it easier than a normal Talus. Next up, naturally, are frigid levels (and Link doesn’t get cold protection gear, so he has to use cold protection food or fire elemental weapons). These end with a Frost Talus (the inverse of the Igneo Talus), and finally a Lynel.
Throughout the advanced trials, Link has a few opportunities to pick up Ancient Arrows, which kill most enemies in one hit (Guardians take three if Link doesn’t hit their emitter/eye, but the Lynel’s bow can offset that by shooting three arrows at once). The final set of trials gives Link lots of Guardian targets for these arrows, first six stationary ones, then a mobile one, then a flying one, then three Guardians (mobile, flying, and a turret guardian). Finally, Link comes against another Lynel (and it felt great to charge straight at it and shoot it with my last Ancient Arrow), another turret guardian, and eight mounted Bokoblins.
Seven monks greet Link at the end of the trial, proclaiming him worthy of the full power of the Master Sword before fading out. The Master Sword now deals full damage (with explosive-sounding strikes) at all times. It will still run out of power eventually and need to recharge, but I’ve gone whole long sessions without it getting close (of course, I’ve come to prefer using bows). As Link returns to the forest, the Master Sword makes the familiar chime associated with Fi.
Next: Vacation’s over, and oh boy is it ever.
[1] In the advanced trial, I was so determined to get every drop out of Link’s scavenged materials that I was chopping trees into bundles of wood that I cooked for rock-hard food that restores a single hit point.
