HYRULE WARRIORS IN-GAME UNLOCKABLES GUIDE ================================================================ ================================================================ ================================================================ CONTENTS ================================================================ Version History [hstry] Why Does This Guide Even Exist? [ntrdctn] E-mails and Their Guidelines [mssg] Donations [yrthbst] What This Guide Does Not Contain [nthr] Tips on Achieving A Ranks in Adventure Mode [dvntr] Important Note on My Adventure Mode Locations [lctns] About DLC [dwnld] Short List [shrtlst] Characters [chrctr1] Weapons [wpn1] Link [1lnk] Impa [1mp] Sheik [1shk] Lana [1lan] Darunia [1drn] Midna [1mdn] Zelda [1zld] Ganondorf [1gnndrf] Ruto [1rt] Agitha [1gth] Zant [1znt] Ghirahim [1ghrhm] Costumes [cstm1] Miscellaneous [msc1] Detailed List [dtldlst] Characters [chrctr2] Impa [mp1] Sheik [shk1] Lana [ln1] Darunia [drn1] Midna [mdn1] Fi [f1] Zelda [zld1] Ganondorf [gnndrf1] Ruto [rt1] Agitha [gth1] Zant [znt1] Ghirahim [ghrhm1] Cia [srcrss1] Volga [vlg1] Wizzro [wzzr1] Weapons [wpn2] Link [2lnk] White Sword [whtswrd] Magical Sword [mgclswrd] Fire Rod [frrd] Prism Rod [prsmrd] Magical Rod [mgclrd] Silver Gauntlets [slvrgntlts] Golden Gauntlets [gldngntlts] Power Gloves [pwrglvs] Great Fountain Fairy [fntnfry] Great Forest Fairy [frstfry] Great Sky Fairy [skyfry] Master Sword [mstrswrd] Ancient Spinner [ncntspnnr] Enhanced Spinner [nhncdspnnr] Triforce Spinner [trfrcspnnr] Impa [2mp] Biggoron's Knife [bggrnsknf] Biggoron's Sword [bggrnsswrd] Guardian Naginata [grdnngnt] Scorching Naginata [scrchngngnt] Sheikah Naginata [shkhngnt] Sheik [2shk] Typhoon Harp [typhnhrp] Triforce Harp [trfrchrp] Lana [2lan] Sealing Tome [slngtm] Sorceress Tome [srcrsstm] Deku Spear [dkspr] Kokiri Spear [kkrspr] Faron Spear [frnspr] Gate of Time [gtftm] Guardian's Gate [grdnsgt] Gate of Souls [gtfsls] Darunia [2drn] Igneous Hammer [gnshmmr] Megaton Hammer [mgtnhmmr] Midna [2mdn] Twilight Shackle [twlghtshckl] Sol Shackle [slshckl] Fi [2f] Goddess Longsword [gddsslngswrd] True Goddess Blade [trgddssbld] Zelda [2zld] Glittering Rapier [glttrngrpr] Gleaming Rapier [glmngrpr] Wind Waker [wndwkr] Sacred Baton [scrdbtn] Glorious Baton [glrsbtn] Ganondorf [2gnndrf] Swords of Darkness [swrdsfdrknss] Swords of Demise [swrdsfdms] Ruto [2rt] Golden Scale [gldnscl] Water Dragon's Scale [drgnsscl] Agitha [2gth] Luna Parasol [lnprsl] Princess Parasol [prncssprsl] Zant [2znt] Shadow Scimitars [shdwscmtrs] Scimitars of Twilight [scmtrsftwlght] Ghirahim [2ghrhm] Demon Longsword [dmnlngswrd] True Demon Blade [trdmnbld] Costumes [cstm2] Miscellaneous [msc2] Adventure Mode [dvntrmd] Free Mode [frmd] Gallery [gllry] Hero Difficulty [hrmd] Hard Mode Gold Skulltulas [hrdsklltls] Rewards Map [rwrdsmp] Master Sword Legendary Skill - Evil's Bane [vlsbn] All Weapon Legendary Skills [lgndry] FAQ [qstns] Acknowledgements and Thanks [thtsllflks] ================================================================ VERSION HISTORY [hstry] ================================================================ - Version 1.0 (7/31/2015): Full version of the guide. Robust with weapons, characters, costumes, and some miscellaneous unlockables. I feel like it took me a few centuries to get this far, so it feels good to be here. - Version 1.01 (8/7/2015): Corrected the shorthand for combos; for example, "C3" means "weak-weak-strong," not "weak-weak-weak-strong" as I'd previously stated. Also added the Gallery to the list of miscellaneous unlockables. - Version 1.02 (9/7/2015): Added a section for donation information if anyone happens to lean in that generous direction. Also added "Greenman" to the Acknowledgements section (you know who you are, buddy) for inspiring me with an e-mail. - Version 1.1 (3/25/2016): The guide's first major update. Added significant detail to the table of contents and section headers to make navigating the guide easier; added the "What This Guide Does Not Contain" and "About DLC" sections; added the game's free downloadable content (Cia, Volga, Wizzro, Classic Tunic); added an alternate strategy to Lana's Summoning Gate Level 2 stage, courtesy of a reader submission. ================================================================ WHY DOES THIS GUIDE EVEN EXIST? [ntrdctn] ================================================================ I had never played a "Warriors" game prior to this. With a combination of both a love for The Legend of Zelda and a head full of air, I bought Hyrule Warriors as a nice Wii U game to tide me over until, you know, I got a REAL game. Surely Hyrule Warriors would be a decent appetizer, but not a true feast for such a civilized, noble video game connoisseur such as myself! A day or two later, I realized I was addicted, then punched myself for my presuppositions. Now admittedly, Hyrule Warriors (or I guess the Warriors franchise in general) isn't going to be for everyone, but the real allure of Hyrule Warriors for me is the sheer quantity of stuff to do. From all the collectibles to game modes to varied weapon styles, the game can keep one busy for months. Now I realize this whole pseudo-intro-thing is technically unnecessary, but bear with me if you've done so this far. Have you ever wanted to know how to unlock or otherwise obtain one of Hyrule Warriors' many doohickeys, but freakin' no one on the internet seems to be capable of giving you a straight answer? I did, and chances are you have, too, if you've found your way here. This game has a ton of stuff, but I've found precious little in the internet's vast resources that actually lists it all and how to get it. It vexed me. You can use this guide as a checklist, a quick look-up for your next desirable, or even a walkthrough of sorts for help on unlocking the trickier portions. You can also print this guide out and use it as toilet paper for all I care. I'm not the boss of you. Use it however you want. But it's my desire this will help cease the individual "how do I unlock [blank]" questions floating about the internet and end the uncertainty and confusion. Also, this guide has just so many spoilers for the game's unlockable content, so if you want everything to be a mystery, tread lightly! ================================================================ E-MAILS AND THEIR GUIDELINES [mssg] ================================================================ I'll be honest, there's so much in this game and I only have so many brain cells, so I'm bound to make a mistake here and there and need some course correction. With enough time and work, we might even get some new kinds of collectibles and unlockables covered in this guide. In order to maintain this well-oiled-machine, though, we'll need to go over some guidelines about e-mailing me. Feel free to e-mail me about: - Correcting a mistake in my guide. I'm not too concerned about grammar and spelling errors (I'm pritty sure my guide are freee of them), but if I claim that, say, Lana can only be obtained by beating Legend Mode on Hard and then sacrificing your firstborn to the spider god, you can shoot me an e-mail saying, "Hey, stupid, just beat Chapter 3 in Legends and tuck your firstborn in at night, you monster." Do feel free to be picky here, though; if I say you need a B rank on an Adventure mode battle to unlock something when it's actually supposed to be an A, someone could get massively peeved if they put in the time for a B and was met with only the tauntingly normal tune of the 8-bit Zelda medley. - Wanting to host this guide on your site. I'll confess that sites like YouTube have lessened the traffic for the old gaming-centric help sites out there, but I think they do still have a relevant place. If you have a website you'd like to host this guide on, you can e-mail me and ask for permission, and more than likely I'll say yes. Sites hosting this guide will be listed in the Acknowledgements and Thanks section. - Me missing something. Kind of goes in line with pointing out mistakes I've made, but if I've mysteriously neglected to mention one particular weapon you're after, you can bring it to my attention and I'll try to add it in. In addition to the above guidelines, please be clear, concise, and relatively polite; if your message is ambiguously worded or hard to read (like if FREAKING EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS AND IS ALL ONE BLOCK OF TEXT), I simply may not understand what this alien creature is trying to communicate, and I may do absolutely nothing with your message as a result. Being a meanie-head can also understandably put your petition lower on my priority list, so remember to be as clear and levelheaded as possible, no matter how stupid King Dodongo is being when he knows you just want that spiffy new item. Send e-mails to halojutsu@gmail.com. Additionally, it helps if you name your e-mail something pertinent to this guide, like "Hyrule Warriors Guide Question" so I can identify it easier. ================================================================ DONATIONS [yrthbst] ================================================================ I write game guides because I genuinely feel the information within should be available to the masses. I wrote this guide specifically because I felt frustration about not being able to find info on Hyrule Warriors' in-game unlockables in one location. I really don't do it expecting any sort of reward or pat on the back. But that being said, tonight I'm probably having uncooked ramen for dinner because there's no money for much else, so I am open to donations if anyone feels so inclined. I'm not going to write mean things in my diary if no one donates (I mean, what kind of guy writes in a DIARY? ...Men call them "journals") or expect it of people, but I would be extremely grateful for that kind of support. Similarly, if you do want to support, I'm not expecting a $100 minimum - anything you feel inclined toward is greatly appreciated and works toward enough water to soak that brittle ramen. So if you enjoy the guide and find it a useful resource, feel free to send something down the line to support yours truly. You'll wind up with a glowing thank you in the Acknowledgements section, and I may even bake you a plate of cookies, though I will then eat them all myself because I don't know where you live and finding out would be creepy. (Also, I never bake cookies, so their quality would be debatable anyway.) You can send donations to my PayPal account: PAYPAL ID: jamesburtonvo@gmail.com. Thanks for investing your time in this guide, and I hope it proves valuable to you. Now go and slay a thousand Bokoblins for funsies! ================================================================ WHAT THIS GUIDE DOES NOT CONTAIN [nthr] ================================================================ There is a lot in this guide, from characters to weapons to costumes to new game modes, and I tried to be as thorough as realistically possible. However, some content has been omitted, either because I didn't think they counted much as unlockables or acquiring the info myself was too difficult. Therefore, here's what you will not find within this guide: - You will not find GOLD SKULLTULAS. I seriously considered putting them in here, but by the time I'd started writing I'd already killed many of them, so I'd either have to steal the info from a bunch of other guides (which I guess is certainly possible) or delete my save data and start from scratch. I elected to omit the Gold Skulltula locations from this guide entirely. - You will not find PIECES OF HEART or HEART CONTAINERS. I consider them less "unlockables" and more just power-ups for the characters. - You will not find POTIONS. Potions can probably be considered genuine unlockables, but like the Gold Skulltulas, I'd progressed too far into the game to include them in this guide without omitting important information. My apologies. - You will not find MEDALS. They were originally going to be in this guide, but after the developers released a boatload more medals as free automatic downloads, the process became a little trickier, and I chose to leave them out. - You will not find DLC, with the exception of a few free automatic downloads. This guide is largely dedicated to the base content in the game. - You will not find SKILLS (except for my mad writing skills). I cover how to unlock Evil's Bane for the Master Sword and the subsequent hidden skills for the other weapons, but no catalogue of skills and their uses exists here. ================================================================ TIPS ON ACHIEVING A RANKS IN ADVENTURE MODE [dvntr] ================================================================ Let's be up front here. This guide took me a really freakin' long time to write, and I may or may not have cried tears of blood trying to unlock everything to educate you about them from firsthand experience. I've tried to be as detailed and thorough as possible, but I can't tell you exactly how many points of damage you can take in one particular stage before you get a B Rank or how long you should take. So rather than devote the rest of my life to painstakingly recreating each point and pixel like some sort of nerdy monk, I've decided to provide you with some basic advice for achieving A Ranks in Adventure Mode, where so many characters and weapons are unlocked. The rest I leave up to you. - Try not to take more than 7 or 8 hearts of damage. However, some stages are more lenient or more strict with how much damage they let you take. - Try not to take longer than 15 minutes on longer stages (like ones with victory/defeat conditions and lots of enemies), 8-10 minutes on shorter ones (like trivia stages). - On stages that wind up recording your number of KOs (especially ones with victory/defeat conditions), try and get over 1,250 KOs by the time you beat it. - On that note, if you have the time and all other objectives are completed, but you don't have enough KOs, try taking as many enemy keeps as you can to rack up that KO counter. Also bear in mind that the Enemy Base will infinitely spawn troops so long as the boss is still alive, but you can't take forever to spawn-kill them. - Be singleminded in your goals. Multitasking generally does not work well. You can't be rushing to save an ally, then decide to stop and save a keep or two on the way while searching for treasure and punishing that Aerolfos who annoyed you. When the Allied Base is in trouble, drop everything to save it. If an enemy Bombchu has appeared, drop everything to destroy it. Your goal may change in the thick of battle, but always focus everything on that one goal. - In trivia stages and "defeat all enemies" stages (the ones where enemies appear exclusively in specified keeps), focus less on juggernauting your way through and acting wildly, but keep your guard up and mostly wait for your enemies to reveal Weak Points you can exploit. - Don't let yourself get hit even once in a stage where "all attacks are devastating," since "devastating" attacks always reduce you to a quarter heart of health on one hit, and kill you on subsequent ones. Getting hit here automatically disqualifies you from an A Rank. - This may not be the answer you want to hear, but if a stage is simply too difficult and the enemies/bosses are not going down quickly enough, just consider grinding. That means leveling up your character so they get stronger and/or have better weaponry/badges so they'll curbstomp the opposition into oblivion next time. That could take awhile and it's not always a nice option to resort to, but some stages and challenges are designed for higher-leveled characters. Remember, higher levels means more attack power, less damage taken, and sometimes an extra Heart Container. ================================================================ IMPORTANT NOTE ON MY ADVENTURE MODE LOCATIONS [lctns] ================================================================ We'd better get this out of the way before it creates confusion. Many rewards are obtained in Adventure Mode by searching certain squares, and I identify them by going "[insert number] right, [insert other number] down." My definition of, say, "5 right, 4 down" might be different than yours, so let's clarify what I mean. "5 right" would mean you start at the top-left corner - the very top-left square is "1," directly to the right is "2," and so on until you reach 5. "4 down" means you start from the very top row of squares, which is "1," and count down from there, so another way to say it would be "column 5, row 4," but I do it this way for short. Just wanted to get that out of the way before any confusion is made. You probably would have figured it out anyway, but I felt I needed this disclaimer. ================================================================ ABOUT DLC [dwnld] ================================================================ Let's also get this out of the way: this guide does not cover any unlockable content accessed by purchasing DLC, or DownLoadable Content on the off-chance you're not familiar with the term. In other words: there are countless costumes (and even new characters) you can unlock after buying Hyrule Warriors expansion packs on the Nintendo eShop, like the Boss Challenge or Majora's Mask Packs, but this guide will not show you how to unlock them. I want to be frank: writing this guide alone nearly hijacked my life. I would shut the blinds and the curtains, withdrawing hunchbacked to my Wii U, playing and writing for hours on end to make the guide as efficient and reliable as possible, and my friends from the Outside World would pound on the door and shout, "James, James, you mustn't waste away within these walls!" and I would throw my shoe at the door and scream in a hoarse voice for them to leave me alone, lest the sunlight sear my skin, blind me, and expose me to the vast uncertainty of the Outside World. I'm saying this guide took at least two months of constant, excruciating playtesting to create, and it was not easy. The current DLC, which doesn't include the Hyrule Warriors Legends expansion for the 3DS, is bigger than the base game itself. I had originally planned to include all the DLC, but after playing a game I otherwise liked turned into a chore, I decided against it for my sanity. The only exceptions to the DLC rule are significant additions that are free and download onto your game automatically. For that reason, I have included sections on Cia, Volga, Wizzro, and the Classic Link costume. All that being said, I should go over the basics of DLC so you know where to find it and what you can expect. To view and/or purchase Hyrule Warriors DLC, you'll first have to press the + button on the title screen or main menu to be redirected to the Nintendo eShop. (Alternatively, you can access the eShop from your Wii U's home menu and navigate your way there yourself, but why go through that trouble?) A list of available items and bundles should eventually come up; from there, check the boxes on the things you want, select "View Items" (or some similar icon), and proceed with the details of how you want to pay. At the moment, most Hyrule Warriors DLC comes in bundles, notably the Master Quest, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, and Boss Packs, so you can't buy characters like Twili Midna separately. If you like Hyrule Warriors' gameplay at all, I'd recommend giving the packs a look, since they dramatically increase the content and playtime of the game. ================================================================ SHORT LIST [shrtlst] ================================================================ CHARACTERS [chrctr1] =========================================== IMPA - Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend Mode. SHEIK - Beat Prologue: The Sheikah Tribesman (the second stage) in Legend Mode. LANA - Beat Prologue: The Sorceress of the Woods (the third stage) in Legend Mode. DARUNIA - Beat Ocarina of Time: Land of Myth (stage 5-A) in Legend Mode. MIDNA - Beat Twilight Princess: Land of Twilight (stage 5-B) in Legend Mode. FI - Beat Skyward Sword: Land in the Sky (stage 5-C) in Legend Mode. ZELDA - Beat all Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword stages in Legend Mode. GANONDORF - Beat Epilogue: Shining Beacon (the thirteenth stage - third one after the story split) in Legend Mode. RUTO - Beat square 10 right, 5 down in Adventure Mode after searching the square and using the Candle card on the correct spot. AGITHA - Beat square 7 right, 4 down in Adventure Mode after searching the square and using the Water Bomb card on the correct spot. ZANT - Beat square 3 right, 3 down in Adventure Mode after searching the square and using the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot. GHIRAHIM - Beat square 3 right, 7 down in Adventure Mode after searching the square and using the Candle card on the correct spot. CIA - Free downloadable character with Version 1.3.0 or later of Hyrule Warriors. Download happens automatically when updating the game. VOLGA - Free downloadable character with Version 1.3.0 or later of Hyrule Warriors. Download happens automatically when updating the game. WIZZRO - Free downloadable character with Version 1.3.0 or later of Hyrule Warriors. Download happens automatically when updating the game. WEAPONS [wpn1] ======================================= =============== Link [1lnk] =============== WHITE SWORD [Hylian Sword Level 2] - In Skyward Sword: Sealed Ambition (stage 6-C) in Legend Mode, capture East Cannon Keep and open the chest that appears. MAGICAL SWORD [Hylian Sword Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 2 right, 2 down, search and use the Power Bracelet card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. FIRE ROD [Magic Rod Level 1] - In Prologue: The Sheikah Tribesman (the second stage) in Legend Mode, capture Tunnel Square and open the chest that appears. PRISM ROD [Magic Rod Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 7 right, 5 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. MAGICAL ROD [Magic Rod Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 2 right, 6 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. SILVER GAUNTLETS [Gauntlets Level 1] - On Adventure Mode square 9 right, 5 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with any rank. GOLDEN GAUNTLETS [Gauntlets Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 12 right, 6 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. POWER GLOVES [Gauntlets Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 14 right, 7 down, search and use the Harp card on the correct spot to reveal the enemies, then use the Candle card on the correct spot and complete the square with an A Rank. GREAT FOUNTAIN FAIRY [Great Fairy Level 1] - On Adventure Mode square 1 right, 8 down, search and use the Ice Arrows card on the correct spot, then complete the square with any rank. GREAT FOREST FAIRY [Great Fairy Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 7 right, 2 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. GREAT SKY FAIRY [Great Fairy Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 1 right, 1 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. MASTER SWORD - Complete Epilogue: The Sacred Sword (the eleventh stage, first after the story split) in Legend Mode. ANCIENT SPINNER [Spinner Level 1] - On the title screen, tap a Link or Toon Link amiibo onto the GamePad's amiibo spot to instantly receive it. ENHANCED SPINNER [Spinner Level 2] - Acquire through normal play after unlocking the Ancient Spinner, or possibly as a gift from a Link/Toon Link amiibo. TRIFORCE SPINNER [Spinner Level 3] - Acquire through normal play after unlocking the Ancient Spinner, or possibly as a gift from a Link/Toon Link amiibo. =============== Impa [1mp] =============== BIGGORON'S KNIFE [Giant Blade Level 2] - In Ocarina of Time: Land of Myth (stage 5-A) in Legend Mode, capture East Boulder Keep and open the chest that appears. BIGGORON'S SWORD [Giant Blade Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 1 right, 3 down, search and use the Power Bracelet card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. GUARDIAN NAGINATA [Naginata Level 1] - On Adventure Mode square 9 right, 7 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with any rank. SCORCHING NAGINATA [Naginata Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 11 right, 7 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. SHEIKAH NAGINATA [Naginata Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 15 right, 4 down, search and use the Water Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Sheik [1shk] =============== TYPHOON HARP [Harp Level 2] - In Ocarina of Time: The Water Temple (stage 6-A) in Legend Mode, capture Temple Face Keep and open the chest that appears. TRIFORCE HARP [Harp Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 15 right, 2 down, search and use the Harp card on the correct spot to reveal the enemies, then use the Bomb card on the correct spot and complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Lana [1lan] =============== SEALING TOME [Book of Sorcery Level 2] - In Twilight Princess: The Shadow King (stage 6-B), capture Lower Level East and open the chest that appears. SORCERESS TOME [Book of Sorcery Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 11 right, 1 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. DEKU SPEAR [Spear Level 1] - In Prologue: The Sorceress of the Valley (the fourth stage), capture West Keep and open the chest that appears. KOKIRI SPEAR [Spear Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 7 right, 6 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. FARON SPEAR [Spear Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 12 right, 8 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. GATE OF TIME [Summoning Gate Level 1] - On Adventure Mode square 16 right, 3 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with any rank. GUARDIAN'S GATE [Summoning Gate Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 4 right, 2 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. GATE OF SOULS [Summoning Gate Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 16 right, 1 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Darunia [1drn] =============== IGNEOUS HAMMER [Hammer Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 13 right, 3 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. MEGATON HAMMER [Hammer Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 14 right, 1 down, search and use the Harp card on the correct spot to reveal the stage's enemies, then use the Bomb card on the correct spot and complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Midna [1mdn] =============== TWILIGHT SHACKLE [Shackle Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 9 right, 3 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. SOL SHACKLE [Shackle Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 15 right, 8 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Fi [1f] =============== GODDESS LONGSWORD [Goddess Blade Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 5 right, 6 down, search and use the Water Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. TRUE GODDESS BLADE [Goddess Blade Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 14 right, 8 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Zelda [1zld] =============== GLITTERING RAPIER [Rapier Level 2] - In Epilogue: The Sacred Sword (the eleventh stage, first after the story split), capture S. Temple Hall and open the chest that appears. GLEAMING RAPIER [Rapier Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 9 right, 1 down, search and use the Ice Arrows card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. WIND WAKER [Baton Level 1] - On Adventure Mode square 12 right, 5 down, search and use the Candle card on the correct spot, then complete the square with any rank. SACRED BATON [Baton Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 2 right, 8 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. GLORIOUS BATON [Baton Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 2 right, 1 down, search and use the Harp card on the correct spot to reveal the stage's enemies, then use the Bomb card on the correct spot and complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Ganondorf [1gnndrf] =============== SWORDS OF DARKNESS [Great Swords Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 15 right, 6 down, search and use the Ice Arrows card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. SWORDS OF DEMISE [Great Swords Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 8 right, 2 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Ruto [1rt] =============== GOLDEN SCALE [Scale Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 15 right, 5 down, search and use the Power Bracelet card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. WATER DRAGON SCALE [Scale Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 16 right, 6 down, search and use the Ladder card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Agitha [1gth] =============== LUNA PARASOL [Parasol Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 1 right, 5 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. PRINCESS PARASOL [Parasol Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 4 right, 1 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Zant [1znt] =============== SHADOW SCIMITARS [Scimitars Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 1 right, 4 down, search and use the Ice Arrow card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. SCIMITARS OF TWILIGHT [Scimitars Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 3 right, 1 down, search and use the Bomb card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. =============== Ghirahim [1ghrhm] =============== DEMON LONGSWORD [Demon Blade Level 2] - On Adventure Mode square 5 right, 4 down, search and use the Power Bracelet card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. TRUE DEMON BLADE [Demon Blade Level 3] - On Adventure Mode square 9 right, 2 down, search and use the Digging Mitts card on the correct spot, then complete the square with an A Rank. COSTUMES [cstm1] =============================================== =============== Link =============== ZORA TUNIC - Complete one square on the Rewards Map. GORON TUNIC - Complete all five squares on the Rewards Map. CLASSIC TUNIC - Free automatic download when updating Hyrule Warriors to version 1.7.0. MISCELLANEOUS [msc1] =========================================== ADVENTURE MODE - Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend Mode. FREE MODE - Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend Mode. GALLERY - Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend Mode. HERO DIFFICULTY - Beat all stages in Legend Mode. HARD MODE GOLD SKULLTULAS - Beat all stages in Legend Mode. REWARDS MAP - Complete one of the illustrations (True Partners, Evil Power, Boss Rush, Unity, or Chosen by Fate). MASTER SWORD LEGENDARY SKILL - EVIL'S BANE - Unlock all in-game weapons of every rank, then defeat 25,000 total enemies with the Master Sword. ALL WEAPON LEGENDARY SKILLS - Unlock the Master Sword Legendary Skill Evil's Bane, then defeat 25,000 total enemies with any weapon that had a purple sealed skill. ================================================================ DETAILED LIST [dtldlst] ================================================================ Darn if this stuff can't put you through a long and arduous journey to unlock. Every now and then you might appreciate a little direction on how to complete the harder ordeals in the game to nab your next targeted collectible, and I hope to provide that direction with this list. CHARACTERS [chrctr2] ================================= =============== Impa [mp1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (Hyrule Field) in Legend Mode. That would be the very first stage. Actually, it would be the very first thing you do in Hyrule Warriors since everything else is off limits until you do, so more than likely, Impa will worm her way onto your team whether you like it or not. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 1/10. Stumble through Hyrule Field like a drunk toddler with too many bombs, and you'll still eventually unlock this lady. POINTERS: If you're having trouble in Legend Mode, an actual walkthrough would serve better, and this is not one. Just follow directions as best you can, and otherwise head to whatever points on your map are emitting a pulse. Those are generally required to progress through the mission. Put one foot in front of the other, and Impa is yours. =============== Sheik [shk1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Sheikah Tribesman (Eldin Caves) in Legend Mode - the second stage, in other words. Nothing fancy to it. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 2/10. I went ahead and rated it a 2 rather than a 1 just because it is slightly more complicated than The Armies of Ruin and can result in failure apart from simply dying. POINTERS: Sheik is just another character you pick up naturally through your Legend Mode playthrough, so I can't offer you too much. Capture the keeps in your path, don't worry too much about the keeps you've left behind, and stay with your Bombchus when they appear (remember, they will, at some point, be a spot emitting pulses on the map) so they don't blow up prematurely and ruin everything for everyone. =============== Lana [lan1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Sorceress of the Woods (Faron Woods) in Legend Mode. That's stage number three. You're moving right along, aren't you? HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 2/10. Similar deal with The Sheikah Tribesman - the stage is a bit more complex than the first one, but you haven't yet gotten into the anarchic, boss-happy carnage that the game eventually descends into. POINTERS: Pay attention to any pulsating spots on your map and make a beeline to them, because waiting too long in some portions can result in failure. To ease things along, you can try using a weapon "compatible" with this particular stage - in this case, Link with the Magic Rod or possibly Impa with the Naginata, assuming you've unlocked it. =============== Darunia [drn1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Ocarina of Time: Land of Myth (Death Mountain) in Legend Mode. This is technically stage number 5 - one of three possible "stage 5" scenarios after the story split after stage 4. We'll call it 5-A, but you can play them in whichever order you want. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 4/10. Funnily enough, like most characters in Hyrule Warriors, you're required to beat the crap out of Darunia before you can unlock him, and he shows up often to wreak havoc on your flimsy band of Hylian soldiers. Numerous factors combine here to make this a frantic fight for anyone still getting used to game mechanics, but still more than doable even if you're forced to restart at the last save or checkpoint. POINTERS: Your main concerns here are the West and East Boulder Keeps (the lower-center ones) which will rain destruction upon the Allied Base when occupied by the enemy, and, of course, fatty Darunia himself. An enemy-occupied Boulder Keep is probably more dangerous, so focus on keeping those safe, even if Darunia's throwing a party in your base and touching your stuff without your permission. Impa's Giant Blade is "compatible" with this stage and gives you an offensive advantage, so you may consider using her for this. =============== Midna [mdn1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Twilight Princess: Land of Twilight (Twilight Field) (man, that's a lot of twilights) in Legend Mode. This is one of three possible "fifth stages" you can play in any order, but we'll call this 5-B. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 3/10. It's not as frantic as the above Death Mountain scenario with Darunia, but you should still be on your toes. POINTERS: You need to punch Midna until she stops bothering you to win, but the more areas are covered in twilight (the big, black squares on your map), the stronger she'll be, and therefore, harder to take down. If gunning it for her and trying to lay the smackdown on her isn't working, you can try dispelling some of the twilight areas by taking the keeps within to weaken her. Otherwise, keep an eye on your base and that ditz Agitha so neither of them are overwhelmed. Lana's Spear gives you an offensive advantage in this stage. =============== Fi [f1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Skyward Sword: Land in the Sky (Skyloft) (lots of skies now!) in Legend Mode. This is one of three possible "fifth stages" after the Valley of Seers, but we'll call this 5-C. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 4/10. Possibly the hardest of the "fifth stage" levels, but it shouldn't be too overwhelming once you realize what's going on and where you're needed. If you're not very familiar with how the map works, it may be harder since you'll spend more time running around aimlessly than you will repelling volatile armies. POINTERS: At some point, Ghirahim will advance on your puny Allied Base with a large faction of enemies; when this happens, drop whatever you're doing and beat the guy and his followers before he has a chance to wreck your base. Once he's out of the way, you can relax a tad more, but keep an eye on Fi (which rhymes, by the way - no, her name is not pronounced "fee") and clear her way of enemies whenever she's carrying pumpkin soup. When the game lets you use the Fairy's Fountain, take it. Link's Hylian Sword (and his Horse if you've bought the DLC) are compatible weapons for this stage. =============== Zelda [zld1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat all Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword levels - that's 5 A-C and 6 A-C. Six altogether. Zelda is then yours to use from stage 11 (the first one after the story split) to most of the remaining levels. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 4/10. Well, there's not really one solid "thing" you have to do to unlock Zelda, but the previous stages averaged about a 4, so let's call it 4. Patience is your friend. POINTERS: All three "sixth stages" can be tricky and present you with "do this now or die" scenarios that can be hard to grasp. Pay strict attention to your map and whatever prompts come up on screen. For the most part, act singlemindedly toward whatever your current mission is. If Ruto's in trouble, don't stop to save a keep or two - gun it for Ruto and save the poor girl. =============== Ganondorf [gnndrf1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Epilogue: Shining Beacon (the thirteenth stage, third after the story split) in Legend Mode. HOW HARD IS THAT GOING TO BE? 4/10. As Legend Mode stages go, Shining Beacon is going to be a little harder. As far as what you'll usually go through to unlock, it's just the tip of the iceberg. POINTERS: Stay near your Zelda when she's moving, because she can easily get herself into trouble. Save your comrades when you can, but be aware they're all over the place and therefore are hard to get to, so it's not the end of the world if some of them flee. Volga will become overpowered at some point, but survive for awhile and Zelda will convince him to not be so evil and stuff. =============== Ruto [rt1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 10 right, 5 down. The forest formation on the left side of the screen makes kind of a big C pattern; search and use a Candle card on the bottom-left tip of the upper part of that C, then beat the square with any rank. STAGE: Lake Hylia (Darunia only) CONDITIONS: - Victory: Defeat Ruto. - Defeat: Sheik flees or the Allied Base falls. RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 18-23 DIFFICULTY: 4/10 LEVEL PROGRESSION: - Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Gibdos). - Stalmaster will advance on Sheik in the southern Water Temple. - Rogue Forces will appear in the west area of the Water Temple. - The defeat of all 3 enemy captains will open the Enemy Base. New objective: Defeat Ruto. - Ruto's forces in the north will advance toward the Allied Base. - A Summoner will appear in a random keep. - Defeat Ruto to win. STRATEGY: - Ah, Ruto. Nothing gets to a woman's heart like a massive hammer to the torso. Like a lot of Hyrule Warriors characters, you must beat the crap out of Ruto before she'll consider officially joining you. Before that, though, you must defeat her captains, like this is some sort of Zelda-Warriors-Scott Pilgrim crossover. Start with the Gibdo captain and its horde to your east. It's right there - why not seize the opportunity? - Rogue (yellow) forces will appear in the west section of the Water Temple, led by an Icy Big Poe. They'll join you if you go near them. Recruiting them will only take a moment, and I recommend it, as they'll come in handy defending the Allied Base later. That said, they're not hugely important. - Capture the southernmost keep (hey, you fought Morpha here in Ocarina of Time!) and take the Fairy of Water that appears. There's only one Fairy of Water but two keeps with Water Barriers. One of those is the Enemy Base, and the other we're not going to, so save it for the Enemy Base. - Defeat the Gibdo captain approaching the Allied Base in the northwest Water Temple, then swing on by the northeast Water Temple and finish the other one off. - The Enemy Base will open, and Ruto will get nervous and send the bulk of her force in the north after the Allied Base. A Summoner will also appear in a random keep and frequently summon Stalchildren near you, which could complicate things. Kill the Summoner, then defend the Allied Base from the incoming horde. - You can explore around a bit from here - two keeps in the north have a Piece of Heart and Heart Container - but the only thing left to do is defeat Ruto. Run up, smash her, she's yours. =============== Agitha [gth1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 7 right, 4 down. Search and use the Water Bomb card on the boulder in the water, then beat the square with any rank. STAGE: Palace of Twilight CONDITIONS: - Victory: Defeat Ganondorf. - Defeat: Midna flees or the Allied Base. RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 18-23 DIFFICULTY: 4/10 LEVEL PROGRESSION: - Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Sheik, 2 Fiery Aerolfos). - After defeating 1 captain, a Hylian Captain in the south will become injured and attempt to retreat to the Allied Base. If he dies, he'll turn into a Hylian Ghost and curse the battlefield. - When all 3 captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Ganondorf. - All of Ganondorf's forces not in keeps will advance toward Midna. - Defeat Ganondorf to win. STRATEGY: - In spite of this being the stage you unlock Agitha in, Agitha herself is nowhere in sight. Using a Darkness-type weapon will give you a type advantage, so if you've unlocked any of the baddies (or Midna), they'll be useful here. Zant in particular has a Piece of Heart and Heart Container waiting for him in this one, but he's hidden away in the Adventure Mode somewhere, too. - Sheik will be due west of your starting position, so defeat her before she gets too far. - After defeating Sheik, one of those Hylian Captains who probably complains of an aching brain will get into trouble down south. He'll attempt to retreat to the Allied Base. If he dies, he'll turn into a Hylian Ghost, spawn next to you, and force some of your army to retreat while he's active. It's a headache trying to keep him alive, and honestly, it's far easier to just kill him (re-kill him?) when he resurrects as a ghost. - Meanwhile, you should be heading southwest for the next captain, a Fiery Aerolfos. Defeat it and whatever horde surrounds it. - Impa, who is not a captain but just an angry woman with a giant sword on Ganondorf's team, should be wandering around the central area. Defeat her before she becomes a problem for Midna. As per usual, clean up the horde, too. - Kill the final Fiery Aerolfos captain, who should be down south somewhere. With that, the Enemy Base will open. - There are probably quite a few enemies left, and they'll all begin to march on Midna. Meet them in the central area Impa was running around in circles in and kill them all. - Ganondorf will be the only threat left. Meet him in the Enemy Base and cut him down. =============== Zant [znt1] =============== HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 3 right, 3 down. Search and use the Digging Mitts on the X in the grass, then beat the square with any rank. STAGE: Twilight Field CONDITIONS: - Victory: Defeat Midna, then King Dodongo. - Defeat: Impa flees or the Allied Base falls. RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 23-28 DIFFICULTY: 5/10 LEVEL PROGRESSION: - Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Agitha, 2 Dinolfos). - Dinolfos will appear on the battlefield and advance to the Allied Base. - Get the Boss Key from West Field Keep. - When all 3 captains have been defeated, enemy forces will march on the Allied Base from the north and south, led in the north by Zant. - When all 3 captains have been defeated and you have the Boss Key, the Enemy Base can be opened. New objective: Defeat Midna. - When Midna has been defeated, King Dodongo will be summoned. New objective: Defeat King Dodongo. - A Rally Captain will appear on the battlefield and raise the morale of Midna's forces. - Defeat King Dodongo to win. STRATEGY: - This stage is probably the most involved out of any of the character levels. Your first objective is to defeat the 3 captains running around. There's a Dinolfos captain straight south of you, so defeat it before it goes anywhere. - Very shortly after the stage begins, a couple of Focus Spirit Dinolfos will lead a horde to the Allied Base, passing through the north. Conveniently, another Dinolfos captain should be somewhere north, so take on that captain, then kill the other Dinolfos as they pass through. Three birds, one stone. - Agitha will be heading up to the Allied Base via the eastern border. Hunt her down and take her out. - If you're not deep within the northeastern building section, go capture the keep in the southeastern corner and take the Fairy of Light. - The defeat of the three captains, unlike the way it usually works, will not open the Enemy Base, but it will prompt a wave of enemies from the north and south to rush the Allied Base. The one in the north is led by Zant. Defeat the wave in the south, where you'll find yet more Dinolfos, and then deal with Zant up north, where there'll be even more Dinolfos. - If you didn't get that Fairy of Light from the southeastern keep before, now would be a good time to do so. You'll need it to eliminate the barrier around West Field Keep, which is the keep in the west surrounded by angular walls. Regardless of your choice, go there, capture the keep, and take the Boss Key from the chest that appears. - Go down to the Enemy Base, open it up, and defeat Midna. Of course, the 
mission's tagline was "defeat the shadow beast," of which Midna is more 
of a cute shady imp, so this isn't the end of the struggle. With her dying 
(fleeing?) breath, Midna will summon King Dodongo south of your Allied 
Base.
- A Rally Captain will appear on the battlefield and inspire what remains 
of Midna's forces, raising their morale. If there are still quite a few 
enemies left, go ahead and kill the Rally Captain so it doesn't cause 
trouble. If King Dodongo is pretty much the only threat, you can safely 
ignore it.
- Kill King Dodongo, and Zant will join your little party.

===============
Ghirahim [ghrhm1]
===============
HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 3 right, 7 down. There is a 
strip of bushes going down the middle of the screen with a square of bushes 
at the top; search and use the Candle card on the first bush below that 
square, then beat the stage with any rank.

STAGE: Hyrule Field

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ghirahim (red commander) and Icy Big Poe (yellow 
commander).
- Defeat: Fi flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 22-27

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the red (Stalmaster) and yellow 
(Icy Big Poe) captains.
- Taking keeps and defeating powerful enemies on one side will make the 
other side stronger.
- The defeat of 1 captain will spawn reinforcements for that side and open 
its base.
- The defeat of both captains will open both bases. New objective: Defeat 
Ghirahim and Icy Big Poe.
- The commander whose captain you defeated first will spawn reinforcements 
and advance on the Allied Base. The other side will gain reinforcements 
and send them to the Allied Base as well.
- Defeat both commanders to win.
- Incidentally, opening the chest found in the Fairy Fountain will trap 
you in the keep until you defeat the Icy Big Poes that spawn.

STRATEGY:
- The red captain, a Stalmaster, will quickly arrive at the Allied Base, 
so go there and defend it from the fiend before things get worse. The red 
Enemy Base will open once Stalmaster has been defeated.
- Defeating the red captain will summon reinforcements for the red side, 
and they'll march on over to the Allied Base next. Stick around a bit to 
deal with them all.
- The yellow captain, an Icy Big Poe, will be somewhere in the east, 
wandering about, being all Icy Big Poe-y. Go there and kill him to open 
up the yellow Rogue Base.
- Things will get pretty serious now. With both captains defeated, both 
sides will gain reinforcements and send them your way, but because you 
defeated the red captain first, Ghirahim himself will march with his troops 
to your Allied Base. Meet him before he gets there and put him in the ground.
- The Allied Base will gradually get swarmed from all sides, so stick around 
again and defend it from whatever immediate threats arise, red or yellow.
- Now go up to the Rogue Base in the north and defeat Icy Big Poe before 
more reinforcements can ruin Fi's day ("Master, there is an 89% chance 
I'mma have an aneurysm if I see one more Shield Moblin"). If Fi does 
complain, though, go back, defend the Allied Base, and finish what you 
started with Icy Big Poe.
- At some point during this playthrough, it'll be announced that a treasure 
chest is hiding in a keep. This chest is in Fairy Fountain and will give 
Zant a Heart Container, but opening it after this announcement is made 
will lock you inside until you defeat the Icy Big Poes that appear. I'm 
fairly certain nothing bad happens if you open it before the announcement, 
though.

===============
Cia [srcrss1]
===============
Cia will automatically download into your game as part of the Version 1.3.0 
patch, which was released long ago, so unless you're not connected to the 
internet the moment you start playing Hyrule Warriors, Cia's pretty much 
guaranteed to wind up in your party whether you want her or not. This is 
considered free DLC, so no worries about your finances there. To unlock 
her Level 2 and 3 weapons, you'll need to earn A Ranks in the Master Quest 
Pack DLC's Adventure Mode, which you do have to pay for.

===============
Volga [vlg1]
===============
Like Cia, Volga will automatically appear in your game as a free download 
as part of the Version 1.3.0 patch. Also like Cia, you can't unlock his 
Level 2 and 3 weapons without investing in the Map Quest Pack DLC, so unless 
you want to either shelve Volga or use only his dinky oversized toothpick, 
you'll have to spend a little extra money.

===============
Wizzro [wzzr1]
===============
Just like Cia and Volga, Wizzro downloads automatically into your game 
as part of the free Version 1.3.0 patch. And yes, also like them, you can't 
unlock his higher-tier weapons without buying the Master Quest Pack DLC 
and getting A Ranks in its Adventure Mode.

WEAPONS [wpn3] =================================================

===============
Link [2lnk]
===============

WHITE SWORD [whtswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Hylian Sword Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Skyward Sword: Sealed Ambition in Legend Mode or Free 
Mode (stage 6-C), capture East Cannon Keep and open the chest that appears. 
East Cannon Keep is the keep just southeast of the stage's inner spiral.

STAGE: Sealed Grounds

MAGICAL SWORD [mgclswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Hylian Sword Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 2 right, 3 down. Search and 
use the Power Bracelet card on the gravestone in the middle of the third 
column, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Valley of the Seers (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Midna.
- Defeat: Sheik flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 3 green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- Zant and Agitha will lead forces north.
- After capturing 1 target keep, 2 Fortifier Captains will appear from 
the center and southeast parts of the stage.
- After capturing 2 target keeps, a Summoner (Darknut) will appear in the 
keep southwest of the Allied Base.
- After capturing all 3 target keeps, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Midna.
- 2 factions of Midna's Forces led by Focus Spirit Dinolfos will march 
on the Allied Base.
- Defeat Midna to win.

STRATEGY:
- Luckily, you only need to capture 3 keeps instead of the usual 4 in these 
kinds of stages. Zant and Agitha are marching menacingly on you, but 
fortuitously, Zant is right below where you start. Defeat him and his horde 
so they don't bother you later.
- Capture the keep directly south of where you started. Doing so will spawn 
a couple of Fortifier Captains from the center and southeast of the stage. 
You'll get to them later, so don't pull your hair out over them now.
- Capture the keep west of the Fairy Fountain (which, in turn, is the keep 
near the center of the Valley of the Seers). Doing that will spawn a Summoner 
in the keep southwest of the Allied Base. That Summoner will frequently 
spawn Bulblins around you, and irritating as that can be, it's not a big 
deal right now.
- Run around to that final target keep in the east and capture it. The 
Enemy Base will open, and Midna will get antsy and send more enemies your 
way. One of those forces is led by a Focus Spirit Dinolfos south of you. 
Might as well kill it now.
- That keep southwest of the Allied Base should be under a lot of stress 
now, what with the Summoner, hordes of Bulblins, and Agitha plaguing it. 
If you have less than 10 minutes clocked in on your timer, you may want 
to run up there and deal with all that before they turn their attentions 
to the Allied Base. If you're more pressed for time, go straight for Midna 
and hope you have enough KOs.

MASTER SWORD [mstrswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Master Sword

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Epilogue: The Sacred Sword (the eleventh stage, first 
after the story split) in Legend Mode. Link gets it automatically near 
the end of the level.

STAGE: Temple of the Sacred Sword

FIRE ROD [frrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Magic Rod Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Prologue: The Sheikah Tribesman in Legend Mode or Free 
Mode (the second stage), capture Tunnel Square and open the chest that 
appears. Tunnel Square is the keep slightly north of the center of the 
stage.

STAGE: Eldin Caves

PRISM ROD [prsmrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Magic Rod Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 7 right, 5 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the bush in the top-left corner of the forest, then 
beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Faron Woods (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Moblin.
- Defeat: Sheik flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 18-23

DIFFICULTY: 3/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Destroy the 2 Bombchus.
- When both Bombchus are destroyed, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Moblin.
- Enemy forces and a Focus Spirit Moblin will advance on the Allied Base.
- A Hylian Captain will become injured and attempt to retreat to the Allied 
Base. If he's killed, he'll turn into a Hylian Ghost and curse the 
battlefield.
- Defeat Moblin to win.

STRATEGY:
- This stage serves as more of an introduction to Bombchus and Hylian Ghosts 
and the like. As far as getting an A Rank goes, it's fairly straightforward. 
If you have the Fire Rod, which is obviously a Fire-type weapon, you'll 
have an elemental advantage over the enemies in this stage. To start, 
destroy the first Bombchu northwest of your position and any enemies around 
it.
- Ditto for the next Bombchu, which is further northwest. Doing this will 
open up the Enemy Base already, but considering you probably only have 
around 200 of the 1,200-1,300 KOs needed for an A Rank, you'll need to 
do some terrorizing of the local Bokoblin population.
- A Hylian Captain will get himself injured north of the Allied Base and 
attempt to retreat to it. If he dies in the process, you get a Hylian Ghost, 
which will come back as a Poe-like creature, attack you, and cause some 
of your forces to retreat so long as it's active. It's not hard to kill 
nor a big threat to begin with, but there'll be plenty of enemies to KO 
on the way if you choose to escort him to the Allied Base.
- You may choose to capture keeps and expunge the Bokoblin masses from 
the area to increase your KOs. If you want to do that, start near the Allied 
Base and work your way out to ensure your home territory is safe.
- Regardless of what you choose, you should have about a solid 13 minutes 
or so to goof around and kill enemies, so rack 'em up somehow before going 
to the Enemy Base in the northwest and defeating the Moblin. Just make 
sure not to take too much damage along the way, and you should be fine.

MAGICAL ROD [mgclrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Magic Rod Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 2 right, 6 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the bottom-right bush in the rectangular pattern 
of bushes in the middle of the screen.

STAGE: Sealed Grounds (Link only, Magic Rod only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Fi.
- Defeat: Ghirahim flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture all 4 green-pulsing enemy 
keeps.
- Two Fortifier Captains (Stalmasters) will appear within the first thirty 
seconds or so out of the Enemy Base.
- After capturing two enemy keeps, 3 Mandhandla Stalks will appear in random 
enemy keeps, and Fi's Forces on the inner spiral of the Sealed Grounds 
will march on the Allied Base.
- When all four targeted enemy keeps are taken, the Enemy Base will open. 
New objective: Defeat Fi.
- Defeat Fi to win.

STRATEGY:
- This is another stage that will rush you to get an A Rank in Time, and 
as you're about to unlock a Level 3 weapon, I recommend you get the Prism 
Rod first to give yourself an offensive advantage. As proof of how close 
you can cut it time-wise, I went over 4 seconds on my first playthrough 
and got a B Rank in Time. Admittedly I was chasing down a Gold Skulltula 
that appeared, but it was still vexing.
- On my second playthrough, I got all the way to the end, only to have 
the other Gold Skulltula show up. I saw flashbacks of the climax of the 
first Spider-Man movie. However, I chose to defeat Fi, thereby attaining 
the Magical Rod so I can write to you about it.
- Right off, run straight north - maybe kill a few Stalchildren to help 
the Hylian soldiers, but don't spend too long. 2 Stalmaster Fortifier 
Captains will emerge out of the Enemy Base, and we really don't need them 
making the keeps any harder to take, so gun it for them (one goes west, 
the other goes east) and kill them.
- Head back to the easternmost keep and capture it. Be sure to take the 
Fairy of Water, as you'll have a barrier to dispell in a western keep. 
This keep will probably be taken soon after you leave, but screw it, you 
need the Fairy.
- Rush to the keep directly northwest of the inner spiral - the one with 
the Water Barrier. Use the Fairy of Water to dispell that barrier and take 
the keep, then take the Fairy of Fire that appears.
- With two keeps taken, 3 Mandhandla Stalks will appear in random keeps 
and launch seed attacks against the Allied Base. In addition, Fi's Forces 
on the inner spiral will march on the base. Basically, the Allied Base 
is in deep crap. Kill the Mandhandla Stalks wherever they may be (I got 
lucky on my second playthrough and they were all in one keep), then head 
for the Allied Base to kill the enemies swarming around it. Remember that 
Manhandla Stalks can be killed instantly by hitting them with the 
boomerang.
- The southernmost keep is probably enemy territory now. Capture it to 
give the Allied Base some peace of mind, then head back to the enemy keep 
in the southwestern corner. Dispell the Fire Barrier with the appropriate 
Fairy and capture the keep.
- Head back to the northeast section of the map, going either clockwise 
or counterclockwise depending on how many enemies are on either path (take 
the one with more enemies so you can thin them out). Take the two 
northeastern keeps (the one you got the Fairy of Water from is probably 
the enemy's again) to open the Enemy Base. Of course, if any of the other 
green-pulsing keeps were retaken by the enemy, you'll need to conquer them 
again, too, before the base will open.
- Beat the snot out of Fi in the Enemy Base. She won't go anywhere, and 
this stage should have given you more than enough KOs, so make a beeline 
for her and take advantage of Weak Points. If you face the same Gold 
Skulltula dilemma that I did...well, make your choice. Beat Fi, get an 
A Rank, and the Magical Rod is yours. (Kind of a...redundant name. A Magical 
Magic Rod?)

SILVER GAUNTLETS [slvrgntlts] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Gauntlets Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 9 right, 5 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on a bush in the east wall, directly in the top-right 
corner of the forest, and beat the square with any rank.

STAGE: Eldin Caves (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Volga.
- Defeat: Zelda flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 15-20

DIFFICULTY: 3/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 captains (Gibdo, 2 
Lizalfos).
- After defeating 2 captains, Cuccos will appear to aid your forces.
- After defeating all 3 captains, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Volga.
- Volga's forces in the west will march on the Allied Base.
- Defeat Volga to win.

STRATEGY:
- You can beat this mission with any rank to get the Silver Gauntlets, 
so the pressure's off a bit. Go into the crystal tunnels north of you to 
find the Gibdo captain and kill him. Kill its goons too if it pleases you, 
but again, no pressure for KOs.
- Go south to Zelda's location. Defeat the Lizalfos captain and the myriads 
of Stalchildren so they don't pester the pretty lady anymore.
- The final captain, another Lizalfos, should be in the west. Let him eat 
dirt like the others, and the Enemy Base will open.
- Some of Volga's forces in the west will march toward the Allied Base. 
You can hang around the Allied Base to defend it if you don't want to take 
unnecessary risks. If you accidentally put buttermilk in your Cheerios 
this morning and you feel like living on the edge, you can go straight 
for Volga and try to defeat him before anything bad happens.
- However, do bear in mind that there is a Barrier of Fire around the Enemy 
Base that will sap your health with each passing second. To get rid of 
it, you'll have to capture the keep up north with the Fairy of Fire, then 
rescue said fairy and use said fairy in the Enemy Base. Either way, defeat 
Volga and the Silver Gauntlets are yours.

GOLDEN GAUNTLETS [gldngntlts] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Gauntlets Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 12 right, 6 down. There are 
two isolated bushes in the center-left part of the screen; search and use 
the Candle card on the lower one, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Eldin Caves (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Wizzro.
- Defeat: Sheik or the one in need of rescue (Lana) flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 25-30

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the target enemies attacking 
Sheik and Lana.
- Capture either of the keeps north of Sheik to break through.
- Wizzro's forces will march toward Sheik and Lana.
- Capture either of the barrier keeps near the center to break through.
- 2 Healers will eventually appear in the two keeps north of Lana.
- When the white-glowing enemies targeting Lana and/or Sheik have been 
defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Wizzro.
- Wizzro's forces will advance toward Sheik and Lana.
- Defeat Wizzro to win.

STRATEGY:
- Take the keep east of your starting point to get the Fairy of Fire. It'll 
make life easier in a moment.
- Your goal right now is to capture either one of the keeps north of Sheik 
to break through and access more of the level. Take the east keep (north 
of the keep you just captured) to break through it.
- The keep west of you has the Fairy of Darkness, so capture it, too, and 
get yourself a fairy. This is more for the KOs than anything else, though 
you can also use the fairy to get rid of the Darkness Barrier around a 
keep. You won't be spending much time in that keep, but should you pass 
through it, you can nullify the barrier damage.
- A couple of Healers will appear in the keeps north of Lana. One may annoy 
you in the upcoming battle with Volga, but they don't throw much of a wrench 
in the works. More like a small, rusted lugnut.
- Capture the keep surrounded by the Fire Barrier. Volga is there, so make 
fun of his ponytail and beat him into submission. One of the Healers may 
also be there, so take the opportunity to make fun of his topknot and beat 
him into submission, too. Capturing this keep will let you break through 
into the rest of the level.
- Lana is holding up in the southeast, and more than likely, both 
mission-centric enemies are ganging up on her. Defeat both of them and 
any smaller enemies in the area.
- The Enemy Base will open, but Wizzro will order his forces to hound Sheik 
and Lana again. Defeat more of the enemies as they come to Lana. When you 
think she's safe, either go up and defeat Wizzro if Sheik isn't currently 
fighting, or aid Sheik if she is.
- When Sheik and Lana are both relatively safe, go to the Enemy Base and 
defeat Wizzro.

POWER GLOVES [pwrglvs] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Gauntlets Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 14 right, 7 down. Search and 
use the Harp card on the butterflies to reveal the enemies, then use the 
Candle card on the lone bush connecting the top- and bottom-central groups 
of bushes to reveal the hidden reward. Beat the square with an A Rank for 
the Power Gloves.

STAGE: Temple of the Sacred Sword (Link only, Gauntlets only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Zelda, then Argorok.
- Defeat: Impa flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 40-45

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Ruto, 
2 Icy Big Poes).
- Icy Big Poes will appear throughout the map.
- Capture the keep directly east of the Enemy Base to find the Boss Key.
- When all 3 captains have been defeated and the Boss Key has been obtained, 
the Enemy Base can be accessed. New objective: Defeat Zelda.
- A large swarm of enemies from the west will march on the Allied Base.
- Zelda's defeat will summon Argorok. New objective: Defeat Argorok.
- A Rally Captain will appear in an enemy keep to make Zelda's forces 
stronger.
- Defeat Argorok to win.

STRATEGY:
- I love the Power Gloves. They're so bad.
- This stage should give you plenty of KOs, but you'll have to work pretty 
hard to get under the 15 minutes required of an A Rank. I recommend using 
the Golden Gauntlets for this one - those dinky Silver Gauntlets aren't 
really going to cut it.
- Start by wiping out the wave of enemies directly in front of you. An 
Icy Big Poe captain will appear shortly; kill it and maybe a couple of 
Poes to make sure Impa isn't overwhelmed, but don't spend too long. If 
you can, though, try and take that keep right in front of you (north-central 
on the map).
- Ruto should be causing trouble in the southeast keep by now. Go there 
and deal with her as quickly as you can.
- Go to the south-central keep. Capture it and take the Fairy of Light 
that appears. The final Icy Big Poe captain will drop by shortly, so beat 
the stuffing out of him to ease your mind of the captains.
- With all 3 captains dead, a massive wave of enemies will march on the 
Allied Base from the west. For now, just capture the keep directly east 
of the Enemy Base to make the chest with the Boss Key in it appear. Remember 
to use the Fairy of Light to dispell the barrier before fighting in the 
keep!
- You're all set for Zelda. Maybe kill some enemies on your way to her 
to make sure they don't cause Impa or the Allied Base any trouble, but 
again, time is pretty crucial here, so don't spend too long. Defeat Zelda, 
and she'll summon Argorok in the northeastern keep to wreak havoc.
- A Rally Captain will also appear in an enemy keep to raise the enemy's 
morale. If you have less than 12 minutes accumulated on your timer, defeat 
it to make sure the enemies don't prove troublesome for Impa and your 
captains. If you're pressed for time, just go for Argorok.
- I'm sure you know the drill from here. Defeat Argorok with patience and 
the hookshot as quickly as possible.

GREAT FOUNTAIN FAIRY [fntnfry] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Great Fairy Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 1 right, 8 down. Search and 
use the Ice Arrows card on that flaming circle all the way to the right 
to unlock the secret reward, then beat the square with any rank.

STAGE: Sealed Grounds (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Fi.
- Defeat: Ghirahim flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 28-35

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 captains (Lana, 2 Icy 
Big Poes).
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random keeps.
- With all 3 captains defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Fi.
- Enemy forces will advance toward the Allied Base.
- Defeat Fi to win.

STRATEGY:
- Lana and a horde of enemies start off near you in the northwest. If you 
feel up to it, challenge her right off the bat and try to defeat her, 
particularly if you're on the higher end of my recommended level range 
(or higher). However, if you're notified that Ghirahim's in trouble, stop 
fighting Lana and go to the northeast corner to help him.
- Regardless of what you decide to do with Lana, your next priority should 
be to go straight to Ghirahim. Sheik will be fighting with him soon, so 
team up with him and defeat that musical ninja.
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will soon appear in random enemy keeps. You can try 
taking a couple of northern keeps to add to your KO count, but if their 
seed attacks keep hitting you, you may consider screaming their names and 
charging at them all in frothing fury. Your mileage may vary.
- Either way, go back west and kill the first Icy Big Poe captain hanging 
around the western keep. Might as well take the keep, too, to get you some 
KOs. If you didn't kill Lana before, kill Lana after this captain. That'll 
be 2 captains down, 1 to go.
- The third captain, another Icy Big Poe, should be near the center-south 
keep. Head down to him via the left-middle spiral of the stage, killing 
goons as you go so they don't bother the Allied Base. When you reach the 
captain, beat him up lots to open the Enemy Base.
- A bunch of enemies will begin marching on the Allied Base. You should 
return there to deal with the waves that come in, though if you thinned 
out that herd I mentioned last paragraph, it shouldn't be too much.
- When you've dealt with the wave of enemies, go to the Enemy Base in the 
southeast corner and inform Fi she has a 100% chance of rigor mortis. Beat 
her. Win. You get the Great Fountain Fairy regardless of what rank you 
get, so don't sweat it too much if you didn't get an A Rank.

GREAT FOREST FAIRY [frstfry] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Great Fairy Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode and search square 7 right, 2 down. 
There's a part of the top wall that juts far down in the middle, then slopes 
up to the right. Use the Bomb card in the top part of the corner where 
that jut begins to unlock the secret reward, then beat the square with 
an A Rank.

STAGE: Skyloft (Link only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: The Allied Base falls or Cia flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 32-38

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 4 enemy keeps pulsating 
green on your map.
- 2 Fortifier Captains (Darknuts) will appear in the northeast to 
strengthen 2 enemy keeps.
- Most of Ganondorf's Forces will march toward the Allied Base.
- With all four blinking enemy keeps taken, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat Ganondorf in the Enemy Base to win.

STRATEGY:
- In order to open the Enemy Base, you'll need to capture four of their 
keeps (not necessarily all of them). These will be the ones with the green 
pulses on your map. Start by taking the one directly to the east - shouldn't 
take long. Be sure to kill the Focus Spirit Dinolfos there, as those cretins 
tend to cause headaches in general.
- Around now, 2 Fortifier Captains will appear near the top-center and 
northeast keeps to strengthen them. We can't have that crap, so run to 
them and kill them immediately. Don't worry about taking the keeps they're 
in for now - they'll fall soon enough, and your terrorizing of the Fortifier 
Captains will no doubt weaken the keeps for later destruction anyway.
- Shortly after humiliating those Darknut Fortifier Captains, Ganondorf 
will order much of his remaining force to march toward the Allied Base. 
Certain enemy keeps will also start releasing "powerful enemies," meaning 
high-morale Stalchildren led by captains. You've got a little time before 
things get too serious, so go ahead and capture that top-center keep you 
killed one of the Fortifier Captains in.
- Hang around the southern vicinity of the Allied Base to deal with the 
wave of enemies. Be sure to kill as many Dinolfos, Aerolfos, and Darknuts 
as you can. Any high-morale enemies led by a stronger enemy, such as an 
Aerolfos or Darknut, will disappear if that stronger enemy is killed, so 
target them.
- With the temporary threat abated, capture the three remaining blinking 
keeps by going down the western side of the map. The lower-center one has 
a Fairy of Lightning in it as a reward for taking it. You'll need to use 
this Fairy to dispell the barrier in the Enemy Base that saps your life 
away, so don't leave it behind!
- With the keeps taken and the Enemy Base open, march right on over to 
Ganondorf and show him who's the real final boss. He's got a lot of health, 
but he leaves himself open often, so be patient and strike true. You should 
have more than enough KOs by now, so you shouldn't have to worry about 
it too much.

GREAT SKY FAIRY [skyfry] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Great Fairy Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 1 right, 1 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the north wall two tiles right of the stairs, then 
beat the stage with an A Rank.

STAGE: Ganon's Tower (Link only, Great Fairy only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Cia.
- Defeat: Zelda flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 40-45

DIFFICULTY: 8/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 4 green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- Zant will lead forces to Allied Base from the southwest, Ghirahim from 
the northeast.
- 2 Fortifier Captains will appear on the battlefield from the northeast 
corner.
- After capturing 1 target keep, 2 Siege Captains will appear.
- After capturing 2 target keeps, 2 Healers will appear in the north and 
southwest.
- Capturing the third and fourth target keeps will prompt factions of Cia's 
Forces to march on the Allied Base.
- When all four target keeps have been taken, the Enemy Base will open. 
New objective: Defeat Cia.
- Defeat Cia to win.

STRATEGY:
- This is another one of those "rush to capture the 4 keeps" missions, 
so if you've followed my advice for any of the other such missions, you 
should know the drill. You want to capture your target keeps (the ones 
pulsing green on your map) as quickly as possible so the enemy doesn't 
have time to recapture them, and with as much crap as the enemy throws 
at you, that can give you a few headaches. Not to mention some parts require 
a bit of precision, which the Great Fairy has in equal measure to a drunk 
surgeon wielding a ball and chain instead of a scalpel.
- Right off the bat, you'll want to wave goodbye to Zelda and Friends as 
you watch Zant and Friends beat the tar out of them. Go straight to one 
of the northern target keeps - which one doesn't particularly matter, but 
let's say northwest because it's closer. Capture it (remember that most 
of the Great Fairy's strong attack combos clear lots of enemies) and prepare 
for trouble.
- You'll notice two enemy Fortifier Captains will be causing you trouble 
down the east side of the map. Ignore them - they'll fortify nothing you 
should be interested in anyway. However, taking one target keep will spawn 
a couple of Siege Captains (Shield Moblins) that can give you a bit of 
grief, so kill them if it doesn't take you too far away.
- Capture the other northern keep. Make sure you maneuver the Great Fairy's 
giant body over the Fairy of Darkness when it appears to take it for your 
own.
- Taking two target keeps will spawn two Healers from the north and south. 
The one in the north should be close by, so destroy it and head south. 
By this point, Zant should have defeated Lana or be close to it. Not to 
sound too draconian, but we don't really care. So long as you move quickly, 
everything should be fine. Do bear in mind that "powerful troops" (in this 
case, high-morale Shield Moblins and Focus Spirit Stalmasters) will 
routinely spawn from enemy keeps the longer you spend on this stage, so 
don't dawdle. If the other Healer is nearby, kill it.
- Capture the southeast target keep, then the southwest (remember to use 
the Fairy of Darkness to eliminate the barrier). Assuming all four target 
keeps are still under your control, the Enemy Base will open, and you can 
rest easy...somewhat.
- Zant and a billion other goons should be partying in the Allied Base 
by now - more than likely, Ghirahim will have been defeated, and both Zelda 
and the Allied Base will be at around half health. Go there immediately 
and use as many strong attack combos, Special Attacks, and Focus Spirits 
as you can to eliminate all the tougher enemies. So long as you get Zant 
down to about 1/4 health, your allies should be able to finish him off 
well enough, so you can leave to focus on more important things, like 
squishing a moon into Cia's face.
- Speaking of Cia, when the Allied Base has been saved, head straight over 
there and introduce her to some constipated lunar objects. This is really 
where the Great Fairy's gigantic size can work against you, as it's hard 
to see the little blip that is Cia, let alone pinpoint your attacks against 
her. It may take a few minutes to defeat her, so hopefully you don't have 
much more than 10 minutes on the clock. Whale away at her faithfully until 
her health bar is no more. Incidentally, this stage seems to be rather 
lenient with its Damage Taken requirement - I took over 9,000 points of 
damage (insert outdated Dragon Ball Z reference here) and still managed 
an A Rank.

ANCIENT SPINNER [ncntspnnr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spinner Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: At the Title Screen, hold either a Link or Toon Link amiibo 
on the bottom-left part of the GamePad. This content IS technically 
in-game; you just need the appropriate outside source to unlock that 
content. No, Capcom isn't the only company capable of pulling those sorts 
of shenanigans. Amiibo typically run anywhere from $9-$13, and you can 
find them in gaming stores (like GameStop) or general shopping centers 
(like Wal-Mart). Note that you can only use a particular amiibo once a 
day, and only five amiibo a day.

ENHANCED SPINNER [nhncdspnnr]==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spinner Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: After unlocking the Ancient Spinner, you can receive the 
Enhanced Spinner either through normal weapon-finding gameplay or as a 
random gift from a Link or Toon Link amiibo.

TRIFORCE SPINNER [trfrcspnnr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spinner Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: After unlocking the Ancient Spinner, you can receive the 
Triforce Spinner either through normal weapon-finding gameplay or as a 
random gift from a Link or Toon Link amiibo.

===============
Impa [2mp]
===============

BIGGORON'S KNIFE [bggrnsknf] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Giant Blade Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Ocarina of Time: Land of Myth in Legend Mode or Free 
Mode (stage 5-A), capture E. Boulder Keep and open the chest that appears. 
E. Boulder Keep is just east of the center of the stage. You will need 
to capture either East Keep or West Keep to break through and access that 
part of the level.

STAGE: Death Mountain

BIGGORON'S SWORD [bggrnsswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Giant Blade Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 1 right, 3 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Faron Woods (Impa only, Giant Blade only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Agitha.
- Defeat: Zant or the one in need of rescue (Midna, Goron Captain) flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 24-29

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking the allied captains (Midna, Goron Captain).
- An allied Cucco will appear by you to summon reinforcements as you 
progress through the mission.
- Capture either the keep southeast or west of Zant to break through.
- Agitha's forces near the northeastern keeps will march on Zant.
- Capture either the keep south or west of the Enemy Base to break through 
and access the rest of the level.
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random enemy keeps and launch seed 
attacks at you.
- Rescue Midna and Goron Captain by defeating the glowing Dinolfos 
attacking them.
- With both captains rescued, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Agitha.
- Agitha's forces scattered through the battlefield will advance toward 
Zant.
- Defeat Agitha to win.

STRATEGY:
- This is a "save the captains" level, so naturally, you're stuck where 
you are until you capture one of two keeps, which will be south and west 
of where Zant is. The one down south will give you a Fairy of Water, which 
you can use on the barrier surrounding the Enemy Base, so capture that 
one and remember to take the fairy.
- Friendly Cuccos will appear on your side shortly. The more enemies you 
kill, the more reinforcements it'll summon for you. Basically, the enemy 
has no chance. It's just a matter of what rank you finish with.
- Agitha's forces west of Zant will begin to march on him. He should be 
fine overall, but you'll need more KOs and it's better safe than sorry, 
so return to defend him. There'll be numerous Focus Spirit Dinolfos in 
this stage, and some of them will be plaguing Zant. Remember that you can 
often trick Dinolfos into revealing Weak Points by attacking their guard 
quickly and repeatedly. Just dodge away from their fire first!
- To get to your captains in distress, you'll need to capture one of two 
more keeps. These are south and west of the Enemy Base. The one to the 
west has no barrier surrounding it, unlike the one south, and you should 
be saving that Fairy of Water for the Enemy Base. Capture the western keep 
and break through to the rest of the level.
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random enemy keeps and harass you with 
seed attacks. If Midna and the Goron Captain are in peril, you should ignore 
the Stalks as best you can and save them first. If they're doing alright, 
run around and kill those cursed plants before they drain too much of your 
health. It's better than jamming the dodge button like a new driver does 
the accelerator.
- Save Midna down south by killing the Dinolfos annoying her - they'll 
be the ones glowing white. Ditto for the Goron Captain somewhere east.
- With your captains saved, the Enemy Base will open. More of Agitha's 
forces will begin stirring, which is actually kind of good news for you, 
because chances are you'll need more KOs. Kill enemies and capture keeps 
around the Enemy Base until you have around 1,100, then dive in and defeat 
Agitha after using the Fairy of Water to get rid of the Water Barrier.

GUARDIAN NAGINATA [grdnngnt] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Naginata Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 9 right, 7 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the left-most, third-lowest bush, then beat the 
square with any rank.

STAGE: Hyrule Field (Impa only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Lizalfos.
- Defeat: Zelda flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 10-13

DIFFICULTY: 2/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Destroy the 2 Bombchus.
- When both Bombchus have been destroyed, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Lizalfos.
- Some western forces will march on the Allied Base.
- 2 Lizalfos Messengers will appear in the west and head to keeps in the 
northeast to summon reinforcements.
- Defeat Lizalfos to win.

STRATEGY:
- This one requires no special rank to unlock, so enjoy it while you can 
- later stages may have you sweating bullets just for the chance for a 
B Rank. Right now, you need to dispose of the 2 Bombchus that have appeared 
- one in the east, the other in the south. The one in the east will move 
first, so meet it and destroy it.
- The one in the south will begin to move on the Allied Base. Meet it before 
it does and turning it into a burning, mouse-shaped wreck.
- The Enemy Base will open, so really, you can go ahead and kill that 
Lizalfos commander. Yeah, some enemy forces will march on the Allied Base 
and a couple of Messengers will appear, but you should be able to take 
down the commander long before any of that becomes a problem. However, 
you may also choose to take in the sights and find the Piece of Heart and 
Heart Container before doing so. Remember, no specific rank is required 
to unlock the Guardian Naginata, so you could march into the Enemy Base 
40 minutes later munching on a bag of Cheetos and still get your precious 
polearm.

SCORCHING NAGINATA [scrchngngnt] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Naginata Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 11 right, 7 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the lower lone bush, then beat the square with an 
A Rank.

STAGE: Faron Woods (Impa only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Moblin (red commander) and Darknut (yellow commander).
- Defeat: Zelda flees or the Allied Base.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 25-30

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the red (Moblin) and yellow 
(Darknut) captains.
- Whichever side whose captain you defeat first will receive 
reinforcements and advance on the Allied Base. The other side will receive 
a morale boost. The former side's base will also open.
- Continuing to capture keeps or defeat powerful units on one side will 
raise the morale of the other.
- Defeat the other captain to open the other base. New objective: Defeat 
the Moblin and Darknut commanders.
- Whichever commander whose captain you defeated first will advance toward 
the Allied Base.
- Defeat the red and yellow commanders to win.

STRATEGY:
- You may be familiar with these "defeat both armies" scenarios by now. 
If not, just bear in mind that basically, weakening one side will strengthen 
the other. Take a yellow keep, red side gets stronger. Kill the red captain, 
yellow side gets stronger. There's no way to avoid it - you just have to 
frown and bear it (what, how many times have you seen Impa grin?). There 
will be a lot of this "X does this, Y responds with this," so try and follow 
along. Also, this stage doesn't require using a Naginata, but its Fire-type 
element will give you an advantage, so I recommend getting the Guardian 
Naginata first.
- Let's start by killing the Darknut (yellow) captain, whose corpse, if 
you're jumpy and generally kill-happy, you may wind up stomping on before 
the game even prompts you to. It's right in front of where you start. It's 
practically handing its soul to you on a platter, so accept its generous 
offer.
- Killing the yellow captain will open the yellow (Rogue) base, and the 
red side will get stronger as a result. You've also officially marked 
yourself as the prime enemy of the Rogue forces, so expect them to cause 
you a little more grief than the red side. The Rogue forces will receive 
reinforcements and send some of them at the Allied Base, but you'll deal 
with them later.
- The red captain, a Moblin, will be bumbling around somewhere in the 
northeast. Kill him to open up the Enemy Base.
- The Darknut commander will gather his forces now and march on the Allied 
Base by going along the southern border. Meet him down there and show him 
why his captain lost so pathetically. Kill the surrounding Rogue forces 
as well to make sure they don't threaten the Allied Base anymore.
- The only challenger left is the Moblin commander, but you probably don't 
have quite enough KOs. Capture one to three keeps until you're satisfied, 
making sure the Allied Base isn't about to be invaded, then go up in the 
northwest corner and kill that Moblin.

SHEIKAH NAGINATA [shkhngnt] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Naginata Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to square 15 right, 4 down in the Adventure Mode. Search 
and use the Water Bomb card on the boulder in the water, then beat the 
square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Temple of the Sacred Sword (Impa only, Naginata only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Zant.
- Defeat: Zelda or the one in need of rescue (Ruto or 2 Hylian Captains) 
flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 33-38

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking the allied captains (Ruto, 2 Hylian Captains).
- Capture either the keep above or below where you start to break through 
and access more of the level.
- Item Thieves will appear after you break through the first keep.
- Break through the north-central or south-central keeps to access the 
rest of the level.
- When all 3 captains have been rescued, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Zant.
- Defeat Zant to win.

STRATEGY:
- You may notice right off the bat that you're about to be overwhelmed 
by enemies. You do have a little grace period at the beginning, though, 
so capture the easternmost keep and take the Fairy of Darkness as a reward.
- You'll be unable to access the parts of the level where your captains 
are until you capture either the keep above or below where you started. 
I recommend taking the lower one; you get a Fairy of Light there, and you'll 
be using one or the other to avoid having your life sapped away while trying 
to break through another keep later.
- After breaking through either keep, Item Thieves will begin to appear 
throughout the level. These idiots will chase you around, and if they damage 
you, they'll steal one of your items and then disappear for awhile, starting 
with your bombs and working their way right through your item roster. You 
won't need any items for this mission, and for the most part you can ignore 
them. If you want a stolen item back, you'll have to kill the one who stole 
it.
- Go capture the other keep above/below where you started to somewhat 
relieve Zelda of that barrage of enemies. Thin out the hordes in front 
of one or the other to get more KOs and help the princess out some more, 
then depart. Your allies can hold their own for awhile.
- Head to either the top-central or bottom-central enemy keeps. You'll 
need the Fairy of Light for the top one and the Fairy of Darkness for the 
bottom one. Capture one to open both up, thereby allowing you to reach 
your captains who are probably bleeding profusely by this point. Midna 
guards the top one and a Focus Spirit Shield Moblin oversees the bottom 
one, so be prepared.
- After breaking through one of the aforementioned keeps, immediately go 
and rescue your captains one by one (the blue circles emitting pulses on 
your map). Remember, to rescue a captain, you'll have to kill the powerful 
enemy plaguing it. In this case, it's usually a Stalmaster. Also be sure 
to kill the Focus Spirit Shield Moblin - the red circle emitting pulses 
on your map. That, too, is required to open the Enemy Base.
- When your prerequisites have been met, the Enemy Base will open, and 
Midna will advance on Zelda. If you need more KOs or Zelda's really got 
her hands full, go up, recapture the northeastern keep, and deal with Midna. 
Otherwise, you're probably strapped for time, so go straight for Zant.
- Zant will be waiting in the Enemy Base. He almost never reveals Weak 
Points, so utilizing Focus Spirits, Special Attacks, and just plain 
hacking away is probably your best bet. Defeat him to win.

===============
Sheik [2shk]
===============

TYPHOON HARP [typhnhrp] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Harp Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Ocarina of Time: The Water Temple in Legend Mode or Free 
Mode (stage 6-A), capture Temple Face Keep and open the chest that appears. 
Temple Face Keep is in the southeast corner of the plains area, or just 
south of the Allied Base in Legend Mode/Free Mode. You will need to rescue 
Ruto from the Lizalfos before Temple Face Keep will open.

STAGE: Lake Hylia

TRIFORCE HARP [trfrchrp] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Harp Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 15 right, 2 down. Search and 
use the Harp card on the blue butterflies to reveal the enemies, then use 
the Bomb card on the north wall 2 tiles up and 1 left from the Sheikah 
statue to reveal the hidden reward. Beat the square with an A Rank to get 
the Triforce Harp.

STAGE: Ganon's Tower (Sheik only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: Zelda or the one in need of rescue (Link, 2 Hylian Captains) 
flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 32-38

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking the allied captains (Link, 2 Hylian Captains) and defeat Wizzro.
- Ganondorf's forces in the northwest will march on Zelda.
- An Item Thief (Fiery Aerolfos) will appear in the keep north of Zelda.
- Capture either the keep north or northwest of Zelda to break through 
and access more of the level.
- After breaking through one keep, Ganondorf's forces in the east will 
march on the northwest Hylian Captain.
- Capture either the keep west or south of the Enemy Base to break through 
and access the rest of the level.
- After breaking through the second keep, a Fiery Aerolfos will appear 
in the southwest keep and engage the allied captains to its north.
- When the 3 allied captains have been rescued and Wizzro is defeated, 
the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- A central faction of Ganondorf's forces will march on Zelda.
- Defeat Ganondorf to win.

STRATEGY:
- Head straight up north to the enemy base north of Zelda. Capture it and 
take the Fairy of Darkness that appears. Wizzro is there, too, but you 
don't need to worry about him a whole lot for right now. Capturing the 
keep will let you "break through," so move out.
- Go straight to the enemy keep west of the Enemy Base. You'll pass about 
a million enemies to get there and will probably have flashbacks to the 
climax of The Return of the King, but ignore them - the captains are more 
important. (Actually, you'll pass one such captain on your way there, but 
he's not in trouble...yet.) Capture the keep in question to break through 
and access the rest of the level. Again, ignore Cia, who will also be there.
- Rescue Link and the Hylian Captain down there. If one captain is panicking 
(which happens when they get to 1/4 health), drop what you're doing to 
enter the green circle around them and heal them. Beyond that, just focus 
on rescuing the two captains in the south and clearing out the numerous 
strong enemies.
- Now rescue the captain in the north, who's currently under attack by 
Wizzro. You can kill two Guays with one Deku Seed here - save the captain 
AND defeat Wizzro.
- More than likely, you have anywhere between 600-900 KOs here, which ain't 
enough to challenge Ganondorf and expect an A Rank out of. You should also 
have about 6-8 minutes on your timer, so you've got a bit of time (and 
Bulblins) to kill. Consider taking one or two keeps to add to your KO total; 
the keep west of the Enemy Base (which is probably under the enemy's control 
again) or the keep northeast of it will do nicely.
- When you have 1,000-1,100 KOs, take on Ganondorf in the Enemy Base. 
Remember to use the Fairy of Darkness to dispell the barrier there so you're 
not constantly taking damage. The name of the game here is collateral 
damage!

===============
Lana [2lan]
===============

SEALING TOME [slngtm] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Book of Sorcery Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Twilight Princess: The Shadow King (stage 6-B) in Legend 
Mode or Free Mode, capture Lower Level East and open the chest that appears. 
Lower Level East is the keep in the southeast corner of the actual palace 
itself. Another way of putting it is, slightly east of the center of the 
stage.

STAGE: Palace of Twilight

SORCERESS TOME [srcrsstm] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Book of Sorcery Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to square 11 right, 1 down in Adventure Mode. Search 
and use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Sealed Grounds (Lana only, Book of Sorcery only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Wizzro.
- Defeat: Cia flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 40-45

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Destroy the 3 Bombchus and defend the 
3 green-pulsing keeps.
- 3 enemy Bombchus will appear and head for the green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- Rogue (yellow) forces will appear where you started. Go near them to 
make them join you.
- When all 3 Bombchus are gone and the 3 target keeps are still under your 
control, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Wizzro to win.
- Ghirahim and Zant will advance on the Allied Base with their own hordes 
of enemies.
- Another Bombchu will appear from the Enemy Base and head for the Allied 
Base.
- 2 enemy Healers will appear from the north to restore health to the 
enemies.
- Defeat Wizzro to win.

STRATEGY:
- This is another one of them Bombchu missions, so the beginning will have 
you scrambling around without getting too many KOs. There's a horde of 
enemies in front of you, and a Bombchu will come through in a moment. Kill 
as many of the enemies as you can, then destroy the Bombchu when it comes 
through.
- A faction of yellow Rogue forces will have appeared where you started 
from. Go near their leader, Stalmaster, to make them join you. They come 
in handy on this stage.
- Another Bombchu will be approaching the green-pulsing keep in the 
northeast. Go there and destroy the Bombchu before it self-destructs.
- The third Bombchu should be approaching the Allied Base by now. I'm sure 
you know the drill. Destroy it before it makes life impossible; if the 
timer on that one reaches zero, you automatically lose.
- Good news? The Enemy Base is open now, assuming your three target keeps 
are still under your control, which they should easily be. The bad news? 
This is when Wizzro gets serious and throws everything he has at you, 
including Zant and Ghirahim with their respective hordes, two Healers, 
and another Bombchu heading straight for the Allied Base. Stay near the 
Allied Base if you think it needs help; you can try killing some of the 
horde coming in from the west in the meantime. You might also consider 
going north and very quickly killing the Healer approaching Zant and 
Ghirahim. Drop what you're doing and tend to the Bombchu when it enters 
the base, though.
- All in all, I wouldn't worry tremendously about the Healers unless you 
happen to cross paths. They shouldn't make life too difficult for you even 
if they heal Zant and Ghirahim. A wave of enemies should be approaching 
the Allied Base from the south, and Ghirahim will either be with them or 
with Zant from the north. Whatever the case, stick around and deal with 
the horde.
- Defeat Zant and/or Ghirahim in the north, along with as many of their 
hordes as you can. You'll really have to work for those KOs in this stage. 
Thankfully, I managed an A Rank here with 1,242 KOs, so maybe it's pretty 
lenient on this level.
- Only Wizzro is left, but you should only have about 800-900 KOs. Capture 
the enemy keeps west and northwest of the Enemy Base to increase that number 
to around 1,100, then tackle the Enemy Base. Get lots of KOs from the 
surrounding enemies, then finish Wizzro off when you're ready.

DEKU SPEAR [dkspr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spear Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Prologue: The Sorceress of the Valley in Legend Mode 
or Free Mode (the fourth stage), capture West Keep and open the chest that 
appears. West Keep is just southwest of the ledges you can drop from up 
north, or just northwest of the Fairy Fountain.

STAGE: Valley of the Seers

KOKIRI SPEAR [kkrspr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spear Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 7 right, 6 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the bottom-left bush in that central pattern to 
reveal the secret reward, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Hyrule Field (Lana only, Spear only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Big Poe.
- Defeat: Impa flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 23-28

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture both green-pulsing enemy keeps 
on the map.
- After a couple of minutes or so, 3 Lizalfos will appear from the north 
leading a horde of enemies straight to the Allied Base.
- Periodically, some keeps may begin to produce "powerful enemies," 
generally meaning Big Poes.
- When both target keeps are captured, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Big Poe.
- Defeat Big Poe to win.

STRATEGY:
- The first keep you need to capture is directly north of you, so go there 
and capture it right from the get-go. Might as well get a jump on things 
early, right? The keep will immediately be aided by a Big Poe, some Stalfos, 
and a small horde from the north, so just take them out along with the 
keep.
- Another wave of enemies is heading to the blue keep just south of you 
from the east. Meet them before they can cause you too much trouble and 
wipe them out.
- After a little while, 3 Lizalfos will lead a big horde of enemies from 
a northern keep to assault the Allied Base. Lucky for you, they'll pass 
through the keep you just took, so you can either meet them in the field 
of battle or be lazy and let them come to you. Either way, take the 3 of 
them out and destroy the horde they bring with them.
- Head back to the Allied Base - chances are, some enemies are beginning 
to inch their way closer to it. Kill them and head east to the southeastern 
corner, where the other keep you need to capture is. Feel free to capture 
the other eastern keep on your way there if you have the time, which I 
imagine you should.
- Capture the southeastern enemy keep to open up the Enemy Base. From there, 
head north up the eastern side of the map, infiltrate the Enemy Base, and 
kill Big Poe. No fancy tricks - just beat people up and be happy. 'Nuff 
said.

FARON SPEAR [frnspr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Spear Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 12 right, 8 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the northern wall 2 tiles left from the northern 
entrance, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Skyloft (Lana only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Midna.
- Defeat: Volga flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 37-43

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Ghirahim, 
2 Lizalfos).
- Cucco Chick will appear in the northwestern keep. If not escorted to 
Mama Cucco in the keep west of the Allied Base, Mama Cucco will attack 
you in a rage.
- At two different points, a Dinolfos will attack the Cucco Chick while 
it's being escorted.
- With all 3 enemy captains defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Midna.
- Enemy forces will advance toward the Allied Base.
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random keeps and launch seed attacks 
at you.
- Defeat Midna to win.

STRATEGY:
- Capture the keep directly north of where you start. While you're there, 
there's a Lizalfos captain in the near west, so you might as well put him 
six feet under.
- A Mama Cucco and Cucco Chick will appear on the map. If you take too 
long to reach the Cucco Chick, the Mama Cucco will summon reinforcements 
and attack you in a rage, and that typically spells a world of hurt and 
no A Rank for you. Go to the Cucco Chick in the northwest keep to begin 
escorting it. You're heading to the keep west of the Allied Base, but don't 
get too far ahead of the chick. Capture the northwestern base to clear 
the way for the chick, then continue on.
- At two separate points during your little escort journey, a Dinolfos 
will beset the poor Cucco Chick and threaten its very life. Remember, if 
it dies, the Mama Cucco will rampage anyway, so it's in your best interest 
to keep it alive. Kill the Dinolfos and any Stalchildren as they appear.
- When the chick and mama bird are reunited, the Mama Cucco and its 
reinforcements will join you and attack Midna's forces. Volga should be 
experiencing some trouble now in the form of Sheik and some disgruntled 
Lizalfos, so go back to him and defeat as many of them as you can.
- As you may have noticed, an enemy captain is, more than likely, partying 
in your base by now, and Ghirahim is about to go there himself. If you're 
alerted that the Allied Base is "in trouble" (half health), stop defending 
Volga and go there. Kill the Lizalfos captain there and all its goons.
- Before Ghirahim can reach the Allied Base, defeat him, too.
- With the 3 captains defeated, the Enemy Base will open, and enemy forces 
will march on the Allied Base. It'll be hit hardest by forces from the 
east, so try and head them off before they reach the base. However, 3 
Manhandla Stalks will also appear in random keeps and launch seed attacks 
against you, and if you hate them as much as I do, you'll want to kill 
them soon. Bear in mind, though, that their seeds can't hit you if you're 
in the Allied Base.
- When you've taken care of the wave of enemies (and perhaps the Manhandla 
Stalks), head to Midna in the Enemy Base. Defeat her (the Mama Cucco and 
her thugs may have taken down some of her health already) and hope for 
an A Rank.

GATE OF TIME [gtftm] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Summoning Gate Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 16 right, 3 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with any rank.

STAGE: Temple of the Sacred Sword (Lana only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Fi.
- Defeat: Cia flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 30-35

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture all 4 green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- A Rally Captain will appear in the top-central keep.
- After capturing 2 of the targeted keeps, the bulk of Fi's force will 
march on the Allied Base.
- After taking all 4 targeted keeps, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Fi.
- Defeat Fi to win.

STRATEGY:
- You don't need an A Rank on this mission, so in theory you can take it 
easy. Then again, this level will still have you on your toes, so you'll 
need to make some bold moves to stay alive. You've got to capture the four 
enemy keeps pulsating green on your map, but high-morale enemy 
reinforcements are so absurdly common that you'll be fighting an uphill 
battle the whole way if you try to play safe and defensively. The goal 
is to capture all 4 keeps, one after another, before the enemy has a chance 
to take any of them back. Got it?
- Shortly after the level starts, a Rally Captain will appear in the keep 
in front of you (the top-central one). Go forth and slay him. You really, 
REALLY don't need yet more enemy reinforcements on this stage.
- Avoid taking the keep you're in for now and instead try eliminating that 
mass of enemies in the central area. They don't respawn, so you can give 
your allies a bit of breathing room by defeating them. If you have a little 
time on your hands where the world isn't falling apart around you, you 
can take on the mass of enemies northwest and southwest of that spot, too.
- Ruto is leading a legion of terror through the southeast to your Allied 
Base. That sucks, so tell her as much to her stupid face. Go to her and 
defeat both her and her horde to buy your Allied Base some time.
- Moment of truth - time to capture all 4 keeps in a row. Start with the 
bottom-right pulsating keep, and be sure to take the Fairy of Light before 
you go. Whether you take the remaining keeps going clockwise or 
counterclockwise isn't terribly important, but pick a direction and don't 
look back. Pass any enemies you come across. If they start to threaten 
your Allied Base or taken keeps, try to ignore them and focus only on taking 
the next target keep. The northwest one has a Barrier of Light, so use 
the Fairy of Light there to avoid taking barrier damage. If any of your 
other target keeps happen to fall in the meantime, just circle around and 
capture them again.
- When all 4 of those keeps have been taken, the Enemy Base will open. 
If the Allied Base is under attack, now's the time to go and defend it. 
If it's fine, go straight for Fi and put her six feet under.

GUARDIAN'S GATE [grdnsgt] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Summoning Gate Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 4 right, 2 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the northwest wall, on the spot right before the wall 
slopes down to the right. Beat the square with an A Rank to unlock the 
Guardian Gate.

STAGE: Eldin Caves (Lana only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Icy Big Poe (red commander) and Stalmaster (yellow 
commander).
- Defeat: Cia flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 10/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the red (Icy Big Poe) and yellow 
(Stalmaster) captains.
- Red Stalmaster will appear in the keep directly to the east of the Allied 
Base, capture that keep, and then assault the Allied Base.
- After defeating one captain, the side whose captain you defeated will 
send wave after wave of reinforcements at the Allied Base. The respective 
side's base will also open.
- The other side will also send powerful troops toward the Allied Base.
- Also after the defeat of one captain, a Scout Captain will appear in 
a random enemy keep and attempt to summon a constant stream of 
reinforcements.
- Once one commander has been engaged in battle, the other side's captain 
and a horde will march on the Allied Base.
- The defeat of both captains will ensure that both enemy bases are open. 
New objective: Defeat the red (Icy Big Poe) and yellow (Stalmaster) 
commanders.
- Cia will march toward the remaining commander.
- Defeat both commanders to win.

STRATEGY:
- I...I'm at a loss for words here. I just beat this level with an A Rank, 
by the skin of my teeth and a whole lot of luck. How precisely I did it, 
I'm still not 100% on. I will try my best to transcribe a strategy for 
you, but be aware this is probably one of the single hardest Adventure 
Mode stages and may require a large number of tries to get even close to 
completing, let alone with an A Rank. First of all, for the love of all 
that is holy, GET THE GATE OF TIME BEFORE TRYING THIS STAGE. The Fire-type 
weapon will take down enemies significantly easier, and if you've looked 
over that Level Progression list, you'll notice things get kind of insane 
with the number of enemies that directly storm your base. Also be sure 
to fully unlock all the Summoning Gate's combos, since its base attacks 
absolutely suck.
- Let's pick a direction and stick with it. (If you've got a better strategy, 
by all means, send it. I'm not being sarcastic - chances are my strategy 
sucks and that's why I found this so hard, but I suspect it really is that 
difficult.) A red Stalmaster will soon appear in the blue keep directly 
east of the Allied Base, so meet it there and kill it to spare your poor 
base a few more seconds of peace.
- But your Allied Base has no peace, for it is already under attack by 
the first of a zillion waves of enemies. Go there and defend it. Remember 
that defeating the Gibdos will disperse the remaining grunts, so focus 
on them.
- When the Allied Base is (relatively) safe, go south and capture the red 
enemy keep there. Kill the enemies to the west as well; they'll try to 
march on the Allied Base when the red captain is defeated.
- Quickly now, while there's a sliver of an opening, go to the northern 
red keep with the Fairy of Fire trapped in it. Capture that keep and take 
the Fairy. You'll need it for the barrier in the Enemy Base.
- The red captain should be hanging around north of the Allied Base. Go 
to it and kill it along with its horde. Now all hell will break loose. 
Just do your best.
- A Scout Captain will appear in a random enemy keep, red or yellow, and 
will constantly summon reinforcements if you don't kill it soon. Rush to 
it and end it promptly. You do NOT need more enemies on this level. Remember, 
it'll be the pulsating spot with nothing in the center on your map.
- Guess what? Your Allied Base is under attack by a million enemies again! 
Return and kill the Gibdos to disperse the smaller enemies. Kill as many 
of the bigger enemies as you can, then go to the red Enemy Base and kill 
the red commander. Waste no time!
- The yellow captain isn't stupid (much as I shouted that he was, along 
with perhaps a few other R-rated phrases); as soon as you begin fighting 
the red commander, he'll take a force and march on your Allied Base. Your 
base will begin to run on fumes at this point, so kill the red commander 
quickly and return to the Allied Base. There should be a million big enemies 
of every available kind; the yellow captain, some red Gibdos, and some 
high-morale yellow Lizalfos. Utilize Special Attacks and Focus Spirits 
as much as possible, and exploit Weak Points. Save your base!
- With the yellow captain defeated (perhaps even a little before?), Cia 
will march to the yellow commander in the east. Clear up a few more enemies 
in the Allied Base, then go ahead of her to mop up the enemies and Lizalfos 
ahead. If you don't have much more than 10 minutes on your clock, take 
the yellow keep east of the Allied Base (what started as your blue keep) 
to spare the Allied Base from some yellow reinforcements. Engage the 
Lizalfos in battle, but don't feel like you have to kill all of them. You 
can just weaken them so your blue troops can finish them later.
- Time for the showdown with the yellow commander. If you need more KOs, 
you can try taking the keep in the southeast corner, but you should be 
hurting for time by now, so be careful. Also, this stage seems to be pretty 
lenient with both KOs and damage taken; normally you need over 1,300 KOs 
for an A Rank, but I got it with about 1,209. If you're running out of 
time, and you probably are, you may want to just fight the commander and 
take whatever KOs you can get in the battle. Try not to take too much damage, 
and throw everything you have at him.

ALTERNATE STRATEGY:
This stage is ridiculously hard, and second opinions help. Such a second 
opinion has come from a person we shall call sonikku2008. I've pasted the 
contents of sonikku's email here:

- Setup: Lana at level 40, WPS gold badge unlocked (for maximum smashing 
of Stalmasters), tier 3 5 star spear given to me by the Network Links. 
(Specific skills don't matter in my case, I don't use C# attacks that often, 
but something Lana has that's tier 3 with a decent amount of stars will 
suffice.)
- Strategy: The name of the game is, was, and always will be keep management, 
and is one of the first things the game really tries to teach you way back 
in Death Mountain. If the enemy lacks keeps, they lack places to spawn 
reinforcements (Raid Captains) at you, making them easier to take down 
as you run towards your objectives due to being right in your path. So 
our first order of business? Completely ignore the guy who spawns just 
east of your Main Camp and instead wrap around to take the northern Red 
keep. Take this keep as swiftly as possible, claim your fairy reward, then 
run through the Main Camp (ignoring the Red valued captain) to inflict 
as much damage as possible on the assault captain. Even if the guy manages 
to disappear (he does NOT have to actually capture your keep, he poofs 
after a set amount of time as well), we need to defend our Main Camp from 
the foes that wandered into it anyway, and when he does respawn, any damage 
that the officer suffered while preparing his raid will remain.
- With our main base cleared (hopefully with minimal damage), we shall 
head due west and take the center Red keep for our cause. This will further 
limit the spawning of Red Raid Captains and other reinforcements so that 
they can only approach from the south now. Once capped, we now want to 
deal with the valued enemy captain on Red's side. This will cause most 
of Yellow to gain a morale boost (because we've only been futzing with 
Red's forces for the most part, Yellow's too busy taking your eastern keeps 
to attack your Main Camp), but if we move fast, we won't have to worry 
about losing everything. With the Red Main Camp open, we want to run south, 
take down anything that's in the large clearing so there are less enemies 
in your Main Camp wreaking havoc, and run into the keep east of the Red 
Main Camp. There's a reason for this, and it's not because a treasure chest 
comes out of it with a heart piece for claiming it, and you'll find out 
why shortly (aside from completely restricting reinforcements to the Main 
Camp).
- A note, once you enter the Red Main Camp after otherwise wiping Red off 
the map, all of Yellow will gain a morale boost and charge your Main Camp. 
We do NOT want to save the Main Camp right now, because among those attacking 
your base are the Yellow valued captain, and we want to keep the Red 
commander in the Red Main Camp for the free cap. This means you will need 
to take down the Red commander as quickly as possible to wipe Red off the 
map. Your Main Camp should be decently above half health (not at risk) 
before reaching this point; if not, restart unless you're confident in 
your damage output, as your base will take a lot of damage from the high 
morale Yellow forces.
- With Red defeated, you have control over the entire western part of the 
map, meaning all of the enemies will be coming from the east. But Red isn't 
finished yet, as they still have a Scout Captain they spawned in one of 
Yellow's bases. If you're really lucky, they won't have spawned in one 
of the keeps you've most likely lost by now, but instead in the back near 
their Main Camp. And of course, they will be spawning reinforcements. 
Now... this is why we took all of Red's keeps and completely ignored Yellow. 
You see, Red and Yellow aren't exactly on the same side. Anything the Scout 
Captain summons will summon inside of Yellow's keep. And these 
reinforcements... they aren't going anywhere. They want Yellow's keep more 
than they want you dead. So they're nice and safely tucked away in a corner 
where they can do you no harm at all (for about 3-5 minutes, anyway), 
allowing you to focus entirely on saving your Main Camp and charging for 
the Yellow Main Camp, which should open up during your base defense due 
to their valued captain attacking your base directly.
- With the Yellow Main Camp opened, you should use any spare time you might 
have to make sure your KO count is relatively near 1,200 (what I've figured 
is the base amount needed for an A-rank on any map that tracks it), at 
least in obtainable distance while fighting the Yellow commander. I 
estimate it will take you about 3-4 minutes on average to defeat the 
commander depending on your damage output and WPS frequency. There should 
be no other major threats to your Main Camp at this point, so even if you 
barely saved it, you should be okay to finish the map now.
- I can make zero guarantees that this strategy will work for you; I cut 
my time within 30 seconds of B-ranking it, and the Allied Base was sitting 
on about 10% HP left when I managed to save it after downing Red. I did, 
however, manage to complete this level with an A-rank on my very first 
attempt at playing it (though I did ignore the skulltula that spawned to 
get it), so it must have some merit as a strategy. I would highly recommend 
having a few more levels under your belt (maybe level 50) before really 
trying this, even with a 420 base damage weapon.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Given the high amount of multitasking in this level, it may be significantly 
easier to play it cooperatively with a friend who knows how to play without 
blocking swords with their face. That way, one can capture keeps and stave 
off the hordes while the other plays the part of the assassin and takes 
out the big guys. Also, Player 2 can play whatever character they want, 
as opposed to being limited to the most awkward weapon in the game. I haven't 
yet tested this theory, but it sounds reasonable at the moment.

GATE OF SOULS [gtfsls] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Summoning Gate Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 16 right, 1 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Gerudo Desert (Lana only, Summoning Gate only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Link.
- Defeat: Sheik flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 48-53

DIFFICULTY: 10/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Impa, 
2 Aerolfos).
- Gold Cucco will appear on the battlefield.
- When all 3 captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Link.
- Link's forces just east of the Enemy Base will advance toward the Allied 
Base.
- Rogue forces will appear southeast of the Allied Base.
- Defeat Link to win.

STRATEGY:
"Saying the Summoning Gate is bad is like saying s***'s not particularly 
tasty; can't say it's a lie, but it doesn't exactly convey the whole truth, 
either."
- Lambert from The Witcher series if he was in this game

- You've got your work cut out for you, seeing how the Summoning Gate is 
quite possibly the single hardest weapon in the game to use. The name of 
the game here is chaos ("But I thought I was playing Hyrule Warriors!"). 
Use your basic strong attack to summon random bosses to give you some room, 
then follow up with the attacks that actually matter, like your C4 and 
C5 techniques (which means your "weak-weak-weak-strong" and 
"weak-weak-weak-weak-strong" combos; I just didn't want to get wordy). 
Use your first three or four weak attacks to hit Weak Points if you're 
close to the enemy, but otherwise, you might as well be throwing rolled 
up balls of wet toilet paper at them. Just remember: chaos. Get some room 
with your random boss summoning, do your combo attack, flee some distance, 
then start the whole process all over again. That's your general strategy, 
though we'll alter it here and there as we need to.
- There's a Gold Cucco in this stage. Ignore it, and more than likely, 
it'll ignore you. It should only start to become a problem by the time 
you overshoot your A Rank in Time anyway.
- The first thing you'll see in this stage is a horde of Bulblins actually 
running away from you. Catch up a bit, then blast the horde with your C5 
combo over and over again. The first Aerolfos captain will come by soon, 
but keep spamming C5 to kill not only the Bulblins, but the Dinolfos and 
Darknuts that came with the captain. Once they're all dead, you can get 
down to brass tax with the captain by creating chaos, which in this context 
means pressing the strong attack button once to summon a random monster, 
getting a few weak attacks in, dodging, and repeating. Also be on the 
lookout for Weak Points; they'll knock down the Aerolfos's health quicker.
- Impa, the second captain, is south of you. I've seen some people take 
her on next, but I'm going to say you should go out west to where the other 
Aerolfos captain is pushing the guys in your Allied Base around. Go there 
quickly and repeat the strategy you used with the first Aerolfos; C5 to 
kill the lesser enemies from a distance, then create chaos to defeat the 
captain. Around now, Sheik will probably say something about Ghirahim 
beating the stuffing out of her, but trust me, she'll be fine. Sheik will 
defeat Ghirahim, Ghirahim will inadvertently make a reference to David 
from The Last of Us, and life will go on.
- If you managed to kill both Aerolfos captains in about 5 minutes or less, 
Impa should still be in the eastern canyon. Any later, and she'll be 
wandering west. Ideally, you'll want to get her while she's still in the 
eastern canyon, since there will be more grunts to kill there, and you'll 
need the KOs in this level. Use your "general strategy" mentioned earlier 
to clear the lesser enemies, then use your captain strategy of "creating 
chaos" to defeat Impa. By the time you take her down, you should hopefully 
have around 700-800 KOs and not much more than 8 minutes on the clock.
- The Enemy Base will open, and a giant flood of enemies will pour out 
toward the Allied Base. Yellow Rogue forces will also appear near the Allied 
Base; you can recruit them if they're on the way, but they won't contribute 
much to your A Rank. Meet the enemy wave head on and kill them until you 
get to about 1,100 KOs. Use C5 to weaken and/or kill them from a distance, 
then use your "general strategy" once they get up in your grill. This is 
also a magnificent time for Special Attacks and Focus Spirits to shine. 
A well-executed Focus Spirit assault can kill anywhere from 150-300 of 
these guys in quick work. Try not to stay there longer than a couple of 
minutes.
- Link awaits further west in the Enemy Base. Use a mix of your general 
strategy and captain strategy to lower his health and kill the enemies 
in the base. He's fast and tricky, so don't get so carried away that you 
forget to dodge and block, but as the creepy fox said from that one Willem 
Dafoe movie, "chaos reigns."

===============
Darunia [2drn]
===============

IGNEOUS HAMMER [gnshmmr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Hammer Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 13 right, 3 down and search. 
Use the Bomb card on the second-from-the-right bottom tile on that big 
boulder in the middle of the screen to unlock the secret reward, then beat 
the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Gerudo Desert (Darunia only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Icy Big Poe (red commander) and Gibdo (yellow commander).
- Defeat: Impa flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 25-30

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the red (Icy Big Poe) or yellow 
(Gibdo) captains.
- 3 Mandhandla Stalks will soon appear in 3 random enemy keeps and launch 
seed attacks over the map.
- The red and yellow Enemy Bases will open when their respective captains 
have been defeated. Whichever side whose captain you didn't kill yet will 
gain morale and send reinforcements at the Allied Base.
- When both enemy captains have been killed, the commander of whichever 
side's captain you killed first will march toward the Allied Base, while 
the second commander will remain at their base. Killing this commander 
will give some of the other side's forces a morale boost, and they will 
frequently receive reinforcements from their keeps.
- Defeat both commanders to win.

STRATEGY:
- Darunia starts right in front of a ton of Stalchildren - the Rogue (yellow) 
force's grunt division. Kill as many of these guys as you can so they don't 
pose a threat to the Allied Base or any of your keeps.
- Soon after, Manhandla Stalks, a.k.a. the bane of my existence, will sprout 
in three random enemy keeps and launch seed attacks, meaning seeds will 
frequently fall from the sky and attempt to hit you. I recommend killing 
all of them immediately, because they are the bane of my existence and 
I have sworn an oath to eradicate their kind from the world, and also they 
have a tendency to slowly drain your health with their stupid seed attacks. 
Killing them isn't necessary, but it should take a load off your mind.
- By this point, the Icy Big Poe captain should be in or near the top-center 
blue keep to take it, while the Gibdo captain will be heading to the 
southeast blue keep. Choose one and head over there to kill them. Whichever 
one doesn't particularly matter, as the strategy is largely the same either 
way. Killing one captain will open its respective Enemy Base, and the other 
enemy army will gain a morale boost. Killing both will cause one of the 
commanders to march on the Allied Base, but we'll get to that.
- The Allied Base will soon get overrun by red troops from the south and 
west, so high-tail it back to your pad and defend it until the herd is 
sufficiently thinned out. Remember that killing the Shield Moblins will 
automatically disperse some of the Bulblins.
- Try taking the keep directly north of the Allied Base now. It's not really 
necessary for survival, but it'll help rack your KO count up.
- Now defeat that other captain before they cause too much trouble. Both 
captains generally seem to wander northeast, so you can try looking for 
them in that vicinity.
- When both captains are dead, the commander whose captain you killed first 
will march on your base with a decent army, and the other enemy force will 
receive frequent reinforcements. Head to the commander marching on your 
base and promptly kill him.
- The remaining commander will sit in his base, perhaps petrified with 
fear as Darunia dances over the corpses of thousands, and wait for you 
to come to him. Feel free to take a keep or two on your way to him if you 
don't think your KO count is high enough. Otherwise, just mosey on over 
and give him the axe...or hammer, as it were.

MEGATON HAMMER [mgtnhmmr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Hammer Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 14 right, 1 down. Search and 
use the Harp card on the blue butterflies to reveal the hidden enemies, 
then use a Bomb card in the north wall right before where it begins to 
slope down to the right to reveal the secret reward. Beat the square with 
an A Rank to unlock the Megaton Hammer.

STAGE: Temple of Souls (Darunia only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Link.
- Defeat: Midna flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 4 green-pulsing enemy 
keeps.
- Enemy Siege Captains will appear from the east and attempt to halve the 
maximum durability of your keeps.
- After taking 2 of the targeted keeps, the central horde of enemies will 
advance on the Allied Base.
- When all 4 targeted keeps have been captured, the Enemy Base will also 
open. New objective: Defeat Link.
- A high-morale Focus Spirit Shield Moblin will march on and eventually 
teleport into the Allied Base. 
- Defeat Link to win.

STRATEGY:
- Thankfully, the strategy for this stage is pretty simple, though that 
doesn't mean it can't be difficult. Naturally, I recommend getting the 
Igneous Hammer before attempting this. Anything to give you a little boost, 
right?
- In order to open the Enemy Base, you'll need to capture the four enemy 
keeps that pulse green on your map. There are so many absurdly powerful 
enemies, though, that you'll be practically sweating blood trying to get 
ahead of the game if you actually defend your own keeps. If it was any 
more of an uphill battle, you'd be fighting on the ceiling. So, much like 
when trying to get Lana's Gate of Time, the goal here is to capture all 
the target keeps as quickly as possible while letting absolutely nothing 
distract you.
- Start by taking the top-central keep. Ganondorf will waltz by soon, but 
ignore him. My own troops actually handled him in due time during my first 
A Rank of this mission. Rush down to the keep in the southwest corner, 
ignoring absolutely everything else along the way. Scary enemies? Allied 
keeps taking damage? So what? Ignore them! Take the southwest keep, and 
be sure to take the Fairy that appears as a result, since you'll need it 
for the final keep. Take the keep in the southeast corner, then go to the 
barrier keep north of the Enemy Base. Dispell the barrier to avoid taking 
persistent damage, then capture the keep.
- If any target keeps happened to fall during this period, run through 
the counter-clockwise pattern again and recapture them as quickly as 
possible. Hopefully, though, you never have to recapture them as such.
- The Enemy Base will open with all the target keeps taken. For now, though, 
go to the keep southeast of the Allied Base. It's probably been captured 
by the enemy at this point, and Fi will need help, plus you need more KOs. 
Recapture it, rescue Fi, and generally kill stuff.
- You'll probably encounter a high-morale Focus Spirit Shield Moblin while 
aiding Fi. Do as much damage to it as you can. Eventually, it should 
disappear from the battlefield, only to reappear directly in the Allied 
Base a few moments later. Go back to the Allied Base, kill it, kill all 
the underlings in and surrounding the Allied Base, and imagine yourself 
leaving one alive to report back to Link of all the terrible things he's 
seen.
- Time to take out Link. Capture one more keep if you're not over 1,000 
or 1,050 KOs yet, then throw down with him. You should be able to score 
a good 200-400 KOs just by fighting Link in the Enemy Base, but you want 
to be sure you've got enough.

===============
Midna [2mdn]
===============

TWILIGHT SHACKLE [twlghtshckl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Shackle Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 9 right, 3 down. Search and 
use the Candle card on the bottom-right green bush, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Palace of Twilight (Midna only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Lana.
- Defeat: Zant flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 28-33

DIFFICULTY: 5/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 3 green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- A faction of Lana's forces will advance toward the Allied Base.
- After capturing 1 keep, another faction of Lana's forces will advance 
toward the Allied Base.
- After capturing all 3 keeps, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Lana.
- Eventually, another faction of Lana's forces will advance on the Allied 
Base.
- Defeat Lana to win.

STRATEGY:
- Your best bet, as per usual in these kinds of missions, is to capture 
your targeted keeps as quickly as possible and deal with the inevitable 
hordes of enemies later. Start by capturing the keep directly west of where 
you start. A Focus Spirit Dinolfos will come through shortly; might as 
well defeat it to make sure it doesn't immediately recapture that keep. 
Some of Lana's troops will march on the Allied Base in response to capturing 
this keep, but you can worry about them later.
- 2 Fortifier Captains will appear in the southwest and southeast to 
strengthen the durability of enemy keeps. That might be irritating, but 
they're not particularly threatening, so just focus on capturing keeps 
unless you happen to bump into them.
- Go to the keep northwest of the Enemy Base and capture it. Only one target 
keep left.
- Capture the final target keep east of the Enemy Base to open that base 
up. That takes care of the immediate problem, but there should still be 
some enemies threatening the Allied Base in the northeast, so go up and 
defend it until you think it'll be safe for the next couple of minutes.
- Some of Lana's forces will continually break off and threaten the Allied 
Base from time to time, but your game plan won't change much in response. 
If you don't have around 1,100 KOs, take one or two of the keeps in the 
southwest to boost those numbers. Otherwise, defeat Lana in the Enemy Base 
and end this mission.

SOL SHACKLE [slshckl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Shackle Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 15 right, 8 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Gerudo Desert (Midna only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: Lana flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 8/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 4 green-pulsing keeps on 
your map.
- 2 Siege Captains will appear from the north-central enemy keep. One will 
head to the keep right in front of where you started. The other will go 
to your central-eastern keep.
- After capturing two of the targeted keeps, the central faction of 
Ganondorf's forces will march on the Allied Base, and many more powerful 
reinforcements will spawn. 2 more Siege Captains will appear from the keep 
northeast of the Enemy Base.
- When all 4 targeted keeps have been captured, the Enemy Base will open. 
New objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- What remains of Ganondorf's forces will advance to the Allied Base. 
- Defeat Ganondorf to win.

STRATEGY:
- Like a lot of "capture the enemy keeps" levels, this level is best won 
by playing aggressively rather than trying to defend your captured keeps. 
Also, as per usual with Level 3 weapons, I recommend you use Midna's Level 
2 weapon, the Twilight Shackle, to make things easier for you here. And 
pro tip: Midna's weak-weak-strong combo (also known as C3 - insert Code 
Geass reference here) is a great way to quickly eliminate groups of enemies, 
so spam the crap out of it here.
- One of the keeps you need to capture is right in front of where you start, 
so capture it immediately. Ghirahim will approach from the south; fight 
him to weaken him, but the intent isn't really to defeat him here, since 
your own troops can handle that once his health is about less than half.
- A couple of Siege Captains will appear from the keep directly west of 
you. Wait until the first one gets somewhat close to the keep you're in, 
then leave Ghirahim, kill it, and return to everyone's favorite fabulous 
villain. Then wait until the second one comes near and kill that one, too. 
There will be more Siege Captains later and we will bravely ignore them, 
but it's a good idea to get these two morons out of the way.
- Ditch Ghirahim again and make your way southeast by going northeast from 
the keep, then south. You'll soon bump into Fi and friends, one of which 
is a high-morale Focus Spirit Lizalfos. Defeat all the powerful enemies 
there, especially Fi and the aforementioned Lizalfos. Fi will drop a large 
green potion that will max your Magic Meter. Grab it - it's very important 
to this next part.
- So here's something interesting: when you've activated Focus Spirit, 
you don't take damage from barriers until the Focus Spirit is over. You 
just filled up your Magic Meter (right?), so go to the southeastern keep, 
which is, indeed, a barrier keep, activate your Focus Spirit, and kill 
as many enemies as you can. When you capture the keep, the barrier will 
disperse. Take the Fairy of Fire from there. Things are about to get dicey.
- Enemies in the northwest will march on the Allied Base, more enemy keeps 
will start spawning powerful enemies like high-morale Lizalfos and Focus 
Spirit Stalmasters, and two more Siege Captains will appear from the keep 
northeast of the Enemy Base. Things look pretty crappy, but don't defend 
any of the keeps you just took. That'll slow everything down, you'll get 
swamped with enemies, you'll lose your keeps, etcetera. Instead, go to 
that keep northeast of the Enemy Base via the southern passage, quickly 
killing Stalchildren with C3 as you go. Capture that keep, but no time 
to rest! (And yes, we are ignoring those Siege Captains. They'll become 
pretty redundant in a moment anyway.)
- Go to the final pulsing keep in the northwest. Dispell the barrier there 
with the Fairy of Fire (unless you just so happen to have a full Magic 
Meter again, but you should only use that if you, you know, forgot the 
fairy) and capture it. That will weaken the enemy and open the Enemy Base.
- If one of your targeted keeps was retaken by the enemy...now's the time 
to try and reclaim it as quickly as possible, but there may not be much 
hope. Once a target keep has been retaken, you might hear a loud crunching 
sound. That is the sound of a wrench being thrown into the works. This 
is a tough mission, so expect a few retries.
- The Enemy Base is open. Ignore everything else and head there to defeat 
Ganondorf. He's pretty vulnerable to Weak Point Smashes, and you can use 
the magic gained from the green jar in the base to wreak havoc with more 
Focus Spirit. Act quickly, and don't get hit a lot.

===============
Fi [2f]
===============

GODDESS LONGSWORD [gddsslngswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Goddess Blade Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 5 right, 6 down. Search and 
use the Water Bomb card on the boulder in the water, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Skyloft (Fi only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Zelda.
- Defeat: Ghirahim flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 25-30

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Destroy the 3 Bombchus.
- Cuccos will appear to help you.
- When all 3 Bombchus have been destroyed and your 2 target keeps are still 
under your control, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Zelda.
- Ghirahim will advance toward Zelda.
- Defeat Zelda to win.

STRATEGY:
- The first Bombchu is straight north of you and actually won't move right 
away, so you have a stationary explosive punching bag. Destroy it and any 
nearby enemies.
- The second Bombchu is a bit northeast of you. Run around to the other 
side of that northwest sector and destroy it, too. While you're at it, 
take one or two keeps there. You'll need the KOs.
- The third Bombchu will depart from the Enemy Base and advance toward 
the Allied Base. It'll travel up the east side of the level, where there 
also happens to be a bunch of enemies. Take care of a band of enemies coming 
up from south of the Allied Base, then kill as many enemies in the east 
as you can. Destroy the Bombchu as it passes through.
- The destruction of all three Bombchus will open the gates to the Enemy 
Base, and Ghirahim, eager to spread his fabulousness, will advance toward 
Zelda. You may want to branch off here and defeat Link in the keep southwest 
of the Allied Base - not only might he pose problems if you don't defeat 
Zelda quickly enough, but you could probably use some more KOs. Defeat 
him and capture the keep he's in. If you need even more KOs, try either 
braving the Lightning Barrier keep east of you or rooting out whatever 
pockets of enemies remain.
- Ghirahim may soon find his fabulousness dampened, though, so don't spend 
too long away from him. Defeat Zelda in the Enemy Base to end the mission.

TRUE GODDESS BLADE [trgddssbld] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Goddess Blade Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 14 right, 8 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the seventh tile from the left on the edge of the 
northern wall, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Palace of Twilight (Fi only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Cia.
- Defeat: Zelda or the one in need of rescue (Lana, 2 Goron Captains) flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 33-38

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking the 3 allied captains (Lana, 2 Goron Captains).
- Capture one of the keeps north or northeast of Zelda's starting position 
to break through and access more of the level.
- Yellow forces led by Stalmaster will appear in the northernmost part 
of the level. You can approach them to make them join you.
- Capture either the central-north or central-east keeps to break through 
and access the rest of the level.
- When all 3 allied captains have been rescued, the Enemy Base will open. 
New objective: Defeat Cia.
- Defeat Cia to win.

STRATEGY:
- Capture the keep northeast of Zelda's starting position to break through 
it. A Fairy of Darkness will appear as a reward, but it's the only one 
on the level, and there are two barrier keeps...take my advice and use 
it on the Enemy Base. That'll come later, though.
- Some yellow forces led by a Stalmaster will appear in the north by the 
Goron Captain there, but they'll join you if you approach them. You'll 
have to get to them first, though.
- Rescue the Goron Captain in the central area. Kill the targeted Shield 
Moblin bothering him, plus any other "powerful" enemies in the area to 
make sure he doesn't get himself killed.
- You'll need to break through another keep, so take the central-eastern 
keep right below Lana. Yes, this is a barrier keep, and yes, you do have 
a Fairy of Darkness. Don't use it here - the barrier will disappear once 
you capture it, and it'll save you a lot of pain if you use it in the Enemy 
Base instead. Eat the pain, capture the keep, and continue north. Lana's 
fine right now. Wave hi and move on.
- Rescue the northernmost Goron Captain now. He's probably being besieged 
by the last two captains you need to kill, which actually makes things 
kinda convenient for you. Kill the two Shield Moblin captains to have 
officially rescued your own captains.
- The Enemy Base will open with the rescue of your captains, but they're 
about to be in trouble again. Go back to Lana, who's under some fire now. 
Defeat the enemies around her.
- The Goron Captain you left near the middle of the stage will be 
experiencing some difficulties, too, so go back to him and clear out the 
enemies.
- Cia's the only real target left, but chances are you only have about 
800 KOs. If you need more, try capturing the keep west of the Enemy Base. 
If you still need more, you can pick off the enemies near Zelda or the 
ones milling about up north, but don't take too long doing it.
- Time to take out Cia. Use the Fairy of Darkness to dispell the barrier 
in the Enemy Base, rack up the KOs you need, and then defeat the sorceress.

===============
Zelda [2zld]
===============

GLITTERING RAPIER [glttrngrpr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Rapier Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: In Epilogue: The Sacred Sword in Legend Mode or Free Mode 
(the eleventh stage, first after the story split), capture S. Temple Hall 
and open the chest that appears. S. Temple Hall is the keep in the very 
southeastern corner of the stage. You will need to activate all three sealed 
statues to open that part of the level up.

STAGE: Temple of the Sacred Sword

GLEAMING RAPIER [glmngrpr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Rapier Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to square 9 right, 1 down in Adventure Mode. Search, 
then use an Ice Arrows card on that flaming circle to reveal the secret 
reward. Beat this square with an A Rank, and the Gleaming Rapier is yours.

STAGE: Palace of Twilight (Zelda only).

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Cia.
- Defeat: The Allied Base falls or Agitha flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 8/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 captains (2 Shield 
Moblins, 1 Dark Ruto).
- 2 Messengers (Dinolfos) will appear around the northeast area of the 
map and head for the southeastern keeps to summon reinforcements.
- Eventually, 2 Siege Captains will appear to make some enemy keeps 
stronger.
- With all 3 captains dead, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat 
Cia.
- A wave of reinforcements will surge in, led by a Focus Spirit Dinolfos 
from the north and Darknuts from the south.
- Defeat Cia in the Enemy Base to win.

STRATEGY:
- First of all, I recommend doing this stage once casually before attempting 
an A Rank to get that Piece of Heart and Heart Container from the enemy 
keeps so you're not tempted to go off strategy and wind up with a B Rank. 
You need to really stay focused on this one, or it will murder you.
- To stem enemy reinforcements early, go ahead and take that keep in the 
southwestern corner. It shouldn't take you but a second.
- Head for the center part of the stage. Those friggin' Messengers will 
appear and pass through there, and if they reach their destinations in 
the southeast, you're going to have a whoooole lot of problems on your 
hands (reinforcements, my friend). Kill them! Kill them dead! (And 
remember, the Messengers will be the PULSATING SPOTS on the map, NOT the 
red circles - the circles are the captains.)
- Agitha will be running into trouble with Ruto in the southwest. Stop 
by just long enough to kill the random grunts and the Dinolfos. Don't worry 
about Ruto TOO much, boss character though she is - she should be around 
half health by now, and Agitha can hold out for awhile. Take a few swipes 
at Ruto if you insist, but this stage will have you hopping, so you'll 
want to move on before long.
- The Shield Moblin captain will surely have made it to the Allied Base 
by now, partying like it's 1985 and Zelda standards like 3D and fetch quests 
don't exist. Leave Agitha and head there pronto to kill that captain (will 
be the first one dead, more than likely), the Dinolfos, the Darknuts, the 
other Shield Moblins, and pretty much anything that moves that the game 
allows you to kill. Thin out the herd nicely - your Allied Base will fall 
under siege pretty regularly if you don't move quickly.
- About now, 2 Siege Captains will appear from the northeast, like those 
Messengers. They'll head for the southeastern keeps, which, to be honest, 
we shouldn't be too concerned about, but they might spell trouble anyway. 
Wait in the center of the map and kill them like you did their friends 
the Messengers, whose corpses they will probably stumble across and cry 
over momentarily. Like their dead Messenger friends, they'll appear on 
your map as pulses, not red circles.
- Kill any remaining captains if you need to, which have probably made 
it to the Allied Base by now anyway.
- With all captains dead, the gates to the Enemy Base will open, but Cia's 
a jerk and will send more waves of enemies your way, led by a Focus Spirit 
Dinolfos from the north and Darknuts in the south. Hang around south of 
the Allied Base to fend off the Darknuts when they come to you, then kill 
the Dinolfos wave up north. Don't stray too far from the Allied Base, or 
you risk it being overrun by enemies.
- By the way, if Agitha is once again in peril, now would be the time to 
reinforce her. She should have dealt with Ruto by now, but you never know.
- Alright - only Cia left. Make sure you have around 1,100 KOs racked up, 
then head to the Enemy Base and beat the crap out of her. That ends the 
mission, hopefully with an A Rank.

WIND WAKER [wndwkr] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Baton Level 1

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 12 right, 5 down. When you search, 
you'll notice the forest makes a straight path down on the right. Use the 
Candle card on the third bush from the top on the west wall of that path, 
then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Lake Hylia (Zelda only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Darunia.
- Defeat: Impa flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 20-25

DIFFICULTY: 3/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 Bombchus and keep your 
target keeps from being taken.
- If a keep falls to a Bombchu, Darunia's forces will gain morale, and 
your forces will lose morale.
- Cuccos will appear to help you.
- When all 3 Bombchus have been destroyed and your target keeps are still 
under your control, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat 
Darunia.
- Darunia's forces around his captains (Sheik and Ruto) will advance toward 
the Allied Base.
- Defeat Darunia to win.

STRATEGY:
- You need no specific rank on this mission, so whether you go all out 
for an A or trudge through with a C is up to you. 3 Bombchus will make 
their separate ways to allied keeps emitting green pulses on your map. 
If they reach those keeps and count down to zero, you will lose that keep, 
Darunia's forces will gain morale, and Impa's forces will lose it. We don't 
need that nonsense, so get right on it by going for the Bombchu heading 
for the southwestern keep. Destroy it, then immediately go north.
- Another Bombchu should be in or close to the keep in north-central Water 
Temple. Destroy it in the same way. The next Bombchu will come from way 
up north to your Allied Base, but you've got some time before you need 
to worry about it.
- There should be a lot of enemies above and below the keep you just took, 
and they'll create problems when that final Bombchu is destroyed. Defeat 
as many of them as you can before the Bombchu comes through.
- Wreck the final Bombchu as it comes through via the north.
- The Enemy Base will open, and massive hordes of Darunia's forces, led 
by Sheik and Ruto, will march to the Allied Base - Ruto from the south, 
Sheik from the north. Ruto is much closer, so go south and take out the 
Zora and her platoon. Ruto can sometimes be tricky to fight, so either 
press her without giving her much chance to attack, or stay back and wait 
for openings. Her combo moves tend to take up a lot of room.
- Go north and defeat Sheik and her horde, which should include some raid 
captains and several hundred Gorons. You won't need to worry about the 
Gorons too much. Your forces can take care of them, unless you just want 
the KOs for an A Rank. So long as you defeat Sheik and the Icy Big Poes, 
the Allied Base should be safe.
- You can take this opportunity to explore around a bit and find the Piece 
of Heart and Heart Container, or you can go straight for Darunia. Either 
way, he's the only obstacle left. Meet him in the Enemy Base in the northwest 
and stab him (or mystify him if you're using the Dominion Rod DLC) until 
he stops making angry rock-related puns.

SACRED BATON [scrdbtn] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Baton Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to square 2 right, 8 down in Adventure Mode and search. 
There's kind of an arch upwards in the north wall. Use a Bomb card on the 
wall directly right of that arch to unlock the secret reward, then beat 
the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Valley of the Seers (Zelda only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ghirahim (red commander) and Fiery Aerolfos (yellow 
commander).
- Defeat: Fi flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 33-39

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the red (Wizzro) and yellow 
(Fiery Aerolfos) captains.
- Messengers appear from the northern ruins, heading for the northwestern 
keeps to summon reinforcements.
- The defeat of one captain will summon reinforcements for the respective 
enemy force and boost the morale of the other side. The respective enemy 
base will also open.
- The defeat of both captains will open both enemy bases; the commander 
whose captain you defeated first will march on the Allied Base. New 
objective: Defeat the red (Ghirahim) and yellow (Fiery Aerolfos) 
commanders.
- Defeat both commanders to win.

STRATEGY:
- You don't NEED the Wind Waker (Baton Level 1) to play this level, but 
it DOES give you a type advantage, being Electric and all, so I recommend 
unlocking it first and using it here so enemies will go down quicker.
- It also bears mentioning that, being a "defeat both commanders" stage, 
there are many different paths you could take to beat this. Finding one 
that consistently worked was a bit tricky, but I do advocate the path I'm 
about to lay down.
- Your goal is to defeat the red and yellow captains, so you can start 
with either one you want, but I'll go forward mostly by stating my way. 
Start by heading south to the Rogue (yellow) captain, who will be turning 
the corner and generally being mean soon enough. Feel free to help your 
Goron buddies kill a few goons in the meantime. You won't be TOO pressed 
for kills, but this isn't really one of those stages that just throws easy 
KOs at you, either.
- Pretty soon, a couple of Gibdo Messengers will appear in the northern 
ruins and head for two of the northwestern keeps. Someone else's strategy 
may take you up there to deal with them right now. Me? I say, let them 
go. You'll deal with their ilk in due time, even if the hanging threat 
of enemy reinforcements irritates you.
- Kill the yellow captain, then head north to your Allied Base. The defeat 
of the first captain means that side will gain some reinforcements (which 
will cause you grief a bit later), and the other side will gain morale. 
Volga, that rotten garter snake, will typically gain morale regardless 
of what you do. He's also leading a massive horde of red enemies to your 
base to curbstomp it into oblivion, so stop him before he gets there and 
put an end to him. Try and keep him away from the west (where Wizzro, the 
red captain is, and trust me, Volga + Wizzro = an untimely demise for you), 
and look for openings and Weak Points rather than attacking savagely - 
Volga can take down quite a bit of your health before you can recover enough 
to say "holy crap, please stop poking me."
- After taking down Volga, head a little northwest and take care of Wizzro, 
too. (If you're lucky, he'll be already around half health due to his own 
fights.) Doing so will open up both enemy bases, and assuming you really 
did defeat the yellow captain first, the yellow commander will start 
marching on the Allied Base. If it was the other way around, it will be 
Ghirahim (the red commander) marching on your base while Fiery Aerolfos 
stays put.
- Go to the yellow keep directly to the west, capture it for funsies, and 
wait for both Fiery Aerolfos to get there and a ton of enemy reinforcements 
from the north (remember those Messengers I told you to ignore?). Kill 
them all, which should rack up your KO count pretty nicely.
- Your Allied Base is now under attack by high-morale red forces (or 
eventually yellow forces if you took down Wizzro before the Fiery Aerolfos 
captain). Go back and kill the pack leaders (Shield Moblins if they're 
red) to make the grunts retreat, which should save your base in about five 
seconds.
- Now go north to Ghirahim (or, again, southwest if Fiery Aerolfos is your 
next commander) and beat the crap out of him. If you're not at around 1,200 
KOs, you can take a keep or two on the way there. Beyond that, look for 
Weak Points in the guy and try not to take too much damage. You should 
hopefully finish with at least a couple of minutes left for your A Rank.

GLORIOUS BATON [glrsbtn] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Baton Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 2 right, 1 down. Search and 
use the Harp card on the 3 blue butterflies to reveal the enemies, allowing 
you to play the stage, then use the Bomb card on that 90-degree corner 
to the top and left of the Sheikah Stone to reveal the secret reward. Beat 
the square with an A Rank to acquire the Glorious Baton.

STAGE: Death Mountain (Zelda only, Baton only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: Fi flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 45-50

DIFFICULTY: 9/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Ensure your starting 3 keeps are blue 
by the end of the first enemy Bombchu wave.
- When all 3 Bombchus are destroyed or have self-destructed and your 3 
western keeps are under your control, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Most of Ganondorf's forces will march on the Allied Base. 
- Another Bombchu will appear from the northwest. (However, as outlined 
below, there is a way around this...)
- A Focus Spirit Icy Big Poe will immediately appear in the far east and 
head for the Allied Base.
- A Summoner will appear in a random keep and frequently summon Stalchildren 
near you.
- Defeat Ganondorf to win.

STRATEGY:
- Oh my word. The headaches this level gave me... Let's be up front here: 
there's really no playing it safe on this level. You're all in. You're 
cashing all your chips. It's high risk, high reward, and chances are you're 
going to fail a lot before you finally pull off an A Rank. This stage is 
thankfully pretty lenient on the amount of damage you can take, but you 
REALLY have to race to beat it within 15 minutes while ensuring the Allied 
Base doesn't bite the dust. Also, make sure you're using a Sacred Baton, 
not just the Wind Waker. You could use that extra offensive boost.
- So let's start with our immediate problem: 3 Bombchus will appear 
sequentially. The first one starts above the south-central keep (dubbed 
the "Stronghold") and heads for your West Mountain Keep in the southwestern 
corner. The second one appears in the central nexus area and makes for 
the Western Boulder Keep slightly north and to the east of your Allied 
Base. The third one will appear from the northwest corner and go straight 
for your Allied Base. Immediately go east, kill as many enemies (and 
hopefully the Gibdo and/or Icy Big Poe) as you can before the Bombchu 
appears, then follow it and destroy it posthaste. Sadly, the Baton is not, 
by any stretch of the imagination, a chasing sort of weapon, which is 
precisely what you need in a level with Bombchus. Just make do with what 
you have; get a few hits in, dodge ahead of it, get a few more hits, dodge, 
until it explodes.
- Remember that second Bombchu heading for the Western Boulder Keep? 
Freakin' ignore it. The whole point of a Bombchu is to automatically capture 
a keep when it explodes, and by now, that keep has probably already been 
taken anyway. Rather, kill the immediate enemies (particularly the 
stronger ones, like the omnipresent Icy Big Poes) in the Western Mountain 
Keep, then head northwest to intercept the third Bombchu. Destroy it!
- Your Allied Base will, by now, be under attack by a swarm of enemies 
from the enemy-controlled Western Boulder Keep. Intercept them and kill 
as many of them as you can, then go straight back north where you found 
the third Bombchu. Keep going. You may notice there is an inactive enemy 
Bombchu just sitting around. That Bombchu will activate and head for the 
Allied Base once you ensure your 3 starting keeps are once again in your 
control. Destroy that sucker before it becomes a threat.
- Capture the Western Goron Keep - the keep directly west of the Enemy 
Base - to stem the overwhelming enemy reinforcements that are going to 
plague you soon. Also take a minute and kill the platoon right below the 
Enemy Base. They don't respawn, so that'll be a couple hundred less enemies 
to worry about.
- If the Allied Base and your surrounding keeps are safe, go and recapture 
the Western Boulder Keep. This will basically open the portal to hell right 
on Death Mountain and drag you there screaming and flailing. (Not 
literally. I'm just saying, stuff gets real.) Virtually all of Ganondorf's 
army will march toward the Allied Base, a Focus Spirit Icy Big Poe (the 
worst kind!) will appear in the east and also rush to your Allied Base, 
that Bombchu in the northwest (if you didn't already destroy it) will 
activate and ALSO rush to your Allied Base, and a Summoner will appar in 
a random keep to constantly summon Stalchildren near you. Your plate will 
be, shall we say, a little bit full, and there is no way to pass on dessert.
- Now here's where you desperately put some faith in your allies and gun 
it for Ganondorf. Ignore the Icy Big Poe, ignore the Summoner, and ignore 
the Bombchu that is hopefully a pile of scrap anyway. Counterintuitive 
though it may seem, stay away from your Allied Base - the Summoner's 
constant influx of Stalchildren around you will merely put more enemies 
there if you hang around there. Rush to the Enemy Base and conduct the 
bejeezes out of Ganondorf. Utilize Weak Points, Focus Spirits, Special 
Attacks, whatever you can to get an edge. Attack savagely - this stage 
is relatively generous with the damage you can take, but obviously, don't 
stand there and let yourself be a punching bag. Midna and Fi will scream 
and beg for help, and the Allied Base will steadily lose health as all 
your hopes and dreams begin to crash around you, but remember, it all ends 
when Ganondorf kicks the bucket. He has a ton of health, but be persistent 
and stick with it. If you finish with over 1,300 KOs and in under 15 minutes, 
the Glorious Baton is probably yours unless you were constantly blocking 
Poe fireballs with your face.

===============
Ganondorf [2gnndrf]
===============

SWORDS OF DARKNESS [swrdsfdrknss] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Great Swords Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 15 right, 6 down and search. 
Use the Ice Arrows card on the ring of fire (insert Johnny Cash reference) 
to unlock the secret reward, then complete the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Valley of the Seers (Ganondorf only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Sheik.
- Defeat: Ruto or the one in need of rescue flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 28-34

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking your 2 allied captains (Darunia and Ruto) in the northern ruins.
- Capture either the keep directly north of you or the keep to its west 
to open its doors and continue north.
- After rescuing Ruto and Darunia, the Enemy Base will open, and Ruto will 
advance on it. New objective: Defeat Sheik.
- Defeat Sheik to win.

STRATEGY:
- The northern half of the map is off limits until you capture one of two 
keeps. I recommend the one directly north of you, because why go all the 
way around west? (Then again, the Piece of Heart and Heart Container are 
west, so if you haven't gotten them before, you may take the long way 
around.) Capture the keep, kill a few Big Poes to ensure they don't cause 
problems for the Hylian Captain down below, and continue north.
- Head up the right side of the map until you make your way to one of the 
flashing points (east for the eastern keep, west for the western). Capture 
the nearby keep for poops and giggles, but be sure to kill the Big Poes 
in the area to officially "rescue" your target.
- Do the same to the west/east keep in the ruins area. Kill the Big Poes, 
capture the keep, take names, make Stalchildren wish they still had tear 
ducts so they could weep.
- With both Ruto and Darunia rescued, make your way back down south. The 
Enemy Base will open, and Ruto will advance on it to take down Sheik (a 
stupid idea on her part, but she wasn't exactly helpful except as a living 
missile in Jabu-Jabu's Belly, now, was she?). Capture the northernmost 
keep to add to your KO count, and consider conquering one or two of the 
western keeps if you need more KOs.
- With all that out of the way, head to the Enemy Base to defeat Sheik 
before Ruto gets herself killed. (Ruto's such a FISH OUT OF WATER. She 
shouldn't have jumped into the DEEP END OF THE POOL. I smell something 
FISHY. Zoras are WEIRD. Okay, I'll stop.) Take down Sheik and end the level.

SWORDS OF DEMISE [swrdsfdms] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Great Swords Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 8 right, 2 down and search it. 
Use the Digging Mitts card on the X to unlock the secret reward, then beat 
the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Temple of Souls (Ganondorf only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Agitha.
- Defeat: Zant flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 8/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat all 3 captains (all Moblins).
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random keeps and launch seed attacks 
against the Allied Base.
- When one enemy captain has been defeated, Rogue (yellow) forces will 
appear in the central foyer area.
- When all three captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open.  
New objective: Defeat Agitha.
- The enemy will receive reinforcements.
- A Scout Captain will immediately appear in a random enemy keep to summon 
reinforcements.
- Defeat Agitha to win.

STRATEGY:
- Be warned in advance: the enemies in this stage have a TON of health, 
and although this mission is generally pretty lenient in terms of allowing 
you to take damage, it's easy to waste so much time killing stuff that 
your Time category gets a B Rank. Therefore, I highly recommend getting 
the Swords of Darkness (Ganondorf's Level 2 Great Swords) before 
attempting this, as the extra damage boost will help.
- Zant is directly north of you and is about to be swarmed by Bokoblins, 
Stalmasters, and Dark Agitha. Unite with him and weed out the Bokoblins 
and Stalmasters, but never mind Dark Agitha. Zant and your Goron buddies 
will take good care of her.
- 3 Mandhandla Stalks (we hates them! We hates them!) will appear in random 
keeps all over the level and launch seed attacks against the Allied Base. 
If you don't take them out quickly, you'll be looking at a swiftly deflated 
base, so rush to the pulsating spots on your map to kill them posthaste. 
In general, your pursuit of these cursed plants will take you west. Also 
remember that the boomerang can kill them instantly.
- The location of the stalks and the speed at which you dispatched them 
and helped Zant will kind of alter what exactly you should do next, but 
in general, take on the closest captain, who will usually be nearby in 
the east. Capture any keeps in your way to add to your KO count, but don't 
go too out of your way for them.
- After killing your first captain, a gang of yellow Rogue forces will 
appear in the central foyer area. Go near them to recruit them to your 
side. If you ignore them, they'll simply mill about and wait to get 
slaughtered by the enemies. If you're not too far away, I recommend 
recruiting them to give you a slight advantage. If you're currently 
neck-and-neck with a captain or Mandhandla Stalk on the other side of the 
world and one mistake spells disaster for everyone, you may choose to ignore 
them so your time is better spent.
- Kill the rest of the captains, wherever they may be. Feel free to take 
the keeps in the top half of the map, provided you don't have to sprint 
too far for them. Remember, unless you're absurdly over-leveled, this 
stage will really push you to complete it in time for an A Rank.
- The Enemy Base will open with the defeat of the captains, enemy 
reinforcements will appear from the south, and a Scout Captain will show 
up in a random enemy keep. If he's close by, kill him to prevent him from 
saddling Zant or the Allied Base with more problems. If he's too out of 
the way, you should probably ignore him to focus on getting more KOs and 
beating Agitha in time.
- If you're not yet at about 1,000 KOs, you should get the Fairy of Lightning 
from the northeastern keep in the top-center square area. That'll let you 
fight people in the central-southern keep way down below without taking 
damage.
- When you're satisfied with your KO count, confront Agitha in the Enemy 
Base. Wait for Weak Points, of which she will reveal many, and beat the 
crap out of her. If you finished with around 1,250 KOs and in under 15 
minutes without too much damage, you have yourself the Swords of Demise.

===============
Ruto [2rt]
===============

GOLDEN SCALE [gldnscl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Scale Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 15 right, 5 down. Search and 
use the Power Bracelet card on the statue to the right to reveal the secret 
reward, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Lake Hylia (Ruto only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Volga.
- Defeat: Darunia flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 26-32

DIFFICULTY: 4/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Capture the 3 green-pulsing enemy 
keeps on the map.
- 2 Fortifier Captains appear from the north to strengthen various enemy 
keeps.
- After capturing 2 of the 3 green-pulsing enemy keeps, the entirety of 
Volga's forces will march to the Allied Base.
- After capturing all 3 target keeps, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Volga.
- Defeat Volga to win.

STRATEGY:
- There will be a bunch of enemies to your west who run a pretty significant 
chance of threatening the Allied Base if left unchecked, so hang around 
and kill them to make sure your Morons - I mean, Gorons - aren't overwhelmed.
- Some Fortifier Captains will appear in the north and strengthen various 
enemy keeps, making those keeps' life bars drain slower when attacked. 
I say, ignore them. They don't present a large threat, and they'll take 
you away from where you're really needed.
- Capture the keep northwest of the Allied Base. Be sure to take the Fairy 
of Water with you so the second keep you take doesn't sap your life away.
- Head east and capture the keep northeast of the Allied Base. That's your 
first targeted keep.
- Go to the keep directly north of where you are. Use the Fairy of Water 
to dispell the barrier, then take it like you normally would (with lots 
of dancing? Swearing? Donning of funny outfits? How do YOU normally take 
keeps?). Take the Fairy of Light as a reward.
- With two of your targeted keeps taken, the entirety of Volga's current 
force will march on the Allied Base. Hang around the central part of the 
field area to the west and kill the enemy forces as they come down. Some 
enemies will also come from the northeast and challenge the keep you just 
took, but you should be fine where you are.
- Go to the keep directly to your west. Dispell the barrier with the Fairy 
of Light and capture it. That's the final keep you need, so provided the 
other two keeps you needed are still under your control, the Enemy Base 
will open.
- Go north to the Enemy Base and defeat Volga. The waves of enemies and 
numerous journeys to their keeps have more than likely given you plenty 
of KOs, but if you need some more, you can try taking the keep in the 
northeast corner. If not, put Volga in the ground and claim your prize.

WATER DRAGON SCALE [drgnsscl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Scale Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 16 right, 6 down. Search and 
use the Harp card on the butterflies to make the enemies appear, then use 
the Ladder card on the wooden tile to the right on the water, then beat 
the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Lake Hylia (Ruto only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Zant.
- Defeat: Fi flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 35-40

DIFFICULTY: 8/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (all 
Aerolfos).
- Two Cuccos will start appearing in random keeps fighting for terriory; 
if left unchecked, they will capture those keeps and create yellow enemy 
forces.
- When all 3 enemy captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open, 
and a wave of enemy reinforcements will march on the Allied Base from the 
north. New objective: Defeat Zant.
- Defeat Zant to win.

STRATEGY:
- In most stages, the 3 enemy captains would be spread out around the map. 
This isn't most stages, though, so they're pretty much all clumped 
together. To avoid taking on a whole army by yourself (well, more so than 
usual), ignore the closest captain northwest of the Allied Base for now 
and go to the top-central keep in the Water Temple. Capture it when you 
can, but more importantly, not one but two Aerolfos captains will soon 
come storming in. It's better than taking on all three, plus the Icy Big 
Poes, plus the random Bokoblins. Play defensively and look for Weak Points, 
both in the Aerolfos and the Icy Big Poes. Your forces down south will 
keep the third captain at bay in the meantime.
- By the way, you'll frequently notice two Cuccos appearing in random keeps 
and "fighting each other for territory." If you don't kill them soon, one 
of them will capture that keep, and yellow enemy units will spawn from 
it. I know that sounds like a chicken-ruled apocalypse, but trust me: IGNORE 
THEM. They will do nothing but make your life miserable. They'll waste 
your time (which is precious in this level) and whittle down your health, 
all while chasing you down like a clingy ex-girlfriend, except they're 
trying to peck your eyes out (so like your real ex-girlfriend, I'm 
guessing).
- Go now and kill that third captain, who should be in or near the Allied 
Base. Kill any Icy Big Poes with it to make sure they don't trouble the 
Allied Base anymore.
- With that, the Enemy Base will open, and enemy reinforcements will start 
marching on your base again. You have a minute and Fi needs help, so go 
west to her and kill the Aerolfos plaguing her and any Icy Big Poes that 
remain.
- Go up north and deal with the enemy reinforcements before they get too 
far. There will be many more Icy Big Poes with them. I hate those guys.
- Hopefully, you've spent no more than 10 minutes on this mission so far. 
Zant takes awhile to kill because he's stupid and also because he rarely 
shows Weak Points, so go straight for him and attack as best you can. Focus 
Spirit attacks really help. You should have more than enough KOs, so focus 
on avoiding damage and acting quickly. Defeat him and, with any luck, claim 
the Water Dragon's Scale.

===============
Agitha [2gth]
===============

LUNA PARASOL [lnprsl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Parasol Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 1 right, 5 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Twilight Field (Agitha only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Zant.
- Defeat: Link flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 30-35

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 captains (Darknuts).
- Hylian Captain will become injured and try to retreat to the Allied Base. 
If he dies, a Hylian Ghost will appear and curse the battlefield.
- With all 3 captains defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Zant.
- Zant's forces will march on the Allied Base, and Link will march on Zant.
- Defeat Zant to win.

STRATEGY:
- Go to the nearest Darknut captain, who is northwest of where you start, 
and defeat him and his little horde. Agitha's butterfly riding ability 
works wonders to clear enemies and knock them off their feet.
- A Hylian Captain with an inflated ego and a deflated brain will attack 
the Enemy Base perimeter all by his lonesome but get himself injured. He'll 
try to retreat to the Allied Base, but if he gets himself killed (which 
will happen easily), he'll turn into a Hylian Ghost, which is basically 
just a glorified Poe, but some of your forces will retreat while the Hylian 
Ghost is alive (undead?). It'll appear right next to you, so it won't be 
hard to defeat. I recommend letting the Hylian Captain die and then slaying 
his ghost. Trying to save him will take up far too much time, which you 
could be using to kill Darknuts, aid Link, and defend the Allied Base.
- Defeat another Darknut captain - which one doesn't really matter, but 
I believe the one in the northwest will be closer, so try that one.
- At this point, Link will probably need some help, so go to him and slay 
the forces around him, which includes a number of not-captain Darknuts. 
When the bulk of the small troops and all the Darknuts are gone, find the 
last Darknut captain and kill it to open the Enemy Base.
- A portion of Zant's forces will advance toward the Enemy Base, but Link 
will attempt to cut off the head of the snake by defeating Zant at his 
base. Link will take off and meet a bulk of enemy forces to his east, so 
help clear them out for him.
- It'll be a bit before Link reaches Zant, and the Allied Base is about 
to wind up in trouble. Defeat the forces marching to it in the south.
- Join Link up in the Enemy Base and kill Zant. You should have plenty 
of KOs by this point, but if you don't have around at least 1,100, try 
taking a keep on the way.

PRINCESS PARASOL [prncssprsl] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Parasol Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 4 right, 1 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the north wall 3 tiles away to the left of the stairs, 
then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Ganon's Tower (Agitha only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Link.
- Defeat: Cia flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 47-52

DIFFICULTY: 9/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (2 Focus 
Spirit Dinolfos, Ganondorf).
- Various Dinolfos will appear on the battlefield.
- After defeating the 3 captains, the Enemy Base will open. New objective: 
Defeat Link.
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random enemy keeps and launch seed 
attacks against the Allied Base.
- Link's forces will advance toward the Allied Base from the northeast 
and southeast.
- Defeat Link to win.

STRATEGY:
- Do you suck at using Agitha? Hey, so do I! We have something in common! 
A lot of people suck at using Agitha, and the purely sadistic of Tecmo 
Koei apparently decided throwing this girl one of the hardest levels in 
the game was a fine idea. So here we are. However, this level 
becomes...doable if you figure out how to use Agitha effectively. I had 
to scrounge around on the internet to learn how to use the young princess. 
The best example of how to pull it off is demonstrated in a YouTube video 
called Hyrule Warriors: Agitha Level 3 Weapon Mission (A Rank), done by 
a guy what goes by the name of swillo. I'm not associated with him in any 
way, but it's a good visual example of how to use Agitha. He actually did 
it at Level 43, whereas I couldn't hack it until Level 56. Your own mileage 
may vary.
- Mainly, you'll be using Agitha's C3 and C4 techniques (that's the 
"weak-weak-strong" and "weak-weak-weak-strong" combos for those who don't 
know the jargon) to get your enemies off their feet from a distance. The 
omnipresent Dinolfos like to charge you head-on, so considering Agitha 
likes to leave herself open, try not to initiate those techniques if they're 
close. You can use her C2 technique to buy yourself some space if they 
are too close. C5 is also great for bashing enemies from a distance, but 
it obviously takes a little longer to set up. You can use C2 to juggle 
independent enemies, but relying on that with lots of tough enemies around 
is asking for a claw to the face. In general, just prepare for lots of 
trial and error if you don't already know how to use Agitha properly.
- When you enter the stage, you'll be greeted with the most pants-crappingly 
large platoon of Dinolfos you've ever seen, plus a bunch of Stalchildren 
thrown in for good measure. And that's just one captain - the other Dinolfos 
captain will come through shortly with his own Dinolfos lackeys. Remember 
the techniques we discussed (well, I wrote, you read)? Spam the blazes 
out of them now. This beginning section is the hardest, so the stage will 
even out later. Use C3 when they get within middling range to throw them 
off their feet, then quickly follow up with C4 or C5 to lay more hurt on 
them. If they get too close, either run away or use C2 to separate yourself 
from them. Don't rely on simple weak attacks unless you're trying to get 
at a Weak Point, and even then, don't wait around for Weak Points. Just 
smash them with combos. If you see fireballs sailing at your face, try 
and dodge them - keep an eye out for them. This stage is actually pretty 
lenient with how much damage you can take, but a B Rank in damage certainly 
isn't an impossibility.
- After 3 to 5 minutes of ruthless violence from a little blonde girl with 
a parasol, all the Dinolfos (including, of course, those two captains) 
should be dead. Ganondorf is the final captain, marching on the Allied 
Base from the south. For now, skip past him and go to the Allied Base, 
which should already be under attack from yet another horde of Dinolfos. 
Kill as many of them as you can before Ganondorf can get there. Use the 
same tricks as you did before, and rescue Lana when she needs it, because 
she'll probably need it.
- With the Allied Base free from Dinolfos, focus your attention on the 
last captain, Ganondorf. Spam the same combos as you have been all stage, 
though thankfully Ganny has practically a fraction of the health the 
Dinolfos captains had. He should go down considerably easier.
- When Ganondorf is dead, the Enemy Base will open, 3 Manhandla Stalks 
will appear in random enemy keeps and launch seed attacks on the Allied 
Base, and more forces will advance to the Allied Base. This is actually 
more of a problem for Cia, who will be soon swamped with your favorite 
reptilian swordsmen and Zelda. Kill the Manhandla Stalks first; Cia can 
hold out for a bit. Remember that the boomerang can kill Manhandla Stalks 
instantly.
- By now, you should hopefully have around 800 KOs and no more than 8 minutes 
on the clock. Return to back up Cia by killing the Stalchildren and Dinolfos 
around her. Damaging Zelda is good and all, but Cia can handle her if you 
get rid of the other guys. Don't fret about Zelda and trust Cia to know 
what she's doing.
- The battlefield is still in chaos, but the only challenge you should 
concern yourself with now is Link. Mopping up the enemies around Cia should 
bring you up to about 1,000 or 1,100 KOs. When you have that many (or even 
more), go to the Enemy Base in the southeastern corner and defeat Link. 
For the most part, you can rely on the techniques you used to - the C3 
combo does a fair amount of damage here - but you can also try juggling 
him with C2 and following up with a string of weak attacks while he's in 
the air. Seize on Weak Points when they appear, but don't rely on them. 
Ask him if he likes spam, then give it to him in the form of distant combos. 
This is a difficult, hectic level, so expect multiple tries before getting 
it right. Also take solace in that you just turned a cute little princess 
into a fearsome engine of war and death. What could stand up to you now?

===============
Zant [2znt]
===============

SHADOW SCIMITARS [shdwscmtrs] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Scimitars Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 1 right, 4 down. Search and 
use the Ice Arrows card on the flaming ring, then beat the square with 
an A Rank.

STAGE: Palace of Twilight (Zant only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Link.
- Defeat: Midna flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 30-35

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Destroy the 3 Bombchus.
- When all 3 Bombchus have been destroyed, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Link.
- A Focus Spirit Shield Moblin will lead a force from the east to the Allied 
Base.
- A Cucco will appear next to you and follow you around. Damage it too 
much, and it'll summon reinforcements and attack you.
- Defeat Link to win.

STRATEGY:
- On paper, this stage isn't anything too difficult, much the same way 
being in a firefight and having your gun happen to jam just once isn't 
too difficult. If everything goes according to plan, you don't have to 
worry about much. One wrong move, and everything goes south. I'm referring 
mostly to the Cucco, of course. Additionally, your forces start with low 
morale and lose more of it easily, so you'll need to destroy Bombchus, 
capture enemy keeps, and defend your own keeps to raise morale.
- To make sure you'll have enough KOs, capture the keep in the southwestern 
corner. A Bombchu will appear by there shortly, so take off after it when 
it starts moving and destroy it.
- There'll be another Bombchu entering the keep south of the Allied Base, 
followed by a massive horde of friendly neighborhood Bulblins. Fend off 
as many as you can until a prompt comes up that the third Bombchu is moving 
and heading for the Allied Base. There'll be more of these goons threatening 
this keep, but you can take care of them later.
- Destroy the last Bombchu coming through the central area in front of 
the palace, along with any enemies with it.
- The Enemy Base will open, and things will take a turn for the...trickier. 
A powerful Shield Moblin will emerge from the west and lead a force to 
the Allied Base. You should stop him before he presents much of a threat...
- ...But then pops in the only thing more bothersome than a whole forest 
of Manhandla Stalks...the lone Cucco. It'll follow you around incessantly 
and just stare at you like some sort of feathered stalker freak, not giving 
a single f&*% about you or what you're doing. The kicker, though, is that 
attacking it too many times (which is easy given Zant's shenanigans) will 
cause it to turn vicious and summon a whole flock of Cuccos to attack you. 
They're virtually impossible to get rid of, and they make focusing on 
anything not white and feathery extremely difficult. Try to direct your 
attacks away from it to prevent this catastrophe. This mostly means relying 
on the first few weak attacks, the second-strong ("C3") or fourth-strong 
("C5") combos, the Special Attack, firing lasers with the strong attack 
button, or spinning forward with the strong attack button. Try to keep 
the Cucco behind you and don't do any attacks that will hit around you 
too much.
- If you need more KOs, take your deathly pet Cucco down to the keep south 
of the Allied Base and defend it from the hordes. When you're finished, 
go to the Enemy Base and finish off Link.

SCIMITARS OF TWILIGHT [scmtrsftwlght] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Scimitars Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 3 right, 2 down. Search and 
use the Bomb card on the north wall one tile to the right of that slope 
up from the stairs, then beat the square with an A Rank.

STAGE: Death Mountain (Zant only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ghirahim.
- Defeat: Ganondorf flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 37-42

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Fi, 2 
Fiery Aerolfos).
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will appear in random keeps and launch seed attacks 
on the Allied Base.
- After 1 captain has been defeated, a Scout Captain will appear in a random 
keep and attempt to summon reinforcements.
- Sheik's faction of enemy forces will eventually march on Cia (in the 
Allied Base).
- When all 3 captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open. New 
objective: Defeat Ghirahim.
- A high-morale Focus Spirit Fiery Aerolfos will appear in a northern keep 
and prepare to storm the Allied Base.
- Defeat Ghirahim to win.

STRATEGY:
- 3 Manhandla Stalks will soon appear in random keeps, but you've got a 
little time before they become worrisome. Take care of that Fiery Aerolfos 
captain directly south of where you start.
- With the defeat of one captain, a Shield Moblin Scout Captain will appear 
in one of the keeps. If you don't defeat this moron quickly, he'll summon 
reinforcements, making this mission significantly more difficult, so go 
to him and slay him dead. Now would also be a good time to dispose of those 
horrid Manhandla Stalks. If you can quickly take a keep or two in the 
process, even better.
- Ganondorf (in the northwest) should be running into trouble right about 
now, what with Sheik and the Fiery Aerolfos captain and the Stalmasters 
and the Stalchildren and probably kidney stones and small claims court 
appearances and goodness knows what else. Aid him by "rescuing" him (if 
need be) and taking care of most of the tough enemies around. Don't worry 
too much about defeating Sheik, as Ganondorf can likely handle her on his 
own, but obviously you'll have to deal with that captain sooner or later, 
so it might as well be now.
- With the danger surrounding Ganondorf temporarily abated, go to the 
northeastern keep and defeat Fi. She should go down pretty quickly.
- The Enemy Base will open up with the defeat of all 3 captains, but another 
Fiery Aerolfos, this one just as tough as a captain, will appear in a 
northern keep and prepare to storm the Allied Base, which basically just 
means he'll teleport inside before long and wreak havoc. After the 
Manhandla Stalk pummeling earlier, the Allied Base can't take that kind 
of abuse for long, so deal with the Fiery Aerolfos quickly.
- Only Ghirahim down south is left, and you probably don't have a lot of 
time left for that A Rank. Race down there and defeat him posthaste. I 
finished with about 6 seconds left, so hopefully you'll be more focused 
and do better than I did. Just focus your efforts on Ghirahim, not on taking 
keeps or defending Ganondorf/the Allied Base (after killing the Fiery 
Aerolfos anyway), and it'll go easier.

===============
Ghirahim [2ghrhm]
===============

DEMON LONGSWORD [dmnlngswrd] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Demon Blade Level 2

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 5 right, 4 down. Search and 
use the Power Bracelet card on the top center statue, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Sealed Grounds (Ghirahim only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: Fi or the one in need of rescue (Impa, Goron Captain) flees.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 33-38

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the white-glowing enemies 
attacking your 2 allied captains (Impa, Goron Captain).
- A Cucco will appear on the battlefield and begin following you around.
- Capture either the keep west of your starting point or the keep southwest 
of the stage's inner spiral to break through and access more of the Sealed 
Grounds.
- Capture either the central-southern keep or the northeastern keep 
surrounded by a Water Barrier to break through and access the rest of the 
Sealed Grounds.
- After breaking through 2 keeps, the entirety of Ganondorf's forces will 
march on Fi.
- Defeat the white-glowing enemies attacking Impa, Fi, and/or Goron 
Captain to rescue them.
- When all of the target enemies attacking your allies have been defeated, 
the Enemy Base will open. New objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat Ganondorf to win.

STRATEGY:
- Most of the level is closed off, so to open more of it, you'll have to 
capture one of two keeps. I recommend the keep directly west of you; it's 
closer, and capturing it will give Fi (and therefore you) a little peace 
of mind later.
- About the time you break through your first keep, a Cucco will appear 
and just start following you around. If you attack it too many times, it'll 
turn vicious and summon a horde of Cuccos to gang up on you, but what can 
you do - you have an army to kill, and it's gawking at you like the world's 
stupidest spectator. Just try to direct your attacks away from it and move 
quickly. Don't use any attacks that affect a wide radius around you.
- To access the rest of the level, you'll need to capture one of two keeps 
again. Both are surrounded by Water Barriers, but there's only one Fairy 
of Water. Rescue it from the keep southwest of the Sealed Grounds' inner 
spiral.
- With the Fairy of Water safely bottled up, you'll need to capture another 
target keep. I recommend the south-central one, since it places you closer 
to Impa, who should currently be doing epic battle with two Aerolfos.
- Break through that keep and rescue Impa by defeating specific enemies 
plaguing her. Remember, they'll be glowing white to identify them as 
mission-centric.
- Breaking through both keeps will prompt the entirety of Ganondorf's 
forces not in keeps to march on Fi. The Goron Captain doesn't have a 
white-glowing enemy attacking him, but he will be under a bit of pressure, 
so go north and defend him briefly from the bigger enemies in the area. 
After that, cut through to Fi. Remember that the northeastern entrance 
to the temple is closed, so you'll either have to take the long way around 
or cut through the nearest keep, which, yes, is surrounded by a Water 
Barrier, but you're man/woman enough to take half a heart of damage, right?
- Defeat the armored Bokoblin annoying Fi and any other large enemies in 
the area. This will officially "rescue" all your allies, opening up the 
Enemy Base. Chances are the keep you first captured is under enemy control 
now, so recapture that to ensure Fi doesn't bite the dust.
- Ganondorf is the only challenge remaining, so meet him in the Enemy Base 
in the east and take him down.

TRUE DEMON BLADE [trdmnbld] ==========

WEAPON TYPE: Demon Blade Level 3

HOW TO UNLOCK: Go to Adventure Mode square 9 right, 2 down. Search and 
use the Digging Mitts card on the X in the grass, then beat the square 
with an A Rank.

STAGE: Temple of Souls (Ghirahim only)

CONDITIONS:
- Victory: Defeat Ganondorf.
- Defeat: Midna flees or the Allied Base falls.

RECOMMENDED LEVEL: 36-42

DIFFICULTY: 6/10

LEVEL PROGRESSION:
- Mission start. Current objective: Defeat the 3 enemy captains (Wizzro, 
2 Stalmasters).
- A Hylian Captain will appear in the east.
- With 2 enemy captains defeated, Zant will march on Agitha from the north.
- When all 3 enemy captains have been defeated, the Enemy Base will open. 
New objective: Defeat Ganondorf.
- A wave of enemy reinforcements will advance on the Allied Base from the 
east.
- A high-morale Focus Spirit Gibdo will appear.
- Defeat Ganondorf to win.

STRATEGY:
- The enemy captains will gradually begin to converge in Midna/the Allied 
Base, but you've got some time, so take the keep east of Midna to give 
yourself more KOs and some peace of mind in the future.
- By the time you finish taking the keep, a Stalmaster captain should have 
started fighting with Midna. Defeat that captain and his cronies.
- The keep south of Midna will be under attack by this point by another 
Stalmaster captain. Speed down there and save the keep by killing the 
captain and anyone who looks like him. After the defeat of the second 
captain, Zant will take a force from the north and march to the Allied 
Base, but you've got some time before you really need to worry about him.
- Wizzro will be heading up from the south. Don't give him a chance to 
attack your keep and take him out. (Anyone else get the impression Wizzro 
is the enemy side's very own Krillin?)
- With the 3 captains defeated, the Enemy Base will open, and enemy 
reinforcements will march to the Allied Base. For now, go up north and 
defeat Zant, who should be throwing down with Midna. A high-morale Focus 
Spirit Gibdo should also appear somewhere in the north, which could spell 
trouble for the punier Hylian soldiers. Kill it when you can.
- The Allied Base will start to be threatened by enemies from the south. 
Go down there and defend it. If you have about 11 minutes or less on your 
timer, try capturing the keep southeast of the Allied Base, too. It'll 
give you more KOs and spare the Allied Base some grief.
- The only immediate threat now is Ganondorf, who should just be twiddling 
his thumbs or something in the Enemy Base. Defeat him there, making sure 
to take out plenty of stray Stalchildren in the base if you need more KOs.

COSTUMES [cstm2] ===============================================

===============
Link
===============

ZORA TUNIC ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat one square in the Rewards Map from the Adventure Mode 
selection.

BASIC DESCRIPTION: Just a basic color swap - Link's hat and tunic are now 
a deep blue.

GORON TUNIC ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat all five squares in the Rewards Map from the Adventure 
Mode selection.

BASIC DESCRIPTION: Another color swap of Link's hat and tunic, this time 
turning them red.

MISCELLANEOUS [msc2] ===========================================

ADVENTURE MODE [dvntrmd] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend 
Mode.

DESCRIPTION: Adventure Mode is a series of challenges laid out in a large 
grid reminiscent of the original Legend of Zelda's overworld. Beating a 
level, represented by one square, will open up new levels if you met the 
level's requirements. In addition to challenging yourself, you can also 
get some new Pieces of Heart/Heart Containers, Gold Skulltulas, weapons, 
and four characters exclusively from this mode.

FREE MODE [frmd] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend 
Mode.

DESCRIPTION: Free Mode lets you replay any beaten Legend Mode stage with 
any unlocked character and weapon. Honestly, once you've beaten every 
stage in Legend Mode, Legend Mode becomes kind of redundant, as even most 
of the cutscenes will still play as usual in Free Mode.

GALLERY [gllry] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat Prologue: The Armies of Ruin (the first stage) in Legend 
Mode.

DESCRIPTION: As you play the game, you'll be able to view the characters 
you've unlocked in a sort of 3D diorama, in addition to any Illustrations 
uncovered by Gold Skulltula tokens, regardless of how much progress you've 
made on them. You're not able to view characters in the Gallery as soon 
as you unlock them; the exact requirements for unlocking their Gallery 
versions are currently unknown, though it seems to be related to how many 
enemies they kill or how many battles they participate in.

HERO DIFFICULTY [hrmd] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat all stages in Legend Mode on any difficulty.

DESCRIPTION: The hardest difficulty in the game, plenty challenging even 
for the most cynical Warriors player. There are some basic differences 
between Hero and the easier difficulties:

- You take significantly more damage
- Enemies take significantly less damage
- You earn no experience points

So if you were thinking of using Hero difficulty's tough enemies as a 
grinding point, you can take that line of thinking right the heck with 
you out the door. Hero difficulty is all about the challenge, not about 
what you gain.

HARD MODE GOLD SKULLTULAS [hrdsklltls]==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Beat all stages in Legend Mode on any difficulty.

DESCRIPTION: Each stage in Legend Mode/Free Mode has a Gold Skulltula that 
will appear if you defeat 1,000 enemies. However, beating all stages in 
Legend Mode will provide each stage with a second Gold Skulltula 
exclusively on the Hard difficulty. That second Skulltula will only appear 
if you complete very specific requirements, often involving which 
character and weapon you play with, how fast you do something, how little 
damage you take, and otherwise preventing the enemy from gaining certain 
footholds. To make things even more confusing, the explanations for making 
each Hard Mode Skulltula appear intentionally leave out key details, so 
you'll have to use intuition (or a walkthrough) to deduce what the 
prerequisites are.

Note: I've heard tell that some Hard Mode Gold Skulltulas are bugged and 
won't appear in Free Mode when they should. Hopefully that's been patched 
by now, but it may be safer to try and get them in Legend Mode nonetheless.

REWARDS MAP [rwrdsmp] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Complete one illustration by collecting all relevant Gold 
Skulltula tokens.

DESCRIPTION: The Rewards Map is an extremely small, 5-stage version of 
Adventure Mode where each stage has very unique rules. Each stage's theme 
is based on the illustration that unlocked it when completed, so you'll 
need to double down on your Gold Skulltula hunting to unlock them all. 
Beating one Rewards Map stage, any one at all, will unlock the Zora Tunic 
for Link's use. Beating all Rewards Map stages will get him the Goron Tunic.

MASTER SWORD LEGENDARY SKILL - EVIL'S BANE [vlsbn] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Unlock every in-game weapon of every rank, then defeat 25,000 
enemies with the Master Sword.

DESCRIPTION: Increases the Master Sword's power from 300 to 500, making 
it the most powerful weapon in the game.

ALL WEAPON LEGENDARY SKILLS [lgndry] ==========

HOW TO UNLOCK: Unlock the Legendary Skill Evil's Bane for the Master Sword 
to turn the previously purple sealed skills on certain weapons into normal 
red sealed skills. Defeat a total of 25,000 enemies with that weapon to 
unlock the skill.

DESCRIPTION: The purple Legendary Skills are essentially how you release 
a weapon's true potential. In this case, it boosts the weapon's power 
dramatically, up to a max of 450. Weapons you've unlocked Legendary Skills 
for are obviously worth hanging onto.

================================================================
FAQ
================================================================
If you have a question that is relevant to this guide but this guide was 
too condescending to answer, you can e-mail me, and I'll try my best to 
help you out. I'll copy that answer down and put it in this FAQ so other 
people can benefit from it, too. If your question was, in fact, not 
relevant, I may answer it by sending an e-mail your way, but more than 
likely it won't show up here.

================================================================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
================================================================

- Thanks to swillo, the YouTuber who clearly knows a lot more about Hyrule 
Warriors than I do and unknowingly inspired me to stop sucking with Agitha 
and Lana's Summoning Gate. Much as I might like to pretend I was that good 
all along, my play styles with those cretins/lovely people are modeled 
after swillo's.

- Thanks to a kind fellow we'll call Greenman, who told me he liked the 
guide and found it very useful. I'd had some doubts before then if anyone 
would truly find any use for this guide, and Greenman, as Ghirahim would 
say, "filled my heart with rainbows."

- Thanks to sonikku2008 for taking the time to send in what's actually 
a very detailed strategy for arguably one of the hardest stages in Adventure 
Mode, that being Lana's Summoning Gate Level 2.