Bokoblin Fort Raid Redux & Diving Into Oakle's Navel - Screenshot Roundup 56

The Towering Inferno

Well, I’m at the tower. Now to figure out how to get to the top…

Hateno Tower

There does seem to be a climbing path through all the thorns, but it looks incredibly annoying if not dangerous. Bluh. How were the sheikah capable of making a tablet complete with its own OS, but couldn't attach a fucking elevator to their towers. They already use them to go down into the shrines!

...I didn't do it.

I circle and climb around the base, looking up for a good starting point. My search isn't terribly fruitful, but I do end up finding a few ore deposits along the base. Might as well fill my pockets while I’m here, right?

...Okay, so, you know how if you strike Flint with metal you can create sparks that you can start a fire with? Both in real life and in the game?

Well, apparently it works on ore deposits too. Especially when those ore deposits are placed on top of patches of dried leaves and grass. Which then spread onto the large swaths of dried thorn bushes in the surrounding area. As soon as I see the fire I run back around to the front of the tower, watching as the flames spread quickly.

Then I notice the updraft…

...This is either going to be incredibly stupid or incredibly awesome...

I really hope the tower isn't flammable.

I take a deep breath and leap into the flames, pulling out my paraglider instantly and shooting up into the air on the updraft. I watch as the plants burn below me, the older flames going out as new ones spread further. I follow the updrafts towards the tower, and I am able to hover close to the tower as the fire spreads up it’s walls, clearing it of the dangerous debris. I seem to have hit a vertical wall as it were, so I go ahead and attach myself to the tower, about ⅔ of the way up. It’s not an elevator but it’ll do.

I climb to the nearest platform as I wait for the flames to finish burning and then continue my climb up. At the top, I activate the tower and update my map, filling in the entire East Necluda region. The whole thing is a valley, Fort Hateno seems to be the only clear way in a out, other then possibly making it up somehow through the Necluda Sea. Geography!

I look out from the tower and survey the landscape. I mark a few of the shrines I see with pins, at least the ones that seem to be accessible from this area. I can also see Hateno village in the distance, on the opposite end of East Necluda from me and the tower. The path I’m taking actually loops all the way back around to where I first turned onto the land bridge. I’ll be able to hit the places I missed on the way back.

I have the worst fucking luck.

I look down at Fabio, and notice that the tower is actually perched right above a pair of bokoblin tree forts. Tree forts which it seems I am going to have to pass nearby on my way to town anyway. Might as well get the drop on them while I have the advantage. I position myself and jump, pulling out my paraglider and beginning my decent. I’ll be able to land on the highest part of the fort, able to take down many of them totally unseen and work my way down to the ground.

Wait. What’s happening? Something’s happening.

FUCK. It’s another Blood Moon, right when I was about to land. FINE. I teleport back up to the tower and wait for the moon to pass. Last thing I want is for all the 'blins I just killed to immediately come back. Let’s try this again.

Marblod Plain

The second attempt is much more successful. Also, since it’s night-time, most of the monsters are asleep, making my job even easier. I land very carefully behind a still awake bokoblin guard, and quickly dispatch him with a hammer to the back of the head. I can see more of the ‘blins now, and notice some of the stronger variety among them, along with a sleeping moblin mixed in. Party.

Gosh those fireworks are pretty.

I switch to my stealth outfit, wanting to work my way down the tree and taking out as many of the bokoblins as they sleep as I can. The closest threat is a large sleeping moblin, and so I sneak down a spiraling staircase and perform a sneakstrike on his sleeping body. I finish him off quickly and run back upstairs to avoid the guards I’m sure I woke up. Sure enough, I notice one of the stronger bokoblins searching for me, having heard me taking out his brethren . He only makes it like, halfway up the stairs before giving up though. Then he walks back down to his bed, yawns, and lays back down. Right next to three explosive barrels. Which are right underneath this ledge I’m standing on.

They really only have themselves to blame.

I pull out a remote bomb and let it fall.

I took a little damage in the explosion, but it was so worth vaporizing that 'blin. I also somehow managed to not wake anyone else up. Blin’s are heavy sleepers, I guess. I make to sneak over to him to take him out next, but before I do I see that I have a good vantage point of the other treefort from where I am. Just a bunch of sleeping bokoblins, all laying around even more explosive barrels. I notch a bomb arrow and let loose more pretty fireworks.

*chef kiss*

I seemingly destroy almost everyone on that tree except a single dark bokoblin. I float right over on my paragliders and finish him off before floating back to the first tree. There are only two bokoblins still alive and I take them out quickly. Once all is said and done, I open not one but two chests, containing an Opal (again) and 10 Arrows. Thanks. Alone on the ground beneath the treefort, I suddenly remember that I left my horse back near the tower. So grumbling to myself, I follow the path back west and up the hill towards the tower’s base. Once I’m close enough I use my whistle and see Fabio galloping downhill towards me. I hop on him rather spectacularly as he nears me and we take off into a gallop that I sadly have to stop almost immediately. Something’s caught my eye - a cave.

I hop off Fabio and leave him by the path again. A cave means keese and I don’t feel like trying to fight those annoying little fucks on horseback. But before I see my first bat, thee chus ambush me. I switch to my weakest weapon and take them out quickly and gather up the delicious Chu Jelly. Then I approach the cave proper, and see that it is actually a tunnel.

From here I can see at least a dozen or so keese, all sleeping on the roof of the cave. I also see another moblin about halfway down the tunnel, facing away from me. A hero’s work is never done. I take a few of the keese out with arrows before just saying fuck it and floating down to the moblin. I end up knocking out most of them as I swing my weapon at him, and whatever is left after is easy pickins. I break open the nearby ore deposits to replenish some of my rupees once I hit Hateno. Then I exit the tunnel.

...why are you here?

Oakle’s Navel

I see...a big hole. Well it’s a pond really, since there’s water in it. But it is a loooooong way down to it. Oakle has a very very deep bellybutton. (Who the fuck is Oakle? Is he from one of the Oracle games? I didn’t play those.) Also a pretty empty one, as the only other living thing I see in here is an octorok. I take him out as he floats up, before he notices me, and watch as the spoils fall into the water below. I also see a ring of lily pads like I did on the plateau. Korok! I spot a cliff perfect for diving placed near it and jump, collecting my seed.

...oh goddamnit I have to climb all the way back up? No. Fuck that. I fast travel to the recently activated Hateno tower and float back down to Fabio. Suck on that, Oakle.

---

Heart Containers: 5
Shrines Completed: 9
Koroks Found: 31
Tower: Nonflammable (& Climbed)
Blood Moon: Has Awful Timing
Oakle’s Navel: Deep and Full of Monsters

Toto Sah Shrine & Stalnox Hunting - Screenshot Roundup 46

Let's Kill a Giant Skeleton Because It's There

Since I’m already here, let’s take care of Mr. Skeleton first. It’s still too early in the day for the undead to come out, so I spend some time replenishing meals and double checking my weapon inventory. It was late afternoon, night would fall soon, so it seemed like the perfect time to get moving.

Once I was satisfied, I hop onto Fabio and lead him back across the Big and Little Twin bridges, back towards Misko’s treasure cache. As we trot around the river’s edge, something along the mountain on the other side catches my eye. A cracked wall! How did I miss that the first time around?

This hiding place seems a bit...excessive.

I dismount Fabio and swim across the river, placing a square remote bomb down on the other shore. Blowing the rocks reveals the cave’s secret: an entire shrine within! I had turned off the shrine sensor, because that beeping was really getting on my nerves, but maybe I shouldn’t going forward.

Hmm, I know I'm supposed to be hunting a skeleton right now, but...shrine. Ol' Skelly is already dead, he can wait a little while longer. I make my way into the cave, activate the shrine, and lower myself down.

Toto Sah Apparatus

            ~Toto Sah Shrine~

An apparatus huh? Immediately ahead of me is a an archway, beyond which lies a pillar of some kind. It has a pedestal for the Sheikah Slate, but on top is some kind of rotating gyroscope, glowing orange. There is a gap in the path extending behind it, a black stone column hovering in the middle of the gap. Examining the pedestal pulls the camera back wide, the floating stone column at the center of the screen.

Simple enough...

Following the on screen commands, I figure out I can rotate the column by rotating my controller. I play with this a little bit before noticing a chest attached to one of the sides of the column. I then rotate the column so that the chest is sitting up right and end my control of the gyroscope and column. I get a Shield of the Mind’s Eye out of the chest before continuing beyond, as the path winds up and to the right.

Another gyroscope puzzle, though one more difficult. Instead of just rotating a column into a bridge, I have to line up three sets of stairs. The middle stairs are attached to a long beam, and the stairs slide up and down it as I rotate the gyroscope. Very carefully, I tilt the controller, slowly edging the stairs into place after first overshooting it a couple of times. I jump to the first set and climb up the other two, following the path up once again to a final gyroscope puzzle.

Oh fuck you, Toto Sah.

What the hell is this. I don’t even know what to call this shape honestly. It looks like one of the puzzles from Intelligent Qube for PS1. Just a bunch of cubes stacked together into a weird diamond shape. I activate the gyroscope and try rotating the object this way and that. I need to find a position where I can both jump onto and off of the puzzle at both ends, AND make sure I can walk across it as well. There’s also the added benefit of another one of those sliding staircases that needs to be placed just so, AND there’s another chest, on a totally different section, so I’ll need to do this twice.

Sigh. It’s not nearly as complicated as my complaining makes it sound, but this is the internet, so you get to hear me bitch. First up is the chest. Awkwardly clutching my controller, I get the jagged, narrow path to the chest lined up so I can cross, opening it and gaining a Small Key! So I guess the chest actually was required to finish this.

It's a pretty cool door opening animation IMO.

I walk back over to the gyroscope and activate it again. I slowly move the puzzle around, gauging for the possible solutions. The stairs are a good clue, I don’t think they’d stick those there if I didn’t need to use them. After realizing that, the rest was easy. Holding my controller at an awkward angle, I line up both ends of the puzzle as the stairs slowly slide into place. Bam, I climb onto the puzzle, up the stairs, and onto the path on the other side.

The only things standing between me and another Spirit Orb are a locked door and Toto Sah himself. Neither put up much of a fight, and I’m back outside before I know it. Well, outside but in a cave. Whatever. It’s still night time, so let’s go see if our skeleton friend is out and about.

Hickaly Woods

I swim back across the river to Fabio, and I notice two things. First, right next to me in a tree stump is a rock. Pick it up, and voila! Korok. The second is that it’s daytime. Sigh. I walk over just to confirm, yep, he is asleep. Well, we can fix that: I fast travel back to the stable, wait until night by the campfire, and then fast travel back to Toto Sah Shrine. Bam, Skelefriend is awake. I can see him lumbering around his “section” of Hickaly Woods from a distance. Now to figure out how to kill him. I hop off Fabio, leaving him just outside the treeline for his own protection. Skellie hasn’t noticed me, so I circle around the forest, keeping him in my sight.

I can see that just behind him are some rocks that look perfect for launching a few arrows from. I inch closer, still making sure he doesn’t notice me, until I make a dash to hide behind the rocks. It seemingly works, as no health bar appears no does any boss music start. I doubt I’ll have long once I’m up there before he notices me. No idea what his attacks might be but I’ll at least be able to land a few good shots on him, hopefully. Let’s do it.

I climb the rocky hill to the very top, putting me just above Skellie. I finally get a real good look at him. Not that there’s much to look at: he’s a giant skeleton. He has a single giant eye, which appears to be the only part of him that ISN’T bone. He also seems to have weapons sticking out of him - like, actual, usable weapons. Maybe I can pry them out when he’s dead? Or redead (I'm here all week).

Here goes nothing...

The boss music suddenly kicks in. I see the health bar appear on the screen finally, along with the Skellie’s real name: Stalnox. Similar to the stone talus on the plateau, this one also lists our location - Hickaly Woods. Wonder why that’s labeled… I pull out my bow and take aim, waiting for the giant to lumber just a little closer. Since I’m not pulling any punches, I switch over to bomb arrows.

Oof. There’s goes that eye… I watch him stumble on the ground helplessly as the orb flies from it’s socket. I can see it on the ground, moving, probably trying to get back to its body. Well, we can’t have that can we? I float down and begin attacking it immediately. I manage to get a few good licks in before the eye is scooped back up and placed back into the stalnox’s head.

This is the part where I remember I am a tiny squishy Hylian and he is a gigantic monster who wants to kill me. Eep. I start to move away from Skellie, his slow lurch not enough to keep up with me. I try and hit his eye with another arrow, but miss, and once he gets close enough he attempts to squish me with his bony bottom. Even without hitting the eye though, I still manage to do some damage. At least I’ve got an attack pattern now.

Warning: Do not explode bomb arrows near eye.

I repeat this, doing moderate if not steady damage. Eventually Skellie gets fed up with all my running around and just straight walks up to a tree and yanks it from the ground. Shit. Better hit that eye again. I run north towards the river and take aim. Bullse...skeleton’s eye. Said eye rolls towards me next to the river bank, and I once again start hitting it. Funny enough, the weapon I have equipped is called a bat, and we all know what bats like to do to balls…

Though it doesn’t go far, it goes far enough - over the cliffside, and onto the riverbank. I immediately give chase. I have no idea how the body is gonna get to it from there, but I bet I can kill it before it figures it out. The helpless eye struggles as I wail on it over and over, futilely attempting to reunite with its body. I can hear the Stalnox’s stomping in the distance, still safely far away from me and it’s eye.

The fight doesn’t last much longer. I almost feel bad for the eye as I watch it helplessly flail around.

Almost.

---

Heart Containers: 5
Shrines Completed: 9
Koroks Found: 20
Hidden Shrine: Discovered
Bomb Arrows: Exploded
Skeleton: Fossilized