Link’s Awakening Ancient Ruins Guide: Area Walkthrough

The Legend of Zelda games are all about dungeons, puzzles, and striding boldly forth into a new world armed only with your trusty green cap, a tiny sword, and courage. The re-release of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on the Switch is no different, with exploration being as much a focal point in this one as they were in the original title. If you’re a little stumped by some areas, don’t be discouraged. Our Link’s Awakening Ancient Ruins guide will help you navigate this part of the overworld and deal with its boss. 

Link’s Awakening Ancient Ruins Guide: Area Walkthrough

The Ancient Ruins are an area that you have to clear in Link’s Awakening if you’re wanting to progress to the Face Shrine and to advance in the game. If you’re headed over to the Ancient Ruins, we would recommend ensuring that you’ve got a bow well in hand, because it’s going to be nigh indispensable on your travels. You can get one from Mabe Village for 980 rupees. 

Head on over to the Animal Village and take the scenic route along the water, which will lead you to some directions due south to get to the Ancient Ruins. While you’re here poking about, you’re going to get jumped by some statues. Our tip for these will be to throw bombs like they’re running out of style, and what you’re going to want to do is to keep fighting these moving boys because they will reveal ways through the ruins. 

Once you find the entrance, marked by two threatening-looking murals and guarded by a couple of statues, hop right in and you’ll have to beat up the Armos Knight to truly conquer this area. 

Link’s Awakening Ancient Ruins Guide: Armos Knight Boss

Now that you’ve wrangled your way into the Ruins, you’re going to have to take down the Armos Knight. This boy loves to jump, and in case the murals on the outside of the building weren’t a clue enough, he’s a boy with horns, a big shield, and he is very scary. He could snap Link like a twig, so we’ve got some tips on how to avoid that:

• Remember when we said to get that bow? It’s because being close to him leaves you vulnerable to attacks. 
• Use Roc’s Feather to avoid the ground slam that occurs when he lands after a jump, and shoot him from afar.
• Repeat this enough times and he’ll slowly start shedding his defenses.
• Be patient and don’t get greedy! You can use your sword attacks but you’ll also be vulnerable when you do so, so we’d recommend whittling him down with arrows. 

Once you’ve dealt with the Armos Knight, you’ll have cleared the Link’s Awakening Ancient Ruins area. Not that difficult, huh? All you really had to do was to bop a bunch of statues and then the boss. You’ll be rewarded for your efforts with the Face Key, which you’re going to need to open the corresponding Face Shrine. Pretty nifty! If you’re looking for some assistance with the weird objects that you’ve spotted around the overworld, then we have a guide on that too.