This chapter covers the normal mode of the HD version of Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii U. If you are playing on the Nintendo Wii, check out Gerudo Desert – Wii Version.

12.1 Enter the Desert

Warp over to Castle Town and make your way to Telma’s Bar. There is a trio in the back whom Telma invites you to speak with, as they’re quite sociable. The one on the left, however, doesn’t seem so. You will however meet two new characters Shad and Ashei. This trio, along with Telma and another man Auru are part of The Resistance, a group collectively working together to help protect Hyrule. Glance at the map on the table, and it will indicate a location in Lake Hylia where Auru has gone to study the desert that is further beyond.

Exit the bar and warp over to Lake Hylia. You want to make your way over to the southwest portion of the Lake, which is marked on your map. After you climb up the ladder though, turn to your right where you will find a Howling Stone. Examine it and just like before, howl the tune that appears. This will take you to another realm with the Golden Wolf, and after howling the song once again, a Golden Wolf will appear on the map at a currently unknown location to the west. We will be accessing this shortly.

Make your way to the southwest part of Lake Hylia and you’ll see a large watch tower. Climb the tower and speak with Auru. He will give you Auru’s Memo and tells you to take it down to Fyer near the center of Lake Hylia. Make your way over to Fyer and show him Auru’s Memo. He will allow you to use the cannon and take the Oasis Flight free of charge. Hop into the cannon and Fyer will shoot you out to the west to reach Gerudo Desert.

12.2 South Gerudo Desert

In this area, there is a clearly visible line on your map separating the northwest section of the map from the rest of the desert. This separates South Gerudo Desert from North Gerudo Desert and in this particular section, we are covering all the goodies that we find in the south part of the Desert. Nothing in this section is required, so if you’d like to continue onward with the main quest, just run to the north and leap off the ledge to reach North Gerudo Desert.

The south part of the Gerudo Desert is filled with an endless supply of enemy Moldorm. These enemies are burrowed underground and will jump out towards Link. You can pull them out using the Clawshot, but even after you defeat a few of them, more will just keep coming. If you defeat enough of them a Big Moldorm will appear and it takes two strikes to defeat. In general, I would advise to just avoid these enemies and keep moving so they don’t harm you.

Our first point of interest is at the southeast corner of the desert, to the east of where we start. There are a trio of skulls, and if it’s night time, you’ll see Poe Soul #30 above it. After killing the Poe, or while waiting for night time, use Wolf Link’s senses and you will see that there is a Dig Cavern here. Underground there are a number of enemy Skulltula, defeat them to reveal a treasure chest that contains 100 rupees.

Poe Soul #30 – Just near the top of rocks at the southeast corner of the map, there is a Poe Soul that is floating around at night time.

We now want to make our way to the southwest part of the Gerudo Desert. Along the way there are two Golden Bugs for us to find. The first one is found floating around near the south-central part of the Desert, just northeast of a large rock. It is right there in the open and it stands out quite a bit at night. Run over and grab it to collect the Male Dayfly.

Run further west and you’ll come across a treasure chest and a strange statue, along with a number of platforms. We can’t do anything here just yet, but it is a point of reference for the next Golden Bug. Just north of this area there are a pair of trenches. Make your way over to the one that is further north and inside you will find the Female Dayfly.

Once you make your way to the southwest part of the Desert, use your Clawshot to grapple up to the tree above. Floating up in the air is a Peahat and you can use your Clawshot to grapple up to it. Allow it to carry you to the higher ledge. A warp portal will appear and three Shadow Beasts will drop down. Defeat them using the charge attack. Climb the ledge to find a massive rock sticking into the ground. Before dealing with that, you’ll find Poe Soul #31 (at nighttime) just behind the massive rock.

Poe Soul #31 – At the southwest corner of the Gerudo Desert, found on the higher ledge.

Now examine the large rock and have Midna warp it over to the Bridge of Eldin. This is the broken part of the bridge that went missing and now that it is back in place, you can freely warp over to the Bridge of Eldin location. Talk to Midna and warp back to the Gerudo Desert.

With the Bridge of Eldin no longer in the way, this opens up the entrance to the Cave of Ordeals. However, we are not going to be dealing with this cave until much later in the quest, as we cannot access all of it. Just north of where the Bridge of Eldin was, jump off the ledge and look ahead to find a treasure chest, located at the western part of the desert. In order to reach this treasure chest, use the Clawshot to grapple over to the floating Peahat. Open up the treasure chest to get the Miiverse Stamp for the Hylian Letter R.

12.3 North Gerudo Desert

Make your way to the north side of the Gerudo Desert and jump off the ledge. As soon as you do so, you’ll be spotted by the Bulblins that are in the distance. Several will ride towards you on their Bullbos. I recommend using your Bow to hit the enemies. You can combine it with the Hawkeye to the Bulblins that are in the distance.

Once they have all been defeated, jump on top of a Bullbo and ride him around this portion of the desert. There are a number of wooden fences and if you ride the Bullbo into them, they will fall to the ground. There are several treasure chests hidden in this area near the campfire. Furthermore, there is a treasure chest at the northwest corner of the map, and another towards the north-central part of the map. Open all the treasure chests to get some rupees and some arrows.

You’ll need to smash through the fencing to the north to continue, but before doing that, there are a few optional goodies for us to collect. From the camp fire, walk directly to the east. At the northeast corner of this portion of the Gerudo Desert, there is a tree that you can Clawshot up towards.

Poe Soul #32 – Found at the higher ledge at the northeast part of Gerudo Desert. It floats around by the trio of skulls at nighttime.

Poe Soul #33 – In a Dig Cavern at the northeast corner of Gerudo Desert. Dig into the hole at the center of three skulls.

Poe Soul #34 – In the same cave as the above Poe Soul. Blast away at the boulders with some bombs.

Also in the Dig Cavern with the two Poe Souls, there are three torches. Light them up and then a treasure chest will appear. Open it up to get the Sad Midna Stamp.

Now travel to the north side of the Desert, and use a Bullbo to smash through the fencing blocking the way forward. Climb up and take the path on the right to find a treasure chest with some arrows. Then take the path on the left and the Golden Wolf can be found here. The Golden Wolf will only appear here if you previously activated the Howling Stone found near the Watchtower at Lake Hylia.

The Hero’s Shade will teach you the new ability, the Mortal Draw. If you stand right in front of an enemy and have your sword put away, you can press A to draw your sword and quickly deliver a sword slash. This attack makes you vulnerable, but it will hit every single time.

Just past the Golden Wolf, run ahead and you’ll find another Poe Soul. Defeat it and then travel northward to the next region.

Poe Soul #35 – At the north end of the Gerudo Desert on one of the side paths just before reaching the Bulblin Base.

12.4 Bulblin Base

The Bulblin Base has a bunch of Bulblins walking around, along with several that are on watch towers. When sniping at Bulblins with arrows, it’s a good idea to combine it with the Hawkeye. Right from the start, target the Bulblin that is on the watch tower ahead and then run ahead. Turn to the right and you’ll find a treasure chest containing some arrows. Make your way around the rather linear base, sniping at the Bulblins along the way. If any of the Bulblins that are on the watchtowers spot you, they will summon some of their friends.

Make your way to the northeast corner of the base and defeat the Bulblin that is near the camp fire and he will drop a small key. The Bulblins were cooking a Bullbo for dinner over the fire. If you slash away at the dead Bullbo enough times, you will tear it up, leaving behind Piece of Heart #26. Also in this area is a treasure chest that contains a Purple Rupee.

With the small key in hand, return to the locked gate near the center of the Bulblin Base. Walk forward towards the Bullbo and you will meet up once again with King Bulblin.

King Bulblin wields a massive sword and if hits Link, he will do 3 full hearts of damage, making it the most harmful attack in the game up until this point. Go ahead and slash away at King Bulblin, even utilizing your newly learned Mortal Draw if you’d like. After enough hits King Bulblin will be stunned and you’ll see his head looking towards the ground. Deliver a few slashes, but as soon as you see his head lifting, jump away as he is about to swing his sword. Repeat this process until King Bulblin is defeated.

King Bulblin will light the base on fire. Jump on the Bullbo and ride through the wooden gates heading northward.

12.5 Entering Arbiter's Grounds

From here, you can immediately head into the next dungeon, Arbiter’s Grounds. However, there are some more optional things we can collect beforehand. Turn back around and head back towards the Bulblin Base. The fire has since subsided.

Poe Soul #36 – Located in the area of the Bulblin Base where you fought King Bulblin. The Poe Soul appears after King Bulblin has lit the place on fire.

Return to the area outside of the dungeon and climb the steps. Turn to the right and you’ll find a pair of torches. Use your lantern to light them up and open the treasure chest that appears to get a purple rupee.

Poe Soul #37 – Just to the left of the entrance to Arbiter’s Grounds, the Poe can be seen floating around.

Once you’ve collected the Poe Soul head down the staircase and enter the fourth dungeon, Arbiter’s Grounds.