When you get to the inner section of the Great Tree in The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD on the Nintendo Switch you might be a bit sideswiped by how to get across the rope platforms that dangle down from the ceiling. Jumping the gap just doesn’t work and with the new ability to swim under water it’s easy to be so focused on swimming that you miss the trick to get across the platforms.
You essentially need to climb to the top of the Great Tree to find out more about the Sacred Flame in Faron Woods, so you definitely need to get past the rope platforms to be able to progress in the game. Once you get across this section, you will then get to climb further up the tree and there’s a pretty heavy enemy to face along the way.
AdvertisementIf you’re struggling with this enemy you can get some tips on how to beat it in the section at the bottom of the page. You can also check this The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword Switch guide to pick things up from the very beginning.
How to get across the rope platform bridge inside the Great Tree
After you swim into the Great Tree, you’ll climb out and find yourself facing two wooden platforms dangling on ropes from the ceiling far above. You can jump onto the first one really easily, but try as you might, you won’t be able to make the jump to the second one without the right method to close the gap a little more.
AdvertisementThe good news is that you’re already well equipped to be able to get across, but even when you know what to do you might still find yourself back in the water again. There’s a very specific methodology to follow and it all starts when you jump to the first of the hanging platforms. Take out the bellows and fire it in the direction of the second platform to get things moving.
This will make the first wood and rope platform start to swing forwards and backwards. For some reason it doesn’t affect the second platform, but then physics mechanics in The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword are sometimes pretty unique. You then need to wait for the platform that you’re on to swing backwards and forwards before firing the bellows again to build more momentum.
AdvertisementRepeat this a couple of times and as soon as you’ve got the platform swinging close to the next one put the bellows away and get ready to move fast. You’ll need to time your run and jump so that you complete it when the platforms are at their closest. Sprint with B towards the edge and Link will automatically jump across. If you’ve timed it just right then you should make it across to the second platform.
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Repeat the process on the second ledge to make it all the way across to the door on the other side. This will lead to an outside area that isn’t difficult to get through, but then when you get back inside the Great Tree you have a beast of an enemy to face with a hefty shield and swinging spear. You can get some tips on how to beat it in the section below.
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What to do after the rope platforms
The only real challenge on the way up the Great Tree after you get past the hanging rope platforms is the big enemy mentioned earlier. It looks like a super-sized Bokoblin and with a massive wooden shield and it can be tough to get through its defenses to land enough hits on it to take it down.
However, you can get rid of the shield simply enough by rolling bombs at it. You can try throwing, but rolling will get them closer to it and help to back it up towards the exit door behind it. Keep rolling them out until it runs out of room and you should be able to blitz the shield out of the way. You can then try to repeat this process to defeat the rotund guard if you’ve got plenty of ammo in your bomb pouch.
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Another approach after you knock out the shield is to use Skyward Sword strikes from distance to land enough hits, but this can take some time. The quickest way is to target it, get in to do a few hits and then back peddle or parry the swinging spear attacks.
Do this enough and you should be able to beat it. From here, you can simply climb up to the top of the Great Tree and use your beetle at the top to wake up the elder.
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