The first boss fight in Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom pits a defenseless princess against the Hero of Hyrule. The Imposter Link is an evil doppelganger with a sword and shield — he’s totally relentless, but there are tricks you can use to defeat the legendary warrior. Like everything in this weird twist on the Zelda formula, there are many ways to win. So, we’re talking about the methods we used to take out Link. There might be more (and even more creative) ways of bringing him down, but these tricks worked for us.
More Echoes of Wisdom guides:
Hyrule Castle Dungeon Escape | Defeating Suthorn Beach Monsters | Fairy Bottle Location
Boss: Imposter Link
A fake Link is waiting at the top of the stairs at the mid-point of the Suthorn Ruins dungeon. He has his sword and shield and pursues Zelda — he has two forms and becomes more powerful after you deal enough damage to him.
NOTE: If Zelda places crates to block Link or hides behind blocks, you’ll be able to lose Link — he’ll stop chasing and search randomly around the area, giving Zelda a chance to attack him from behind.
In both forms, the same strategies apply. There are a few methods we found were effective when fighting Link.
- Try summoning a constant swarm of Keese. Keep summoning them while circling around Link. He’ll destroy them in one hit, and later gains a spin-attack, but if you keep summoning from all directions, he’s guaranteed to take damage.
- Summon a Moblin and a Rock echo. The Moblin will back away and can take multiple hits before disappearing. While Link is distracted, pick up the rock echo and throw it at Link’s back.
- Summon Ignizol and throw it at Link. This is especially effective if you lure Link into the tall grass to the left of the arena. Even if you throw Ignizol at Link with his shield up, he’ll often take burning damage.
Take your time, stay away from Link, and smash the jars in the room to find recovery hearts. You can also use Bind on monsters you’ve summoned to move them more carefully — or even try using Bind on Link himself.
Defeat Imposter Link to collect the Mysterious Sword. Press [D-Pad Up] to enter Swordfighter Form as Zelda. In this form, you can use the sword for direct combat by pressing [Y] or defend with the shield by holding lock-on.
This form will only last a short time. When the meter depletes, you’ll exit Swordfighter form. Use this time to destroy the black gunk in the north of the boss arena.
