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Castor Wilds and the Wind Ruins Walkthrough

The Minish Cap 100% Completion Walkthrough19 chapters
CoversCastor Wilds swamp, the Wind Ruins, the road to the Fortress of Winds entrance
DungeonNone in this chapter; it ends at the stairs up to the Fortress of Winds (Dungeon 3)
RewardsBow Bow (with 30 arrows), 3 Gold Kinstone pieces fused with the 3 Mysterious Statues, 1 red Kinstone piece, Castor Wilds Wind Crest, 1 Piece of Heart (your third), 100 Rupees, 50 Mysterious Shells; no bottles, figurines or Tiger Scrolls on this route

This chapter takes you across the Castor Wilds swamp with the Pegasus Boots, wins the Bow, collects the three Gold Kinstone pieces and fuses them with the three Mysterious Statues to open the way south into the Wind Ruins. Inside the ruins you shrink twice, switch off two Armos statues, pick up a Piece of Heart, two chests and a Kinstone piece, then climb to the Fortress of Winds.

Castor Wilds: first Gold Kinstone and the Darknut

Pegasus Boots

Dash across the swamp

Arrive in Castor Wilds and equip the Pegasus Boots. The deep swamp water is no place for a swim, but a dash carries Link over the marsh, so run west across it from the entrance to the dry ground on the other side.

Cave with the Darknut chest

Climb the vine up the cliff, cross the wooden bridge to the north-west and climb down the next vine to a cave entrance. Cut through the first room, take the stairs down and keep going to the room with a single chest. Walk toward it and the door seals behind you: the chest vanishes and a Darknut appears.

Stay out of its sword arc, let the Darknut swing and miss, then slash it in the back right after the swing. Four hits finish it. The chest returns and holds the first Gold Kinstone piece; leave by the stairs and the same vine. You need all three pieces for the statues later (see Gold Kinstones).

Castor Wilds: the Bow

Shrink on the stump

Walk back out across the swamp and follow the bridges to the tree stump on the north-west ledge. Stand on the stump to shrink at the Minish Portal; you must be Minish size for everything on the lily pads.

Lily pads to the Bow chest

Equip the Gust Jar and hop onto the first giant lily pad. Use the Gust Jar to move across the pond from pad to pad and past the flowers, then drop into the hole at the far side.

Inside the small cavern, defeat the blue blobs that appear. A big chest rises in the middle. Open it for the Bow and 30 arrows; the Bow is your ranged weapon for the statue eyes you are about to meet (see items and equipment).

Cross back over the lily pads, step on the stump and grow to normal size. Open the items screen and put the Bow on a button.

Business Scrub and the first statue

Business Scrub

Arrow scrub cave

Find the small cave on the north side of the swamp bank and walk up to the Business Scrub inside; keep the Small Shield equipped, since it is what the scrub expects you to hold up. He offers to sell you arrows and asks if you want them. Your quiver already holds 30, so answer No, thanks and keep your rupees.

Shoot the one-eyed statue

Back outside, follow the bridges south to the first stone statue with one eye. It is invulnerable until you hit the eye: stand back and shoot it with the Bow until the statue breaks. That clears the vine behind it, which you climb to reach the next stretch of swamp.

Second Gold Kinstone

Dash east across the swamp from the broken statue to the cave on the far bank. Walk in and open the chest in the torch-lit room for the second Gold Kinstone piece.

Castor Wilds Wind Crest

Head back through the marsh to the grass bank on the west side. A small stone obelisk stands there; touch it and it speaks, then crumbles, which reveals a Wind Crest tile with a music note. Step on it to register the Castor Wilds Wind Crest, which you can warp to later once you own the Ocarina of Wind.

Third Gold Kinstone

Second statue and the whirlwind

From the crest, go to the second one-eyed statue that guards the next ledge. Shoot its eye to destroy it, climb the vine behind it and cross the bridge to the east. At the end a whirlwind waits: jump into it, hold the button and let the air carry Link south-west over the lake.

Gold Kinstone

Small cave

Land on the little ledge, then enter the cave beside it. Open the chest between the torches for the third Gold Kinstone piece. You now carry all three.

Mysterious Statue Kinstone fusions

Fuse all three statues

Return to the south-west corner of the swamp, where three Mysterious Statues stand in a row. Walk up to each one in turn and fuse a Gold Kinstone piece with it; every time the two halves fit perfectly. The full rules are in Kinstone fusions.

After the third fusion the large rock that blocked the south edge of the swamp is gone. Follow the opening south and leave Castor Wilds; the next area is the Wind Ruins.

Wind Ruins

Stairs, stump and the iron automata house

Climb the stairs into the Wind Ruins, a yard of stone walls patrolled by Spiny Beetles. Walk to the first stump and shrink there, then enter the small Minish house beside it.

Talk to the red-capped Minish inside. He explains that the pink statues are iron automata, called Armos, and that each one has an on and off switch inside it. Open the chest in the house for a red Kinstone piece.

Armos

Switch off the first Armos

Still Minish, enter the nearest Armos. Inside the oval chamber hit the switch with your sword to deactivate it, then leave and grow back to normal size at the stump.

Through the yard to the second stump

Cross the yard south and east. Armos wake when you touch them, so slip past or defeat them, and kill the Spiny Beetles with the sword. Climb the stairs and turn south to the second stump.

Wind Ruins Piece of Heart

Shrink on the second stump, then walk south to the cliff and climb down by the stairs into a small leafy Minish cave with pits. Work around the pits, deal with the red winged enemies and take the Piece of Heart from the pedestal. Four pieces make a full heart, so check how many you hold now (see Heart Piece locations). Leave by the glowing doorway.

Wind Ruins chests and the second Armos

Back in the yard, work through the Armos and snakes to a group of three Armos near a stump. Shrink, enter one as before and flip the switch inside to turn it off.

Grow back to normal size and go up to the two chests at the north-west edge of the yard. One holds 100 Rupees, the other 50 Mysterious Shells (see Mysterious Shells).

To the Fortress of Winds

Cross the rest of the yard past the last snakes, then climb the final stairs to the north. The Fortress of Winds lies beyond them.

Chapter checklist

TypeNameWhere
Key itemBow Bow (30 arrows)Castor Wilds, lily pad cavern (Minish size, stump portal)
Gold Kinstone Gold KinstonePiece 1Castor Wilds, Darknut cave
Gold Kinstone Gold KinstonePiece 2Castor Wilds, cave across the swamp after the first statue
Gold Kinstone Gold KinstonePiece 3Castor Wilds, cave reached by the whirlwind
Kinstone Fusion Kinstone fusion3 Mysterious Statue fusionsSouth-west corner of Castor Wilds; opens the way to the Wind Ruins
Wind Crest Wind CrestCastor Wilds crestBeneath the stone obelisk on the west bank
Kinstone Piece Kinstone pieceRed pieceWind Ruins, chest in the Minish house
Piece of Heart Piece of HeartPiece of Heart, four make a full heartWind Ruins, Minish cave (second stump)
Chest100 RupeesWind Ruins, north-west chests
Chest50 Mysterious ShellsWind Ruins, north-west chests

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