Riverside Walkthrough

Tri Force Heroes 100% Completion Walkthrough8 chapters

Walkthrough overview

• Hytopia and the WoodlandsMeet King Tuft, then clear Deku Forest, Buzz Blob Cave, Moblin Base and Forest Temple.
• RiversideSecret Fortress, Abyss of Agony, Cove of Transition and the Water Temple, with Water Rod and Gripshot puzzles.
• VolcanoBlazing Trail, Hinox Mine, Den of Flames and Fire Temple, with every stage, the Hinox Brothers and Moldorm.
• Ice CavernFrozen Plateau, Snowball Ravine, Silver Shrine and the Ice Temple, with the Freezlord and Blizzagia fights.
• FortressSealed Gateway, Bomb Storage, Training Ground and The Lady’s Lair, with every puzzle, chest and boss.
• The DunesInfinity Dunes, Stone Corridors, Gibdo Mausoleum and Desert Temple, with Vulture Vizier and Stalchampion tips.
• The RuinsIllusory Mansion, Palace Noir, Lone Labyrinth and Grim Temple, with Grim Repoe and Prismantus.
• Sky RealmFloating Garden, Deception Castle, Dragon Citadel and Sky Temple, with Gigaleon, Lady Maud and the ending.

Riverside is the wet Area of Tri Force Heroes, and almost every puzzle is about crossing water. The Water Rod, handed out in Secret Fortress, Abyss of Agony and the Water Temple, raises pillars of water you can stand on. The Gripshot, which arrives in Cove of Transition, pulls you to Stakes, fences and even to your teammates. You also pick up the Bow once, for the Electric Blob Queen. Beat the Water Temple and Riverside’s Drablands Challenges open; clear the Fire Temple and Ice Temple too and the Fortress and four new outfits follow.

Secret Fortress

Secret Fortress is the first Riverside Level, set around a lake with a fortress on the far shore, and every Link receives a Water Rod. Water pillars sink after a few seconds, so build one, step onto it and raise the next before the first is gone. In single player, switch to whichever Doppel needs to build the next pillar; with three players, each Link builds for himself.

Secret Fortress Stage 1

Pick up a Water Rod from the lower ledges beside the waterfall, then use it to climb the hill. Point the rod at the ground in front of a ledge and a pillar of water lifts you up to it. Blobs wander the slopes, so slash them as you pass instead of letting them gather while you build.

At the top of the hill, three lookout posts stand in a row, each with a Floor Switch on it and a pair of Spear Throwing Moblins keeping watch. Raise a pillar for each Link, climb onto a post and stay on the switch. When all three are held down at once, a bridge extends to the wooden platform hanging over the waterfall, where the Triforce Gateway waits.

Secret Fortress Stage 2

The fortress gate on the far shore will not open until two Shock Switches on the ledges to its left and right are struck. Build bridges of water pillars out to each ledge and hit the switches with your Sword. Once both have flashed, the gate lowers and you can pillar-hop to the entrance.

Inside the walls, stationary Guruguru Bars shoot streams of fire across the path and block the Floor Switches beneath them. Aim the Water Rod at a flame to put it out for a moment, then run in and stand on the switch before it relights. Pressing the switches lowers the next gate.

Back outside, the last stretch is a waterway guarded by two spinning Guruguru Bars. Lay pillars across the water, time your steps to the rotating fire and hop to the Triforce Gateway, where a Squiddy sits beside the exit. Step onto the Gateway together.

Secret Fortress Stage 3

This Stage is a river crossed by wooden docks, crowded with Tektites and Spear Throwing Moblins. Cross to each dock on Water Rod pillars and clear the enemies as you land. The wide dock at the end spans the whole river and leads to a fast-flowing pool.

That wide dock is covered in Bomb Flowers. A pair of Shock Switches sit at the sides of the pool beyond it, behind metal flaps that close if you walk near them. Pick up a Bomb Flower, throw it from a distance onto each switch, and the gate at the far end rises to show two Cracked Blocks. Two Crows start circling over the pool at the same moment.

Build a water pillar bridge across the pool, carry a Bomb Flower over it and blow up the Cracked Blocks, then step through to the Triforce Gateway. If only one block breaks, you can simply pillar over the other one.

Secret Fortress Stage 4

You land on a dock above a waterfall, and the current carries any Link who falls in over the edge, so stay on the platforms. Walk to the Big Switch in the middle of the small platforms and make all three Links stand on it together.

Pressing it breaks away the dock behind you and calls in a crowd of Spear Throwing Moblins and three Keeleons on the surrounding platforms. Reach them with Water Rod pillars. Stun a Keeleon with the rod, send its bombs back at it, or build a Totem to hit it from above. Walkways rise out of the water as you defeat enemies and link the platforms.

When every enemy is gone, a platform with the Triforce Gateway rises in the centre of the Stage. Reach it and step on together to enter the room with the end-of-Level chests.

Abyss of Agony

Abyss of Agony climbs a cliff beside rushing waterfalls and ends in a grotto with the Area’s mini-boss. You get two Water Rods and one Bow. Decide who holds the Bow before you start, because you need Arrows for Shock Switches and for the final fight. In single player, give it to the Doppel you aim best with and switch to him whenever a target needs shooting.

Abyss of Agony Stage 1

You start by a lake with strong currents. Swim with the flow, and stay clear of the Spikes floating in the water. Shoot a Spike with an Arrow or hit it with a Spin Attack from a safe distance and it explodes. Swim to the small island that holds the two Water Rods and the Bow.

Get to the left and right shores with the Water Rod, where a Shock Switch awaits on each. Metal flaps shut over the right one as you approach, so shoot an Arrow from afar. The left one hides behind a ledge; set off the neighbouring Spikes in a chain to strike it. Every hit drops a wooden dam on its side and uncovers more switches. Keep going until both sides are finished and the central dam’s two locks fall off.

Make a Water Rod pillar to get over the waterfall onto the platform holding the Triforce Gateway. If you want 20 Rupees, a Treasure Chest with a Red Rupee waits on a stone platform in the south-west corner.

Abyss of Agony Stage 2

You begin at the foot of the waterfalls beside a tall cliff. Climb it with Water Rod pillars, building each one beside a ledge and stepping up. At the top you arrive at a fast river with a few patches of solid ground.

Water Octoroks and a Keeleon appear, so stay on land and cut them down or shoot them. Once they are gone, two electrified Buzz Blobs come out; Arrows are the safe answer. Defeat everything and the Triforce Gateway opens, reachable with Water Rod pillars.

Abyss of Agony Stage 3

You come back out higher on the cliff, beside a Squiddy and a high brick pillar. A few ledges up on the left sit a Water Wheel and a wooden platform dangling from a pulley. Spray the wheel from below with a Water Rod and the rising water spins it. Using the rod on the left moves the platform right; using it on the right moves the platform left.

Take turns turning the wheel and riding the platform so every Link crosses to an alcove with a second wheel, which sends the platform back for anyone left behind. The Link with the Bow shoots two Shock Switches from the moving platform. Each one opens a wooden wall that blocks the path up the cliff.

A third Water Wheel turns a large Ferris wheel of platforms that carries you across a big gap above the starting area. On the far ledge a second wheel brings over anyone behind, and a Shock Switch turns the tall brick pillar into a lift that carries anyone who falls back up. A chest with a Red Rupee sits on a wooden ledge near the top of the lift, and the Triforce Gateway is at the very top of the cliff.

Abyss of Agony Stage 4

You start at the top of a cliff above a grotto with a large pool. A chest with a Red Rupee sits on the upper left ledge before you drop down. Jump down to ground level together and the fight begins; Hearts lie hidden underwater in the pool if you need them.

Cove of Transition

Cove of Transition hands every Link a Gripshot, the item that grabs Stakes and pulls you across gaps. It can also grab other Links, which makes it the glue of your Totem puzzles. Fire it with the item button, aim at a Stake or a teammate and you glide over to it. It also pulls the Gyorms out of their shells in the last Stage.

Cove of Transition Stage 1

The Level begins on thin walkways by a waterfall, with your teammates out of reach. Take out your Gripshot, aim at the Stakes on the far side of each gap, and haul every Link over until you are together. A collapsed bridge works the same way: grip the three Stakes beyond it, one after another.

The next gap is wider than the Gripshot can span. Build a Totem and throw the top Link to the wooden platform carrying Rupees on the far side; it sinks to the other side with him aboard. The rest grip onto him to cross. Head east to one more gap: throw two Links over, then have the last one grip onto either.

A Stake sits atop a wooden platform as the final hurdle. Make another Totem so the top Link can grip it, then let everybody else grip that Link in turn. The Triforce Gateway lies just a short walk beyond.

Cove of Transition Stage 2

You begin on a stone platform in the centre of a small lake. Dams in the surrounding wall open and water floods in, bringing Tektites and Water Tektites. Afterwards the water rises and drops in repeating cycles, submerging the platform and forcing you to swim.

Take advantage of the shifting water to get onto the tiny ledges to the west and south and in the north-east corner, and slash the Tektites as they approach. After you defeat them all, the Triforce Gateway opens on a platform overhead and the water stays high.

Cove of Transition Stage 3

The Floor Switch you need sits on top of a tall dam at the lake’s edge. A Raft floats nearby: stand on it and fire your Gripshot at a Stake to tow it. This brings you to a square platform, where one Link steps off and the others grip onto him to keep the raft moving.

Guide the raft up to the dam wall, make a Totem, and let the top Link step on the Floor Switch. The dam opens and the entire Stage floods. Swim over to the platform with the Triforce Gateway, where a Squiddy lurks next to it.

Cove of Transition Stage 4

You enter a temple courtyard with shallow water and uneven ground. A Gyorm hides in a shell in the centre. Fire the Gripshot at it to yank it out, then fire again to stun it, or let another Link slash it. Three more Gyorms rise once the first is dead, so repeat the same trick for each one.

Hearts and Rupees sit on raised platforms around the courtyard, reachable with a Totem, and Red Rupees line the southern edge. Once every Gyorm is gone, the Triforce Gateway opens.

Water Temple

The Water Temple is a flooded palace of pools, and it gives you both Riverside items together: two Gripshots and one Water Rod. You will be in and out of the water, so a Zora Costume or Torrent Robe from Madame Couture’s helps a great deal. In single player, switch to the Doppel holding the Water Rod whenever pillars are needed.

Water Temple Stage 1

Go down the ramp to the large pool and pick up the two Gripshots on the side ledges. Fire each one north at the fences and pull yourselves across a corner of the pool, dropping onto platforms. In the middle stands a tall platform with a Water Rod on top that you cannot reach yet.

Two Shock Switches stand in the pool, with railings shielding certain sides. Standing on opposite platforms, shoot each switch across the pool with a Gripshot (left platform to the right switch, right platform to the left) and time it so both are hit together. A small platform then rises in the middle of the pool.

From that platform, fire the Gripshot at the Crank to the north. The room floods and you can reach the Water Rod on the tall platform. The Link with the rod builds pillars for everyone to cross to the Triforce Gateway at the north end.

Water Temple Stage 2

The Level begins on a caged floor over a pool, with a Big Switch in its centre. All three Links must stand on it at once. That opens a Crank in the north-east corner and floods the room, and Tektites, Water Tektites and Skullfish show up. Swim to small platforms to strike them, or stun them using the Water Rod.

You can make the fight easier by draining the room: reach the north-east platform with the Water Rod or a Totem and pull the Crank with a Gripshot. When every enemy is down, a steel grate in the north-west corner rises, and the room must be drained to walk under it.

Past the grate you reach a platform you can climb with the Water Rod. A second Crank hangs high on the wall: build a pillar with the rod, form a full Totem on top, and pull the Crank. That floods the room again so you can swim to the Triforce Gateway, where a Squiddy waits.

Water Temple Stage 3

You begin trapped in a cage with a Water Octorok. Two Links use the Gripshot on a panel in the cage wall, which flips and drops them outside. Those two stand on the Floor Switches to open the cage door for the third Link.

Outside, the room is made of platforms at assorted heights. One platform that only the Water Rod can reach has a Crank that lifts the water level. Send the rod carrier first while the others follow with Gripshots, and avoid the rocks that nearby Water Octoroks fire. Gripshot the next cage panel to get to the opposite side of the fence.

Behind the fence sit a Raft and a chest with a Red Rupee; fire a Gripshot at a Stake to tow the Raft to another platform. Open the chest there to take a Key, then step on a Floor Switch to unlock the cage door and return to the main room. The locked gate is submerged, so two Links turn the Crank again to drain the water. Finally, carry the Key aboard the Raft, Gripshot your way to the gate and head into the Triforce Gateway.

Water Temple Stage 4

Stage 4 is the boss pool, and the fight begins as soon as the eyes surface. Pots on the floor of the drained pool hold Hearts and Energy Potions, so remember them for the later phases.

Area checklist

With the Water Temple done, head back to Hytopia and pick your next Area. Volcano and Ice Cavern are open too, and clearing both of their temples unlocks the Fortress.