Twilight Princess: Cave of Ordeals
In the southeast (or southwest for those playing on the Gamecube) corner of Gerudo Desert, on top of a mesa, there is a cave. This cave is known as "The Cave of Ordeals". It spans 50 floors, each with a set of enemies you must defeat to progress. Without a doubt, this is the hardest part of Twilight Princess, so you had better be prepared. Fortunately, that's where we come in. Arm yourself with this knowledge, and get ready for a tough fight.
Preperations
First of all, as I have previously mentioned, in order to clear this challenge, you're going to need to be prepared. You should be ready to take The Cave of Ordeals on when you have met these requirements.
:: Do not go into this cave, ready to beat it, until after beating the City in the Sky. To make it through this cave completely, you are going to need the Spinner, the Ball and Chain, the Dominion Rod, and the Double Clawshot. Basically, you cannot clear this cave until you've pretty much beaten the game.
:: Be sure to have a reasonable amount of hearts. You can successfully clear The Cave of Ordeals at around 13-15 hearts, but I recommend having 17 or more, as you can very easily lose health in this cave. The more hearts you have, the better chance you have at survival.
:: Make it easy on yourself and find all four bottles scattered throughout Hyrule (see our Bottles Guide if you need help). You're going to need to heal yourself one time or more in the course of The Cave of Ordeals, so you should be prepared. I recommend filling three of your bottles with blue potion, and one with a fairy, just in case you make a mistake and fail to heal yourself with a blue potion before you die.
:: Bring at least one full bomb bag. You only need the standard bomb to clear this cave, so it shouldn't put too much strain on your wallet to meet this requirement, especially if you have unlocked the Malo Mart Castle Town branch.
:: You should have your Giant Quiver full of arrows because you are going to need them!
:: Magic Armor is a nice thing to have, though not exactly necissary.It makes fighting some of the tougher enemies a lot easier, but other than that, you won't really use it all that much. Still, you should plan on bringing it, so be sure to fill your wallet with all the rupees you can get your hands on.
:: It is VITAL that you learn the fifth hidden skill (mortal draw), because without it, Darknuts are nearly impossible to kill (if you need help with this, have a look at our Howling Stone Guide). I also recommend learning the "Great Spin" move, as it is useful early on.
Tips
As with all challenges, some strategies work better than others. Here is a listing of a few that I have found the most helpful.
:: Before jumping headfirst into a room, be sure to scope it out when you're standing on top of the room's ledge. This'll give you an idea as to what you'll be facing in the upcoming room, and will also provide you with a chance to pick off some of the weaker enemies you will find with some of your arrows.
:: Watch your health! If your health drops to three hearts or less, I highly recommend healing immediately. You can very easily die if you're not paying attention, so make sure you keep your health under constant surveilance.
:: Avoid wearing Zora Armor! There are a whole lot of ice enemies in this cave, and wearing Zora Armor would cause their attacks to deal double damage to you.
:: Ration your items. If you have your Giant Quiver stuffed to maximum capacity, but you plan to use your bow in every room, you could only use two arrows per room if you wanted them to last the entire cave through. Your bombs can very easily be wasted if you recklessly try to blow everything in sight to kingdom-come, and your rupees can be gone in a heartbeat if you use your Magic Armor too much. Keep watch on your ammo, because it is very easily lost, but not easily regained.
:: If you have to take damage, take it early. Towards the end of The Cave of Ordeals, you will find really tough enemies that can easily kill you if you aren't careful. If you must take damage, take it during the first two parts of the cave.
:: Do not expect the enemies in this cave to drop hearts, because they do not. Occasionally, you'll see one drop a rupee, but hearts are never dropped. You can find some buried in the floor sometimes, however, so be sure to sniff around as a wolf after clearing a floor of enemies.
::Most importantly, have FUN! Way too often, people take a loss too seriously. It's just a game, and you should enjoy yourself while playing it. If you lose, just get back up, dust yourself off, and try again. You're almost certain to die here on your first try, so don't get discouraged if that is the case. Perservere, my friends!
Ok, no turning back now! Let's go ahead and dive into The Cave of Ordeals!!
Rooms 1-10
Room 1:
In this room, you'll find a single Bokoblin just asking to be brutally murdered. There are quite a few methods you could utilize to take it out, but I recommend simply going down there and killing it with the Master Sword. The helm splitter move is quite useful here, as it will quickly dispatch of him, while preventing any accidental damage from occuring. Using the Ball and Chain is another good way of killing him without putting yourself in harm's way, or using up any ammo.
Room 2:
In this room, you'll find a swarm of three Keese and three Rats. They'll come at you from all sides, so stay alert. The spin attack works rather well here, as you can defend all sides with it. If you have taken the time to learn the "Great Spin", put it to good use here, provided you still have full health.
Room 3:
In this room, you'll find four Deku Serpents (red Deku Babas), three of which are on the ceiling. Knock the ones on the ceiling onto the ground by using the Gale Boomerang, as not to waste any ammo, then jump down and finish them using your standard attacks while Z targeting. If you become surrounded, use your spin attack. After you've taken out the three on the move, set your sights on the one in the center of the room. Stab it's stem to uproot it, then finish it with the spin attack.
Room 4:
In this room, you'll find three Skulltulas. These guys may seem tough, but in reality, they're total whimps as long as you know how to dispatch of them. I find that smashing into them with the Ball and Chain proves to be extremely effective, as it easily dispatches of them before they can get close enough to attack you. The outgoing hit will stun them for a moment, while the incoming hit will finish them off.
Room 5:
In this room, you'll find three Bulbin Archers. To kill these guys, you can either pick them off from up on the ledge with your bow, or get down and dirty, and jump into the pit. If you choose the latter, you had better stay on the move, as they will be shooting flaming arrows at you constantly. Keep rolling around to close the distance between you and your target, then jump attack to finish them off. Do either technique correctly and you should not take any damage.
Room 6:
In this room, you'll see nine Torch Slugs, five of which are on the ceiling. I recommend taking the ones on the ceiling out with your bow, because if you don't, they can drop down onto your head later on, damaging you. After killing the ones on the ceiling, jump down (be careful not to jump on any Torch Slugs) and take out the remaining four by using either the mortal draw or the spin attack.
Room 7:
On this floor, you'll find two Dodongos and five Fire Keese. The Keese are surprisingly non-lethal, so ignore them for now. Instead, focus on the Dodongos. I have found that the back slice move is the most effective to use against them, however, there are several other techniques you can use that may work better for you. One of the more effective of these that I have tried involves you waiting for your target Dodongo to release a blast of firey breath, then charging past him to his tail without Z targeting. Then, unleash the mortal draw upon his unprotected hindquarters for a one hit kill. You can also spin attack the tail, if you aren't prepared for a mortal draw. Once you have killed the Dodongos, work on killing the Fire Keese. Spin attacks are effective to use, as well as Z targeted attacks.
Room 8:
In this room, you'll find four red and two blue Tektites (jumping spiders). To effectively kill these, you must exploit their weak points, which in this case is their eye. Stab at it, and if you hit successfully, they will instantly be vanquished. Another strategy you might want to use is a bit more difficult to excecute. Have all the Tektites in the room give chase to you (they'll clump up eventually), then, when they're all in a neat little pack, unleash the spin attack for maximum damage!
Room 9:
This room is pretty weird, as it is different on your first run through of the cave than it is on any other. On your first run, the enemies that will appear are two Lizalfos and two Bulbin Archers, however, on all of your following run throughs, you'll encounter three Lizalfos and four Bulbin Archers. Your best bet is taking out two of the Bulbin Archers with your arrows (on your second run, two will be under the room's ledge, so you cannot hit them with your arrows) as to prevent any unnecissary damage to yourself, then, kill the Lizalfos with the helm splitter move and/or the spin attack. Once you've done that, kill the remaning archers (if there are any) with a jump attack!
Room 10:
The fighting is going to stop for a little while as you reach an oasis of sorts. Here, you'll find a small, circular spring (that won't heal you, by the way) with a mystical light at the center. Go up and speak to the light, and out will come a Great Fairy! She will speak with you and tell you what item you need to advance, (the spinner in this case) then she'll open the door to the next room. Speak to her again if you wish to return to the surface world (WARNING!!! RETURNING TO THE SURFACE WILL CAUSE YOU TO RESTART THE ENTIRE CAVE OF ORDEALS!!!). Once you have spoken to this Great Fairy, fairies will appear in Ordon Spring from now on. Quite useful, actually.
Rooms 11-20
Room 11:
This room is really hard to scope out at first. You'll jump down, thinking you only have to fight two or three Helmasaurs, but then... oh, snap! Out of nowhere, a swarm of 12 rats jump out at you. Unprepared, you dash away, but to no avail, they're just too fast! What do you do? SPIN ATTACK! Since the rats are in a pack, the spin attack should hit each and every one of them, typically killing them on contact. Next, we have to deal with the 3 Helmasaurs. These guys are actually pretty easy, as long as you are willing to take the effort to kill them the right way. First, take out your clawshot, second, grab your target Helmasaur's armor, third, throw the armor back at the Helmasaur, as it will damage them. Now that your target Helmasaur no longer has any armor, just hack it to pieces. Rinse and repeat to claim victory! Be careful of the Helmasaur's charging attacks however, as they can deal good bit of damage to you. I recommend abusing the sidestep to avoid them. After beating them all, ride the Spinner along the grooves in the walls around the room until you've found yourself over the room's door (it'll be located behind a wall). When you're close enough, jump off the spinner and proceed.
Room 12:
This room is pretty simple, but really annoying. You drop down into the room to see a single Giant Purple Chu. "No big deal", you think to yourself. Actually, annonymous player, it is a big deal! If you just charge head in, you're likely to lose four hearts or more in this one fight. No, before recklessly throwing yourself in harm's way, weigh your options to see what you should do. I have found that using the Ball and Chain to take it out from a distance works well, but if something works better for you, like spamming your jump attack as a wolf (it works wonders), by all means, go for it. Good luck!
Room 13:
In this room, you'll find four Chu Worms. Simply pull out your clawshot and grab one of those suckers right out of their bubble. Four hits from your basic combo and they'll be down! Rinse and repeat!
Room 14:
In this room, fifteen bubbles (flying skulls) will greet you. Treat them like Keese, and kill them with a spin attack or five. This room is really simple, so I wouldn't worry about it much.
Room 15:
This room is really fun to do. When you jump down into the chamber, you'll meet a hoard of 10 Bulbins. You can pretty much do whatever you want to kill these guys, but the most effective technique I've found is as follows: Get all of the Bulbins chasing you, and eventually they'll clump up. Here is your chance to finally put your bomb arrows to good use! Decimate their forces with an explosion or two! The first bomb arrow you launch will probably take out seven or more of these guys instantly! Keep shooting until all of them are dead.
Room 16:
This room is pretty dark, and because of that, You'll probably have no idea how many enemies you're fighting. Fortunately for you, I made sure we got a head count in before writing this guide. You may want to light your lantern before jumping straight into this room, because it makes fighting in the dark a little easier. Then, jump into the fray! You'll be greeted by a swarm of six Keese, and six rats. Kill them like you normally would, with a spin attack here and a chop-hack there. Be sure to scour every inch of the room, because there always might be another rat lurking in the darkened corners...
Room 17:
In this room, you'll find ten Stalhounds and one Poe. Don't get excited, though, you aren't getting unlimited Poe's souls. No, the Poe will disappear after you rip it's soul out for the first time, never to be seen again. Personally for this fight, I like to take out the Poe first, just to get it out of the way, but others prefer to focus on the Stalhounds. Do it in whatever order you feel most comfortable with. For the Poe, your wolf jump attack is always effective, and for the Stalhounds, regular attacks work, but I prefer to use either the Ball and Chain, the Spin Attack, or Bomb Arrows.
Room 18:
Here you'll find about seven Leevers (round spinning cacti). I usually wait for them to close in around me, then I kill them with the spin attack, as it is rather effective against them.
Room 19:
If you try and scope out this room, you'll see only a small portion of the horrors it contains. You may see just one purple chu on the floor, and on the ceiling? Maybe a rare Chu, but nothing more. However, if you were to jump onto the floor, you'll be ambushed by about two dozen more Chus! Your only choice is to face them head on, though, so get ready for a good fight! Your best bet is to use the Ball and Chain to take a large number out from a distance, then use your spin attack on them when they've split apart into tiny bite-sized pieces. And just so you know, the total Chu head count here is about twenty-one purple, one red, sometimes one yellow, and one rare. Good luck.
Room 20:
Congratulations, you've reached another Great Fairy! This time, she'll fill the spring in Faron Woods with fairies. She'll then proceed to tell you that you are going to need a Ball and Chain to continue. If you think you're up to the task, step through the door into the next room.
Rooms 21-30
Room 21:
This room is pretty simple. It is as it appears, containing five Bokoblins and five Ice Keese. The Bokiblins are rather easy, as usually a single hit from your rediculously overpowered spin attack will kill them, but the Ice Keese are a bit more difficult, because if you touch them, you'll be frozen in a block of ice for a moment. Treat them cautiously, being careful not to get hit, and kill them with standard Z targeted attacks. If you get surrounded, the spin attack works well also. After vanquishing all of your foes, pull out your Ball and Chain and use it to destroy a wall of ice covering up this room's door.
Room 22:
In this room, you'll see at first five Keese and seven rats, however, nearly the instant you jump down into the room, you'll see your movement become hindered as if by some invisible force. Turn into a wolf and sense, and you'll see that you are being weighed down by several Ghoul Rats. Use the spin attack to shake them off (it will instantly kill them), and move on to the other enemies in the room. I'm pretty sure the total head count for the Ghoul Rats is eight, so be sure to kill them all to make sure you will no longer be hindered. The Keese in the room are rather standard procedure, as you should be able to easilly kill them with a good old spin attack. The rats shouldn't be too hard either, as just regular sword attacks do the job quite nicely.
Room 23:
In this room, you will be assaulted by a small army of Stalkins. Don't be intimidated by their sheer number though! Simply pull out your Ball and Chain and make short work of them.
Room 24:
In this room, you'll see five, yes five ReDead Knights waiting to attack you!! Don't get psyched out, though! These guys certainly are gnarly, but Bomb Arrows oftentimes make short work of them. Yes, after two direct hits from a Bomb Arrow, these maniacal fiends will fall. Be sure to keep your distance, as they'll occasionally unleash upon your unsuspecting ears a blood-curdling scream that will freeze you where you stand, allowing them time to hit you with one of their massive swords!
Room 25:
In this room, you'll find three Bulbin Archers (one of which will be standing on top of a wooden watchtower) and seven regular Bulbins. Kill the archers with some fancy bow-work (stay up on the ledge, as it will give you cover from the archers on the ground), then, jump to the floor and kill the rest with some well timed spin attacks (they're so useful, aren't they?).
Room 26:
In this room, you'll see five piles of decrepit bones lying on the ground. No, this doesn't mean your work has already been done for you, it means that five Stalfos are lying in wait to attack! Jump to the floor and meet them head on. Careful though, because basic attacks cannot kill them! Instead, you are forced to use either Bomb Arrows or, my favorite, the Ball and Chain (the outgoing hit will knock them down, and the incoming hit will destroy them). Beat them all to proceed.
Room 27:
In this room, you'll immediately see three hanging Skulltulas, and if you look hard enough, you'll also see five Bubbles lying in wait. Jump onto the floor and deal with the Bubbles like you normally would (spin attack), then, pull out your Ball and Chain and launch it at each Skulltula in turn. The outgoing hit from it will knock them down from their webs, and the incoming hit will finish them.
Room 28:
In this room, you'll quite easilly spot six Bokoblins and two Lizalfos wearing skulls. Don't let their number intimidate you, as they all can be easily felled by a well-timed spin attack. If you're having trouble hitting with the spin attack, take them out one by one with the helm splitter move! By the way, these Bokoblins seem to have a great deal more health than the standard Bokoblin, so be sure to make good use of the ending blow if the opportunity presents itself.
Room 29:
Hang in there, guide readers, you're almost to the next Great Fairy! In this room, you'll see four Fire Bubbles, two Stalfos, and another small army of Stalkins. The Bubbles again will fall to the wrath of your spin attack, and the Stalkin and Stalfos are easilly taken care of with the Ball and Chain. Good luck.
Room 30:
Finally, another Great Fairy! This time, she'll inform you that she has released Fairies into Eldin Spring, and tell you that you need the Dominion Rod to advance. Have you had enough yet? Well, we'll find out, I guess. Gather your thoughts, and keep trekking forward.
Rooms 31-40
Room 31:
This room isn't all that bad, just as long as you know who to attack first. In this room, you'll find a group of five Beamos, and seven Keese. You can and should kill the Keese with your spin attack, but you should save doing that for last, as the Beamos should be killed first. This shouldn't present much of a problem, because I'm pretty sure you can kill the Beamos from up on the room's ledge. Shoot each Beamos's eye with an arrow to kill it. Then, after killing the room's Keese, pull out your Dominion Rod and use it on the bird statues off to the side of the room. Move them from their original positions so the switch they're pressing down now sticks up. After moving both of them, the gate blocking your exit will open.
Room 32:
In this room, if you look on the ceiling, you'll see six Torch Slugs. These guys make pretty easy prey, as you can take them out using six of your arrows. After you have taken care of them, jump onto the floor of the room to face up to six Fire Keese, two Dodongos, and six Fire Bubbles. You can easilly kill the Bubbles and Keese with a few spin attacks, and the Dodongos can be quickly felled by either a back slice and a slash, or a mortal draw to the tail.
Room 33:
In this room, you'll find four ReDead Knights, and one Poe. Again, after taking the Poe's soul, it will disappear, never to be seen again. Before killing the Poe, though, pull out some Bomb Arrows and snipe three of the ReDeads from up on the ledge. Then, jump down and kill the Poe as a wolf, then kill the last ReDead to complete the room!
Room 34:
In this room, you'll find eleven Ghoul Rats, eight Purple Chus, one Red Chu, and one Yellow Chu. You really only need to be a wolf to clear this room, as the Chus will easilly die at the cruel hands of your wolf jump attack, and the Ghoul Rats are no match for your wolf spin. Once you've taken them out, go on to the next room, and get ready, because this is where things start heating up (or cooling down, as the case may be).
Room 35:
The instant you go into this room, you'll notice a slight chill in the air. That's because this room is populated completely by none other than ice type enemies. It contains six Ice Keese, and one giant Freezard! The Ice Keese will fall to Z targeted attacks and the ever useful spin attack, but the Freezard is a bit more difficult to handle. You need to smash into it several times with the Ball and Chain, and once you do so, it will break into four mini-freezards (that look like Yeta when she becomes posessed by her Mirror of Twilight shard, but so what?). These guys are a little harder to hit, but (just like Yeta), they'll fall to the might of your Ball and Chain, provided that you make contact.
Room 36:
This room is a little bit strange, as it is different on your first run through than it is on any other. On your first time through, you'll go into a room with merely four Chilfos, however, on any subsequent attempts at this cave, you will go into a room with a whopping SEVEN Chilfos!!! These are possibly the most irritating enemies in the game, as their ranged attack has very little cooldown time. Thankfully, they can be taken out from a distance using either the Ball and Chain or Bomb Arrows.
Room 37:
This room contains four Ice Bubbles and four Regular Bubbles, along with around six Leevers. The spin attack easily deals with all of them.
Room 38:
Prepare yourself, as this is where things start to get difficult! So difficult, in fact, that I reccomend using your Magic Armor throughout this entire fight. In this particular pit of death, you'll find four Chilfos, three Ice Keese, three Ice Bubbles, and a whopping two Freezards!!! I reccomend sniping the Chilfos from up on the ledge (you don't have to wear the Magic Armor for this) with Bomb arrows, due to it making the ground fight go much faster (so you'll waste less rupees). Now, put on your Magic Armor and leap into the pit! Avoid the blasts of ice from the Freezards and target the Keese and Bubbles. After you've killed them with a few well timed spin attacks, focus all of your efforts into destroying one of the two Freezards! Whip out your Ball and chain and smash it into your target Freezard until it breaks apart into four Mini-Freezards! Destroy these with the Ball and Chain as well to completely destroy your target Freezard! Rinse and repeat to clear the room. Now take off your Magic Armor and head into the next room.
Room 39:
This room is another one of those rooms that is different on your first run through than it is on any of your following runs. Your first time, you'll encounter two Darknuts, and on any run throughs following that, you'll encounter three! Don't let this intimidate you though, because there is a way to defeat them! Granted, it is difficult, but if you do it right, you'll live to fight another day! One thing you should take note of, is that Darknuts are rather slow. Because Link has the speed advantage, he can run circles around them! However, Darknuts make up for their lack of speed with their massive defense and attack! They can block nearly everything you can dish out, and can easilly take away an entire heart or two with only one of their attacks! Don't let this scare you though! So long as you followed my preperation instructions, you're ready to open up a big can of PWNAGE on these guys. How, you may wonder? With the fifth hidden skill, the mortal draw of course! It is a bit difficult to excecute, but it always damages your target Darknut! To set it up properly, Z target and go in close (remember to have your shield out, but not your sword). Allow one to attack you, but sidestep at the last second! It's attack should miss, leaving it wide open! Seize this opportunity and unleash the mortal draw move upon your victim! It'll smash some of the Darknut's armor off! Keep punishing the same Darknut until all of it's armour has been smashed off. He will then turn into a stage two Darknut. Stage two Darknuts are a lot faster, but have worse defense than a stage one Darknut. Keep rolling around the Darknut while using the back slice move (be mindful of the other Darknut(s)) until you make contact. When you do, keep slashing it with your basic combo! Repeat this pattern until your target Darknut is down. For the other Darknuts, simply repeat this cycle to defeat them. This is the easiest technique I have found for killing Darknuts, however, personally, you may hit a few snags, one being that you may not be able to hit your target Darknut because the other Darknuts are covering your target with their own attacks, and aren't giving you a chance to mortal draw. If this occurs, I recommend treating these stage one Darknuts as stage two Darknuts, and instead of relying on the mortal draw, make heavy use of the back slice. It'll take longer than technique #1 this way, but you may get hit less, and, after all,isn't that what's important?
Wow... That was a bit of a mouthful, wasn't it? I hope you learned something from that. Anyway, we can't stop now! We only have a few more floors to get through before we've won The Cave of Ordeals! Let's keep going!
Room 40:
Ahhh, another Great Fairy chamber. This time, she'll inform you that she has released faries into the Lanyaru Spring, and that you need the Double Clawshot to advance. Don't give up now, we've come too far to give up! Only ten rooms left!
Rooms 41-50
Room 41:
In this room, you'll find nine Armos. They're relitively easy to kill, as long as you don't activate more than one at a time. Attack your target Armos's backside as it's warming up until the gem embedded in it shatters. Rinse and repeat. If you do happen to awaken more than one at a time, wreak massive havok upon them with the back slice. I still don't reccomend awakening multiple Armos, though. Trust me, one is much easier to take care of than nine at once. After killing the Armos, use the double Clawshot to latch onto grates mounted on this room's walls. Latch from grate to grate until you've positioned yourself above the exit. Drop down and keep moving.
Room 42:
This room is pretty simple. You'll see six Bokoblins and six Baba Serpents. Kill them like you normally would, using a combination of spin attacks, stabs, and helm splitters until all of them lie dead at your feet.
Room 43:
In this room, you'll find six Bulbin Archers and three Lizalfos. Kill all the Bulbins you can with your Hero's Bow while you're up on the room's ledge, then kill the enemies left over with spin attacks, jump attacks, and a few helm splitters.
Room 44:
In this room you'll find four Dynalfos, and, until you rip it's soul out for the first time, one Poe. Kill the Poe first, as it will be really irritating if you don't, then, kill the four Dynalfos with a combination of the back slice and the spin attack. If you can, take them all at once. Why? Because if you do, your spin attack will be much more effective! Just stay alert, as you'll get hit a lot easier this way.
Room 45:
This room is yet another that is different on your first playthrough than it is on any other. On your first playthrough, you'll find five ReDead Knights, two Bulbin Archers (on two wooden watchtowers), eight Purple Chus, one Red Chu, and one Rare/Yellow Chu. On any subsequent playthrough, you'll find only five ReDeads and three Bulbin Archers. My advice for first timers: Take out both archers on top of their wooden towers with some archery skills of your own, then shoot Bomb Arrows at the ReDead Knights to kill them. As for the Chus? Kill them with some wolf jump attacks! My advice to everyone else: Kill the archers on top of all three watchtowers by shooting arrows from out of the previous room. Then, kill the ReDeads with some bomb arrows!
Room 46:
Put on your Magic Armor! In this room, you'll encounter three Chilfos, two Freezards, and 12 Ghoul Rats!!! First, take out the Chilfos in the room with some Bomb Arrows from up on the ledge (if you don't have any to spare, you're going to have to jump to the floor and use your Ball and Chain), then, BEGIN THE ASSAULT!!! First, hunt down all the Ghoul Rats in the room as a wolf, then, destroy each Freezard with your Ball and Chain. Careful though! After destroying a Freezard, it'll break apart into four Mini-Freezards! Use the Ball and Chain to dispatch of these as well!
Room 47:
In this room, you may only see a single Bokoblin to begin with, but be warned, as there are exactly thirty-one enemies waiting to ambush you in this room. In addition to the Bokoblin, the room also contains fifteen rats and fifteen Stalkins! Don't worry, though! The Bokoblin and the rats are easily dealt with with several spin attacks, and the Stalkins can be quickly defeated with the Ball and Chain!
Room 48:
In this absolutely diabolical room, you'll encounter two Aeralfos and a single Darknut! The Aeralfos can be disposed of in two combos, but you have to keep moving and quickly dodging, because while you're locked onto one Aeralfos, the other one can pull off a quick dive-bombing attack! Be mindful of both the Darknut and the other Aeralfos, and wait for your target Aeralfos raise his shield and sword as if he is getting ready to charge! Hook him with your clawshot and hack him up. Keep a lock on him, but do not attack after this, as he's going to be able to defend himself pretty well. Wait for him to launch himself into the air again and repeat the process. Do the same for the other Aeralfos, then focus on the Darknut. To defeat the Darknut, do what you did in room 39, and let him try and attack you. Dodge his attack at the last second and then hit him with either a mortal draw or a back slice. Keep punishing him until all of his armor falls off. Now that he's in stage two, keep relentlessly trying to back slice him! When you've made first contact, excecute a good old fashioned combo hit! Keep it up until he's dead!
Room 49:
This is it... The final room... Get ready for the fight of your life!!! In this room, the Darknut count changes depending what playthrough you're on. On your first time through, there'll be three, but on any other, there will be four! Allow me to repeat my Darknut killing strategy for your reading pleasure:
So long as you followed my preperation instructions, you're ready to open up a big can of PWNAGE on these guys. How, you may wonder? With the fifth hidden skill, the mortal draw of course!!! It is a bit difficult to excecute, but it always damages your target Darknut! To set it up properly, Z target and go in close (remember to have your shield out, but not your sword). Allow one to attack you, but sidestep at the last second! It's attack should miss, leaving it wide open! Seize this opportunity and unleash the mortal draw move upon your victim! It'll smash some of the Darknut's armor off! Keep punishing the same Darknut until all of it's armour has been smashed off. He will then turn into a stage two Darknut. Stage two Darknuts are a lot faster, but have worse defense than a stage one Darknut. Keep rolling around the Darknut while using the back slice move (be mindful of the other Darknut(s)) until you make contact. When you do, keep slashing it with your basic combo! Repeat this pattern until your target Darknut is down. For the other Darknuts, simply repeat this cycle to defeat them. This is the easiest technique I have found for killing Darknuts, however, personally, you may hit a few snags, one being that you may not be able to hit your target Darknut because the other Darknut(s) is(are) covering your target with their own attacks, and aren't giving you a chance to mortal draw. If this occurs, I recommend treating these stage one Darknuts as stage two Darknuts, and instead of relying on the mortal draw, make heavy use of the back slice. It'll take longer than technique #1 this way, but you may get hit less, and, after all,isn't that what's important?
This is the absolute toughest non-boss fight in Twilight Princess. You can die in under a minute if you're not careful! Use your Magic Armor as much as you can in this fight, as the less damage you take, the better! Remember, stay on the move, stay defensive, and don't create more than one stage two Darknut at a time, as it'll just make the fight harder on you. If you're having a bit of trouble with these four at once, shoot a bomb arrow at your target's feet, and hopefully, it will take off a large chunk of it's armor, so you can kill it faster. Make use of the very first hidden skill, because it helps.
Room 50:
Congratulations, dear reader, for you have made it to the end of this ordeal! Talk to the Great Fairy in this room and she'll give you a bottle of Fairy's Tears (a very valuble item)(be sure to have an empty bottle to put it in, by the way). Afterwards, she'll warp you to the Spring at Lake Hylia. Now you have officially beaten The Cave of Ordeals.