Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom – Should You Go To Eldin Volcano, Faron Wetlands, Or Holy Mount Lanayru First?

After clearing the first few areas of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the game offers three new choices for the next primary destination. Rifts have appeared in Eldin Volcano, Faron Wetlands, and Holy Mount Lanayru, which are respectively to the northwest, north, and southeast of Hyrule Castle. There’s nothing stopping Zelda from tackling any of them first, so it comes down to a question of the optimal approach.

Choosing between Eldin Volcano, Faron Wetlands, and Holy Mount Lanayru is similar to the earlier coin flip between Gerudo Desert and Jabul Waters, but with three options, it can be an even more intimidating decision. All three areas also up the level of challenge and house lengthy quest lines and significant dungeon sprawls, so it’s something of a commitment regardless of which one is picked.

Benefits Of Going To Eldin Volcano First In Echoes Of Wisdom

Flaming Echoes Are Abundant

Heading to Eldin Volcano in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom quite literally turns up the heat, with a surplus of lava, searing-hot surfaces, and fiery enemies to encounter. The Goron civilization can also be found there, and a young leader struggling to fill his father’s shoes serves as a key character for Zelda to interact with.

Most of the standout echoes found in Eldin Volcano focus on fire, and heading to the region first gives Zelda more to work with than the Ignizol that does the heavy lifting for lighting things aflame in the early game. The Torch Slug and Fire Keese are both fun to use, and the Fire Wizzrobe is an especially powerful attack option once Zelda’s has five triangle points to work with (which may not happen until completing the region if she tackles it first).

Even better, the flying Zirro tosses out bombs, opening up another option besides dropping a bombfish to flop around on land. Later in the Eldin region, Zelda can unlock bombs for the swordfighter form, giving her the ability to toss them out in traditional fashion or deploy them as Bombchus.

Benefits Of Going To Faron Wetlands First

High-Level Echoes & Electrifying Enemies

Turning back around to Faron Wetlands might not seem like the most exciting move if Zelda just completed Jabul Waters, but it’s not as similar of a region as the name might suggest. A tropical jungle environment houses very different dangers, and most of the swimming is restricted to side-scrolling segments.

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Faron Wetlands is a great place to pick up high-powered echoes for combat, with the Level 3 Lizalfos, Electric Wizzrobe, Mothula Lv. 2, and Darknut Lv. 3 all being strong options that require five triangle points to use. Darknut Lv. 3 in particular isn’t one to miss, as this armored combatant is capable of one-shotting many of the game’s enemies without getting interrupted.

This Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom area is also home to a number of electric enemies beyond the regional Wizzrobe, all of which make it easy to zap enemies and set up killer attacks. Combining them with Drippitune, a frog that sings to generate rainfall, proves especially effective.

Benefits Of Going To Holy Mount Lanayru First

Embracing The Coldest Reaches Of Hyrule

As far as mountains go, the path to Holy Mount Lanayru is essentially the opposite of journeying up Eldin Volcano in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Scalding surfaces and fiery enemies are largely replaced with freezing cold and icy foes, which can actually prove even more of a threat thanks to Zelda’s need to stay warm in especially frigid areas. Surprisingly, Holy Mount Lanayru still has a couple of good fiery echoes, with the Brazier and the easily enraged Temper Tweelus both proving effective.

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By and large, however, Holy Mount Lanayru equips Zelda with a colder arrangement of echoes, from the Ice Wizzrobe to a gigantic snowball. Enemies like the Sword Moblin Lv. 3 can be useful, but the real standout might be new movement options. While Ice Block is less useful than the Water Block, it’s a lot of fun, and the cloud’s status as a mid-air platform more than makes up for how quickly it collapses underneath sustained weight.

You Should Go To Eldin Volcano Before The Rest

The Quest’s Listed Order Makes Sense

There’s a decent argument to tackle these three areas in any order, but heading to Eldin Volcano first ultimately makes the most sense. The biggest reason lies in the surplus of flaming echoes, which prove useful in both of the other regions. Faron Wetlands is strewn with spider-webs that are quickly destroyed by fire, and flame keeps Zelda warm even when she doesn’t have an appropriate smoothie or potion in hand in the coldest parts of the climb to Holy Mount Lanayru. Having bombs in swordfighter form also proves effective in both of the other regions.

Faron Wetlands makes the most sense as a second destination in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as the electric enemies of the region will also prove more effective against foes on Holy Mount Lanayru than vice versa. There’s also a good sense of puzzle progression when tackling things in this order — Eldin Volcano largely has the simplest puzzles, while Faron Wetlands and Holy Mount Lanayru continue to step things up a bit, although there’s not a steep difference in difficulty regardless of order.

Ultimately, any approach should work reasonably well, and even the opposite sequence would have certain advantages, like letting Zelda use the cloud echo in other regions. For the undecided, however, there’s probably a reason why the quest Lands of the Goddesses lists Eldin Volcano first, and the echoes found there should prove consistently helpful throughout the rest of the game. In terms of general efficiency, there’s no more reliable order than Elden Volcano first, Faron Wetlands second, and Holy Mount Lanayru last in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

Strange rifts are tearing Hyrule apart, and with Link missing, it’s up to Princess Zelda to save the kingdom. Armed with the Tri Rod and aided by a mysterious fairy, she must solve puzzles, create environmental “echoes,” and battle enemies while navigating new regions and uncovering hidden secrets.

Released

September 26, 2024

Developer(s)

Nintendo , Grezzo