Ocarina of Time
Lost Woods
Forest Escape
Child Naviless aqua escape
Discovered by Typhingblade
Nowadays this is the near-universal forest escape method from Lost Woods.
Deku Stick setupless ("Yolo escape")
The position and angle required for the clip are lenient enough that they can be eyeballed. This can be a few seconds faster than using the more consistent setup below. This video covers in detail a partial setup to approximate the necessary angle.
ESS setup
- Target the wall between the dark and light splotches as shown
- 1x ESS or 2x ESS turn right (facing angle 0x3bca or 0x34c2)
- Sidehop left
- Backflip and draw the stick
- Slash the stick once if 1 ESS turn, twice if 2 ESS turns
- Each slash must be interrupted, usually with the next sidehop, but can be with shield
- Interrupt slash with sidehop right
- Jumpslash midair (frame perfect) to clip into the stone
- Swim up-right to hit the load zone
ESS-less setup
Works with sword or stick, and is fairly beginner friendly. Video below has great explanations and detail, showing many alternatives for the angle and corner position. See which one you prefer.
- Get the cardinal East angle (0x4000)
- There are several ways to do this as demonstrated in the video
- Get fully into left corner past the stone in the water
- As shown in video, usually a sidehop+sideroll or by walking at a slight angle to the wall
- Sidehop left, backflip and draw sword or stick
- Sidehop right and jumpslash on the correct frame
- Keep holding target the whole time; if you fail you still have the angle and can get back in the corner easily
- Swim up-right to hit the loading zone
Adult Naviless aqua escape
- Climb near the left edge of the right side of the stone, as shown, and target (facing angle 0x8000)
- Hold ESS right (continue holding through step 4)
- Once Link stops turning, press B to slash the sword so Link falls
- Begin holding A while Link falls so that he grabs the ledge and immediately drops
- On the first or second frame after Link drops from the ledge, press B to jumpslash
- Between Link dropping from the ledge and the jumpslash landing in the water, release the control stick to neutral
- After Link clips and stays out of bounds, hold up to swim to the load zone
The video below shows an alternative that is only slightly slower. Follow the instructions above through step 3, but don't hold A while Link falls, instead making him hang from the ledge. From here, once the water settles, press A to drop, then press B to jumpslash 1 frame afterward. The frame data may differ depending on certain things, it has not been fully fleshed out yet.
setup from Goron City
This setup is the same speed as a very fast setupless escape. It can be made even faster by replacing steps 7-9 with holding a diagonal when emerging from the water to instantly grab the ledge, but since the frame data for the clip depends on Link's exact grab location and diagonal notches are often inconsistent, how exactly that variation is done will vary from controller to controller.
- Shield out of the load zone
- Turn right
- Sidehop left x2
- Backwalk until Link falls off the ledge into the water; at some point during the backwalk while moving at full speed (9), release target for at least 1 frame while shielding to stop and restart the backwalk
- Between falling and hitting the water, release target
- Hold down until surfacing animation begins, then release to neutral
- Tap target while surfacing (not strictly required, just for visibility)
- 5x ESS left to 0x6329 (keep stick neutral until Link pops out of the water or else you'll get a WESS)
- Dry roll to grab ledge
- Press A and then B (see frame data below); must release target before pressing A
Press A within a 4 frame window - 3rd through 6th frames after grabbing ledge. For an A press on the 3rd through 5th frames, the B press can be 1 or 2 frames after the A press; for an A press on the 6th frame, the B press must be 2 frames after the A press.
Navi Dive aqua escape
Discovered by SwordlessLink
Requires: Kokiri Sword or Deku Stick
Skips: Deku Shield, Fairy Ocarina
This method allows you to escape the forest by "cutscene" diving off of Navi's dialog into the shortcut to Zora's River without needing the Silver Scale or better. The downside is that if you fail you essentially have to reset the console to try again since Navi will not appear again for approximately 19.5 minutes.
Go through the Lost Woods to the small pond where you can enter Zora's River. Roll from the bank of the pond and grab the top of the gray box. Wait for the Navi icon to appear. You can time this to correspond with the Lost Woods music like in the video. Now press B twice--once to pull Link back off the box, then a second time to jumpslash--then immediately talk to Navi in order to dive off the text as your second jumpslash pulls you back off the ledge.
Escape bridge
Getting off the Lost Woods Bridge allows you to go directly to the Lost Woods without having to waste time taking a detour through Kokiri Forest. The fastest way is to use the Longshot to hook onto the ladder.
Megaflip
These work as Child and Adult.
from Hyrule Field
Coming from Hyrule Field, you can line up a megaflip.
- Hold upleft when entering with full speed
- Pull bomb
- When Link hits the fence, turn 180 degrees down
- Walk into the hallway you came from
- Megaflip from the edge of the hallway and the bridge (where they meet)
- Drop from the ledge or sidehop right if you land on top of the fence
- You can consistently land on top if you stop holding up left just before Link hits the fence
from Kokiri Forest
This megaflip isn't precise enough to require a setup, but a chu timer gives plenty of time for one, and the benefit of this setup is that if you fail the megaflip, you still damage boost onto the railing.
- Pull chu asap
- Turn 180, then 2x ESS right (facing angle 0x31f1); nearby angles still work for the mega but might not for the damage boost
- Stand against the railing between the first two planks on the bridge; other positions work, but this one is good for keeping the chu visible
- Megaflip
Pressure jump
If you have Bombs, you can perform a Pressure Jump to hop over the rails.
From the Hyrule Field entrance, you want to get into the corner that forms between the hollowed out tree entrance and the bridge rail on the left side, closest to you, then Z-Target the little wall of the hallway. It's easier to get into position if you use rolls and sidehops rather than walking, as Link will tend to do odd small hops in this corner.
Once in position, place a bomb. The slope of the hollowed tree should push it to the side. Then, around when the bomb begins to flash faster, hold right to cause Link to perform a small jump just as the bomb explodes, pushing Link on top of the railing, allowing you jump down below. With perfect timing, it's possible to completely miss the ledge altogether and land below.
Adult Mido Skip
Instead of playing Saria's Song, you can skip Mido in Lost Woods as Adult. From the Sacred Forest Meadow side, you can easily hess through him. From the Goron City / Kokiri Forest / Zora's River side, you must do something a bit more specific.
Backflip
You can backflip over Mido as Adult to get into the deeper rooms of Lost Woods.
Non-initial hookshot setup
The easiest setup, from a non-initial position, uses hookshot. The angle has an easy setup but can also be manually aligned (both shown in video).
- Target the wall on the right side of Mido (the side close to the water)
- Turn 90 degrees right
- ESS turn 1 more frame right
- Backlip with third person Hookshot or pause buffered
- You can't talk to NPCs the frame you unpause, so you can backflip itemless if you do this
Itemless from Goron City
Setup by dannyb
Coming from Goron City, you can consistently get over Mido on the first backflip without using hookshot or pausing.
- Wait until Link stops moving
- Dry roll
- Sidehop left x10; the second sidehop must be on one of the first two possible frames so Link gets pushed by the rock correctly
- Backwalk to the wall
- Turn left
- 1x ESS turn up
- Press target, then press down-right and A to backflip within the first 3 possible frames to avoid talking to Mido
Non-initial itemless setup
Megaflip
A bit more difficult, but faster than backflipping if you pull the bomb early. The angle/position for the megaflip aren't overly precise, but see the video below for examples. You can also use the angle from targeting the tree trunk hallway before Mido.
Kill Skull Kid
Kill Skull Kid as Child
You can kill Skull Kid as Child, even though he won't fight you. The best method depends on whether or not you have Saria's Song. With Saria's song, he can be killed by holding out a Deku Stick with ISG with default/Kokiri slash damage stored, if you have played Saria's Song on the stump (because he will otherwise jump away from the Deku Stick).
You can kill him without Saria's Song by doing a slash extension to reach him.
Kill Skull Kid as Adult
The Skull Kid will only be there as Adult under certain conditions: you must not have an Adult trade quest item in your inventory OR you must have the Poacher's Saw onward.
Do forward thrusts at him just as he prepares to attack with his blowpipe. You can land 3 with good timing, then he jumps away. Repeat the same just as he prepares to attack again.
Hookshot Quick-Grab Ladders
To hookshot to the top of the ladders in the Lost Woods more efficiently, target the right or left (depending on your position) tip of the rail of the ladder and hook on. If you are more towards the left of the ladder, aim at the right rail, else do the opposite. When done perfectly, you should clip behind the ladder, and grab on to the ledge instead.