Ocarina of Time Remake: How to Get the Fairy Bow

The Fairy Bow is in the Forest Temple, the first dungeon adult Link takes on in the Ocarina of Time remake. It sits in a chest that appears once you defeat the Stalfos in a room deep in the temple, reached through the block-pushing room and the twisted corridor.

You cannot buy it and you cannot get it early, and young Link never uses it: his ranged weapon is the Fairy Slingshot. Below is what to bring, the route to the Bow room, how to win the fight that guards it, the buttons, and the first things to shoot once it is yours.

What You Need Before the Forest Temple

• Adult Link. The Forest Temple is the first stop after you draw the Master Sword and wake up seven years later.
• The way through the Lost Woods. The temple stands at the far end of the Sacred Forest Meadow, and our Lost Woods guide has the turns. As adult Link, Mido waits on the path and only moves for Saria’s Song, which our 1998 guide to finding Saria covers.
• The Hookshot. The stairs up to the temple door are broken, and you grapple the tree branch above them to reach it. It comes from Dampé’s race under Kakariko Graveyard.
• The Song of Time. A blue block inside the temple only moves for it.

Sheik meets you in the meadow and teaches the Minuet of Forest (L, X, Y, A, Y, A), so every later trip to the temple is a warp. Our fast travel guide lists every warp song.

The Route to the Bow Room

The remake keeps the original dungeons and their mechanisms, but director HokWai Ng says in Nintendo’s Ask the Developer interview that “you may notice areas where the layout differs slightly from the original game.” The steps below follow the 1998 game’s landmarks, so if a room looks a little different, look for the same pieces.

1. Collect small keys. In the 1998 game the first came from a chest up in a tree in the entrance courtyard (Hookshot over to it), the next from a room up the stairs from the main hall after a fight, and another from the bottom of the courtyard well once a floor switch drained it.
2. Unlock the way to the block room. A locked door off the main hall leads past a Skulltula into a tall room with stone blocks.
3. Push the blocks to climb. Shove the big block along the arrows on the floor, then the red block, and use them as steps to reach the upper level.
4. Walk the twisted corridor. Take it as it is, twisted, and drop into the small room at the end.
5. Beat the Wallmaster. When a shadow grows on the floor, a hand is about to drop on you. Keep moving so it lands on empty ground, then hit it until it is gone.
6. Climb the ladder and unlock the next door. Head down the stairs beyond it into the Stalfos room.

How to Win the Stalfos Fight

One Stalfos drops in first, and once it falls, a pair takes its place. Stay away from the edges of the floor: a fall drops you to the level below, and you have to walk back up.

1. Lock on with ZL and keep your shield up. Stalfos block most swings aimed straight at them, so let them swing first.
2. Block the swing, then hit back with Y. The opening comes right after their attack.
3. Jump in for a jump attack when one stands still. In the remake you can press jump and then attack, or use a single press, as Nintendo’s developers explain in the same interview. Our jump guide covers the button.
4. Bring the pair down close together. In the 1998 game a fallen Stalfos rose again if its partner stayed standing too long, so split your attention and finish them back to back.

When the last one crumbles, a chest appears in the room. Open it for the Fairy Bow. Our guide to using the shield has more on blocking, and saving by hand before the room costs you nothing.

How to Use the Fairy Bow

1. Hold R to open the quick-select bar and pick the Bow. It goes on ZR.
2. Press ZR to raise it and fire.
3. Lock on with ZL to snap your aim to a target, or tilt the controller if you like motion aiming. Our motion aiming guide shows how to turn it off, and the quick swap guide covers the bar.

Plain arrows cost no magic. In the 1998 game the quiver started at 30 arrows, the Kakariko shooting gallery raised it to 40, and the horseback archery range at Gerudo Fortress raised it to 50. Our 1998 Bow guide has the original’s details.

What to Shoot First

The Bow is the key to the rest of the temple, so put it to work right away.

• The paintings. Two of the four Poe sisters who stole the main hall’s flames hide in paintings. In the 1998 game the room through the door past the Bow chest held one of them: shoot every painting of her and she comes out to fight. Each sister you beat lights one of the main hall’s torches.
• The eye switch over the twisted corridor. Shoot it and the corridor straightens out. The Boss Key is in the room beyond.
• The frozen eye in the basement. Rotate the basement until a lit torch sits in front of the iced-over eye, and shoot an arrow through the flame to melt it, then shoot the eye.
• The boss. Phantom Ganon rides out of paintings in the first phase, and only arrows hit him there.

Where Else the Bow Matters

The Bow carries you through the rest of the game. It knocks Volvagia out of the air in the Fire Temple, it fires the magic arrows (our Fire Arrows guide covers the first of them), and from Epona’s saddle it brings down the Big Poes in Hyrule Field. The Gerudo guards also stop in their tracks when an arrow hits them.

Every remake guide is on our Zelda hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Fairy Bow in the Ocarina of Time remake? In the Forest Temple, in a chest that appears once you defeat the Stalfos in a room past the block-pushing room and the twisted corridor.

Can young Link use the Fairy Bow? No. Young Link uses the Fairy Slingshot instead, which our Slingshot guide covers.

Can you buy a bow anywhere? No. The Forest Temple’s chest is the only way to get it.

How many Stalfos guard the Fairy Bow? One drops in first, then a pair takes its place. Beat the pair close together.

How do you fire the Bow on Switch 2? Hold R, pick it on the quick-select bar so it sits on ZR, then press ZR.

Do arrows use magic? Plain arrows do not. Fire, Ice and Light Arrows each spend magic.