The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - Lanayru Desert Walkthrough (2024)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is finally upon us, and there's a lot to explore in this complicated overworld. Each area is segmented and you'll be solving puzzles and tasks in order to move forward, making this one of the tougher Zelda worlds to navigate.

Related: The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Eldin Volcano Walkthrough

In this guide we're going to be breaking down everything you need to know about making your way through Lanayru Desert. This area comes just after Lanayru Mine, where you get a quick introduction to Timeshift Stones and the other mechanics you will have to adjust to in order to complete the Lanayru area of the game. Just scroll down below for everything you need to know to complete Lanayru Desert and enter the Lanayru Mining Facility dungeon.

Make sure to check our previous guide, the Lanayru Mine walkthrough, right here.

Upgraded Hook Beetle And Crossing The Desert Quicksand - Zelda: Skyward Sword

Your first task will be to upgrade your Beetle into a Hook Beetle, which allows it to grab and drop bombs, which will be necessary to get through this area and several dungeons ahead. Head directly forward from the entrance to the desert and you'll come across three old cages. You can climb onto the nearby wall, and then from here you can throw bombs to destroy the rocks around the cages. There is a rock on top of one cage which is covering a hole - throw a bomb into that hole to uncover a timeshift stone, and then another to activate it.

Defeat the enemies in the nearby area - watch for their electric blades - and you'll be able to free the small robot - this robot is a member of the "Ancient Robots" race. This robot will be so grateful that you'll be rewarded with the upgraded Hook Beetle you need, and now we can explore much more of the desert environment. You can test out your Hook Beetle here - near the robot is a pool of sand, and two stone doors which you can bomb - you've seen these already in the Lanayru Mine. You can use the Hook Beetle to grab a bomb flower from on top of the tree, and then use the triggers to drop the bomb into the cups and make a path across the quicksand.

You've probably already seen the Goddess Cube on the raised wall - you can't access this yet, but the path forward is just to the left of it. This section has more doors and sand, so use your Hook Beetle and bombs to make a path. Be sure to totally refill your stamina after each run across the sand, so you don't get left vulnerable. Once over you'll have another similar task - this time you must cross sand, but there are rolling electric snails in the area. You can drop a bomb on the snails, and they'll leave behind their shells, which you can use to climb and recover stamina while you make your way across the sand. Be sure to push down the minecart on the wall for a shortcut once you've crossed.

This next area is the same deal, but here the sand is moving like water. Once you kill a snail, they'll leave behind the shell, but it'll move along with the flow of the sand. You can use this to travel a set distance, but be warned the creatures will eventually respawn, and shells disappear. Again, you'll be able to climb the wall at the back and drop a minecart down to act as a shortcut. Now, onward into the small cave.

Crossing The Chasm With Minecarts In Lanayru Desert - Zelda: Skyward Sword

Right, this area is fairly simple once you know what to do. You can activate the timeshift stones you can see around the area with your Slingshot or Hook Beetle - just watch for the enemies that might pop up as you fight. Once you've hit a nearby timeshift stone - on top of the stone pillar - it'll activate the minecart, and you'll be able to ride it over to the next small island.

On this next island use the Hook Beetle to grab a bomb from the top of the tree, and then the timeshift stone you need to use is located inside the hollowed tree on the left. Use the Hook Beetle to fly over the top of it and drop the bomb flower inside. Jump into the minecart, and watch for both plant enemies, and the switch on the left of the inside of the tree - you'll need to hit this to open the gate. Once over you can chat to your Goron pal, though he's just as stuck as you.

Over on the right side there's another minecart, blocked by an Ancient Robot. The timeshift stone you can see on the side of the cliff isn't good for this moment, instead you need to use the Hook Beetle to blow the rocks on top of the stone pillars here, and unveil a timeshift stone. Talk to the robot, defeat the enemies, and then push the minecart within the range of the next stone. Now you can use the stone in the cliffside - the robot will also update your Lanayru map, which is incredibly important, and we'll find out why later. Once you're across there's a path to get a minecart across to where you started, but more importantly is another door leading you back to Lanayru Desert.

Lanayru Mining Facility Generator, All Power Node Dial Locations - Zelda: Skyward Sword

Once you exit through the door you'll be back in the desert, but there will be one key difference - your map. Head forward towards the first rocky island, then head to the one of the left, and Fi will interrupt you - certain portions of the sand will not actually sink as you walk on them, meaning you can travel across the sand much further than you thought before. You will be able to see which portions you can walk across thanks to the updated map from the small robot from earlier. You can use map Beacons to mark which parts of the map are safe. Run directly towards the generator, which is marked on your map with an X. You'll be able to head straight for it from the second stone island.

Once up there break the nearby stones to uncover a timeshift stone. You can use this to make the generator work again - just thrust your sword inside like a key to activate it. Unfortunately, the generator won't work without three different Power Nodes activated, so we'll have to find those first. You can use Dowsing to find the location of each node.

Water Power Node 1 Location

The first node we'll visit is on the West side of the map. There are three stones bomb doors to stand on from before - the first of which actually has a bombable wall behind it. Blow the wall to uncover a timeshift stone, and then use the Water Power Node Dial behind the second door. Remember, just jab and twist.

Electric Power Node 2 Location

From the main Power Generator, this is located on the ground very close by - just behind the Loftwing Statue near the generator. You'll see a crack in the wall which needs to be bombed. This is a small dungeon area - you'll need to deal with quicksand and enemies. There's a timeshift stone in the centre of the room hidden by rocks, which you can roll a bomb over to blow and activate.

There are several enemies, but the puzzle is simple. When the timeshift stone is activated, those electric snails turn into tiny babies. There's a generator at the end of the room, just pick up the baby snail and stand on the generator switch, followed by rolling the tiny snail into the generator cage. This will open up the door and allow you to use the Electric Power Node Dial.

Fire Power Node 3 Location

The final Power Node is actually quite close to where you originally entered the desert, just hidden behind a wall, but you'll need to approach from the North to get there, and therefore you should go from the Electric Power Node location. Head to the left as you exit that mini dungeon, and use your map to cross the desert - there's also a bombable wall to the far left which has a Heart Piece inside, so watch for that. Once over the desert, you can flip a switch to open a gate between this Stone Cache area to where you entered the desert.

Inside the mini dungeon, it uses the same mechanics as the previous Power Node, only to get over to the far side of the room you'll need to sail on a snail shell, like before. Once over you can push down a block as a shortcut, and activate the timeshift stone - this is, again, hidden within a bombable rock, near where you have to mount a snail shell to cross. Getting the small snail into the generator will be more difficult though - luckily, you can grab one with the Hook Beetle and take it over to the generator. Finally, jab and twist to activate the final Power Node.

Opening Lanayru Mining Facility, Power Node Dial Solution - Zelda: Skyward Sword

Right, we're pretty much all done, so it's just a case of turning the dial and unlocking the Lanayru Mining Facility. Head back over to the main Power Generator, and hit the timeshift stone to turn it on. If you look at the map you'll be able to see that the layout of Lanayru Desert's walls are shaped a bit like a clock, and the three power nodes we activated are placed at set "times." We need to push the icons into the generator in accordance to where they're located on the map.

• First is the Water icon, which is placed at 9 o'clock - the left side of the dial.
• Next is Fire icon, which is placed at 4 o'clock, bottom right of the dial.
• Finally is the Electric icon, which is at 12 o'clock, top of the dial.

All you need to do to activate the dial is jab your sword in like a key, twist the sword to the desired "time," and then jab again to confirm the position. Once you're done, the Lanayru Mining Facility will open up before you. Good job!

Next: Skyward Sword Complete Guide And Walkthrough