Ice Palace Walkthrough A Link to the Past
The series’ first ice dungeon and often called the game’s hardest. Link descends through many small, slippery floors, pushing blocks to open the way down to the boss.
- World
- Dark World
- Dungeon
- Crystal dungeon 5
- Treasure
Blue Mail- Boss
- Kholdstare
- Prev / next
- Thieves’ Town · Misery Mire
At a glance
- Location
- Middle of Ice Lake, the Dark World’s Lake Hylia.
- How to get in
- Swim to the largest island in Lake Hylia with Zora’s Flippers, lift the dark rock with the Titan’s Mitt and step on the warp tile beneath it to reach the palace.
- Big chest
- Blue Mail
- Reward
- Crystal (fifth maiden) + Heart Container
Moon Pearl
Zora’s Flippers
Titan’s Mitt
Fire RodIce Palace route, step by step
- Warp to the palace and head inside.
- Melt Freezors with the Fire Rod and watch your footing on the icy floors.
- Push blocks to clear the way and work steadily down through the floors.
- Find the Big Key and open the big chest for the Blue Mail.
- Keep descending to the bottom floor and open the boss door.
- Melt Kholdstare’s shell and finish it off.
Key chests
| Contents | Where |
|---|---|
| Blue Mail | Big chest |
Enemies in Ice Palace
Tips
- The Bombos Medallion can stand in for the Fire Rod against Freezors and Kholdstare.
- Bring Bottles with magic potions — you will use a lot of Fire Rod shots here.
- The Blue Mail halves the damage you take; put it on as soon as you get it.
Boss: Kholdstare
- Weak to
- Fire Rod or Bombos Medallion on the shell, then Fire Rod or sword
Kholdstare starts sealed in a block of ice on a slippery floor. Melt the shell with the Fire Rod, or in one go with the Bombos Medallion. The creature inside splits into three cloudy eyes that drift around; hit each with the sword or Fire Rod while dodging ice chunks falling from the ceiling.
FAQ
How do you get to the Ice Palace?
Swim to the biggest island in Lake Hylia, lift the dark rock with the Titan’s Mitt and use the warp tile underneath.
How do you beat Kholdstare?
Melt its ice shell with the Fire Rod or the Bombos Medallion, then attack the three eyes it splits into.
What’s the treasure in the Ice Palace?
The Blue Mail, which halves the damage Link takes.
Sources & picture credits
Guide text is original retrogameindex writing, checked against Zeldapedia. Screenshots, sprites and artwork © Nintendo; local copies archived from Zeldapedia file pages (listed on the image gallery).