Mergeless Adventure

Data Gathered By Anwonu, RheaultWnage And RickWithAnH

Normally, the amount of things that can be done before beating Eastern Palace and obtaining the Merge ability is quite limited, but with the help of a few glitches and tricks, it is possible to get quite a few things and progress a fair bit into the game.

Reaching House Of Gales

Two different methods can be used to access House of Gales before obtaining the Merge ability:

1. Flippers Early
2. Flipperless House of Gales (See Flipperless Adventure)

Since the Flippers can also be used to obtain Maiamais and some other items Mergeless, the first method is suggested, even though it is way harder to pull off.

Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to obtain the first small key without the Merge ability, so you can't progress very far into the dungeon itself.

Reaching Tower Of Hera

The first cave has 3 small gaps that need to be crossed. The easiest way of doing this is to having Link face diagonally towards the south wall and the gap, and be as close as possible to said wall and gap (As seen in the picture below). From there, simply wait for a boulder to hit you and automatically boost you across. Each hit does 1 heart of damage, so be careful with your health.

Cave 2 and cave 3 are done normally, as they do not require merging.

After exiting the 3rd cave, simply jump down to the Heart Piece area and go through the Fairy Fountain cave to reach Tower of Hera.

Beating Tower Of Hera

To get past the 1F room, you will have to combine a Recoil Jump with a Bomb Boost.

If done correctly, the spin attack will recoil off the spiky enemy, Link will start a jump animation (because he is standing so close to the edge of the wall) and get hit by the bomb explosion, which will boost him south over the small ledge.

Once you reach 3F, use a bomb to activate one of the wall switches to lower the walls surrounding you. From there, perform the Miniboss skip to go from 3F to 9F and avoid all other areas that would require you to merge.

Items

Rentable Items

By unlocking Ravio's Shop early, all items (except the Sand Rod, for obvious reasons) become rentable before even going to Sanctuary.

Bottles

1. Bottle sold at the Kakariko outdoor Shop (After beating Sanctuary, 100 rupees)
2. Bird Man's Bottle under the bridge (Requires Flippers)
3. Bottle with a message inside, near Race Bro area (Requires Flippers or a damage boost. Can be traded for Premium Milk, which can't be delivered.)

Other Items

• The Lamp is obtained in Sanctuary
• The Net is obtained from the Bee man in Kakariko (Requires a Bottle)
• The Hint Glasses are obtained from the Fortune Teller (After beating Sanctuary)
• Scoot Fruit can be bought in one of the two indoor shops (After beating Sanctuary, 50 rupees)
• Foul Fruit can be bought in one of the two indoor shops (After beating Sanctuary, 30 rupees)

Gear

Heart Pieces

A total of 10 Heart Pieces are obtainable before getting the Merge ability. With Moldorm's Heart Container, that makes a total of 6 Hearts and 2/4 of another.

1. Kakariko Cave (Use a Cucco to fly into the hole)
2. Blacksmith's Cave (Off A Ledge Fire Boost to get on the fence and skip the big rock)
3. Behind Blacksmith's House (Off A Ledge Fire Boost to get on the fence and walk around the trees)
4. Hidden Cave in the Swamp Ruins area south of Link's House
5. Area south of Eastern Palace (Requires Hammer)
6. Waterfall cave south of Zora Domain. (Requires Flippers)
7. Top of Death Mountain (Just before Tower of Hera)
8. Lost Woods (Use a Blob to clip inside the slit, deathwarp out)
9. Cucco Minigame (Unlocked after beating Sanctuary)
10. Rupee Rush Minigame (Unlocked after beating Sanctuary)

Maiamais

By not having the ability to Merge and, by extension, the Pegasus Boots, very few Maiamais can be collected. Even more so due to the fact that we are limited to the Hyrule half of the game. A total of 13 are obtainable:

1. Under tiles northwest of Link's House (Requires Tornado Rod)
2. Under tiles near Blacksmith's House (Requires Tornado Rod)
3. Under a bush near the northeast exit in Kakariko Village
4. Lost Woods, under a bush just before the entrance to the Master Sword area
5. South of Zora Domain, in water (Requires Flippers)
6. Near bridge east of Hyrule Castle, in water (Requires Flippers)
7. Near the bridge where the Bird Man lives, in water (Requires Flippers)
8. Under tile near House of Gales (Requires Tornado Rod and either Hookshot/Ice Rod or Flippers)
9. South of House of Gales, in water (Requires Flippers)
10. Southeast of House of Gales, in water (Requires Flippers)
11. Inside the Hidden cave in the Swamp Ruins area, in water (Requires Flippers)
12. Near the Flippers Treasure Dungeon in the Swamp Ruins area, in water (Requires Flippers)
13. Pond east of Fortune Teller tent, in water (Requires Flippers)

You can take them back to Mother Maiamai, but it is impossible to upgrade any item because you need the ability to buy them from Ravio first, which is unlocked upon getting the Master Sword.

Monster Guts

Monster Guts will not start dropping from enemies and such before you've actually beaten Eastern Palace. However, a few are obtainable early, from chests:

1. Eastern Palace (Northeast room of 2F)
2. Eastern Palace (Northwest room of 2F)
3. Death Mountain Fairy Fountain (Off A Ledge Fire Rod Boost to reach the entrance)
4. Death Mountain Cave 1
5. Death Mountain Cave 3
6. Tower of Hera, 6F
7. House of Gales, 1F northeast room

Other Gear

• The Shield can be bought from shops (After beating Sanctuary, 50 rupees)
• Flippers can be obtained early (See Flippers Early)
• Bee Badge can be obtained by giving the man both a regular Bee and a Golden Bee (It is believed that Golden Bees will not spawn in the overworld before you've first brought a regular Bee to the man.)
• Pendant of Power is obtained by beating Tower of Hera
• Charm is obtained by talking to Zelda in Hyrule Castle (This isn't the Pendant of Courage yet, which requires beating Eastern Palace.)