Death Sword

To begin the fight quickly in all cases except Death Sword Skip with Jumpstrike, press B to pull the sword as soon as possible after entering the room and jump attack from where Link is standing, then skip the cutscene. Transform into wolf, turn on senses, approach Death Sword, wait until it swings its sword, and then finish the first phase of the fight by biting repeatedly with A or with 5 timed B attacks. To prevent the B attacks from missing Death Sword, space them so that the last 3 are part of a separate combo from the first 2. Note that it is possible to softlock by bonking into Death Sword's sword on the final B attack.

One Cycle

Discovered by Zelkys, Strat by Dragonbane0

Death Sword's stun timer begins when it is hit for the first time, but the third part of a sword combo will reset its timer. Repeatedly resetting the timer makes it possible to finish the fight in one cycle. Note that the first and second slashes of a combo do not reset the timer, and finishing a 4-part combo will always end the timer.

With Ball & Chain

Hit Death Sword with the Clawshot or Boomerang to make it fly around the room, then charge a spin attack. Release the spin attack when Death Sword is flying by to knock it to the ground. Swing the Ball & Chain to hit Death Sword 3 times, then chain together 3 sword slashes in a combo, but hesitate to avoid finishing the combo. Repeat this for a total of 3 3-part combos, then complete a full 4-part 4th combo to end the fight.

It is faster to hit Death Sword 4 or 5 times with the Ball & Chain before beginning sword combos, but this makes it more difficult to reset the timer with a 3-part sword combo before the timer runs out. This method is slower than skipping Death Sword.

The following "setup" by SVA is the fastest known way to kill Death Sword. The timings on this method are strict.

Without Ball & Chain

Hit Death Sword with the Clawshot or Boomerang to make it fly around the room, then charge a spin attack. Release the spin attack when Death Sword is flying by to knock it to the ground. Jump attack, then chain together 3 sword slashes in a combo, but hesitate to avoid finishing the combo. Repeat this for a total of 5 3-part combos, then complete a full 4-part 6th combo to end the fight. This is slower than using the Ball & Chain or skipping Death Sword.

Two Cycle (outdated)

Discovered by LogitechSDAZ

Hit Death Sword with the Clawshot or Boomerang to make it fly around the room. Pull out and begin twirling the Ball & Chain while Death Sword moves around the room. When it flies close and gets hit, move a bit closer to it so the Ball & Chain will continue to hit it on the ground. Hit Death Sword with the Ball & Chain 5 times, then repeat the entire process once more to finish the fight. This is slower than skipping Death Sword and both methods of 1-cycling Death Sword.

Death Sword Skip

Discovered by Pheenoh

With a precise wolf Super Jump, it is possible to skip the entire Death Sword fight. This saves about 15 seconds over the 1-cycle with Ball & Chain.

No-slash method

Setup by Kejsmaster

This is the standard method for performing DSS.

1. Hit Death Sword with the clawshot or boomerang to make it fly around the room
2. Roll into the corner by the left side of the gate, orient the camera to be perpendicular to the wall, and wait for Death Sword to land nearby
3. If Death Sword lands nearby and prepares to swing its sword, continue with the next step; if Death Sword gets stuck flying in place near the gate, use the backup shown below
4. Once Death Sword begins to swing, roll down once, then transform immediately
5. Press C-Down multiple times to pan the camera down during the transformation
6. Shortly after Death Sword's sword hits the ground, hold B to start charging and walk down 9 steps to the position seen in the video
7. Depending on position, there are between 0 and 5 frames to release the charge and successfully superjump on top of the ledge

The video below shows a buffered version of the trick. Since the charge attack releases when the player stops holding B, pulling up the item wheel on a frame where Death Sword looks to be in a good position means that you can simply close the item wheel and let go of all inputs to release the charge attack. The item wheel frame in the video below is a good example of what a good Death Sword position looks like. However, since the camera and Link's position are unlikely to be consistent across multiple attempts at the trick, timing the superjump often requires judging Death Sword's position without its surroundings appearing exactly the same every time.

Here is a closeup on the frame the B attack is released in the video above:

Visual cues for setting up DSS documented by Glubbers and WaterproofTeabag

Slash method

Setup by Samura1man

Adding a slash in step 4 of the setup described above costs about 3 seconds but gives a little more time for adjusting the camera after transforming.

Stuck backup

Setup by Zach

If Death Sword gets stuck flying in place after circling the room, it is still possible to get it to land and attempt the superjump.

1. Make sure the camera is facing the wall perpendicularly
2. Roll left once from a standstill
3. Orient the camera to be perpendicular to the wall Link is now standing by
4. Roll down once from a standstill and curve the roll right and up after a brief hesitation
5. As Death Sword begins to swing, get back into the corner and proceed from step 4 above as normal

Troubleshooting

• The camera will only stay in its original orientation during the transformation if you press A to transform on the first possible frame. As a result, it is common to need to adjust the camera horizontally while walking with the Midna charge attack and/or to need to walk a direction other than directly down on the control stick.
• While rolling away from the wall soon after Death Sword stops moving will not mess up Death Sword's position, it does make it possible to begin the Midna charge too early, which will result in the attack automatically releasing before Death Sword has floated to the right position for the skip. It is safe to begin holding B for the Midna charge attack shortly after Death Sword's sword has hit the ground.
• Starting to walk away from the wall at the same time as beginning to hold B will often result in the Midna charge attack failing to target Death Sword. To fix this, delay moving Link until slightly after you've begun holding B.
• Assuming a standing position that can work for the superjump,
  • Very early B release: Link bonks on Death Sword's sword
  • Early B release: Link bonks to the left of the spot on the ledge he should land (see videos above)
  • Late B release: Link bonks to the right of the spot on the ledge he should land (see videos above)
  • Very late B release: Link slides to the right along the ledge/wall and lands near the pot

Death Sword Skip with Jumpstrike

Discovered by Anorakkis and Pokemongenius

It is possible to skip the fight before it has begun with a Jumpstrike LJA. This requires precise positioning and a fairly precise angle but has the following setup:

1. Stand with Link's left foot lined up with the third vertical line from the right on the ledge behind.
2. Pull the Boomerang and aim at the top right of the first pillar on the other side of the arena. This pushes Link away from the wall slightly.
3. Target five times, with at least the fifth target above the higher platform.
4. Aim the Boomerang just left of the thick vertical line on the wall ahead to set the angle.
5. Release Boomerang and charge a jumpstrike.
6. Release jumpstrike when the Boomerang is over the higher platform
7. Hold up-left during the jumpstrike to land on the platform.

Death Sword Skip with Backslice Moon Boots

It is possible to skip the death sword fight using a damage boost from Death Sword's swing at the peak of a backslice with Moon Boots. This is the most precise version of Death Sword Skip, and also the slowest, but is notable for some challenge categories. The setup requires precise positioning for Death Sword and Link, and can be achieved with the following steps:

1. Cut the ropes to start the Death Sword Fight
2. Wait for Death Sword to swing
3. Roll to the other side.
4. C-up to a roughly 90 degree angle to the wall (not precise)
5. Backflip into Death Sword's swing to get a consistent angle of 16384
6. Backslice back to the other side and stand to the south side of the doorway.
7. When Death Sword has reached Link, stand a little away from the wall until he attacks, then backslice back to the other side.
8. Hold up-left to get into the outside corner of the doorway, then sidehop, wait until landing, and slash two times in quick succession. This should give an x position of -150 or -151.
9. Stand a little bit out from the wall so Death Sword will attack. When he attacks, sidehop to the right.
10. Sidestep a little further to not be pushed by Death Sword's sword.
11. When the sword is picked up again, sidehop back.
12. Hold ESS-right until Link is in the big square on the floor (z position roughly -1470)
13. When Death Sword attacks, sidehop over and sidehop back when the sword is picked up again.
14. Line up Link with his left foot on the black line (z position roughly -1490)
15. Shortly before Death Sword's attack, perform a backslice moonboots to the left. This is a 1-3 frame window, and the frames vary based on Death Sword's positions (the setup in this video results in a two frame window, 6-7 frames before the attack).

original video by SpicyJuice04

Background on Death Sword mechanics

Death Sword has two conditions that cause it to fly away after being knocked to the ground, and only one of them has to be true for it to fly away.

• The first is a timer that starts counting down once it is hit for the first time. (There is also a longer timer that will cause him to fly away if he has not been hit at all, but that is not relevant to speedruns.)
• The second condition is a damage threshold: dealing 2 critical moves such as a jump attack, spin attack, roll stab, or the 3rd and 4th hit of a combo.

The 1-cycle abuses the fact that the timer doesn't run down as long as Link is slashing his sword, regardless of whether he is hitting Death Sword or not.