The 10 Most Useful Echoes in Echoes of Wisdom

When Princess Zelda strikes out on an adventure to save Hyrule in Echoes of Wisdom, she has no shortage of objects, monsters, and elements at her disposal to solve puzzles and do battle. There are well over 100 different Echoes to be learned in Echoes of Wisdom, ranging from simple furniture you could find in your own home, to iconic enemies that fans have encountered since The Legend of Zelda’s earliest outings. Each Echo offers its own utility during the quest to stop the Still World Rifts from swallowing up Hyrule, and every player will find their own unique combination of what they find to be the most useful, but these were the ten that we found ourselves summoning time and time again.

Spoiler Warning:
The rest of this article may contain spoilers for Echoes of Wisdom about the story, gameplay mechanics, and other details that you might not wish to see. Continue reading at your own risk.

10. Strandtula

Even someone who detests everything about spiders will have to admit how helpful Strandtulas can be in Echoes of Wisdom. Provided that there is a ceiling somewhere above for them to latch onto, these eight-legged fellas can allow Zelda to make her way over long gaps that she couldn’t leap over by herself, or climb up to an otherwise unreachable spot. While Zelda eventually acquires other Echoes later in the story that are more versatile and let her more easily cross gaps or reach lofty places, there is still the occasional moment where she must traverse narrow, vertical paths that those Echoes won’t fit through. For these situations, Strandtulas remain your best bet.

9. Wizzrobe

When you have to deal with a distant target that melee-focused Echoes can’t hit, and you want to save your Energy Meter, Wizzrobes are among the best candidates for the job. The Legend of Zelda’s longtime spellcasters can peg something even if it’s on the opposite side of the screen. If their initial magic blast doesn’t take out the enemy, just give them a few moments and they’ll reappear to fire off another round. There’s also the elemental attributes behind their magic to consider. Stunning, freezing, or setting enemies aflame certainly has its benefits, and there’s more than one opponent with a specific elemental weakness that Wizzrobes are apt to exploit.

8. Caromadillo

Even in a world of Lynels, Moblins, and Lizalfos, these little guys can actually be some of your best sidekicks in battle. Caromadillos might not hit like trucks, but what makes them so effective is that they don’t waste any time throwing rolling themselves into the fray. As soon as Zelda summons them, a Caromadillo will charge with reckless abandon at whatever you direct it to. Most other monster Echoes dillydally by comparison. With how quick they are to attack, Caromadillos can be the equivalent of a rapid-fire projectile. They can also be very efficient, as they’ll ricochet off enemies or other objects and barrel into whatever is in their way. Throw a couple of Caromadillos at a group of enemies, and the Caromadillos will clean house.

7. Bed

Every Legend of Zelda fan got a good laugh whenever the bed showed up in trailers and previews for Echoes of Wisdom, but for as silly as its inclusion may be, the bed is a surprisingly versatile piece of furniture. Especially early on in the game, when your selection of Echoes is a bit lacking, the bed can very quickly turn into a building block all its own. When something is just out of reach, dropping a couple of beds to form a makeshift staircase or bridge will often solve the problem. Then there’s the practical, expected use that the bed offers. Being able to restore all of your Hearts (so long as there are no enemies nearby) is a great way to preserve Smoothies, and it’s invaluable for a run on Hero Mode, where Heart Drops don’t happen.

6. Wolfos

Fleet-footed and highly aggressive, Wolfos are eager to do all of the dirty work in battle so that Zelda doesn’t have to. They’ll pounce at any opportunity to attack nearby enemies, doing so with lightning fast speed that most other monsters can’t hope to keep up with. A single Wolfos is a reliable companion — multiple Wolfos at Zelda’s command will overwhelm whatever foes stand in her way. The White Wolfos’ ability to summon two smaller Wolfos to its side is a surefire way to gain the numbers advantage. In fact, once you’ve leveled up Tri enough, you can have four Wolfos out on the battlefield at the same time: a White Wolfos and a normal Wolfos that you conjure with Tri’s Triangles, and the two Wolfos that the White Wolfos will call upon. That’s a wolf pack that will clear the screen before your enemies even know what hit them.

5. Darknut

When it comes to combat-focused Echoes, the Lynel is undoubtedly the most powerful. But, it only becomes available very late into the game. Availability is the best ability, and that plays a big part in why the Darknut series is arguably the MVP for combat in Echoes of Wisdom. The Darknut Echo joins your arsenal as early as the first dungeon in the game, the Suthorn Ruins. Later versions cost a bit more to summon, but they make up for it with enhanced armor and damage output. Darknuts are sturdy foes who can take a shot far better than most other monster Echoes, and are outright immune to some attacks. Most importantly, no matter which version of the Darknut you’re using, all of them can be counted on to dish out loads of offense. Once they start spinning in place with those axes, they rack up damage in no time. Whether you’re staring down a group of enemies, or you need to chip away at a boss’s weak point, Darknuts can always be trusted to get the job done.

4. Ignizol

Sometimes the old adage “If all else fails use fire” truly is the best strategy in The Legend of Zelda. No matter where Zelda goes across Hyrule, and no matter what kind of dungeon she finds herself in, you can almost always expect that fire will be a solution for at least one puzzle or another. Ignizols will rightfully earn a spot near the top of your Most Used Echoes selection menu from start to finish in Echoes of Wisdom. Lighting torches to brighten up a dark room, burning away sticky Gohma webs, melting ice formations that block your path, hurling them at enemies with the intent to set everything in front of you ablaze — Ignizols are an Echo that players are sure to come back to over and over again.

3. Bombfish

Bombfish go a long way toward filling two gaping holes in Zelda’s arsenal, one of which persists for just about the entire game. It’s not until a late-game dungeon that you acquire the series’ tried and true Bombs, so when you need to blow apart an obstacle or open up a hidden cave before then, Bombfish are your only option. Underwater combat, meanwhile, never really opens up a diverse selection of viable Echoes no matter how deep you get into Echoes of Wisdom. If you would rather preserve your Energy Meter when tackling aquatic foes, just toss a Bombfish or two at them and the matter will resolve itself. Thanks to Zelda’s ability to launch Echoes at a distance, Bombfish can act as the equivalent of a magical bazooka. That’s the kind of firepower that saves a kingdom from certain disaster.

2. Flying Tile

When a gap is too large to jump over, and even a bridge of beds won’t do, that’s when you call in the Flying Tile. Let that thing loose, and either grab onto it with Bind or hop on top of it, and the Flying Tile will carry Zelda wherever she needs to get to. This simple stone slab not only covers a considerable distance in its flight, it does so very quickly. There’s little waiting around with the Flying Tile; aim where you want to go, summon it, and you’ll be landing at that spot in no time. It’s an especially useful Echo for the many Rifts that lead to the Still World, where the geography is so contorted that there are very few paths that you can reach solely by foot. At the absolute latest, you’ll acquire the Flying Tile shortly before the game’s midway point, meaning that it will be a staple of your Echo lineup the majority of the adventure no matter what order you complete the earlier dungeons.

1. Water Block

As an Echo that uses up just one of Tri’s Triangles per summon, and can be found as early as your second dungeon in the game, the Water Block immediately cements itself as an indispensable piece of Zelda’s magical repertoire and never relinquishes its spot. The Water Block is the ultimate tool for navigating Echoes of Wisdom’s Hyrule, able to quickly help you surmount obstacles too tall to jump over, build a watery elevator to a lofty position, or even create a watery bridge that allows you to cross an otherwise impassable space. There are a variety of different Echoes whose main purpose is to help you get somewhere, but the Water Block’s vertical and horizontal versatility, along with its efficiency, puts it ahead in a crowded field. Anything that keeps us away from that tedious Echo selection menu as much as possible is deserving of high praise. Don’t count out its combat viability, either. It may be a little morbid, but when so many monsters in Hyrule don’t survive for more than a few seconds underwater, getting an enemy stuck inside a Water Block can be an effortless way to vanquish them.