Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom: Cotton-Candy Hunt Side Quest - Hidden Ruins Walkthrough

Cotton-Candy Hunt is a rare type of Side Quest in Echoes of Wisdom — it's actually part of a two-part chain of quests, and you won't be able to access it without doing the first part.

Tucked away in Faron are Hidden Ruins where, if certain events have taken place, a familiar face is lurking around.

Below is our walkthrough for the Cotton-Candy Hunt Side Quest, which includes a guide to the Hidden Ruins, and tips on how to defeat the boss at the end of the dungeon.

For more Side Quests, their locations, and their rewards, have a look at our complete Side Quest list.

Where to find the Cotton-Candy Hunt Side Quest

The Cotton-Candy Hunt will only be available after clearing Faron Temple Dungeon and completing A Rift in the Faron Wetlands Main Quest, as well as finishing the Let's Play A Game Side Quest in Eastern Hyrule Fields.

After completing those two quests, you'll find a little Deku Scrub pining for cotton candy on the west side of Scrubton. Talk to him and he'll tell Zelda that he thinks he's seen a huge piece of cotton candy south of the village. That doesn't sound normal, especially after getting rid of the cause of the cotton candy — well, spiderwebs.

You'll get the Side Quest, and now you need to find the place the Deku Scrub was talking about.

Hidden Ruins Location

You're looking for the Hidden Ruins, a secret cave in the southern part of the Faron Region. Warp to Blossu's House in the southeast corner of the region, then head west.

When you spot some torches, head north up the stairs until you reach a pond with two unlit torches and a Drippitune. Defeat the frog enemy to stop the rain, then light both torches with whatever fire-based Echoes you have.

When both torches are lit, the Deku statue above will move to reveal a hidden staircase. This is the Hidden Ruins. Head down the stairs when you're ready.

Cotton-Candy Hunt Side Quest - Solution & Rewards

Completing the Cotton-Candy Hunt requires you to brave a mini-dungeon and defeat Smog yet again. Just like the Eastern Temple, you'll be solving a lot of electricity-based puzzles, so we've covered all of the solutions below.

At the end of the quest, after speaking to the Deku Scrub in Scrubton again, your Ancient Charm accessory will be upgraded to the Curious Charm accessory.

Hidden Ruins Walkthrough

First thing first, open the chest here to get a Monster Stone. Then walk into the next room to start the dungeon proper.

You'll see two Sparks circling two torches and a box at the back. Using the crates (or other Echoes), you can move the two sparks so they circle the room and head inside the box. Alternatively, use the Spark Echo you should've got from the Hidden Ruins. Head through the door on the right.

In the next room, the floor is covered in spiderwebs. Defeat the Baby Gohmas before burning down the spiderwebs and revealing the Sparks and the box. You'll want to move the boulders and boxes out of the way to get the Sparks into the box and unlock the door to the north. Again, if you want to make it easy, use your Spark Echoes instead.

The next room puts a grate between you and the Sparks, but there's also an Armos to deal with. You can use your own Armos to touch the Sparks and carry them to the box, or just move the boulders with Bind to get the Sparks into the box. Head through the door once it's unlocked.

There's no puzzle in this side-on room, so open the chest with 20 rupees, and use your Water Block Echoes to swim up to the right side of the room.

The second side-on room puts you in a room full of water and three Sparks trapped behind boulders. Move the boulders out of the way while being careful not to get electrocuted. Use the wooden boxes to get the sparks to travel into the box. Then head through the newly unlocked door to the right.

This last room is full of pots, so break them to see if there's anything worth picking up — hearts, ingredients, etc. Then head right to be locked into a room with a familiar face.

How to defeat Smog (again)

Yes, Smog is back — no wonder the Deku Scrub thought it was cotton candy.

This fight is essentially the same as the fight in the Eastern Temple, except you'll be in a side-scrolling room with climbing walls as opposed to a small maze. This time, Smog won't even give you a chance to attack, immediately breaking up into three smaller clouds. These clouds can attack with electric shocks, so be careful.

Using Boulders, Beds, or any kind of inanimate object Echo, you need to get all three pieces to reunite to recreate Smog. We used Boulders because they're easy to stack up on top of each other. Once he's reformed, throw your strongest Echoes at the boss alongside Swordfighter Form.

As expected, Smog will break up again into five clouds. Use the same Echoes you used before to build the big cloud back up again. Unleash those Echoes, Swordfighter Form, and you'll soon defeat him.

Smog will drop rupees, some Monster Stones, and a Heart Piece.

If it's more dungeon walkthroughs your after, or even just some tips or hints, check out our Echoes of Wisdom walkthrough hub.