Hidden Skills

Hidden Skills - Zelda: Twilight Princess

Gold Wolf

Hero's Spirit

In Twilight Princess, there are unique special attacks that can only be learned from a master. This master just happens to be dead.

To call him out, howl at a special stone while in wolf form, then find him after you return to your human form.

Here we'll take a look at the location of all these Howling Stones and look at the skills themselves a little closer.

Howling Stones

Stand next to a Howling Stone and press A. Listen to the pattern and try to copy it. Hold A to howl and use the joy stick to change the pitch.

The skills taught are always taught in order, regardless of the stone used to initiate the fight. That is, you could use stone #6 first, but you'd still just learn the shield attack.

Stone 1

Pattern

Location: Death Mountain
Song: Song of Healing (Majora's Mask)
Wolf Appears: Ordona Province, Spirit Spring

Stone 2

Pattern

Location: Upper Zora's River
Song: Requiem of Spirit (Ocarina of Time)
Wolf Appears: Outside Castle Town (east)

Stone 3

Pattern

Location: Entrance to Lost Woods
Song: Prelude of Light (Ocarina of Time)
Wolf Appears: Hyrule Field (south of Castle Town)

Stone 4

Pattern

Location: Lake Hylia
Song: Oath to Order (Majora's Mask)
Wolf Appears: Gerudo Desert (outside enemy camp)

Stone 5

Pattern

Location: Peak Province
Song: Wind's Requiem (Wind Waker)
Wolf Appears: Kakariko Graveyard

Stone 6

Pattern

Location: Hidden Village
Song: Ballad of Twilight (Twilight Princess)
Wolf Appears: Outside Hyrule Castle gates

Skills

There are 7 hidden skills to learn. Each is more deadly then the last. Honestly, you could pretty much stop at the fifth one, as you never use the final 3 (except maybe Great Spin, but don't count on it).

Skills are taught in the same order regardless of the stone used to summon the Hero's Spirit.

--== Skill 1: Ending Blow ==--

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Finish

How to:
Lock onto an enemy after they've been knocked to the ground. Press A and use the “Finish” prompt to make it so they don't get back up.

Comments:
The only skill that is given to you as part of the game. This skill is actually required for most bosses. Overall you wont be using outside of boss fights much as the conditions for using it have to be just right. 

--== Skill 2: Shield Attack ==--

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How to:
Thrust the nunchuk forward to thrust your shield. I find it easiest to hold the nunchuk vertical (with the joy stick facing you) and flick the top of it in a downward crescent forward.

Comments:
On it's own, the Shield Attack isn't that useful. It MAY make an enemy go off guard, however this is used later in conjunction with another skill that is very deadly. It can also be used to reflect projectiles back at your opponents.

--== Skill 3: Backslice ==--

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How to:
Dodge roll (lock on joy stick left/right A) twice to get behind your opponent, then swing your sword to strike their back.

Comments:
Easily the most useful and easy skill. Great on almost every enemy, especially armored foes like the Darknut. Also essential against some bosses (Ganon, King Bulblin)

--== Skill 4: Helm Splitter ==--

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Finish

Lock on to an enemy and when prompted do a shield attack. If they get knocked off guard, use the prompt A to jump over their head, swinging as you spin.

Comments:
Another great skill against armored foes. Can take down Stalfoes in one shot.

--== Skill 5: Mortal Draw ==--

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Finish

How to:
Sheath your sword and don't lock onto the enemy. Wait for him to get right next to you, then use the prompt A to perform a finishing blow.

Comments:
Abysmally useless. You almost always have your sword drawn (for good reason), and most enemies either hit you before you press A or before you make contact. Plus, you don't even look like Kenshin (your sword is on your back, not at your side) :(
Oh, and Mortal Draw does not work on boss or mini-boss enemies (or enemies that were once mini-bosses in another dungeon, like Darknuts).

--== Skill 6: Jump Strike ==--

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Finish

How to:
Lock on to an enemy then press and hold A. When a light runs up your sword and reaches the top, release to fly though the air, swing on either side of you, and finish with a earth shattering overhead strike that sends out a shockwave.

Comments:
Not “absolutely” useless, as it does kind of maybe work on Darknuts and Stalfoes, but pretty much yeah. Most enemies will either strike you when you're charging the attack or when you are in the air. This attack could have been made tolerable had they made you invulnerable when in the air (the charging time would balance out the attack against it's obscene power). IF you can pull it off, however, it is immensely powerful.

--== Skill 7: Great Spin ==--

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Finish

How to:
Do a regular spin attack when at full health.

Comments:
The only thing that makes this attack worth while is that you don't have go to through any special button combo to do it, just make sure your health is full. The drawback is... your health has to be full, which it never stays for long. This is, next to the Mortal Draw, the most powerful sword attack in the game if you can actually keep you health up during a fight where it would come in handy.

Hero's Spirit

Hero's Spirit

!SPECULATION WARNING!
The next section is pure conjecture from fans of the game.

The Hero's Spirit is shrouded in mystery. No one knows his exact origins. Most speculate that he is an ancestor of Link. Maybe not Link from another Zelda game, but some other warrior from Links past.

It is almost certain that he is related to Link somehow, however, as he makes a comment about how these skills have never left “our” bloodline (“...do not leave our bloodline”), while talking to link. “Our” is a pronoun, however, and could refer to anything (especially if he wasn't using proper English). He might have been referring to his family, thereby stressing the fact that these are powerful secret techniques that few have ever seen, meaning Link should be honored to learn them. 

He also makes a comment at the end about Link being his child (“Go and do not falter, my child”). This is pretty common in romanticized martial arts where the master would act as a father figure to his best pupil, often referring to them as son or child.

Appearance wise, the Hero's Spirit looks like a cross between a Darknut and a Stalfos, two of the most common yet menacing enemies in the Zelda series, perhaps exemplifying his skill.