The Most Infuriating Heart Pieces to Get in the Zelda Series

While it’s a great idea to get as many Heart Pieces as possible, some Legend of Zelda games make this difficult. Throughout the franchise, there are some that are so hard to get that they almost aren’t worth the trouble.

Beating a Heart Piece Out of Maple the Witch – Oracle of Ages

The luck-based Heart Pieces are some of the most tedious to collect. Not only do you need to go through a tricky process, but, sometimes, it won’t even pay off and you’ll have to do it again!

In The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, the most annoying Heart Piece is the one that can drop from Maple the Witch. Normally, to make Maple appear, you’ll have to defeat 30 enemies without dying in a single area. Thankfully, you can reduce this number to 15 if you have Maple’s Ring equipped.

When you find the apprentice witch, she will fly around on her broom. You’ll need to smack her with one of your weapons to knock her down, however, this is easier said than done. If you can knock the witch off of her broom, she’ll drop some randomized items—although, if she collides with you directly, she will also make you drop some of your items!

The only way to get the Heart Piece that belongs to Maple is to knock her off of her broom and pray to the RNG gods, as the Heart Piece’s drop chance is random. As such, if you’re particularly unlucky, you may need to defeat dozens of enemies and face Maple multiple times before you find her Heart Piece—but that’s not all!

While Maple will get stunned after a collision, she’ll soon get up and race around to collect her dropped goods. If you’re not fast enough, Maple will scoop up her Heart Piece before flying away, making all of your hard work futile. On top of all this, Maple will sometimes appear while flying on a faster vehicle than her broom: like a vacuum cleaner or a flying saucer. This can make collecting her dropped goods even more challenging.

Frog Choir Side Quest – Majora’s Mask

I hope you’re not in a rush, as this side quest will consume a lot of your time. Thankfully, in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, you can rewind time. Unfortunately, however, this means you’ll have a near-infinite amount of time to sink into this side quest.

Not only do you have to obtain a special mask (the Don Gero Mask) in order to complete this quest, but you’ll also have to travel all over Termina. The latter is in order to seek out all of the frogs that you need to assemble to reunite the Frog Choir.

Throughout this side quest, you’ll have to delve into very specific areas while likely consulting some sort of walkthrough. If you don’t use a walkthrough, you’ll have to scan every inch of the world for tiny frogs. Even if you do use a walkthrough, this specific sidequest requires you to re-beat 3 main bosses and a mini-boss. Annoying.

What do you get for all this effort? Just a single Heart Piece. Not even a full Heart Container or a Heart Piece plus a lot of Rupees…you just get the lone Heart Piece. How infuriating.

Death Mountain Enemy Brigade – The Legend of Zelda

Getting to the spot where this Heart Container is on Death Mountain will take some precise navigation. From the start screen, you need to go to the right screen, then up five screens, before going left once, then crossing the river, and then go up one more screen before finally going right through one more screen. Got all that? Good, because now comes the hard part.

At this point, you’ll find a clearing with altogether too many enemies. The space itself is pretty small, but, somehow, there are four Lynel enemies and two Peahats. What’s worse, two of the Lynels will be the more powerful blue variants.

Lynels take a lot of hits to defeat, plus, there’s no easy trick to beat them. You’ll just have to use your favorite weapon and hope their beam swords don’t kill you. Also, since Peahats are invulnerable while moving, you’ll have to dodge them while fighting four Lynels.

If you’re feeling lucky, you can always just play the Whistle to reveal the hidden staircase and make a dash for it. However, when you come back out after grabbing the Heart Container, you’ll still have to deal with the posse of powerful foes.

Defeat Nyeve Four Times While Avoiding Their Attacks – Phantom Hourglass

Get ready for a series of duels if you want this Heart Piece. However, firstly, you’ll have to sail to the Traveler’s Ship in the northwest quadrant of the map. Once you reach this location, speak to Nyeve, who will offer to train you in combat.

In the first bout, you only need to strike Nyeve a few times to win. This will cause him to label you as an apprentice hero and give you a small reward. Afterward, leave the ship and return to do this again, once more for a small reward. Next, leave and return for more of the same in the third duel with Nyeve.

However, after defeating Nyeve in his simple training trials three times, you’re finally ready for the Heart Piece challenge. Though, when you face Nyeve for the fourth time, he will not sit back idly! During this fight, you’ll have to hit your opponent 100 times or more before he hits you thrice. If you manage to do this, Nyeve will reward you with a single Heart Piece.

Get a High Score in Fledge’s Pumpkin Shooting Challenge – Skyward Sword

To unlock the pumpkin shooting mini-game, you’ll need to do a few things first. To start, you’ll need to bring Fledge two Stamina Potions at night as he’s working out in his room. Then, you’ll need to get the Bow.

Afterward, you’ll be able to find Fledge in the Sparring Hall, where he will let you play a mini-game. During this mini-game, you’ll have to shoot pumpkins that Fledge will toss into the air.

If you want the Heart Piece reward, you’ll need to accumulate 600 points within the time limit. This can be quite challenging since each pumpkin that you shoot will initially only give you 10 points.

The key here is to hit as many pumpkins in a row as you can to build up combos, which will result in each pumpkin gradually giving you more and more points (to a maximum of 50 points per pumpkin). As such, your accuracy with the Bow will need to be very high. This can result in players needing a lot of practice.

Defeat Three Guards at Once During Russell’s Mini-Game – Spirit Tracks

After you complete the Snow Temple, you’ll get a letter from Russell of Hyrule Castle that is an invitation to a combat mini-game. While mini-games can be fun, this one can be pretty annoying. In Russell’s challenge, you’ll have to go three-on-one against some of his armed guards.

The goal here is to hit the guards 60 times without getting hit too many times in return. Since these foes have a longer reach than you do, this can be tricky—especially since they all can attack at once. If you manage to land enough hits, you’ll win the mini-game and get rewarded with a Heart Container.

Through and Outside Turtle Rock – A Link to the Past

To get one of the final Heart Pieces in A Link to the Past, you’ll need to enter Turtle Rock, exit it via a special path, and then cross over to a different dimension—all while battling tough enemies along the way.

First, you’ll need to start from one of the lava-filled rooms in Turtle Rock. Then, hop on the left pipe and follow it out of the room. However, in the next room, you’ll be faced with a pair of HokkuBokkus. These foes, which separate when hit, are hard enough to deal with on their own. But having to fight two of them at once will make your screen very busy. What’s more, they deal a lot of damage—even if you’re wearing the Blue Mail that decreases damage taken.

Afterward, you’ll need to go south through the door, and then west, before then exiting the dungeon through another southern door. But you’re not in the clear yet, as you’ll have to run past a few Laser Eyes.

Next, you’ll see a ledge, which you need to approach—but do not jump over the ledge! Here, you’ll need to use the Magic Mirror to get back to the Light World before heading into the cave you find.

Within this cave, you’ll have to defeat four Green Goriyas. This is thankfully not too tough. After that, go north into the next room and you’ll find a chest containing a Heart Piece.

Beat the Racing Bros Twice – A Link Between Worlds

Racing challenges can be some of the most tedious mini-games in The Legend of Zelda series, as navigating terrain quickly requires excellent motor functions and knowledge of the area. As such, it usually takes a few tries to win races in adventure games like The Legend of Zelda series.

Though, in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, you’ll need to do so multiple times for a Heart Piece. On a ledge at the southeast corner of Hyrule, you can find one of the Racing Bros on a ledge. You can speak to the sprinting enthusiast to start a race to the north of Hyrule.

The first time you accept this race, you’ll have to get to the finish line in under 75 seconds—which is borderline impossible without the Pegasus Boots. However, winning the first race will only get you 100 Rupees.

You’ll have to do this race a second time, but now in under 65 seconds. Even with the Pegasus Boots, this is tricky. However, if you manage to beat the time, you’ll get a Heart Piece for your efforts.

Ascending Into the Clouds Above Lake Hylia – The Minish Cap

This Heart Piece won’t be challenging to get—just time-consuming, as you have to travel pretty far to obtain it. At the eastern end of Lake Hylia, you’ll need to fuse Kinstones with the Minish hanging out in a hole. Doing so will cause a beanstalk to grow near Lake Hylia, however, you can’t access it directly from the Minish’s little hole home.

You’ll need to go to Lake Hylia and jump across the islands until you reach the one that is the furthest north. Here, you’ll have to dig into a cave with the Mole Mitts. Through this cave, stick to the right while digging further and further into the cave. Soon, you’ll find a ladder that leads out of the cave. When you do, you’ll find another ladder to climb. Following this, head left to locate a third ladder that you’ll also need to climb.

That last ladder will finally bring you to the beanstalk. Now, climb the huge plant to ascend to a cloud above. It is here that you’ll find the desired loot: chests containing a Heart Piece, Mysterious Shells, and Rupees.

Talk to Every Lonely Cucco in the Hidden Village – Twilight Princess

Everyone gets lonely once in a while, including Cuccos! As such, this Heart Piece won’t be that tricky to get, but it’ll require a lot of talking.

However, before you can begin the chatting quest to find it, you’ll first need to restore Ilia’s memory and return her charm. Following this, you’ll need to go to the Hidden Village and speak to one of the many cats there while you’re in wolf form. One of these cats will direct you to the Cucco leader on the east side of the village.

You’ll have to speak to the Cucco leader in wolf form as well. They will ask you to speak with all of the other Cuccos in the village. You’ll have to work your way around the village to find every Cucco and speak to them individually. Afterward, a Heart Piece will spawn. Make sure not to leave the Hidden Village before you pick it up, otherwise, you’ll have to do all the previous steps again to get it to respawn.