In the Nintendo Switch remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening you can overall three bottles find. They are among the new collectibles in the remake and do not exist in the original Game Boy game Link’s Awakening DX. You can store fairies in the bottles and use them later to restore Link’s health. For a complete 100% score you should collect all three: You can fish the first bottle from the fishing pond at the beginning, you get the second after the story of the pink ghost and the third is a reward for Dampé‘ Chamber labyrinths.
Important: A fairy in a bottle works in Link’s Awakening for Nintendo Switch different than many others Princess Zelda-Play. If Link loses his last heart, the fairy becomes not automatically released. You must use the bottle yourself while Link is still alive. For automatic protection against a game over, you need the Secret Medicine instead.
All three bottles at a glance
| bottle | Location | Earliest time |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle 1 | Fishing pond in Mabe Village | Right at the start of the game |
| Bottle 2 | Pink ghost and his grave | After the Angler’s Tunnel |
| Bottle 3 | Dampé – “Heartbreak” | After the Face Shrine |
Our order corresponds to the optimal path from our Link’s Awakening Walkthrough. This means you get the bottles at the earliest possible point in time and can use the additional healing options for as much of the adventure as possible.
Bottle 1: Fishing pond in Mabe Village
You can get the first bottle before you enter the first dungeon. Go to the fishing pond in Mabe Village and pay the Fisherman 10 Rupees for a turn. Then take a close look at the lower left area of the pond. There is a bottle clearly visible on the ground between or behind the water plants. Unlike the fish, you don’t have to get them to bite – your bait just has to touch the bottle and hook it.
Cast the fishing rod as far to the left as possible and let the bait sink to the bottom. Slowly move it towards the bottle until it is hanging on the hook and then carefully reel in the line. The real difficulty is the fish in the pond: If the bottle collides with a fish on its way to the surface, it can be knocked off the hook and fall back to the bottom. The easiest way is to first catch a few disturbing fish and clear the way. You can try the bottle again as many times as you like – it cannot be missed.
An early visit to the fishing pond is doubly worthwhile, especially for a 100% pass. In addition to the bottle, two of the 32 Pieces of Heart are already waiting there, and other prizes such as Secret Seashells, bait and Chamber Stones will be added later.
How to catch fairies with a bottle of
After you have a bottle, you can place it on one of the freely assignable buttons. If you see a fairy, stand as close to it as possible and use the Empty Bottle. The fairy is captured and remains there until you release her. If you use the filled bottle later, the fairy will restore a large part of Link’s health.
Saves the fairies especially from longer dungeons or difficult boss fights. Large fairy springs fill your hearts for free, but cannot be accessed spontaneously everywhere. Three filled bottles, on the other hand, give you an enormous additional healing reserve – especially in Eagle’s Tower, Turtle Rock and when fighting the last nightmares.
Bottle 2: The Pink Ghost
The second bottle is tied to a short subplot that begins after the Angler’s Tunnel. Once you have completed the fourth dungeon and obtained the flippers, a pink ghost will appear while exploring the overworld and follow Link. He is not hostile, but asks you to take him to his former home again. As long as the ghost is with you, you cannot enter the next dungeon normally, so you have to complete this story anyway.
His old house is right on the coast of Martha’s Bay, west of the telephone booth or east of Toronbo Shores. Enter the ruined building with the ghost. After a short scene, he remembers his past life and then asks to be taken to his grave. Before you leave the house, you should also examine the jugs in the Switch remake: Under one of them is one of the 50 Secret Seashells.
Finding the Tomb of the Ghost
The grave is not in the large cemetery. The easiest way to travel is with Manbo’s Mambo near the witch or to the corresponding warp point. To the west of the witch’s house there is a single gravestone surrounded by flowers. A heavy rock partially blocks access; lifts him out of the way with the Power Bracelet and takes the ghost to the grave.
After the farewell scene, the ghost finds peace and gives Link the second bottle in the Nintendo Switch remake. This means you can now carry two fairies with you at the same time.
Difference from original and DX: The ghost story already exists in the Game Boy versions, but there are no bottles there. In the original and Link’s Awakening DX, the ghost instead points Link to the Secret Seashell under a jug in his old house. In the Switch remake, this shell can be collected independently, while the bottle becomes the new ghost quest completion reward. In the DX version you can also trigger a scene for the exclusive photo album at the grave.
Bottle 3: Dampé’ Heartbreak Challenge
You can get the third and final bottle from Dampé in his hut west of the slime swamp. His Chamber Dungeons are one of the big innovations of the Switch remake: you build your own dungeons according to his specifications from rooms in the dungeons you have already visited. Several challenges reward you with permanent collectibles, including two Pieces of Heart, a Secret Seashell, various Chamber Stones, the third bottle and later even a complete one Heart Container.
For the bottle you must complete the three shovel challenge “Heartbreak”. It will become available after completing Mask Temple, provided you have worked your way through Dampé’s first and second challenge levels. In particular, you must have completed the previous task “Connecting Chambers II” or the Chamber Dungeons preceding it.
Solve “Heartbreak” as simply as possible
The special nature of the challenge is already in the name: Link has to master the self-made labyrinth with severely limited health. Therefore, don’t build an unnecessarily complicated dungeon. Place the entrance and boss room as conveniently as possible and prefer to use small rooms with simple enemies for the required connections. Avoid long intermediate boss fights, rooms with lots of projectiles and chambers where you can easily end up in holes or on spikes.
When building, also make sure that all locked doors are covered by previously accessible keys. If the given shape requires stairs, use them to connect sections that are as close together as possible and avoid long loops. You don’t have to build a particularly nice dungeon for this challenge – the safest and shortest structure is the best solution.
If you successfully complete “Heartbreak”, Dampé will give you the third bottle. This completes the bottle collection. The later Dampé tasks still remain important: After the eagle fortress there is, among other things, a challenge without a sword, and after the Turtle Rock you can win a complete Heart Container via the last big three-shovel task.
Which bottle is missable?
None of the three bottles can be missed permanently. The bottle at the fishing pond remains there until you have successfully fished it out. The ghost quest is part of the normal progression after Angler’s Tunnel and can also be completed at any time once the ghost has appeared. Dampé’s bottle remains available as a Heartbreak reward until you complete the challenge.
You can theoretically collect the bottles very late. However, this is not recommended for the optimal solution: the fishing pond bottle in particular is immediately available and offers you an additional healing option for almost the entire game. Dampé’ bottle should also be picked up directly after the Face Shrine so that you have all three containers before Eagle’s Tower and Turtle Rock.
Fairy or Secret Medicine – which is better?
Both healing options fulfill different tasks. You can use a fairy in a bottle yourself at any time when Link’s health is low. This allows you to decide exactly when the healing is needed. The disadvantage is that the fairy does not react automatically to a fatal hit. If you forget to heal in time, a full bottle will no longer help you.
The Secret Medicine works in exactly the opposite way: it is automatically activated as soon as Link loses all of his hearts and restores his health. However, you can only have one Secret Medicine at a time. The combination is therefore ideal for particularly difficult sections: Secret Medicine as automatic protection and additionally several fairies in the bottles for controlled healing during the fight.