The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom switches up the classic series by putting the Princess in charge and letting her summon echoes of items and monsters by spending a limited pool of summoning points. But with so many echoes to choose from it can be hard to know which are worth using. Every echo can be useful in some situations, but there are a few that are useful for the whole game or that offer surprising benefits for a low cost.
You don’t need me telling you that the giant sword-wielding knight who costs your entire stock of summoning points is good to have on your side, so here are the best echoes that you might overlook on your playthrough.
Bed
The Bed is one of the first echoes you learn, and it remains useful until the very end of the game. Hang one over a ledge and you can use the bed to cross gaps, even stacking multiple to form a bridge. And if you find yourselves low on hearts, you can even take a quick nap in one to restore your health, with better versions found later on that heal you faster.
Crawltula
Crawltula is a near necessity for exploring the open world early on. Just place one on the ground and Bind to it to follow as it skitters up walls, allowing you to reach places that are otherwise inaccessible. Just make sure you clear out any enemies first, or the Crawltula will attack them instead of serving as your taxi.
Flying Tile
Found in the Gerudo Desert temple, Flying Tiles are enemies that look just like floor tiles but fling themselves at you at high speed. In your arsenal, though, they’re best used for getting around. Summon a tile and you can hop on, riding it for a short distance to cross chasms in no time.
Sea Urchin
Combat can be tough in Echoes of Wisdom before you recruit the game’s most powerful monsters. Fortunately, one echo you can find early on is great at dealing damage while keeping Zelda safe. Living in Jabul Waters to the East, the Sea Urchin is a motionless monster that damages anything it touches. Just lay one of the ground in front of Zelda and any monster that comes close will take damage before it can take a swing, or use the Bind ability to push it toward distant enemies.
Bombfish
The Bombfish is one of the rare echoes that’s just as useful in a fight as it is during exploration. Located in Jabul Waters, it’s the earliest tool you have to blow up destructible obstacles, plus it can be thrown or grabbed with Bind to use against enemies instead.
Ice Octo
Elemental effects are extremely useful in Echoes of Wisdom. One great example of that is the Ice Octo, which launches balls of ice that can freeze enemies on contact, making them easy to defeat. Plus, with a cost of just two points (which can be reduced to one by leveling up), it’s easy to summon a whole squad of them. The only real downside is that you need to brave the tricky northern part of the map to find one, so you likely won’t have one on hand until late in the game.
Buzz Blob
Like the Ice Octo, the Buzz Blob is an assuming monster that can dominate battles with elemental attacks. Just chuck one into a group of enemies and the Buzz Blob will shock them with electricity, keeping them stunned in place so your more powerful summons can finish them off.
Ignizol
There are far more powerful fire-based echoes, like the Fire Wizard found near the Eldin Volcano, but the humble Ignizol never stops being useful. Essentially a sentient candle, the Ignizol can light enemies on fire at a touch, and it’s your best bet for solving puzzles involving fire or burning fields of grass to draw out hidden enemies while dealing some damage.
Caromadillo
Most summoned monsters in Echoes of Wisdom can be unpredictable, hesitating to attack or wandering off if you’re not directing them. Not so with the Caromadillo. While it’s not the strongest summoned monster, the reliable Caromadillo rolls in a straight line to its target then bounces off. You can simply summon a new Caromadillo after the first hits its target to keep up the damage, or let it loose in a crowd to hit one enemy after another like a pinball.
Wolfos
Another issue with even the strongest echoes is that they sometimes take a long time between attacks, which can drag out fights and make them vulnerable to counterattacks. The Wolfos has no such problem, darting swiftly around the battlefield to pounce on foes, making a pack of them a force to be reckoned with. The more powerful White Wolfos found later in the game even brings its own backup, howling to call two Wolfos to its side.
