The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Console icon SNES/Super Famicom

  • Bested Mothula

    (25) (106)

    Defeat Mothula without being harmed without using the Magic Cape or Cane of Byrna.

    2,428 (1,735) of 33,585 โ€“ 7.23%

    5.17% of players have earned the achievement in hardcore mode
    7.23% of players have earned the achievement in softcore mode
  • Created by dude1286 on: 21 Aug, 2013 00:08
    Last modified: 14 Jul, 2023 01:32


    Recent comments

    (See all 55)

    HylianBrat 21 Jul 2024 09:26
    Definitely recommend tempered sword. Takes four solid hits to do it (half the fire rod amount). It took me about 4 or 5 attempts to do it. I was about to come back later with blue mail just so that I wouldn't need to heal as much between attempts but whew!
    hugoshoyru 30 Jul 2024 09:30
    So far i've been fine with this set. It's been fun. This achievement however.... is just tedious and bad imo. From the walk back to the boss with the floormasters, to the extremely glitchy mothula hitbox (EDIT: Turns out there's a glitch that makes Mothula immune to most of the attacks from the T4 sword) to the extremely random floor movement and spike movement. I feel like this achievement is way harder than the rest of them. I personally feel like this set would be better without this achievement.
    sheppard121 28 Aug 2024 08:33
    How I managed to do it:
    Lvl 4 Sword, Fire Rod, Max Health

    Stay in the middle as much as possible and don't chase into corners unless wide open. Focus on survival and attack only when open. Use sword to delay/damage Mothra's attack and Fire Rod when available.

    I mostly relied on the sword's beam for most damage. Good Luck!
    KettleClog 10 Sep 2024 17:07
    Mothula dies in 4 hits to the LVL3 sword. Just rush the boss and get as many hits in as fast as you can and the fight will be really easy.
    SebinNyshkim 28 Sep 2024 11:13
    The randomness of how the floor moves and how there's spikes coming from every angle while having to avoid the boss's projectiles makes this godawful! I tried all night, taking tips shared by people on here how to make it as quick as possible, only to find out a glitch makes the boss invulnerable to the sword at Lv4. I have friggin' blisters on my fingers, man! This achievement is pure dumb luck with no skill involved whatsoever. Screw this achievement!
    suspect15 22 Oct 2024 23:20
    This achievement will NOT unlock if you abuse the bug to get the Silver Arrows or Golden Sword early.
    prnvp23 2 Nov 2024 15:39
    I dunno how y'all do it legit this is one of the most bullshit fight designs I've ever encountered
    Wansti 2 Nov 2024 19:43
    This one is extremely frustrating. All you can do is read the tips here, practice with a save state and just keep at it. For me, paying attention to the random floor movement was the most crucial thing.
    AncalagonSlayer 2 Dec 2024 21:21
    The Tempered Sword really makes the difference here, thank you Kettle. 4 hits to kill Mothula turns this nightmare into a fairly simple task, provided you get a little bit of luck with the spikes too which I did on my third try.
    salvadorbastard 24 Jan 2025 07:45
    This cheevo's difficulty is reliant on the weapons you arrive with!
    Those doing a master sword run - do yourself a favour and copy your save and get the level 3 or 4 sword. It's gonna make this SO much easier.
    I found mixing the fire rod and sword beams as well as a couple cheeky slashes was the way.

    The conveyor belt and spikes are pure rng so keep that in mind. Mothlad only shoots in front of itself and only shoots after it changes it's position.
    This one's deffo got that shmup bullet hell lite vibe going on.

    If you mess up which you probably will - the walk back provides you with enough hearts and magic to get fully healed and magic'd up if you let Mr Hand grab you as it resets all the items.

    Don't mix this with damageless unless you're a complete maniac! (Though you have my respect if you pull it off!)

    Good luck! This one is very difficult but man does it feel good to beat.
    TheHy1ianGuy 2 Feb 2025 23:46
    guys dont make this to complicated. dont upgrade to level 3 sword if you're doing one run because of another cheevo. use hammer 4 times to defeat mothula and dodge pikes
    TheHy1ianGuy 2 Feb 2025 23:46
    "spikes"
    RafaelsGame 27 Feb 2025 02:57
    ร‰ meio chato, mas usando o martelo sรฃo apenas 4 hits.

    It's kind of annoying, but using the hammer is only 4 hits.
    GabsToigo 1 Apr 2025 18:54
    Took two tries with a separate save file w/ tempered sword
    Jonanoplural 4 Apr 2025 02:20
    Depois de tentar vรกrias (muitas na real) vezes, usando diferentes estratรฉgias, nada funcionava, entรฃo desisti no save com a primeira run e na segunda run eu finalmente consegui. Com o ataque normal da tempered sword a Mothula รฉ derrotada com uns 3-4 acertos.
    Dyhalto 10 Apr 2025 03:31
    Ugh. I thought I was being smart by getting the Lv.4 Sword before attempting this. Darn thing doesn't work at all. I had to use the Fire Road, and then sword beams if I ran out of MP (going bottleless).
    TrainDubs 14 Apr 2025 01:30
    You absolutely need to use speed run strats. If you can get the double hit it's very easy. Did it the first time I got a double hit in without dashing into the spikes.

    https://alttp-wiki.foxlisk.com/index.php/Mothula

    https://youtu.be/qmR3zO2VQCE
    sandro4912 14 Apr 2025 21:13
    level 4 sword does the same as the spikes on damage level. So in the Snes version they programmed it that the damn thing does no damage at all except with charge stab.

    I better come back to this crap with level 3 sword in another run.

    Seriously why in between nice skill based boss cheevos you include rng fests like this?
    sandro4912 15 Apr 2025 20:51
    So I was about to do this on the next run with l3 sword since l4 sword is bugged.

    But I said screw it. I can still use the most power full thing to get through this:

    INVENTORY PAUSE BUFFERING (!)

    So I used the fire rod and shot at Motula prevent him from shot most of its fireballs. Goal here was to keep him at the top. During that I opened the inventory again and again to be able to escape the spikes very precised with the buffer method.

    Even then it took me probably like 50 tries in soft core with save states to kill him off even once.

    I decided then screw it and started hard core again. I told my self I will do this on the next run with l3 sword.

    But then before the boss i was like lets give it one more legit try. And voila it works.

    Now lets see if the inventory button gets also forbidden from this battle by the devs.

    I see it as a counter measure for an unfair glitchy rng fight.

    My honest opinion is I would kill these cheevo completely from the set. It just makes life miserable.
    Canor 29 Apr 2025 21:45
    Did it on second playthrough with Tempered Sword + Fire Rod. This was much, MUCH easier when I learned the spikes will always cross the floor twice. Once from their spawn point going full speed, then back towards their spawn point at half speed, pausing for about 1 second in between. It's still fairly tough to keep track of everything, but it reduces the RNG hell by a lot when half of the spike "crossings" are actually 100% predictable.

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