Uploaded November 2013 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
When swordless, the game lets you use items in some places where items can't normally be used--namely, while riding Epona, climbing, or crawling. Since the game doesn't expect you to be able to use items in these states, it doesn't bother to update the usability of your c items, allowing you to use restricted items. I guess though, in the case of climbing and crawling, Link's actor is considered to be busy (or something--I'm just making this up, really), so you still can't use items in those places. There's currently no way to mess with a crawlspace, but the Down A glitch tricks the game into thinking you're still climbing, and thus allows you to use restricted items now that Link's actor isn't "busy" anymore.
However, there is a brief moment when reaching the top or bottom of a ladder (climb walls don't work since those don't have special animations when you reach the top or bottom of them) where you CAN use items, if you're swordless. Unfortunately, attempting to use a cutscene-based item softlocks the game in almost every case. Only the bottoms of the two ladders shown in this video, and only as adult, don't result in softlocks (of the ones that I tried, anyway). I'd guess this is because you go slightly into the ground as you leave these ladders, so when you try to use the item, you're actually on the ground, while the bottoms of all the other ladders result in you being slightly in the air. If you've ever tried to use such an item while hovering with ISG, you know that using them in the air is generally a bad idea.
Worth noting, I guess, is that the Zora's Domain ladder didn't seem to work for me when I climbed it top to bottom; it only worked when I got on it at the bottom. This gives me some slight hope that maybe other ladders could be manipulated to put you slightly into the ground when you get off of them, but I couldn't really make anything happen on that front. I noticed the "going slightly into the ground" thing on a few more ladders as child (gonna say it's because his animation is shorter and gets out of sync with the rungs of the ladder?), but child I guess is too short to reach the ground even when that happens (or something--making it all up, like I said).
I guess this is a minor timesaver if you ever find yourself needing to Down A RI in one of these two places. And I guess if you were doing a puzzle race and shields were banned or something, then you would at least be able to cast FW here. To do it you just get swordless, get on the ladder, equip FW over something you can use, and then mash FW as you climb off the bottom of the ladder. It seemed like you had a larger window to use FW if you don't hold a direction on the controlstick as you climb off, but maybe I was imagining that.
When swordless, the game lets you use items in some places where items can't normally be used--namely, while riding Epona, climbing, or crawling. Since the game doesn't expect you to be able to use items in these states, it doesn't bother to update the usability of your c items, allowing you to use restricted items. I guess though, in the case of climbing and crawling, Link's actor is considered to be busy (or something--I'm just making this up, really), so you still can't use items in those places. There's currently no way to mess with a crawlspace, but the Down A glitch tricks the game into thinking you're still climbing, and thus allows you to use restricted items now that Link's actor isn't "busy" anymore.
However, there is a brief moment when reaching the top or bottom of a ladder (climb walls don't work since those don't have special animations when you reach the top or bottom of them) where you CAN use items, if you're swordless. Unfortunately, attempting to use a cutscene-based item softlocks the game in almost every case. Only the bottoms of the two ladders shown in this video, and only as adult, don't result in softlocks (of the ones that I tried, anyway). I'd guess this is because you go slightly into the ground as you leave these ladders, so when you try to use the item, you're actually on the ground, while the bottoms of all the other ladders result in you being slightly in the air. If you've ever tried to use such an item while hovering with ISG, you know that using them in the air is generally a bad idea.
Worth noting, I guess, is that the Zora's Domain ladder didn't seem to work for me when I climbed it top to bottom; it only worked when I got on it at the bottom. This gives me some slight hope that maybe other ladders could be manipulated to put you slightly into the ground when you get off of them, but I couldn't really make anything happen on that front. I noticed the "going slightly into the ground" thing on a few more ladders as child (gonna say it's because his animation is shorter and gets out of sync with the rungs of the ladder?), but child I guess is too short to reach the ground even when that happens (or something--making it all up, like I said).
I guess this is a minor timesaver if you ever find yourself needing to Down A RI in one of these two places. And I guess if you were doing a puzzle race and shields were banned or something, then you would at least be able to cast FW here. To do it you just get swordless, get on the ladder, equip FW over something you can use, and then mash FW as you climb off the bottom of the ladder. It seemed like you had a larger window to use FW if you don't hold a direction on the controlstick as you climb off, but maybe I was imagining that.
