Man, give some of us human players a break with your NES Hard L33tZ0r skillz. Some of us didn't play games during that console generation (I didn't own a standard NES until the late nineties, and even then I only had six games for it).


Speaking of which, since people are trekking along so quickly, I think I'll post my pointers for the next two dungeons. This has NOTHING to do with my brain being made of Swiss cheese and the imminent threat of forgetting my pointers, I SWEAR.


Fifth Dungeon
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Remember I said you should be playing the whistle on every overworld screen? Did you remember to try it on the maze screens?
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The Fifth Dungeon is located in a staircase that is reveals only by playing the flute in the forest maze

Use the whistle until you find the island that held the Fourth Dungeon in First Quest. Here you will find... the Perscription Letter! Pick up a double potion at one of the medicine shops (I use the one where the letter is found in First Quest) and gather up at least an additional fifty rupees (maybe more, depending on your aim with the bow).
Finally, make sure you've collected all four of the Heart Containers that can be found on the Overworld (the beach one doesn't count, since there's no way to get it until after it's no longer necessary). As hard as you try, though, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the Magic Sword before this dungeon. Regrettable, as Dungeon five is...
Darknut hell! At this point it is no longer practical to use bombs to fight these enemies, so you'll have to have learned to Dance with Darknuts (luring them around unwalkable combos so you can stab their sides) or properly utilize the Darknut Stab Exploit (luring them to a choke point and spamming your sword) to get through several of the rooms. If there room features a blue darknut with several reds, try to kill the blue first (he's a room leader and he'll clear the screen if you beat him). If there's a bunch of blues... sorry, you'll have to beat them the hard way.
In addition, make sure you push every block once you've cleared a room and bomb every wall you can. But before bombing a wall, make sure it isn't a walk-though by pressing against it first. This dungeon features three walk-through walls; two are located in rooms with corner traps to make them more annoying.
The Fifth dungeon has two items to be found. The first is the magic boomerang.
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In the first shutter-blocked room, start by bombing the top wall. You'll find a key and a door that cannot be reached by any means. Go back to the shutter room and clear the enemies, but do not advance. Rather, push around on the blocks until one reveals a staircase. This will take you to the unreachable side of the key room. Go to the west and defeat the Gleeok to find the Magic Boomerang. Then return to the key room, press against the north wall to pass through, and defeat the Manhandla to return to the start of the dungeon.

The second is the raft, which you'll need to acquire to access the next dungeon.
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The raft can be found in a dark room with corner traps. It features 8 zols and a locked door, and is found immediately after the 'Your money or your Life' room in this dungeon (that why you'll need 50 rupees by the way). This room also has a walkthrough wall to the east, which will eventually lead to the key to unlock said locked door. Illuminate the room, clear the Zols, and then push on the bricks until a staircase appears.

If you stay calm in the face of oncoming Darknuts and bomb every wall as is practical in the shape of the map, you should be able to clear the Fifth Dungeon. The boss is once again Gohma, but he's learned to take a couple extra hits to the eye. Still relatively easy to beat, though, provided you reach the room with enough hearts.
Also note that there is a key in this dungeon which you CANNOT acquire yet. Don't worry, you won't need it to beat this dungeon.


Sixth Dungeon
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Yay! We have the raft now! Too bad it's only useful in two places, and we've been to one already. Wait... if the raft is only useful in two places and we've been to one already, then the other must be...
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Dungeon Six!

You're going to need at least 150 rupees for this dungeon, along with the bait if you haven't acquired it yet. I recommend MAXING OUT your wallet, though, because running out of rupees in the wrong spot will be disastrous. Also, make sure you have a full double potion; if you used one in the Fifth Dungeon then scrape around to get the full potion back. You're going to need it.
Also, if you've been collecting the Heart Containers hidden around the Overworld you can now acquire the Magic Sword:
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The Magic Sword is hidden in a cave adjacent to the Lake. It is the screen that boasts only a northwest corner of land, with the rest of the screen covered in water. At this point the only way to reach the screen is by passing through the Graveyard, then taking the stairs down from the screen with all the Armos statues. Get to the corner of land and bomb the only portion of wall big enough for a cave door, and the Magic Sword will be yours.

Get used to checking your subscreen map before taking any doors in this dungeon; if the door leads to a room you've already explored then it's a trick to send you backward. Also, this is the first dungeon to feature a stretch of no-sword rooms, which you will need the bow to clear. Hence the extra buffer of rupees.
When you enter the dungeon there really isn't a whole lot you can do. The first key is held at bay by a river that only the ladder can cross, and going in the other direction reveals a room with a very vague and unhelpful old man. If you can't figure out what to do:
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go to the previous room and press against the north wall. It's a walk-through wall.

Like before, make sure you clear any room with bricks and then press against every brick. Hidden staircases are VERY important in this dungeon. The only item to be found is the ladder:
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In the room where you walk through the north wall, you will be faced with unavoidable red bubbles. This leads to a stretch of dungeon that has to be cleared without the sword. In the second dark-room you encounter on this stretch (with eight blue goriyas), an isolated brick can be pushed to reveal the staircase which leads to the ladder. Make sure you find it BEFORE leaving this room, otherwise you will have to run the entire gauntlet again.

This dungeon features a hierarchy of doors, one that if broken will send you back to start. Try to keep this list in mind as you explore:
Bombs come before key doors. Key doors come before shutters. Shutters come before open doors. If two doors of the same type exist, doors on the east or west wall should be prioritized before doors on the north wall. If such priority occurs you should NEVER take the doors on the north wall, as they are ALWAYS traps. If you end up at a dead-end, or the only path you can find leads back to start, check the path for hidden stairs (be sure to push EVERY brick on a screen after clearing the enemies). One last pointer:
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Hungry Goriya's in the way in more ways than one. You should head North in that room.

The dungeon also features a bomb bag increase:
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Once you pass through the first key door, defeat the Gleeok and then bomb the north wall. Also note that continuing this way will lead to the map, which is very useful for this dungeon.

The boss is a Patra, but not the screen hog variation. Get in close and spam-stab his barrier bugs, then waste him when he's vulnerable. Depending on your skill level you may or may not need the potion, but you shouldn't need it more than once.
After you beat the dungeon, grab the last heart container on the Overworld and then go back to the Fifth Dungeon for that leftover key.