Majora’s Mask 3D Guide: How to Change Zora Swimming Controls and Beat the Beaver Brothers

If you can’t find what you’re looking for here or want to check out more Majora’s Mask 3D walkthroughs, common fixes, and tips, take a look at the Master List. 

There are a number of things that are different from the original N64 version of Majora’s Mask in the new 3DS game. Where the majority of them are cosmetic or merely simplified, swimming with Zora Link has been overhauled completely.

From the first, instead of the default fast-glide through water, regular swimming with Zora Link is something of a slow front-crawl – faster than swimming with regular Link (and able to swim underneath the surface without diving), but still much slower in comparison with the original, almost mermaid-like stroke of the original. 

Of course, it is possible to regain that lost speed, but now it’s at a cost to your magic power. Thankfully, the game has been modified somewhat with regards to Great Fairy rewards, and you get your full magic bar a lot earlier (from collecting all the fairies in Woodfall Temple vs. Snowhead). They are also much easier for first-timers to collect. 

While controlling up-and-down depth with the joystick, hold A and press R to activate your magic attack which in this version of the game also gives you a speed boost.

And herein lies the second biggest change to swimming. In the 3DS game, your Y-axis has been swapped compared to the N64. Now instead of moving the joystick forward to dive, and pulling back to surface, you pull back to dive, and push forward to surface.

For those of you who aren’t quite able to wrap your head around this new change (and don’t want to), there is a fix for this! As was pointed out to me by Autumn Fish, there is a set of options that can change this for you – they just can’t be accessed in-game. 

How to Set Zora Link’s Swimming Controls

1. Start up the game from your home screen. 
   
2. Select your save file.
   
3. On the bottom screen (don’t skip straight to Start), choose “Options.”
   
4. The Y-axis for swimming is located on Page 2.
5. Set Swimming Controls to “invert Y-axis.”

IMPORTANT: Make sure you are checking the option for Swimming. The one box marked in the image above is when you are using first person aiming (i.e. during Deku Bubble, using Hero Bow, etc.) – if you use an inverted Y-axis for these, this will probably mess you up if you’re one to move your 3DS instead of the joystick to aim.

Note that there are still some differences that will make swimming on the 3DS a little more difficult – namely that it is not nearly as responsive to surfacing when you press A. This means that if you mess up during the Beaver Brothers quest, it will make it significantly harder (and slower) to turn around and go back through the ring at the proper depth.

How to Beat the Beaver Brothers

NOTE: I highly recommend finding out which Y-axis you prefer to use for swimming before you go up against the Beaver Brothers. 

This side quest can be repeated as many times as you want, and the rewards are as follows:

• 1st time: a Glass Bottle
• 2nd time: a Piece of Heart

In order to complete this quest and finish the entry in the Bomber’s Notebook, you will need to run through the swim course with both Beaver Brothers twice. 

Where to Find Them

The Beaver Brothers are located on the far left side of Great Bay. The easiest way to access their mountain pool is to fast-travel to the Zora Cape Owl Statue.

1. Jump into the water and swim to your left, around the Zora stronghold and towards the beach.
   
2. Run past the two Zoras standing near a bunch of pots. Near a piece of driftwood look up with your hookshot. You should see a small ledge with a tree. Hookshot the tree. 
   
3. You will have to hookshot yourself a few times across several different ledges before you reach the hole in the side of the mountain where the Brothers are. Remember if your hookshot cannot reach immediately, head right to the edge of your ledge and it should be just enough to latch onto the next tree. 

1st Time

The first runthrough with the two brothers is relatively forgiving, and it can be done entirely using Zora Link’s default swimming. Use this race to familiarize yourself with the map and to remember where some easy-to-get clay pots are. You will need these for Round 2.

Note that you cannot keep swimming through other rings ahead if you miss swimming through one flashing ring.

1. You will see a Beaver swimming in circles around the pool directly in front of you. Swim out to him and target him with Tatl. He will dive down to wait for you at the bottom of the pool. 

2. Dive down after him and speak to him. He will challenge you to a race with a time limit of 2 minutes and 20 rings. Luckily you will not have to beat him through the obstacles, you just have to swim through all the rings within the time limit. 

3. When you complete this challenge, he will call in his big brother. You will need to race Big Brother Beaver in order to win an empty bottle. This race will be 2 minutes and 25 rings. 
   

2nd Time

In order to get a Piece of Heart and complete your notebook, challenge the brothers to a race again.

TIP: If you are having trouble and losing time trying to find pots to break to refill your magic bar, consider getting some Chateau Romani which gives you unlimited magic. I would not recommend buying a green potion. 

1. You will find both brothers on the island on the other side of the pool from the entrance. Talk to them to race the first brother again. This time you will need to beat him in 1 minute 50 seconds and swim through 20 rings. 

2. You will need to use your speed boost for this race. You could try using it only sporadically during long straight stretches if you are having trouble, but it is recommended to simply hold down the speed boost through the entire race. 

3. Repeat this process with Big Brother who also races you with a time limit of 1 minute 50 seconds and 25 rings. 

TIP: Easy pots to reach for magic refills are in areas where you are closed off or you can easily bounce off the ground into. The tunnel near the very beginning at the race is a particularly easy one, but you won’t have drained a great deal of magic by then. 

If you beat both brothers once and claimed the bottle reward, but were unable to get the Piece of Heart in time, visiting them again after turning back time will net you a Fishing Voucher, even though the dialogue still promises you a bottle.

For other guides and tips for Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, check out the Master List.