The Earth Temple is the second dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, but before players can get to it, they'll first need to brave the fire and the flames of Eldin Volcano. Upon finally reaching the area with the temple though, they'll learn that the key to get inside has been broken up into five pieces and buried in different spots around the nearby area.
The good news is that Link can use the Digging Mitts that were given to him a little earlier on to excavate the five key pieces that he needs. The bad news is that one or two of the dig spots can be very tricky to find, even with the help of Fi's magical dousing technique. Thankfully, with a good guide and a little hard work, players should be able to track down all five key pieces without too much trouble, while also finding a Goddess Cube or two along the way.
How To Find The First Piece Of The Key
Upon reaching the entrance to the Earth Temple, players will overhear a couple of Mogma discussing the hidden key which will trigger a short conversation with Fi. Once it's over, players should turn to their right and then turn right again just before the steps leading up to the raised platform. Here, they'll find two Bomb Flowers near the edge of the cliff.
Players will need to pick one of them up and then throw it off the cliff, aiming it over towards the large destructible boulder on the left-hand side. It might take a few attempts, but once it's been destroyed, players can simply slide back down the hill and hit the A button while standing near the dig spot in the newly accessible cave to acquire their first key piece.
How To Find The Second Piece Of The Key
The second key piece is by far the easiest to find, as it's right next to the entrance to the temple. While facing the temple, players should look to their left and dig in the spot near where the tiled section ends. Due to how easy it is to find, some may prefer to pick this one up first, but as they all need to be collected at some point, the order in which players collect the key pieces really doesn't matter all that much.
How To Find The Third Piece Of The Key
Immediately after collecting the second key piece, players should continue to follow the path around to the left and look for some more Bomb Flowers at the top of a sand dune. They'll need to roll one of these Bomb Flowers down the sand dune and hit the yellow guard tower below. This will cause the tower to fall over and reveal another dig spot. After sliding down the dune, players will be able to dig up the third piece of the key right here.
How To Find The Fourth Piece Of The Key
To find the remaining key pieces, players will need to return to the temple and follow the path round to the right and into the Red Bokoblin camp. Once they've taken out the footsoldiers, players will need to use one of the nearby Bomb Flowers to knock down the guard tower and create a bridge over some nearby lava. Before using it, however, they should follow the path around to a dead end where they'll find a Goddess Cube.
After using a Skyward Strike on the cube, players should use the toppled guard tower to cross over the lava and then follow the path until they reach an uncrossable bridge. Rather than trying to jump the gap, they'll need to turn around and look for some hearts to their right and then hang off the nearby ledge to make their way around to a small grassy area.
Once here, players can have Link jump over towards the other side of the bridge and then climb on the green vines to reach the entrance. There's a special tile that they can step on not too far from here which will cause the bridge to extend, allowing Link to freely access this new area without having to leap and climb his way there every time.
Upon following the path around, players will reach a cavern where the extreme heat causes Link to catch on fire, so they'll need to act quickly here to avoid taking any unnecessary damage. As soon as Link starts losing hearts, they'll need to take a hard right and then look for a slide leading downward and out of the heat of the cavern. If done correctly, Link should lose no more than one heart of health.
The slide itself has a few branching pathways, but to get to the key piece, players will need to head to the right and then aim for the hot air geyser so that Link gets blown up onto the raised platform. Here, they'll be able to dig up a Fairy, which can be stored in an empty bottle to automatically revive Link if he runs out of hearts.
After collecting the Fairy, players should again jump down to the right of the slope and then look for a flat piece of land on their left soon after passing the point where the path branches off. Next, they'll need to wait for both of the geysers to their left to be blowing hot air and then jump towards them to be blown over to a new platform. Here, they'll find another dig spot, and hitting the A button will uncover the fourth key piece.
How To Find The Fifth Piece Of The Key
Straight after finding the fourth piece of the key, players should continue down the slope. When they reach the bottom, they'll find a few digs spots, a giant hot air geyser, and some bomb flowers that can be used to destroy a nearby boulder and open up a route to the foot of the volcano. On the other side, there are a few more dig spots and a platform with three skulls on it that can be used to access a new area with a single Bomb Flower.
In this area, players will need to use the Bomb Flower to blow up the plug near the entrance, which will drain some of the lava. With a bit of the ground now exposed, they need to roll another Bomb Flower up the slope on their right so that it rolls back down and destroys the rocks that are blocking the archway in the top left-hand corner. Players can now use the slope to get to the newly accessible area and then dig up the fifth and final key piece from the dig spot that's there.
Rather than having to reclimb the entire volcano, players can use the giant hot air geyser that they saw a moment ago to return to the area with the Earth Temple immediately. While they're there, it's probably worth heading down the big slide in the fire room once more; this time taking the route on the left. There's an extra dig spot with some Rupees, and, perhaps more importantly, another Goddess Cube for Link to strike which will unlock a chest containing a Piece of Heart back up in the sky. Once that's all taken care of, players can ride the geyser back up again and then finally make their way to the Earth Temple.