Before arriving at the Eldin Volcano, you must go back up to Skyloft after defeating the Skyview Temple. Use one of the Bird Statues (that you save with) outside to return to the sky.
- Buy an iron shield in the bazaar (100 rupees)
- Buy a bug net from the floating shop near the bazaar (ring the bell with a slingshot or your bug, 150 rupees)
- Buy an additional adventure pouch slot or a bigger wallet from the floating shop
You can do the optional things listed on the side there, and then head over to the Goddess Statue.
Inside the statue, you can place your ruby tablet next to the other tablet, which will open up another place to visit on the surface. After doing all you want to do in the city, jump off a platform and fly towards the new pillar of light to the northeast, and enter the Eldin Volcano area.
After landing, Fi will explain that it is very hot here, and if you continue up the path a bit, you will meet a pair of Mogmas, which look like hybrid mole/dog/man? mo..g…ma…mogma? Maybe it makes sense.
Anyway, continue along the path until you come to a room filled with lava. Wait for the lava to go down and then take the left fork of the path.
Destroy this wall with a bomb to proceed
You reach a room with bomb flowers, which you can pick up and either throw (overhand wii remote action) or roll like a bowling ball (underhanded wii remote action).
You can destroy all the rocks blocking the various paths in this room, but only the one straight ahead actually goes anywhere.
Continue up the path and fight a couple fire bats, and then continue on, kinda heading towards the right. You will drop down and come across a weird seal/firebat/monkey hybrid.
It’s okay to kill these seals though, as they are very vicious!
Roll a bomb near the entrance of the fire seals crawl space to destroy it
To kill a fire seal (real name pyrup), throw or roll a bomb right next to the entrance of their crawlspace.
Don’t feel bad, because they would just as soon roast you alive!
Jump up the ledge that the fire seal was blocking, and run up the path to fight a couple goblins.
Throw the bomb into the shell
After disposing of them, continue down to find two creatures inside some kind of protective bone or shell.
To kill these creatures, you have to throw a bomb directly into the hole on top of their shell. This will blow them up and you can continue on your way.
Roll the bomb across the bone bridge
Now you have to get the lava down that was blocking the path earlier, so roll a bomb (like a bowling ball) along the bridge to break the lava plug.
When you break the lava plug, two steam jets will appear that were being hidden by the lava. Make your way over to those jets
When you get to the jets, use the one closest to the large center structure to fly up to a metal grate. Jump off this grate into the large rock!
When you get to the bottom, go ahead and save your game, and then proceed to the left tunnel. There are a couple heart plants on a pillar in this first room, if you are low on hearts!
Proceed along the path and then you will meet another mogma. He will complain about goblins, so go destroy them. Remember to destroy the goblin commander first (the guy on the platform on the right side of the room), or he will keep calling more goblins.
Go up the steam vent after digging it up
After destroying them, talk to the mogma to get the Digging Mitts! These allow you to dig soft patches of dirt (lighter colored circles on the ground). Feel free to explore the room you killed the goblins in, as there are a few rupees buried.
When finished treasure hunting, proceed past the mogma and dig up the soft dirt spot to the left. This will give you a steam jet to the next area.
Take the right fork, and then you will be in a room with a ton of those fireseals. Your goal is to get to the pathway that you can see on your map (the only other way out of the room).
Blow up a fire seal to get to the next area
You will have to destroy a couple fire seals to get there. Use the bombs and throw them right next to the entrance of their little hidey holes to blow them up.
Take the small vent to the big vent
You only actually have to destroy one fire seal if you go the fastest way.
Proceed to the next area and dig up another steam vent to proceed to the very large vent.
Now go up the huge vent to the next area.
You will meet another mogma, and then see a retracted bridge.
Go towards the bridge, and it will automatically extend for you, and then you will see a mysterious person who seems friendly.
Go across the bridge, save your game, and then go up the left tunnel. Fight a couple fire bats, and then jump across the floating platform to a large sandy ramp. The goal here is to run up to the wooden platform, rest, and then continue on your way.
Take a short nap if you're tired
A tip for not getting hit by rocks: You can shoot your beetle at the goblin up top to scare him away temporarily, and if you hurry he won’t have time to pick the boulder back up.
Dash all the way to the top of the incline, and climb up and kill the goblin that was throwing rocks at you.
Throw a bomb at the goblin on a tower
In this next area, you will have to fight a few goblins and then kill the goblin commander.
Throw a bomb at the base of the tower he is on to kill him and create a bridge to the next area.
Cross the bridge and climb some vines, follow the path, fight or ignore the giant lava slime, and proceed to another giant sand ramp. This one is a little harder, because there are more goblins throwing rocks, and it is a little bit longer.
The beetle trick still works here (shoot the beetle at the goblins throwing rocks to scare them), or you can just rush up and try to avoid the rocks. Once you reach the top, you will find two Mogmas talking about the pieces of the key that are hidden nearby. After they’re done, Fi will allow you to use dowsing to find the keys.
The first three pieces are close-by.
Earth Temple Key Piece 1
Earth Temple Key Piece #1: Very closeby. Take a left from where the two mogmas were, and dig up a soft patch of dirt.
I should note that there is a Goddess Cube very close-by here.
Dig up a steam vent nearby and throw a bomb into the steam vent to blow up some rocks to expose a Goddess Cube.
Earth Temple Key Piece 2
Earth Temple Key Piece #2: Throw a bomb down the right side of the large sandy incline near the first key piece.
This will knock over a tower, revealing a soft patch of dirt underneath.
Earth Temple Key Piece 3
Earth Temple Key Piece #3: Go to the opposite side of the giant sand incline, and you should see a rocky cave-opening that you can bomb.
Grab a bomb from near a viewing platform, and throw the bomb down on the ramp to hit the rocks. It might take a couple tries, but you can do it!
Earth Temple Key Piece #4: This one is a little farther away. Go to the right of the Earth Temple and fight some goblins. Knock over another one of those towers to make another bridge.
Hang on to the ledge to get to the vines
Go up the tunnel, fight some firebats, and then you finally get to another bridge that isn’t extended.
Go to the left of the canyon, and press A to “drop down” and hang on to the ledge. Shimmy over to the next area, and dash up a couple ledges.
Eventually you will see a large gap with some vines in front of you. Jump over to those vines to grab on (make sure your stamina is FULL before dashing)!
Climb down and to the right, grab a stamina fruit, and then continue climbing to the other side of the bridge.
Take an immediate right in the very hot room
Press the button on the floor to extend the bridge so you don’t have to do that again!
From the room with the button, proceed into the very hot room, and then take an immediate right.
Earth Temple Key Piece 4
Slide down the ramp, keeping right. You will come to a platform that looks like the one ahead in the picture (click for larger view). From there, it is only two quick steam-jets to the 4th piece of the key.
You have to time it just right, and it will take a couple tries, but don’t worry because you don’t lose hearts when you fall. On the next platform (after the two steam jets) you will see a soft patch of dirt. Dig it up for piece #4.
Earth Temple Key Piece 5
Earth Temple Key Piece #5: Continue down the ramp after grabbing piece #4.
After landing, proceed to an island with three skulls, at which point you will take a right.
Grab the bomb plant and blow up the lava plug outside. Now you have to grab another bomb plant and roll it towards the next blocked off path. This will reveal some more soft dirt, so dig that up for piece #5.
Now you have the key!
Go back to the island that had 3 skulls and take a right, take another right, and jump into the large steam vent.
This will take you all the way to the bridge you opened, so go down the tunnel, across the tower-bridge, and then put the key in the door to the Earth Temple.