It’s an Ill Wind That Blows Walkthrough – Sparks of Hope

Journey to the Windmill

Barrendale Mesa’s landing zone is a little different from other locations – there’s no ship waiting for you here. Instead, you’ll find a small white Rabbid Balloon attached to a round bright blue platform, which is your connection back to the spaceship.

Your first task is to clear the Darkmess Puddle called THE DESERT RIPTIDES, which is blocking your path.

Follow the path and the trail of coins that mark the way, past the roaming Wildclaws, until you reach the white pipe.

At the other end you’ll find a purple unstable bridge. Use the upgraded WAVE ability on the big purple tile to stabilise the bridge and cross it. This destabilises the second purple bridge, but there’s another big purple tile just past the first one – use WAVE on it to cross the second bridge too. Then head through the big round entrance at the back.

Inside, you can activate the INDUSTRIAL AREA FLAG, then fight off another Darkmess Puddle called DANGER, KEEP OUT!

Enter the Windmill Site

With the Darkmess cleared from the Industrial Area entrance, head up the ramp and climb the ladder near the green pressure plate. On top of the container, scan for a yellow bridge and cross it.

On the other side is a blue box that needs to go onto a blue pressure plate. Push it down off the container and onto the plate.

Now enter the white pipe next to it, freshly cleared of Darkmess. Follow the path straight ahead and climb the ladder at the end.

Connect the Circuit

After climbing that ladder, climb two more in quick succession to reach the top. A cutscene confirms you’re in the right place – now it’s time to connect the circuit. You’ll see a shiny blue energy line that needs to reach the far end of the floor, three interchangeable parts, and a rotating device to work with.

Pick up the straight part and slot it into the first round gap, rotating it if needed until the energy flows through to the next area. Then take the T-shaped part and fit it into the next opening, rotating it until the energy passes through all three openings.

Take the last part and place it in the final opening, rotating until the energy flows all the way through. After the cutscene, use the large Rabbid Screen to move the crane.

Rotate it all the way to the right. The green container hanging from the crane now forms a bridge, so you can cross. Leave the crane in that position, climb back down the two ladders, and cross over.

Climb down the other side, deal with the fiends in your way, and you’ll find another energy puzzle ahead – this time with two sections and two parts to place. Both energy lines need to run upward. On ground level, take the part with the 90-degree angle, place it, and rotate it so the energy flows parallel to the other line. Then take the straight part, head up the ramp, and slot it into the gap, rotating until the energy connects.

This activates a bridge across, but grab the yellow cube lying in front of it first. Carry it over and place it in the yellow cube device on the other side – this opens the white tube beside it, letting you backtrack to the angled part’s original socket. Since the bridge is no longer needed thanks to a nearby pipe, pull the angled part back out, take the white pipe up, and fit it into the socket there.

Head back across the bridge, place the angled part into its socket, and rotate it – though the energy still won’t be flowing yet. Go back through the white pipe and swap the straight part into the socket where the angled one just was. Rotate it, and this finally powers the bridge so you can cross.

Reach the Rabbid Pipe Area

Across the bridge, grab the orange box and pull it onto the orange pressure plate. This clears the white pipe so you can enter it. Up here there’s a bridge, but it’s too short to cross yet – so head back to the crane. Go left from the pipe exit, up the ramp, and you’ll reach the crane again.

Rotate it to the middle so you can cross the bridge, then fight the Darkmess Puddle called MAGIKOOPA MAYHEM waiting ahead. Beating it earns you the Gargantu-Fan Spark.

Unfold the Ladder on Top of the Crane

After the fight, take the white pipes on the other side to reach the Barrendale Pipes Area Flag, then climb down the ladder. Another puzzle area awaits: move the green box onto the green pressure plate and the orange box onto the orange one, alongside another three-part energy puzzle.

There are three bridges you can power individually. Start with the one on the left so you can climb up and move the orange box onto its plate. Put the T-shaped part into the first slot and rotate it so energy flows through all its openings – this lights up two of the three bulbs on the left bridge.

Grab the straight part and slot it into the socket next to the last one, sending the energy straight up to the bridge. Cross it and climb the ladder.

Drop the ladder down on the other side.

Grab the box and lower it down onto the green line, then push it onto the green triangle pressure plate.

You can now take the white pipe to the right, which activates the bridge leading to the blue triangle key stone. First, redirect the energy from the left bridge over to the right by swapping the straight part and the angled part in the second slot.

Take the straight part and slide it through the white pipe on the right, fitting it into a power slot there. Rotate it to get the power flowing, which makes the bridge crossable. Climb down the ladder and grab the blue triangle key stone, then carry it back across the bridge and set it down somewhere safe.

Next, lower the large WAVE block with your WAVE ability, load the movable box and the blue triangle key onto it, and send it back up. Climb the ladder you dropped earlier and push the box onto the yellow pressure plate.

The white pipes are now open – take the blue triangle key, slide down, and place it in the barrier device to drop the barrier.

Now you need to route the remaining energy to the back, where the barrier was. One light is already on, so you just need to sort the other two. Head back up to where the box is (the annoying part) and move it back onto the green pressure plate, just like before. This reopens the white pipes, so grab the straight part and set it aside somewhere safe.

Now swap the T-shaped part and the angled part so the energy flows all the way to the left, matching the screenshot above.

Finally, get the straight part into its slot. Lower the WAVE block again and load the box and the straight part on top.

Take the straight part, slide down the white pipe, and fit it into the power slot behind the dropped barrier. Rotate it to send the power through – this opens up the bridge at the far end.

Time to cross. Head up the ramp and take every white pipe you find upward. At the top, follow the crane arm with the long yellow line and drop the ladder.

Get to the Windmill

Slide down the green pipe at the top of the crane, head to the controls, and rotate the crane to the left. Climb back on top of the crane and cross over to the windmill. Activate the Barrendale Windmill Flag, then take down the Darkmess Tentacle clinging to the windmill.

With the windmill finally free of Darkmess, the It’s an Ill Wind that Blows Story Quest is complete. All that’s left is to head back to Momma’s Garage for one last fight.