Fire Rod

The Fire Rod is a casually recurring weapon in the Zelda series.

Uses
The Fire Rod appears to have replaced a very similar object, the Magic Rod which had debuted in The Legend of Zelda. The Fire Rod is able to fire bursts of energy in the form of fire balls, and thus can be used as an effective weapon or light unreachable torches.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, Link acquired the Fire Rod in the seventh dungeon, Skull Woods (third dungeon in the Dark World). As with most similar items, the Fire Rod could be used as a weapon to burn enemies or light unreachable torches. However, the Fire Rod uses up energy from the Magic Meter, and thus Link can only use it for certain amount of times before he needs to replenish his magic energy.

Link could use the Fire Rod as a very effective weapon against the Skull Wood's boss, Mothula.

Four Sword Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures, the Fire Rod showed up once more. Like many tools in this title, it can only be carried by an empty handed Link and would have to swap their current tool to use another, and could only be acquired and used in certain areas. It was essential to some puzzles and defeating some enemies. At times, the Links' evil counterpart, Dark Link, would even use it against them. This Fire Rod can either shoot fireballs, or be aimed and held for a continuous cascade of flames.

If Link gives the Fire Rod to a Great Fairy to upgrade it, the Fire Rod will act like the Cane of Somaria, creating blocks and, in some cases, platforms. If Link uses the Fire Rod again, the block will explode and send fire in all directions, damaging anything in its path.

A Link Between Worlds
The Fire Rod returns in. Unlike many items in this game, (all except for the Ice Rod) it can be rented from Ravio early-on for the price of 100 rupees, as opposed to 50 rupees. Later on, it can be purchased permanently at a price of 1200 rupees, which is notably more expensive than most other items, tied with the Ice Rod. Like most items in this game, the Fire Rod will drain Link's energy gauge when used. Although it produced a fiery sphere projectile like in previous appearances, the projectile quickly drops to the ground unless Link shoots it over a cliff. Once the projectile strikes ground or another solid object, it bursts upward into a geyser of flames which travels forward at a slow speed for a short distance. Because it travels forward and most enemies flinch backwards, the projectile is often capable of hitting the same enemy twice. The damage dealt is greater than the first sword Link has when he can first aim the item, but less than the fully-upgraded Master Sword.

Many puzzles that involve a need for fire can only be solved with the Lamp, leaving the Fire Rod an item that is infrequently necessary throughout the game. It is most useful in the Ice Ruins, where it can instantly defeat ice-based enemies and melt ice barriers from a distance. Notably, the initial sphere projectile can fall off higher platforms onto lower ones, and wall fall through grated floors, making it useful for attack enemies in those location. The resulting pillar can reach higher than Link's sword, making it useful for attacking airborne enemies, although the Tornado Rod and Ice Rod can generally hit such enemies more quickly.

Through Mother Maiamai, Link can upgrade his Fire Rod to the Nice Fire Rod. This version produces a much taller and wider geyser of flames, which travels several times the distance of the normal-sized geyser. The flames also deal significantly more damage, and since the geyser persists longer, it is capable of hitting enemies numerous times in succession.

Trivia

 * Originally, the Fire Rod was supposed to be in The Minish Cap. However, via a cheat, it can be equipped to the A button. There are also cheats which use the Fire Rod to change tiles on the game and create a "new" dungeon. The item, however, is completely useless and will not do anything. Removing the Fire Rod off the button is impossible unless the cheat is disabled.