I'm confused for the slingshot skip.
Cloud are you saying you activated the crystal through some cheat method and the mini-boss did not load?
I don't get why a weapon would cause a boss to load or not.
The temple with the triforce, you can't get into that temple before placing the crystal in the bird, right? It would be cool if it was possible to get in that temple early.
The way that the temple works is, if you don't trigger the switch to enter the temple, then all the actors that are different in the later skyview temple will be missing. This includes the miniboss and beetle chest. He got into the beetle room by Z targeting a keese and firing a skyward strike at the crystal.
but the main reason why it wouldn't work anyway is because the slingshot is required to activate your B button.
For those unaware, there is a forth skyloft bird statue that can be used for BiT warping. This is the statue by where you rescue your bird, through the cave. Of course, this statue is so low that it’s not going to be very useful, but I still think it should be tried on every map just in case.
I didn't realise you could actually get to this statue... But now you mention it, I'll try it out