Horizon Zero Dawn is an award-winning action role-playing game set in a stunning post-apocalyptic world filled with mechanical creatures. As the courageous hunter Aloy, you’ll experience an epic adventure with a gripping storyline, stunning visuals, and versatile gameplay. To make your entry into this new world as easy as possible, we’ll give you the most important Horizon Zero Dawn tips and tricks.
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1) Pick up everything you can find
In Horizon Zero Dawn, it’s important to collect everything you can find. The game world is full of valuable resources and crafting materials such as plants, shards, flowers, and machine parts. These are essential for crafting ammo, health potions, and equipment upgrades. Keep an eye out for the different icons on the map that may indicate interesting locations.
It’s also worth exploring every corner of the environment to discover hidden treasures and side quests that can provide valuable rewards. Be a conscientious collector to maximize your survival and combat power in the post-apocalyptic world of Horizon Zero Dawn.
2) Hunt animals
Roaming the stunning landscapes of Horizon Zero Dawn and hunting wildlife is not only an addictive experience but also essential for survival. By tracking and killing different animals, you’ll gain valuable resources such as meat, bones, and skins.
You’ll be able to use these to trade with vendors for cash or to upgrade your bags. It’s advisable to approach cautiously and silently to kill the prey efficiently. Also, use Aloy’s focus to spot nearby animals, even through obstacles.
3) Horizon Zero Dawn tips: Scan the machines
Scanning the machines in Horizon Zero Dawn is an essential part of your exploration and survival strategy. Using your Focus, an AR device worn by Aloy, you can analyze the machines and gain valuable information about their weaknesses, strengths, and prey.
Scanning allows you to better understand the machines and target their weaknesses. You’ll also learn which elemental damage is most effective, allowing you to adjust your tactics accordingly. This will give you a decisive advantage in battle. You can also tag multiple enemies at once.
Each new machine you focus on is recorded in your notebook, which you can access from the game menu. It lists the strengths, weaknesses, and loot of each machine. You can also see all the components of a machine, which you can blow up with the appropriate ammunition.
So don’t forget to keep an eye out for new machines as you explore and scan them, because the more you know about them, the better you’ll be able to prepare for encounters with these formidable creatures.
4) Hunter Trials for fast leveling
The Hunter Trials in Horizon Zero Dawn are an excellent way to farm massive amounts of XP and level faster. These will give you various tasks and challenge you to complete certain objectives within a certain amount of time.
You’ll be rewarded greatly even if you complete them on a low-difficulty level. For example, you’ll receive 10,000 XP for the Sleight of Crate test in the Spurflints Hunting Grounds. You can repeat it as often as you like.
5) Which skills do you need first?
In Horizon Zero Dawn, Silent Strike, Concentration, and Lure Call are among the most important skills you should develop first.
- Silent Strike (“Prowler” skill tree) allows for one-hit kills on smaller enemies. This allows Aloy to quietly take down enemies up close, which is extremely useful in stealth situations.
- Concentration (“Brave” skill tree) slows down time and gives you a tactical advantage to hit machine weak spots.
- Lure Call (“Forager” skill tree) allows you to lure machines into a trap or isolate them from their group.
6) Use the red grass
The tall red grass is an extremely useful tool in Horizon Zero Dawn for tactical stealth attacks and stealth movement. As a skilled hunter, Aloy can hide in the tall grass to avoid the sight of the machines and move around them unnoticed. This allows you to evade enemy patrols or take strategic positions for surprise attacks.
Use the tall grass to sneak up and spy out the machines’ weak spots before you strike. It’s a smart way to avoid confrontation or gain the upper hand in battle. By cleverly using the tall grass in combination with the decoy call, you’ll be able to comfortably take out enemies one by one. This will conserve your ammunition and allow you to get through more difficult areas.
7) Get mounts!
In Horizon Zero Dawn, riding machine creatures provides a new way to move around the open world and make exploration easier. By bridging machines with your spear, you’ll get them to fight for your side. However, to bridge to stronger machines, you must first complete the hatcheries.
You can use certain machine creatures, such as the Strider, Broadhead, or Longleg, as mounts. These creatures allow you to cover long distances faster and traverse rough terrain with ease. From their backs, you’ll be able to battle enemy machines with a bow and arrows. Riding adds an extra dimension to your adventure in Horizon Zero Dawn and opens up new ways to explore and dominate the world.
8) Horizon Zero Dawn tips: How to get weapons
There are several ways to obtain weapons in Horizon Zero Dawn. As the hunter Aloy, you’ll have access to a diverse arsenal of weapons that will help you defeat the machine creatures and overcome your challenges. However, they won’t be unlocked automatically.
Basic weapons such as the bow and spear, as well as the focus device, will be available to you from the start. These items are essential for surviving the machines. You start the game with a Hunter Bow.
Later in the game, you’ll find the War Bow, which becomes Aloy’s standard weapon, and the Sharpshot Bow. The bows differ in the types of arrows and the damage they do. The War Bow deals more elemental damage but is weaker in overall damage output.
The Sharpshot Bow, on the other hand, deals significantly more damage and allows you to get closer to your target. However, it requires a longer reload time. While it is relatively easy to obtain ammunition for the Hunter Bow, the War Bow and the Sharpshot Bow are much more resource-intensive. Higher-stat versions of all weapons are available. Other types of weapons can be purchased from merchants for metal shards.
The The Frozen Wilds DLC adds three additional weapon types: the Icerail, the Stormslinger, and the Forgefire. These powerful-sounding items are short-range firearms.
They differ in the elemental damage they deal: the Ice Thorn specializes in ice, the Forgefire specializes in fire, and the Stormslinger specializes in electricity. You can upgrade them by completing Varga’s quests in Longnotch.
9) Switch up your weapons and attacks
Overall, Horizon Zero Dawn offers a wide variety of weapons to discover and use. You can equip a total of four different types of weapons at once. In addition to the aforementioned bows, you’ll also find the sling, which allows you to use different projectiles.
You can use the sling to distract the machines or lure them into a trap. The Ropecaster can be used to disarm machines and disable them for a short time. The trip trap can slow down enemies.
Since the machines have different weaknesses, it’s a good idea to balance your arsenal. Experiment with different combinations and vary your attacks to find your playstyle and best prepare yourself for the dangers and challenges that lurk in this fascinating post-apocalyptic world.
10) Follow the main quest to Meridian
In Horizon Zero Dawn, Meridian is a major city and trading post in the game world. Follow the main story quests until you reach the city. Once you get there, the rest of the game is pretty open.
You can do side quests and work for the Hunter’s Lodge, among other things. Thanks to the open-world architecture, the game is very open and can be customized to your liking. However, Meridian should be at the top of your priority list.
Customize your experience with PLITCH!
Horizon Zero Dawn is not for the faint of heart. Due to its complex game mechanics and open world, the game will present you with several challenges. With PLITCH’s Horizon Zero Dawn cheats you can customize the game to your liking.
This works both ways. You can make the game easier and make sure you always have full healing energy or easy crafting. Or you can play the game in hardcore mode and set it to low health and 0 skillpoints.
Check out this blog and our YouTube channel to learn more about PLITCH!
Happy Gaming!
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