HORIZON Forbidden West Tips

Aloy battles an Apex Slaughterspine.

01 — HELPFUL WEAPON WHEEL SETTINGS: Go to Settings > Controls > scroll down to Weapon Quick Swap, and set it to ON (it's off by default). Now simply tap L1 to toggle through weapons and different ammo types for that weapon, without having to open the weapon wheel. Furthermore, you can set the weapon wheel Slowdown to "Slowest" in General Settings, to help you during mid-combat.

02 — GAIN ADVANTAGE BEFORE MELEE: To gain advantage BEFORE melee combat, pre-charge your spear by holding L2 and tapping L1; rinse and repeat. Your spear will turn blue when fully charged.

03 — PUT ALL WEAPONS AWAY: If you feel like you're threatening the friendly villagers, hold L1 to show the weapon wheel, and press L3. Any weapon you're carrying will be stowed.

04 — BUY SPECIAL MATERIALS FOR CRAFTING: If you're not in the mood for machine-bashing (especially the big ones), and you need special materials for crafting weapons or armour, simply visit a Salvage Contractor (there are 4 in the game to choose from, identified on the map with a scroll icon). These NPCs sell very rare / legendary machine parts for upgrading your stuff, and you don't need to take out a contract with them.

05 — BEST ARMOUR IN THE GAME: Finish all contracts with all 4 Salvage Contractors, and you will acquire the game's best armour.

06 — BEST BOW IN THE GAME: The Legendary Hunter Bow "Death-Seeker's Shadow" is one of two top weapons in the game. DSS can hold 5 coils. To get it, participate in the Arena and earn 80 medals. To get started, talk to Arena Combat Assignment vendor Kalla and successfully complete the combat challenges (a fun pastime). Then have a chat with Prize Master vendor Dukkah. (Spoiler: The Arena is first accessed after completing the Kulrut.)

07 — MOUNTABLE MACHINES HAVE AUTO-PILOT: If riding a land-based mount, tap X while following a path to accelerate and continue to hold X for 2-3 seconds. Then release X, sit back and enjoy the ride. Your mount will automatically follow the path. Additionally, if you're planning to compete in races that require a mount, turn on the ALWAYS RUN for your mount in Settings, BEFORE racing. It alleviates over-working the X button on your controller.

08 — FAST TRAVEL FOR FREE: Fast-travelling from campfire to campfire doesn't cost you any travel packs.

09 — CHANGE THE TIME OF DAY: Not in the mood to play in the middle of the night? Go to one of the numerous shelters that also features a campfire. Interacting with the "clock" icon allows you to advance time.

10 — CHANGE THE NASTY WEATHER: If for any reason you want to change the local weather scenario, interact with a campfire (they're everywhere) and do a Quick Save. Then simply Restart From Save. You will restart at the same location and time, but with different weather.

11 — COLLECTING MACHINE PARTS: If playing the game on EASY or STORY modes, you don't have to be concerned when fighting machines, in terms of shooting off specific machine parts that you need. Simply kill the machine and loot everything. However, if you're playing the game on harder modes, battling a machine creates the risk of not being able to shoot off the specific machine piece you need first, before (accidentally) killing the machine. A neat trick is to OVERRIDE the machine, then shoot off the part you need. Collect it and carry on.

12 — ADVANCING THE HUNTER SKILL TREE: There is obvious advantages to gaining the AMMO EXPERT and WORKBENCH EXPERT skills as early in the game as possible. Learning these skills will gain you more ammo, and allows crafting ammo using less materials at any workbench. A logical follow-on is the TRIPLE NOTCH weapon technique skill, which allows you to load up to 3 arrows of your currently selected type. Use multiple ammo by aiming your weapon with L2 and tapping R1 to load each additional arrow. Press R2 to fire. To avoid combat hits, stay moving while multiple-loading your weapon.

13 — ADVANCING THE SURVIVOR SKILL TREE: Are you missing the awesome Shield Weaver armour from Horizon Zero Dawn? Yeah, me too! The nearest we can get in HFW to that kind of protection is the OVERSHIELD valour surge skill. Get it. it will come in handy when (not if) you scuffle with an Apex Slaughterspine! Another useful skill in this tree is PLANT FORAGER, which allows you to gather more resources from plants. The MEDICINE CAPACITY skill is a passive boost that permits you to carry more medicinal berries, to support your manual health top-ups.

14 — ADVANCING THE INFILTRATOR SKILL TREE: How annoying is it that an enemy can spot you from halfway across the map, just out-of-range of your focus! There are a few skills in this tree that will help to lower your visual profile when sneaking. The most obvious to learn early are the LOW PROFILE, QUIET MOVEMENT, STEALTH RANGED+ and SILENT STRIKE+ skills.