Core Gameplay

Core Gameplay – Horizon Forbidden West

This section breaks down the fundamental gameplay systems of Horizon Forbidden West and how they evolve as you progress through the story. The game is a sprawling open-world action RPG with a heavy focus on machine combat, exploration, and character progression. Understanding the core loop and how it changes will help you plan your journey efficiently.

The Core Gameplay Loop

The central loop is: Explore → Encounter machines/humans → Interact (fight, stealth, or bypass) → Loot resources → Craft/Upgrade → Progress quests → Unlock new areas → Repeat.

• Exploration: Scan the environment with your Focus to mark resources, enemies, and points of interest. Use the Sunwing (unlocked mid-game) for aerial traversal.


• Interaction: Choose direct combat, stealth takedowns, or hacking machines (via Override). The environment is highly interactive – use tall grass, ropes, and traps.


• Looting: Machines drop machine parts (hearts, lenses, circulation) used for upgrades. Human enemies drop weapons, ammo, and shards (currency). Plants and animal parts are also crucial.


• Crafting: Ammo, traps, potions, and weapon/outfit upgrades all require resources. Craft at workbenches or in the field using the D-pad.


• Progression: Earn XP to level up (grants skill points), complete quests, and upgrade gear to tackle stronger machines.




Early Game (Levels 1–15, The Daunt to Plainsong)



Progression Focus: Survival basics, learning machine weak points, and building a foundation for crafting.


• Combat & Interaction:

- Weapons: Start with a Hunter Bow (fire arrows), a Sharpshot Bow (precision), and a Tripcaster (traps). Use fire arrows to inflict burning damage – very effective against early machines like Watchers and Scroungers.
- Stealth: Crouch in tall grass, use silent strike (melee from behind) for instant kills on small machines or humans. Lure enemies with rocks.
- Melee: The spear is weak; use it only to finish off stunned enemies or break crates. Unlock the “Resonator Blast” skill later.
- Critical systems: Focus scanning to see machine components (e.g., blaze canisters, chillwater sacs). Hitting these with elemental arrows can cause explosions or freeze.

• Exploration: The Daunt and first open area (Restless Weald) are linear but teach traversal: climbing yellow handholds, using the Shieldwing (glider) unlocked in the tutorial, and swimming. Green highlighted resources are common: medicinal plants, metal shards, wood.


• Quests & Missions:

- Main quest: “The Point of the Lance,” “To the Brink,” “The Embassy” – these introduce Sylens, the Tenakth, and the main threat (the blight). Focus on these to unlock the Sunwing and base.
- Side quests: Help out at Chainscrape like “The Wound in the Sand”. They teach basic mechanics and reward skill points and early weapon coils.
- Errands: Simple fetch or kill tasks; great for shards and early upgrades.

• Economy:

- Shards are the main currency. Earn from looting, selling machine parts (but keep rare ones), and quest rewards. Early on, prioritize buying ammo pouches and a better Hunter Bow (e.g., Carja’s Wily Bow from the merchant in Chainscrape).
- Resources: Wood and branches are plentiful; machine parts are scarce. Don’t sell rare machine parts (hearts, lenses) – they are needed for upgrades later.

• Character/Build Growth:

- Skill Tree: Start with Trapper (for expanded trap capacity) and Survivor (for health regen). Take Silent Strike early for stealth.
- Unlock the Hunter tree for concentration (slows time while aiming) – critical for hitting weak points.
- Weapon Stamina: Manage stamina with dodge rolls and attacks. Upgrade stamina via skills.

• Endgame Structure (Early Game Perspective): The main story continues; you haven’t reached mid-game yet. There is no “endgame” at this point.




Mid Game (Levels 16–30, Plainsong to Base Acquisition)



Progression Focus: Unlocking the full skill tree, obtaining powerful weapons, and mastering elemental weaknesses. You’ll have access to the Base (after “Death’s Door”) and can fast travel freely.


• Combat & Interaction:

- Expand arsenal: Unlock the Blast Sling (explosive damage), Ropecaster (ties down large machines), and Spike Thrower (powerful, throwing axes). Use elemental arrows (freeze + frost bombs) to freeze big machines, then use high-damage attacks.
- New mechanics: Valor Surges (activated special abilities from the skill tree) – e.g., “Ranged Power” increases damage. Weapon Techniques (alternative fire modes like double-notching arrows) unlock as you upgrade weapons.
- Human enemies become tougher (Tenakth with shields). Use piercing arrows to bypass shields, or stealth kill from above.

• Exploration: You can unlock the Sunwing override (after completing “The Sea of Sands”) – aerial travel revolutionizes exploration. Use it to reach high ruins and survey regions. Underwater breathing mask is available after “The Eye of the Earth” – explore underwater caves and ruins for valuable loot.


• Quests & Missions:

- Main quests: “The Dying Lands,” “The Sea of Sands,” “The Eye of the Earth” – each reveals major story reveals (the Odyssey, the HADES backup). These unlock new tools and areas.
- Side content: Campaigns like the “A Tribe Apart” (exploring Banuk ruins). Contracts from merchants – kill a number of certain machines for rewards (shards, weapon upgrades).
- Errands evolve into longer chains (e.g., “The Blood Choke”).

• Economy:

- Shards inflow increases due to higher tier loot. Spend on specialized weapon coils (e.g., +damage, +elemental) and outfit weaving mods.
- Machine parts become more important – need hearts for upgrading purple weapons. Farm specific machines (e.g., Tremortusk for the heart).
- Workbench upgrades: Your pouch and weapon carrying capacity need upgrades using animal parts (skins, bones). Hunt animals proactively.

• Character/Build Growth:

- Skill trees: Unlock Master skills in each tree – like “Triple Notch” (firing three arrows at once) in Hunter. Specialize: either go heavy into Machine Master for overrides, or Infiltrator for stealth.
- Valor Surges: Equip a surge that suits your playstyle (e.g., “Toughened” for melee builds, “Overshield” for survivability).
- Weapon upgrades: Buy purple (Very Rare) weapons from merchants in settlements like Plainsong or Scalding Spear. Upgrade them at workbenches using machine parts – each upgrade tier adds more mod slots.

• Endgame Structure (Mid Game Perspective): The main story is halfway; you can tackle optional side content but the final act is still ahead.




Late Game (Levels 31–50, From Base to The Final Mission)



Progression Focus: Min-maxing equipment, completing high-level side content, and preparing for the final confrontations. You’ll have access to all tools and most of the map.


• Combat & Interaction:

- Use fully upgraded legendary (orange) weapons obtained from side quests, arena challenges, or endgame vendors (e.g., the Death-Seeker’s Shadow bow). These have three mod slots and unique weapon techniques.
- Master the Valor Surge combos: pair “Ranged Power” with “Chain Burst” arrows for massive damage. Use Ropecaster as a crowd control tool.
- New machines: Apex variants (stronger, spawn at night) and rare machines like the Slaughterspine (fire/plasma attacks). Use plasma damage against them, or corrosive to melt armor.

• Exploration: Complete all Signal Towers to unlock the full map. The Greenhouses in the far north reward skill points. Cauldrons (e.g., Cauldron KAPPA) unlock overrides for the most powerful machines.


• Quests & Missions:

- Main quests: “The Wings of the Ten,” “All That Remains,” and the final mission “The Way Home.” These are linear and intense – stock up on supplies.
- Side content: Gauntlet Runs (mount races), Pit Challenges (melee combos), Arena (fight waves of machines for medals to buy legendary gear).
- Legendary Gear quests: “The Stillsands’ Secret” for the Skyhammer bow, “The Sea of Sands” for the Sun Scourge (legendary blastsling).

• Economy:

- Shards are abundant. Spend on upgrade materials (e.g., Apex machine hearts) and mods (ideally purple coils with 25%+ stats).
- Arena Medals are a new currency from the Arena in Memorial Grove – grind these to buy legendary weapons.
- Greenhouse loot boxes contain rare mods; open with keys found in side quests.

• Character/Build Growth:

- Max level cap (50) is reachable by completing all side content. All skill points earned, but you can’t unlock every skill – respec if needed (buy a respec potion from merchants).
- Legendary weapons fully upgraded to Level 4 unlock all mod slots (typically three). Slot with +damage, +elemental, +handling mods for optimal DPS.
- Outfits: Legendary armors (e.g., Nora Thunder Warrior) provide strong passives like extra arrow damage or stagger resistance. Upgrade with machine parts.

• Endgame Structure (Late Game Perspective): The final mission is the conclusion. After that, you enter a free-roam state with no new story content – but still many collections and challenges.




Endgame (Post-Credits, Free Roam)



Progression Focus: Completing all content, obtaining 100% completion, and tackling the New Game+ (if available) or DLC (Burning Shores). The game offers a robust endgame loop without a raid or MMO-like structure.


• Combat & Interaction:

- No new mechanics; focus on perfecting your build. Try different weapon loadouts, like an all-explosive build with blast sling and spike thrower, or a stealth archer with sharpshot bow and silent strike.
- Arena challenges at the hardest difficulty (Very Hard) reward unique weapon skins and trophies.
- New Game+ (unlocked after credits) carries over all gear, skill points, and stats. Enemies scale to level 50+ and have new attack patterns. Obtain New Game+ exclusive gear like the Oseram Artificer outfit.

• Exploration:

- Complete all collectibles: Survey Drones, Black Boxes, Metal Flowers, Vantage Points, Relic Ruins (each prize lore or gear).
- Burning Shores DLC (if purchased) adds a new region south of the map, new machines (Bilegut, Stingspawn), and a legendary bow (The Tie That Binds).

• Quests & Missions:

- All side quests can be completed post-story – some have epilogue dialogue with companions.
- Contracts remain available from merchants – great for farming shards.
- The Arena offers repeatable waves for medals; buy all legendary gear from the arena vendor.

• Economy:

- Money is essentially infinite. Sell excess low-tier machine parts; stockpile legendary upgrade parts (especially Apex hearts).
- In the Dive (underwater area) has frequent respawning loot chests for mods and greenshine.

• Character/Build Growth:

- You can now fully upgrade all legendary gear. The skill tree is maxed – no further progression beyond stats from gear and coils.
- The Valor Surge masteries reach their strongest forms when paired with matching outfit weaves (e.g., “Tracer” for more critical hits).

• Endgame Structure (Definitive):

- Plot completion: The main story ends, but the world remains active. No time-sensitive content.
- Achievement hunting: Most trophies are missable only if you ignore certain errands pre-story (e.g., “All Corners of the Map” requires all collectibles).
- Prestige activities: The Arena, Gauntlet Runs, and Hunting Grounds offer replayable challenges. No infinite scaling or seasonal events.

Summary of Progression Tiers

This breakdown should serve as your roadmap through the Forbidden West. Tailor your build and strategies to each phase to maximize efficiency and enjoyment.