Important Notes

Important Notes

This section covers critical warnings, pitfalls, irreversible choices, missable content, difficulty spikes, and common regrets that players often discover too late in Horizon Forbidden West. Knowledge of these will save you frustration, time, and ensure you don’t miss key content or achievements.

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Warnings and Pitfalls

• Point of No Return – The Looming Shadow: The quest “The Looming Shadow” (the final story mission) displays a clear on-screen warning before you start it. Once you begin, you cannot return to the open world until you finish the main story. Always complete all side quests, collectibles, and upgrades you want before starting this mission. After the credits, you can continue free-roaming, but some missable content (see below) may already be locked.


• Don’t Rush the Main Story: The game is designed to be played at a steady pace. Ignoring side quests and exploration will leave you underleveled, with poor equipment, and facing artificially hard encounters. Each region has recommended levels on the map—heed them.


• Inventory and Stash Limitations: Your inventory pouch has limited space for resources, but you can access your stash at any workbench or shelter. Do not hoard early; instead, regularly stash excess materials. The stash is shared globally, so you can return later to retrieve items.


• Machine Overrides Are Essential: Progress through the main quest to unlock “Cauldron” facilities. These allow you to override machines (even large ones like Tremortusks) to fight for you or use as mounts. Ignoring Cauldrons makes combat and traversal much harder.


• The Arena Is Highly Challenging: The Arena in Thornmarsh becomes available after ~20% of the story. The difficulty of Arena challenges scales with your level and equipment. Do not waste Arena tokens early – save them for Legendary weapons and coils, as they are expensive and limited. Attempt the challenges only when you have strong gear and well-upgraded weapons.


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Irreversible Choices and Missable Content



#### Story Choices and Endings

• Multiple Endings: The final choice during “The Looming Shadow” determines which ending you receive (two variations). You can reload a manual save made immediately before that choice to see both, but once you proceed past that point without a save, the choice is locked for that playthrough.


• Aloy’s Dialogue Options: Some side quests have branching dialogue that affects the outcome or availability of later quests. For example, certain characters may refuse to help you in the final battle if you make antagonistic choices. To ensure the best possible ending and the trophy “All Allies Joined”, you must:

- Complete all side quests (including all companion quests).
- Make positive dialogue choices when interacting with Zaid, Kotallo, Alva, Erend, and Zo during their personal quests.
- Persuade all optional allies to help you before the final mission (use a checklist, as it’s easy to miss one).

#### Missable Collectibles and Loot

• Datapoints in Story Missions: Several main story quests contain datapoints that are only accessible during that specific mission. After the mission ends, the area often becomes inaccessible or is closed off. Always scan thoroughly and listen for Focus signals before leaving a story area. Examples: the facility in “The Eye of the Earth,” the Zenith base, and the final island.


• Machine Part Components: Some machine parts required for legendary upgrades are exclusive to specific machine types that only appear in limited numbers during certain quests. For instance, Apex machine hearts are more common at higher difficulties but may be farmed from any machine post-game. However, parts like Sacred Coils from special enemies in “Cauldron: IOTA” cannot be obtained elsewhere.


• Missable Trophies:

- All Allies Joined – as described above.
- Fully Upgraded – requires upgrading every weapon and outfit to the maximum level. This is not missable, but extremely grindy if you neglect part-hunting early.
- Shieldwing – you cannot miss this, but some players forget to use it for traversal.

• Trophy for One Playthrough Only: Most trophies are achievable in a single playthrough if you are thorough, but New Game Plus offers exclusive cosmetic items and a different trophy for completing the game on Ultra Hard difficulty. If you plan to get Platinum, you can do it in one Normal playthrough and then start NG+ for the Ultra Hard trophy.

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Difficulty Spikes

The game’s difficulty can spike unexpectedly. Prepare for these encounters:

General Difficulty Advice: The game allows you to change the difficulty at any time (except for some trophy restrictions). If you hit a wall, lower the difficulty temporarily—no penalty for doing so. However, you must complete the NG+ on Ultra Hard from start to finish for that trophy; you cannot switch difficulty mid-playthrough for it.

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Grinding Traps

• Chasing Shards: Early in the game, you may spend hours hunting small machines like Scrappers or Watchers for shards (the basic currency). This is inefficient. Instead, complete side quests and explore ruins – they give far more shards and valuable rewards. Selling unused machine parts from farming is better than hunting for shards directly.


• Hoarding Green/Blue Weapons: Don’t invest resources into upgrading low-tier (green, blue) weapons and outfits. They are quickly outclassed by purple (very rare) and gold (legendary) gear obtained mid-to-late game. Save your upgrade resources for the best items.


• Arena Token Waste: Arena tokens are earned by completing challenges and are used to purchase legendary weapons and coils. If you lose early challenges repeatedly, you’ll spend tokens without reward. Only attempt the highest difficulty challenges when you have top-tier gear. Tokens are finite (until NG+).


• Legendary Upgrade Resource Farming: Several legendary upgrades require rare machine parts with a low drop rate (e.g., Apex Slitherfang hearts, Fireclaw sac webbings). Trying to farm these without proper gear and techniques can be soul-crushing. Use stealth, the “Easy Loot” setting (in Gameplay settings), and exploit machine weaknesses. The “Easy Loot” option makes it so destroyed components still drop, hugely reducing grind.


• Skill Point Grind: Skills points are earned through XP from kills, quests, and exploration. Grinding kills for skill points is slow; instead, focus on completing side content and story missions—they grant large XP boosts.


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Online Etiquette / Anti-Cheat (Single Player – No Multiplayer)



Horizon Forbidden West is a strictly single-player experience. There is no cooperative or competitive multiplayer mode. Consequently:

• No multiplayer etiquette is required. You play alone at your own pace.


• No anti-cheat software is present. On PC, the game uses Steam/Epic overlay but no third-party anti-cheat. You can use console commands (on PC) or mods without penalty for single-player. However, save editors or cheats may corrupt your save file; always back up saves before modding.


• Photo Mode Sharing: The only online component is uploading photos to the in-game photo feed (optional) and sharing screenshots via platform services. Be respectful of others’ content, but there are no strict rules.


• Leaderboards: The Arena has leaderboards for fastest completion times. There is an online aspect but no direct interaction. Cheating on these leaderboards (via mods) may violate platform terms, but Guerrilla Games does not actively police them.


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Save Management Advice




• Manual Saves Are Your Best Friend: The game has an auto-save slot that overwrites frequently, especially after quest completions. To avoid losing progress before a crucial choice or difficulty spike, create a manual save (up to 15 slots on console; unlimited on PC in theory but only 15 quick slots).

- Save before starting any main story quest, especially “The Looming Shadow.”
- Save before attempting a Cauldron or a difficult Arena challenge.
- Save after acquiring a rare weapon or upgrade, just in case you accidentally sell it.

• Auto-Save Overwrites: Beware that auto-saves can be overwritten during long play sessions. If you need to revert to an earlier point, load a manual save from before the quest.


• Cloud Save Sync (PC/PS5): On Steam/Epic, cloud saves are automatic. On PS5, you can sync to the cloud with PlayStation Plus. Enable cloud saves to protect against corruption or accidental overwrites. On PS4, you can manually copy save data to USB.


• Modding on PC: If you use mods, keep a clean, unmodded save backup. Mods can break future updates or DLC. Also, mods may prevent trophy unlocks (though most trophies unlock regardless on PC).


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Things Players Commonly Regret Not Knowing Earlier




• Use the Focus Constantly: Scan every machine, enemy, and interactable object. The Focus reveals weak points, lootable components, and environmental puzzles. Many players forget to use it during combat, missing critical weak spots.


• Upgrade Pouches First: Upgrade your resource pouch, potion pouch, and ammunition pouch as early as possible at the workbench. Without upgrades, you’ll constantly run out of ammo and resources mid-fight.


• Tearblast Arrows Are OP: Available relatively early, Tearblast arrows (from the Sharpshot Bow) instantly detach components like cannons and armor plates. Use them to cripple large machines quickly. Buy the “Carja’s Bane” or “Wing of the Ten” bows early.


• The Shieldwing Glider Is Not Just for Falling: You can also use it to traverse upwind using ziplines, to cross gaps, and to slow your descent during jumps. Experiment with it.


• Enable “Easy Loot” in Settings: This setting ensures that when you destroy a machine component (like a horn or tail), it is not lost if the machine dies. It saves hours of frustration. There is no trophy penalty for using it.


• The Whistle Ability Is a Stealth Gem: Available early in the skill tree, Whistle lets you lure a single enemy to your position for an easy silent strike. Critical for stealth clearing bandit camps and machine sites.


• You Can Change Difficulty Anytime: Many players struggle early but don’t realize they can lower the difficulty mid-game. Go to Settings → Gameplay → Difficulty. No punishment except for trophy restrictions on Ultra Hard NG+.


• Market Prices Vary by Settlement: When buying or selling, check different merchants. Some offer better prices for specific items (e.g., the salvage contractor in Scalding Spear buys machine parts for more shards).


• The Stash Is Everywhere: You don’t have to run back to a shelter to access your stash. Any workbench (many are in the open world) has a stash menu. You can also store items directly from the inventory screen.


• Kill Tallnecks for the Map: Climbing Tallnecks reveals large portions of the map. Prioritize these early to spot side quests and collectibles. They are not difficult once you know the mechanics (usually scanning and climbing).


• The Machine Strike Board Game Is Optional: Losing doesn’t lock content, but winning grants exclusive tokens and a trophy. Don’t stress about it—watch guides for winning strategies if you struggle.


• Late-Game Weapons Are Locked Behind Side Quests: The best Legendary gear often requires completing lengthy side quest chains. For example, “The Arena” offers weapons, but the true legendary weapons come from “The Delver,” “The Burning Shores” DLC, or certain salvage contracts. Research which gear you want and pursue those quests early.

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Final Advice: Horizon Forbidden West is a massive open world with rich content. The most common regret from players is rushing the main story, missing side quests, and then having to replay or grind excessively. Take your time, explore, use all tools available, and save often.