Horizon Forbidden West – Beginners’ Guide

Now that you have chosen to undertake the challenging task of saving the world as Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West, there are plenty of things to understand and get right so that your adventure can get off on the right foot. With our Beginners’ Guide, you can be sure your time in Horizon Forbidden West is well spent and worthy of your time.

Needless to say, while there are no big story spoilers here, there will be some concerning game mechanics, so you have been warned. If that is something you are fine with, go forth with courage and let’s get you up to speed for Guerrilla Games’ latest.

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Be a Hoarder and Upgrade

With the sequel being bigger and better, you know that you are going to need all the resources you can get to ensure your survival. So anytime you see resources out in the wild, be sure to pick them up.

You do not even need to worry about carrying capacity, as anything in excess will be transported to Aloy’s stash automatically. Just be sure to refill your items at your stash every once in a while so you are not caught out in the wild.

This also applies to the other wildlife you find in Horizon Forbidden West, as their parts can be very useful when crafting upgrades for your various pouches. It never hurts to have more, and hunting is a great way to practise your aim as well.

Know Thy Enemy Through Stealth

One of the biggest advantages Aloy has over her enemies is the Focus. Not only can you tag enemies to keep track of them, but it can also help reveal the important weaknesses that you can exploit. For machines, that can be further extended to knowing which parts do what, and the valuable resources that could be yours.

Elemental weaknesses should always be used against the enemies, so you can start things off with a literal bang.

Approach every combat scenario in cover as much as possible, then you can formulate a plan by scanning your foes, tagging them, and even highlighting parts you want to tear off or keep intact. This way, you are going to get the most out of every encounter, plus, you can start things off with a powerful critical hit using Silent Strike.

Skills to Pay the Bills

As beginners in the world of Horizon Forbidden West, you should think about how you want your Aloy to play. This is simply because she can tap on six different skill trees that make her more effective in different ways.

Obviously, ranged combat is a big part of the game, and fully utilising the Hunter skill tree will be good for any player. For those looking to add a little more melee flourish or the use of traps into your repertoire, there are skill trees for that as well. Of course, additional survivability is great as well, so seek out those excellent skills to unlock first.

Weapon techniques are also excellent in helping you prepare for certain situations, so find the best ones for you to make it all work. If you need a more in-depth look at the more important skills under each skill tree, be sure to visit our guide to the Best Skills in Horizon Forbidden West.

Valor Surges

Part of the skill trees is another layer of important skills that Aloy can use, and that is the Valor Surges. A new addition to the series, Aloy can unleash these powerful abilities by building up her Valor meter through doing specific actions.

Depending on your play style, it could be a defensive enhancement, or one focused on attacking. Most importantly, you must remember to use it. Oftentimes, in the heat of battle, you might just forget about Valor Surges, and it is easily a great way to turn the tide.

If you want to look deeper into Valor Surges, be sure to visit our guide to get all the juicy details.

Explore and Enjoy

With the excellent writing in the game, it can be tempting to just want to blow through the entire game to get all the story goodness. However, the world of Horizon Forbidden West is one to be savoured, be it for beginners or veterans returning to the series.

Check out the various environments in the game, visit a new settlement or explore something interesting down the road. You will find new characters, side quests, collectables, and more lying in wait, with precious equipment, experience points, and skill points as rewards.

Then again, you could just explore the world at your own pace, no one is judging how you want to play.

Refine Your Arsenal

With many more options available in Horizon Forbidden West, players might think it is a good thing to diversify and invest in as many weapons as possible. That is certainly something best left to those with plenty of spare Shards and materials.

Look at your options, and choose the weapons that best suit your style. Finding that one or two dependable weapons can go a long way in helping you focus, and upgrading them to become even more effective. Combine that with a damage-dealing weapon, a few for elemental effects, and maybe a trap or two could be the best way to go about doing this.

The same goes for armour as well. You need to be ready for anything, and if you find yourself running out of materials for crafting ammo for too many weapons, that is not a good spot.

For more on weapons in Horizon Forbidden West, be sure to drop by our guide to keep yourself updated.

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Now that you know the basics of everything, you are in a much better place even as beginners in Horizon Forbidden West. For even more help, please visit the guide wiki to have a convenient resource to refer to for other areas of the game.