Horizon Zero Dawn Main Quest

Horizon Zero Dawn is total of things to do. Sure, there's the main story and its associated quests, but the world offers hours and hours of additional, optional distractions. And some of them are just that, distractions (in the best possible sense). Others are there to earn you lot XP, fill in your map or increase your fighting abilities.

We're going to draw the types of quests you lot'll encounter every bit you play, the rewards y'all'll get for completing them, and which ones you should focus on.

Tabular array of contents

Master quests
Side quests
Errands
Bandit camps
Tallnecks
Hunting grounds
Cauldrons
Corrupted zones
Tutorials

There are some minor spoilers below. A few of the quest sub-menus are not available at the starting time of the game and will exist revealed as you consummate main storyline quests. Y'all'll unlock them all inside your offset few hours playing, merely we're going to discuss them all here.

What quests should I do?

Let'south talk about the advice we're about to give. In that location's a lot in this game to love and, bold you lot love it every bit much as we did (and equally much as Phil did), you're going to want to do every unmarried matter. And you totally can and should if you want to — we're going to become back and do every errand we can detect merely to have more time in the world. This ways the "should I do them?" advice in every section isn't for you. Your answer is ever yeah and nosotros totally back up that.

In that location's a lot going on in the world of *Horizon Cipher Dawn.*

If y'all're not interested in obsessively collecting every affair or seeing every corner of the map (like nosotros were), you're the person our communication is for. Horizon Cypher Dawn follows the rules of open-world games: You're not going to hit the level requirements for the principal storyline by simply playing the main quests, and so yous'll supplement them with side quests and errands to boost your grapheme level. Just yous also don't have to worry about every single matter that comes up. We'll talk you through where to spend your time.

Trying to discover a balance between these 2 styles might make our advice sound a little dismissive of the not-master-storyline activities the game offers, simply that'southward not our intent. We're just tempering our "OMG Exercise EVERYTHING AND WALK EVERYWHERE SO YOU DON'T MISS Annihilation AND NEVER Stop PLAYING THIS GAME" fanboying confronting reality. Our advice is going to be geared toward the best returns (XP) on your investment (time), so you can level up and get to the stop of the game. (But in that location also wasn't annihilation that was a consummate waste of our time.)

With all of that out of the way, let's pause down each type of quest and talk nearly what'due south worthwhile.

The quests carte — you tin come across all of your unlocked quests and completed quests here.

Main quests

Main quests advance the overarching story of Horizon Cypher Dawn. They're large chunks of the game that aggrandize the areas y'all visit (and, later, send y'all ranging dorsum and forth all the way across the map). There are 22 main quests ranging in level from aught (you offset the game already in your first mission) to 34.

Getting to Elevation as part of a main quest.

The complimentary-roam portion of the game ends afterward the 21st main story mission, "The Looming Shadow." During the 22nd mission, you'll be prompted with a very clear pick to either play through the game's ending or wander off to rescue more kittens from copse.

If you choose to go along along the main story path and complete the game, you'll still be able to go back to the side quests, errands and various other tasks yous didn't get around to completing. Later the endmost credits (and mail-credit stinger), the game earth volition be restored to right before the ending — which is necessary because [SPOILERS]. With the world restored, you lot can wander around picking upward every collectible and rescuing every whiny soldier in distress.

Should I do them?

Well, yeah. Of class you should. Obviously. You lot kind of have to.

Just go on in listen that, it'due south actually, really like shooting fish in a barrel to get distracted by all the stuff to do in Horizon Zero Dawn. Like we said in our beginner'southward guide, if you find yourself way ahead of the level of the primary quests (like we did), it's probably time to cease focusing on side quests and errands and move the story along.

Side quests

Side quests are constantly springing upwards in response to the people you run across and the places you visit. A lot of them are favors for people in power.

Side quest fill out the story of *Horizon Zero Dawn*.

All side quests give you a decent XP reward and most give you a resource box of some kind. Some side quests give you a skill point when completed. Four of them give you lot more tactical benefits:

In Her Mother'southward Footsteps increases your spear'southward damage
Weapons of the Lodge gives you lot the hunting lodge version of three weapons (see the hunting grounds department beneath)
Hunter's Bullheaded is the only way to go the tearblast weapon (a high-tear, depression-damage, shotgun-similar weapon)
Aboriginal Armory gets y'all the shield-weaver outfit (which offers i nc r edible harm protection)

Should I do them?

Aye, but don't feel similar yous have to do every ane.

Check the rewards earlier you make up one's mind which side quests to do and prioritize the ones with skill points or loftier XP rewards. Side quests tend to be more exciting than errands, with more fighting (both humans and machines) and political intrigue. This means they're a little longer. You're going to put some fourth dimension (a half hour, give or have) into each one, so make sure the reward is worth your time.

Errands

Errands are the "kittens in copse" quests (well, "quests") we continue joking almost. They're not in that location to move the story along like main quests or even fill out the story similar side quests. They're in that location to fill up out the world.

The vast majority of Horizon Zero Dawn'southward errands follow a formula: Get hither, examine this, follow a trail, motorcar ambush!, follow a trail, talk to someone, then become back and talk to the person that gave you the errand. That's not a complaint — nosotros did a dozen or more of these — it'south more than of a warning. Errands are time-consuming, and the XP rewards are generally only worth the fourth dimension early on in your playthrough.

Should I do them?

Certain, if you want to, peradventure.

Practise some — especially early on. They're a great way to explore areas you lot wouldn't otherwise come across, and you'll get some feel fighting machines which volition help yous in the long run. Errands also requite you some XP and the occasional reward box (with resources within).

But know what you're getting into. Equally you become a nigh-unstoppable, machine-terrorizing warrior and tin knock downwardly snapmaws with ane swing of your spear, following a grunter through a forest is going to seem trivial and boring.

Bandit camps

Dotted throughout the world of Horizon Zero Dawn are 6 forts total of bandits. When you lot find them, they are marked with a helpful level (difficulty) mark on your map and your quest menu, so you can brand sure you're not getting in over your head.

Brigand camps are a slap-up place to practice stealth and planning — you can work your way around the outside of the campsite, silently assassinating bad guys until there'south no one left standing. Alternately, brigand camps are adept stress relief if you want to just Rambo your style through a bunch of redshirts.

Should I do them?

Aye.

After you clear a military camp, non-brigand settlers will move in, giving you a bonfire, fast travel location and merchant. Those last ii things make immigration brigand camps worth your time.

They're not the only bonfires or merchants you'll find, though, so don't feel like you accept to have on a super tough bandit fort just to reap the benefits. Look until you lot get a few more levels, and so get back to clear them out.

Tallnecks

We suspect that the pitch for this game was just "robot brachiosaurs wearing UFO hats" and then it got greenlit.

Tallnecks are mobile observation platforms that expect like brachiosaurs wearing UFO hats. The signal of the five tallneck quests is to observe a tallneck, find a way to climb up to its head and then override it. This volition fill in a bunch of information on your map.

Should I do them?

Yes (probably).

Overriding a tallneck fills in a lot of information on your map — things similar new settlements, bonfires and auto sites. Sometimes, you'll use this information to find new places to explore and bonfires to visit (and those open up fast travel options afterwards). Other times, you lot'll apply information technology to avoid places (like glinthawk sites — we detest glinthawks).

That said, if you're hellbent on but following the path on the map while running from main quest to main quest, maybe these aren't for you. They commonly take a minute to effigy out — where you need to stand to climb up the tallneck's cervix — and some of them are well-guarded past human being or machine sentries. If you're not interested, they are optional, so you don't have to go.

Hunting grounds

In that location are five hunting grounds around the world of Horizon Zero Dawn. Each one features a theme and presents you with a variety of timed trials that are variations on that theme (this sentence was brought to yous by Ira Glass).

At that place's a pull a fast one on to each trial that will ensure your success. Unremarkably, the trick is doing exactly what the task is and zip else. This sounds silly, but information technology's really harder than information technology sounds. Nosotros tried to outsmart trials with all of our hard-earned, real world experience, but this will only work some of the fourth dimension. Information technology'due south better to stick the the letter of the law.

Equally an instance, one of the kickoff trials you'll undertake is shooting blaze canisters off of grazers. We spent a ton of time carefully laying out elaborate traps to attempt to funnel the machines into some hypothetical perfect location for an ambush. And it never worked. Then, out of frustration, we had a "FINE! How about I just walk up and shoot the canisters off!" moment. We equipped our hardpoint arrows and just unloaded as we marched up to them out in the open up. And we got a perfect score.

Should I practise them?

Maybe.

Hunting grounds are difficult and expensive. Getting the very best time normally requires a lot of do and the utilize of your more than resources-intensive weapons.

And what'due south the payoff for all the work you put in? If you get good enough scores in all 15 hunting trials, y'all can unlock additional weapons. These weapons are only marginally better than the shadow weapons you can buy from merchants, though, so don't expect a BFG 9000 for your trouble.

Where hunting grounds are useful is in cementing tactics in your Horizon Zilch Dawn vocabulary. To practise well, you'll have to master 15 different things that y'all can use in any fight — from stealth to shooting off parts to your diverse weapons. Hunting grounds reinforce expert habits.

Cauldrons

Cauldrons are motorcar manufacturing sites. At the heart of each of the four cauldrons, you lot'll discover a calculator core with information that allows y'all to override a new pick of machines.

More often than not, the path to the core is a scrap of a maze, just they aren't overly difficult. They just take a little time to get through and a few seconds to figure out where to go — like finding the right path to climb or the right conveyor belt to leap onto.

Aloy recreates the doors scene from *Monsters, Inc*.

The archway is normally guarded, but you're not going to be fighting your way through a swarm of machines. You lot'll only run into a few machines along the mode to the core. At that place is, all the same, a tough fight against a new(-ish) or uncommon enemy at the end.

Should I do them?

That depends.

Do you like overriding machines? And then yeah, yep yous should. Do y'all never override machines? And so no, don't bother.

Because that'southward the point of cauldrons — to acquire to override new machines. There are some textile rewards — resources and the like — and XP for every one you lot complete, but there are so many side missions and errands that you lot're not going to be hard-pressed to level up.

Corrupted zones

Over the grade of the chief Horizon Nix Dawn story quests, you'll learn about the corruption that'south been actualization in Aloy's world. You'll clear two corrupted zones as office of the primary story, but there are nine more scattered around the map.

Corrupted machines have been driven mad and their abuse can damage you likewise.

The corrupted machines that patrol these zones are tougher and meaner than their relatively more docile cousins, so these aren't even an piece of cake fight. Clearing a corrupted zone volition earn you a substantial XP advantage, and corrupted machines tend to take ameliorate loot.

Should I practice them?

When you accept to, but peradventure don't seek them out.

Beyond the required two, if you stumble across a corrupted zone, the reward makes the attempt worth it. Just know that the fight is difficult (and therefore expensive) then don't go looking for trouble unless yous're prepared.

Tutorials

Each weapon you get in Horizon Nada Dawn comes with a related tutorial quest. These are ordinarily things like "tie downwardly X machines with your new ropecaster" or "shoot X machines with your new bow." And when you exercise those things, you become an XP reward.

Should I do them?

Meh.

You'll get an XP advantage if you lot exercise what the tutorial asks, but information technology'south ordinarily relatively small, and completing the task volition accept a piffling bit of work. You're going to be pretty well-versed in your arsenal by the time y'all pick up most of these quests, then information technology's difficult for us to recommend doing them.

That said, if y'all're looking for a claiming or desire to get better with a specific weapon, these are a smashing way to exercise.