13 Best Horizon Zero Dawn Weapons

Weapons are the key to Aloi’s survival Horizon Zero Dawn, And luckily for players, the game has an expansive arsenal of weapons suitable for any car hunter. Combat in Horizon Zero Dawn is all about flexibility, and while Aloy will encounter increasingly dangerous machines on her quest, they can all be defeated in many different ways. If you’re a new player, the challenge is figuring out which of the game’s trusty bows, slings, and other unconventional gadgets best suit your own game.

Although Horizon Zero Dawn Has a lot of weapons to choose from, Aloy can only assign a maximum of four weapons to her weapon wheel at once. This is more restrictive at the beginning of the game, so focus on the best weapons to buy first in the opening hours of the game. From there, you’ll get a better idea of ​​what weapons you like best, and don’t waste valuable upgrade resources on gear you don’t like using.

13

Aloi’s spear

Standard weapon for melee combat

• How to get: Automatically obtained at the beginning of the story, but is upgraded after certain quests.

Aloi’s spear is key to Horizon Zero Dawn s Limited melee combat, allowing you to hit enemies with light and heavy attacks. The spear may be special Brutal against smaller machinesKnocking off components and armor plating or even knocking them prone. This creates openings and weaknesses that you can exploit with ranged attacks.

To improve the spear, pick up spear-specific skills from the Brave Tree. These increase spear damage and allow Aloy to deliver high-damage critical hits to downed machines. Critical hits can even kill smaller machines like Watchers and Scrappers outright, so spear skills are highly recommended even if you fight with ranged weapons most of the time.

You can too Upgrade the spear with weapon coil modifications By completing a secret shared, a side quest in the Frozen wilds DLC.

In summary, remember to use the spear when you have an opening. You can also upgrade Aloy’s Spear. During the In her mother’s footsteps side search, Alloy can help an NPC in return for a permanent increase to her spear damage. Unique upgrades also appear during the main story, including the ability to override machines Horizon Zero Dawn. Eventually, you will get silence lance, A significant upgrade on the spear that also deals shock damage.

12

Rattler

Almost a shotgun

• How to get: You can buy these versions of this weapon from merchants throughout the game, ranging from Tier 2 to Tier 4 merchants.

A specialized but short-ranged weapon, the Rattler is the closest thing in Horizon: Zero Dawn That players can get to a shotgun. It is a type of bolt gun that will fire five projectiles per shot but must be used at fairly close range to be effective. typically, You will have 25 total shots for a total of 150 bolts fired.

I wanted to like the Rattler a lot, but these The main problem with this weapon is how close you have to be. At this range, the spear will almost always be better, even with a ropecaster holding the enemy in place. However, it can be a Excellent Emergency weapon if you can switch to it fast enough To blast machines quite close to you in the eye. And, in the hands of a master, it can do a lot of damage quickly, shown in YouTuber Motropi’s video.

You can also find Rattler that Can fire shock or freeze boltsWhich can do good damage to machines vulnerable to each. Personally, the freeze bolts are probably the most useful ammo on this weapon, Which can only be used with the shadow version of the Rattler Outside of New Game Plus. Although it is a bit finicky and takes some getting used to, the fact that it fires five bolts eliminates the need to be accurate and does a lot of individual cases of damage.

11

Ropecaster

Tie down and immobilize enemies

• How to get: The Basic, Karja and Shadow Ropecaster are all available from merchants. The Shadow Ropecaster can be purchased from merchants in Meridian for 500 Shards and 1 Snapmau Heart.

The Ropecaster Doesn’t do much damage on its own Horizon Zero DawnBut it is the perfect crowd control tool. It shoots ropes that latch onto machines, Allowing you to tie them down and immobilize them. Immobilized machines are essentially defenseless, allowing you to deal extra damage or inflict status effects while they’re tied down.

Notably, this works on all machines, making it one of the best gear for fighting Horizon Zero Dawns toughest machines, such as these Stormbird and Thunderjaw. Flying machines such as Glinthawks are also prime targets. Tying them down allows Aloy to finish them off before they can escape.

You can buy the Basic, Karja and Shadow variants of the Ropecaster from merchants. However, the best variant outside of New Game Plus is the Lodge Ropecaster. To get it, you need to do this Horizon Zero Dawn s Hunting grounds and complete challenges to earn 15 total sun marks. These marks can be exchanged for the Lodge Ropecaster at Meridian’s Hunters’ Lodge.

10

tripcaster

Trick enemies with tripwires

• How to get: The Basic, Karja and Shadow Tripcaster are all available from merchants. The Shadow Tripcaster can be purchased in Meridian for 750 Shards and 1 Scrapper Heart.

with the tripcaster, Alloy can set various types of tripwire in Horizon Zero Dawn. These inflict different types of elemental damage on enemies that cross them, including fire and shock, and can even stun or burn them.

This makes TripCaster one of those Best tools for stopping rampaging machines in their tracksAnd they give alloy a much more even footing on unpredictable battlefields.

All tripcasters have shock wires, which deal shock damage. However, the fully upgraded Shadow Tripcaster variant also has Fire wires and blast wireswhich explode when crossed, potentially blasting machines apart on contact.

9

Machine weapons

A limited high-tech option for combat

• How to get: Tear apart certain machines (Deathbringers, Thunderjaws, Scorchers, Ravagers)

One of the best ways to defeat a tough car in Horizon Zero Dawn is to turn his own arms against him. Many of the game’s toughest machines are equipped specifically for combat, with Heavy weapons meant to kill car hunters. Aloe can use Various weapons that deal tear damage to blast them away Before they collect and use them themselves.

It is possible to override machines and knock off their weapons when they are not hostile, but it can also be done in combat. The Tearblaster and Tearblast Arrows They are easily the best tools for this, as they are designed specifically to knock off components while dealing no damage.

This tactic works particularly well with Ravagers and Thunderjaws, Both tough machines surprisingly sensitive to their weapons. There are also many combat encounters in Horizon Zero Dawn Where alloy faces multiple car types at once. As such, you can take a High-tech cannon from a tough machine and use it to wipe out a horde of weak machines with minimal effort.

8

Tearblaster

Breaking off parts

• How to get: as a reward at the end of the Hunters’ blind side questOr buy it from merchants after completing the quest.

While the Tearblaster weapon Seems less good than Tearblast Arrows at first glance, it’s actually quite useful. The important part about this weapon is that it can Knock off car parts easily and without struggle for it. This means you can knock off one of the heavy weapons to pick it up and use it or assemble a machine from its parts for farming.

It can even Knock over smaller machines and peopleMaking it useful if you get swarmed and need to back up to heal or regain stealth. While it’s certainly not the best weapon in the game, vi It does not deal damage by itselfI found it extremely useful.

You can see evidence of this in YouTuber TimeTravel Kiwi’s videoWhich also shows you how to get the weapon. Tearblaster charges are the ammo You can use the weapon, which costs around 30 metal shards or can be crafted with a metal ship and an echo shell. However, as you probably only need one or two per car, the ammo can last longer than you’d think, Give you a lot of opportunities to separate the machines Before they are able to land a hit.

7

Blast Sling

Lob explosive bombs at enemies

• How to get The Basic, Karja, and Shadow Blast Sling are all available from merchants. The Shadow Tripcaster can be purchased in Meridian for 1,400 Shards and 1 Lancehorn Heart.

The Blast Sling Is basically a slingshot for bombs, and Aloi can use it to throw explosives at enemies. The basic blast bomb ammo deals explosive damage on impact and can blast away or destroy machine components.

More advanced variants of the Blast Sling have additional ammo types, Including sticky bombs and proximity bombs.

To get the Lodge Blast Sling from the Hunters Lodge, you need 15 Half-Sun Marks from Hunting Grounds.

They are particularly good at destroying certain vulnerable components, such as Snapmaw Freeze Sacs and Bellowback Cargo Sacs, which explode when hit and cause additional status effects. The Lodge Blast Sling Is the best variant outside of New Game Plus, but like the Lodge Ropecaster, you’ll need to complete Hunting Grounds challenges to get it.

6

Forgery

Burn damage

• How to get: Defeat a Rogue Oseram named Ohlgrud in the cat’s bandit camp (stone yields).

Like the Icerail and the Stormslinger, the Forgefire is the Fire variant of the special weapons available in The frozen wilds DLC. Likewise, you can get the upgraded version by returning to Varga and completing it Get ready: pretend Search for you. Once you have the base and regular versions, you Can Buy them from a special merchant in the Cat.

The fraud can stop up to 60 Firethrower Chargers and 12 Fireburster Ammo. The Firethrower Ammo turns the Forgefire into a flamethrower, while the latter is more of a fireball attack. They both do fire damage, but these The latter also does explosive damageWhich can be quite useful against sensitive enemies. You can see it in action at Gaming Mike’s YouTube video.

Like anything with fire damage, do enough, and it Will give a burning status effect to the enemyWhich can cause some machines to explode depending on the parts. While these three DLC weapons can take a while to get your hands on and only become relevant towards the end of the game, they can be quite useful if you decide to go in Horizon: Zero Dawns New Game Plus, what Allows you to bring your gear into the next game.

5

War bow

Deal elemental damage from range

• How to get: The Basic, Carja and Shadow War Bow are all available from merchants. The Shadow Tripcaster can be purchased in Meridian for 800 Shards and 1 Trampler Heart.

The War bow Has specialized arrows that allow Aloy to deal elemental damage from range. All war bows come with shock arrows for dealing shock damage by default, but upgraded variants also have freeze and corruption arrows. As such, war bows are a highly versatile weapon type, Allowing Aloy to deal various elemental damage types to trigger status effects.

However, when using the War Bow, you will need to Pay attention to each machine’s strengths and weaknesses. Smaller machines tend to be weak to most elements, but heavy machines are sometimes highly resistant to certain elements; Stormbirds are resistant to shock damageFor example. To avoid wasting ammo, scan machines beforehand.

You can get these Lodge war bow With 15 Blazing Sun Marks of Hunting Grounds. However, the best war bow in the game is this Banuk Champion Bow, Available only in The frozen wilds DLC. This variant allows Aloy to overdraw shots for additional damage. However, it must be purchased with Bluegleam, a rare currency unique to these Frozen wilds.

4

Stormslinger

A specialized shock weapon from the frozen wilds

• How to get: Complete The Shaman’s Path Search in Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds And talk to Oreo.

A rare weapon belonging to the shamans of the Banuk, a tribe that lives in the frozen north, the Stormslinger fires charged electric bolts that deal shock damage. It can fire multiple shots, each dealing increased damage, allowing Aloy to electrocute and knock out most machines in a matter of seconds.

The war bow is even more versatile because it has multiple ammo types; However, these Stormslinger is the best weapon in the game for dealing shock damage.

Be careful not to fire the Stormslinger for too long, as it will eventually recoil and cause shock damage to Aloy.

The basic Stormslinger is gifted to Aloy for free, but you can also get the Enhanced Stormslinger via Bring the weapon to the awesome engineer Varga. Varga will offer to upgrade the weapon if Aloy brings you a special machine part by defeating a Stormbird.

3

Icerail

A specialized freezing weapon from the frozen wilds

• How to get: Complete For the Verak in Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

Like the Stormslinger, the Icerail deals freeze damage and can freeze enemies solid With a spray of ice-cold chillwater. There is arguably no better weapon for dealing prize damage in horizon zero dawn, And it is the perfect weapon for Take down machines that are vulnerable to freezingsuch as scorchers and fireclaws.

The Icerail is Gifted to Aloi for freeJust like the Stormslinger, and it can also be upgraded by bringing it to Varga. Varga will offer to upgrade the Icerail If alloy helps you bring down a Thunderjaw for the right component. It’s no small task, but in return, Varga will upgrade the Icerail so it can fire high-damage Ice Cannon ammo.

2

Sharpshot bow

A high-powered, high-damage ranged weapon

• How to get: The Basic, Karja, and Shadow Sharpshot bows are all available from merchants. The Shadow Sharpshot Bow can be purchased in Meridian for 800 Shards and 1 Soothoth Heart.

The Sharpshot bow is a specialized bow in Horizon Zero Dawn With a low fire rate but extremely high damage rating. with the sharpshot bow, Alloy can fire special precision arrowsWhich take more to load and pull, but do a lot of additional damage. Human enemies are particularly weak to headshots from Precision Arrows and great for attacking weak points on machines.

Additional ammo types become available with upgraded variants. Tearblast arrows are great for blasting components and armor plating, while Harvest Arrows provide extra resources when used to tear off machine parts, perfect for grinding resources.

The best Sharpshot bow variant in the game is the Banuk Powershot Bow. Like the Banuk Champion Bow, it needs to be bought with Bluegleam and can be overdrawn to deal extra damage. Precision Arrows already deal incredible amounts of damage, so a Overdrawn Banuk Powershot Bow is a good candidate for the strongest weapon in the game.

1

Hunter Bow

An essential part of Aloi’s arsenal

• How to get: The Carja Hunter Bow is automatically obtained at the beginning of the story. The Shadow Hunter Bow can be purchased in Meridian for 650 Shards and 1 Watcher’s Heart.

Aloy is incredibly skilled with a bow, and you should keep a variant of the Hunter Bow in your inventory throughout the game. The Shadow Hunter bow Fires basic arrows but allows Aloy to use Fire Arrows and Hardpoint Arrows. Hardpoint arrows do more damage than basic arrows But have a faster draw speed than Precision Arrows. As such, you can use them to bridge the gap between the Hunter Bow and the more powerful Sharpshot Bow.

With high-quality damage modifiers, Hardpoint Arrows can deal almost as much damage as Precision Arrows but with a much faster draw.

Like the war bow and sharpshot bow, the hunter bow also has a Banuk variant: the Banuk Striker Bow. This can be overdrawn for extra damage, making it a fast and surprisingly powerful weapon.

Finally, although there are many powerful weapons in horizon zero dawn, They all work best in concert. It is important to have the best weapons in the game, but you will also need to learn how to use them together, combining their effects to bring down your enemies with ease.

Video Credit: Youtube/Mostropy; YouTube/Time Travel Kiwi; YouTube / Gaming Mike