Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West and DLC SPOILERS Thread

I was hoping FW would be tougher than ZD, so I'm glad to hear that it might be. Honestly, it hasn't felt harder to me, yet. I'm playing on Very Hard, something I never did in ZD on a fresh save because of the punitive gear costs. Even on VH from level 1 on up, I've been chugging along, pushing through the Green-gear grind.

So far, the biggest challenge has been getting a handle on the new capabilities. It can seem overwhelming until you get your weapons arsenal expanded. Once I realized that each weapon type has its own Valor Surge options and that I need not stress about toggling those in combat, I relaxed. I still feel like I kind of suck at the game, in a way. 😆 I'm getting by on my strong Zero Dawn skills, but I know I'll be much better off with FW once I master its techniques.

I know I'm only halfway through my first playthrough, but I can't wait for NG+. I kind of hate earning my way to all the best gear and full skill trees only to restart at level one. It will be okay a couple of times, but I feel like NG+ really gives the freedom to dive into gameplay mastery with all the skills and loadouts available to experience and master.


Anyway, I remembered an experience I wanted to share. I was exploring an area near a quest. I was in a calm, seemingly safe area, wondering what lay off in the fog on the hills above. I checked the map and saw an old world ruin.

Before I could start riding in that direction, the ground trembled, and an Apex Thunderjaw nearly got the drop on me. It came charging out of that mist at full speed and chased me for several hundred meters. I just rode. I rode heedlessly straight through other machine zones. I figured I'd probably survive them but would get literally stomped by the Thunderjaw.

I don't know what the big guy was guarding. I did creep closer and visit that ruin I'd seen on the map. He had charged from slightly northwest, though, so I'll return to visit him when I'm better equipped.

Yeah I'll admit I do sometimes find combat easy in Zero Dawn but then I'd rather a game be too easy tha ntoo hard as it means then tha tthe devs have at leas ttaken the time outto try and mak eit accessible t oplay for anyone even  people with disabilities like myself which is something that should always be applauded. I mostly pla yon Stor ymod ebut I have a ttimes been tempted t ocrank it up to Easy. I still find fight big groups or big machin3es like the Thunderjaws but I rarel ydie in the game most of the time when I die it's moer a misjudgement from a jump really rather than being killed by an enemy in HZD. I am looking forward t otrying Forbidden Wes twhen it does com ePC' sway it's just a pain to have to wait. Assuming WW3 doesn't break out in the meantimre

I keep coming to the Spoilers thread to not post spoilers. 🙄😁

I knocked out a number of "side quests" today. These are so well developed in FW that it feels like a disservice to call them that. There's just so much to do in this game, and all of it is so well presented.

I also advanced the main story a decent amount, achieving some important things. The story may take an unexpected turn tomorrow. I'm excited to see what happens.

I'm really looking forward to getting better gear. Lugging around all this green and blue stuff is getting old. I think I'm level 31 or 32 now, and I really need more gear pieces that pack at least three ammo types each. It sucks to have to adjust my loadout as combat begins. I hope a flood of "purples/very rares" is coming soon.


My mildly humorous experience of the day was had when I decided to override a Clawstrider to claim as a mount. I got really lucky that I tried it without fully exiting cover. The Clawstrider that I'd carelessly chosen was an Apex Clawstrider. Frozen Wilds veterans will remember that some machines cannot be overridden. I made it and its Apex buddy go on alert, but not into aggression. Phew. I found the third Clawstrider of the group was a standard and rode away on it.

Another moment that made me smile was thunking a faceshot into a shit-talking enemy from afar with my Sharpshot bow. She was really mouthing off, and it made me laugh. Maybe I'm evil? 🤔

Kappa Neko, I've had similar feelings.

Meals are great, but I forget to use them.

Edit: If you run out of herbs/berries, you can hold Up on the D-Pad to replenish them from your reserves. There are limits to how often you can keep dipping into that well, but it shouldn't often matter.

Valor Surge is amazing, but I need to get better about using it.

I really suck at setting up Resonance. It says "tap R2," but I found in my experience that only a power attack sets up Resonance.

I no longer use traps in FW because two traps are so few as to be irrelevant. This one is a real shame, as setting up traps was always fun for me in Zero Dawn. I particularly liked setting up traps in Corrupted Zones and before fighting Stalkers. I know I'll eventually get a few more via skills, but meh. Why not let resources be the limiting factor? The limit right now feels illogical and unnecessary.

I'm still juggling weapons on and off of my wheel, but it's getting a bit better as I get better weapons. I don't think the micromanagement will every fully disappear. It's definitely more of a necessity in FW than in Zero Dawn, due to all the new ammo types, resistances, weaknesses, etc...


I have played a lot over the last two days and feel like I'm finally into the heart of the game. The story has been good, and some of the places and things Aloy has visited have been amazing.

At level 32, I've finally reached the point at which I'm exclusively getting Very Rare/Purples as rewards. I finally received a purple Hunter Bow to replace my greenie and wow. Suddenly, I'm once more a great player. 🙄😆

It was a long road to get to this point, but the difference in experience is immense. Every foe, human and machine, used to take arrow after arrow, despite my hitting weak points with every shot. Now, machines are dropping very quickly. I can't wait to see how those Legendary items perform in the late game. I know some are gained via the Arena, so I'll be making that a priority tomorrow. I will at least get the Armor I most want and will see about a good bow, too.


I do have a question themikefest could answer. I'm nowhere near the end, but I wonder how the post-game works. Is it like Zero Dawn and ME3, saving just before the final hour? Or do we actually continue playing post-game? I'm curious since it might affect how I approach certain things.

yes


I have started another playthrough. I've done a few things differently from the previous playthrough. Before going to the location to where the signal came from, I did everything I could. I tried going further west, but the game would not let me. To go further west I have to complete the quest involving getting GAIA backup. 

Note. A few minutes ago HFW had a 2gb update. Hopefully it added new game plus. 

Finished the game just now and the credits are rolling. Great game. The story feels that it reached a nice conclusion and the third installment seems unnecessary.
I'll check the trophies and see if I'll platinum it.

Forbidden West has a proper post-game. I'm not there yet, but I may leave some things for the post-game. I feel like it will otherwise stall the story and take ages.

As a suggestion, I would try to do most quests since you might miss some dialogue.  As an example, I didn't complete deep trouble until very late in the game whereas when I completed it much earlier, in my current playthrough, I got a couple different lines of dialogue from my previous playthrough. If I were to leave anything for after completing the game, it would be collectibles.

You could do what I did. That's make a save just before starting the endgame. Complete the game, then go back to that save to complete anything you missed. I have two saves from my first playthrough that will be used for when ng+ arrives. I have gone back to those saves to collect a few things, then head back to my 2nd playthrough to move forward with the game.

Since I'm moving a bit faster in my 2nd playthrough, because the first playthrough is still fresh, I will likely do everything possible before the Gemini quest.

For those interested, here's what the latest update fixed

I finished the game yesterday. Overall, I really like it, but I don't think it's as good as the first one.

Killed my first thunderjaw with three acid traps very quickly, LOL.

I read up on how to improve water breathing because I think there's a sidequest I cannot do yet about diving. So you get it from the Poseidon main quest. I haven't even finished the questline for the other yet that is lowest level. I'm not sure right now but I believe the sidequest is lower level, so that's a bit weird. Unless I'm mistaken, can't check right now.

So much stuff blocked behind unlocks. In Biomutant I liked it, here I don't.