Horizon Zero Dawn Guide#
Horizon Zero Dawn is an open-world action role-playing game from Guerrilla Games, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It launched on PlayStation 4 on February 28, 2017 and arrived on PC on August 7, 2020. You play Aloy, a hunter of the Nora tribe, growing step by step through hunting, gathering, and crafting in a primitive far-future world overrun by animal-like machines. The story continues in Horizon Forbidden West.
This hub gathers what a new hunter needs most: machine categories and weak points, the three skill trees, outfit coils, region exploration, collectibles, and what the post-game holds.
Game Overview#
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Game | Horizon Zero Dawn |
| Developer | Guerrilla Games |
| Publisher | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Launch platform | PlayStation 4 |
| PS4 release date | February 28, 2017 |
| PC release date | August 7, 2020 |
| Genre | Open-world action role-playing |
| Sequel | Horizon Forbidden West |
Version History#
| Version | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1.00 | Launch version |
| 1.10-1.32 | Subsequent patches and fixes |
| 1.40+ | New Game+ and the Ultra Hard difficulty update |
| Complete Edition | Includes The Frozen Wilds DLC |
Game Highlights#
| Highlight | What it means |
|---|---|
| Distinctive worldview | A far-future world with a prehistoric feel, where machine dinosaurs and tribal societies coexist |
| Stealth hunting | Use tall grass and dense vegetation to sneak up on machines |
| Component destruction | Shoot off machine parts for extra loot |
| Elemental tactics | Fire, freeze, and shock states, each with its own tactical role |
| Holographic Focus | Scan the environment and enemies with the Focus |
| Skill tree system | Three trees: Brave, Hunter, and the stealth-focused Forager tree |
| Coil modding | A deep mod system for weapons and outfits |
| Machine riding | Override machines and ride them for fast travel |
PC System Requirements#
| Item | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |
| Processor | Intel i5-2500K | Intel i7-4770K |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GTX 780 | NVIDIA GTX 1060 |
| Storage | 100 GB | 100 GB |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
Frequently Asked Questions#
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need to play a previous game? | Zero Dawn is the first entry in the series |
| How long is the game? | About 25 h for the main story; roughly 60-80 h for full completion |
| Is The Frozen Wilds DLC worth it? | Highly recommended — the content quality is excellent |
| Does difficulty affect drops? | The highest difficulty increases the drop rate for rare items |
| Is there Chinese voice acting? | Chinese subtitles and interface are included; there is no Chinese voice track |
The Core Loop#
Horizon Zero Dawn is an open-world action RPG driven at its core by stealth hunting. You play Aloy, a hunter of the Nora tribe, growing through hunting, gathering, and crafting equipment in a primitive world overrun by machines.
The core loop runs on “scan, plan, hunt, craft”: first use the holographic Focus to scan machines and mark weak-point components, then pick tear, elemental, or stealth tactics based on the parts you see, and finally turn the loot into metal shards and materials for upgrading weapons, outfits, and ammo. Exploration beyond the hunt, side quests, and ancient-ruins puzzles fill out the rest of the world’s activity.
Main Story Stages#
The main story falls into roughly three stages, each tied to a major region and a set of key story beats.
| Stage | Main region | Story focus |
|---|---|---|
| The Nora lands | Nora territory | Learn basic hunting skills, take the Proving, and make first contact with the ruins of Old World technology |
| Into the wilds | Carja territory | Track Sylens and uncover clues to Aloy’s origins and the ancient civilization |
| The mountain’s truth | All-Mother Mountain and Meridian | Expose the full truth of the FARO Plague and Project Zero Dawn, and face the final threat |
The main story runs about twenty-five hours, and after the credits you can keep freely exploring the world, finishing side quests, and collecting.
Machine Categories#
Machines fall into five classes by function and danger level; knowing the class helps you settle on a counter-strategy fast.
| Class | Traits | Representative machines |
|---|---|---|
| Recon | Serve as lookouts and patrols; call for reinforcements when they spot you | Watcher, Redeye Watcher |
| Transport | Move in herds carrying resources; low individual threat | Grazer, Lancehorn, Broadhead |
| Combat | Aggressive, with multiple ways to fight | Thunderjaw, Ravager, Stormbird |
| Communication | Not hostile; climbing one unlocks the map | Tallneck |
| War machines | Military machines from the FARO Plague era; thick health and high armor | Deathbringer, Corruptor |
Combat System#
Combat centers on elemental tactics and component destruction, with the three elements each doing a distinct job.
| Element | Effect | Best used in |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Burns damage over time; very effective against fuel components | Against transport-class and smaller machines |
| Freeze | Amplifies the physical damage a target takes | The core opener before big-machine fights |
| Shock | Interrupts actions and briefly paralyzes | Crowd control in fast-paced fights |
Tear weapons can rip turrets, weapons, and armor off machines — cutting the threat while handing you dropped weapons to fire back, which is the advanced playstyle skilled players rely on most.
Skill Trees#
The skill trees split into Brave, Hunter, and Forager (stealth), each supporting a different combat style.
| Tree | Focus | Recommended skills |
|---|---|---|
| Brave | Melee, stamina, and physical toughness | Heavy strikes, critical hits, dodge rolls |
| Hunter | Bow aiming and component destruction | Concentration extension, multi-arrow draws, tear bonuses |
| Forager (stealth) | Stealth, traps, and riding | Silent movement, silent strikes, overriding machines to ride them |
Early on, invest first in the Hunter tree’s Concentration and tear-related skills, then fill in Brave and Forager survival and mobility in the mid and late game.
Open-World Exploration#
The world is built from three blocks — Nora territory, Carja territory, and the mountain region — and exploration is driven by four types of content.
| Content | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Tallnecks | Climbing one unlocks a wide sweep of map vision plus fast-travel points |
| Camps and bandit camps | Clearing them grants XP, loot, and map data |
| Hunting Ground trials | Timed and fixed-point hunting challenges with rich coil rewards |
| Ancient ruins | Data points and key story beats — the core carrier of the worldview |
Collectibles#
Collectibles across the world are numerous; the practical approach is to sweep them region by region.
| Collectible | Approx. count | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Metal Flowers | 30 | Vouchers exchangeable for valuable materials |
| Ancient Vessels | 12 | Exchange for trinkets and special materials |
| Banuk Figures | 6 | A collection exclusive to The Frozen Wilds DLC |
| Data points | 60+ | Extra worldview storytelling |
Completing the full sets earns the matching collection trophies, and some collectibles also feed side quests and hidden-gear unlocks.
Post-Game Content#
The game does not end with the main story; the following are worth continuing with.
| Content | What it is |
|---|---|
| Extreme trials | The Hunting Grounds’ highest-difficulty trials, testing every aspect of your combat ability |
| Corrupted machine hunts | Sweep stubborn corrupted machines across the whole map and push collection progress |
| New Game+ | Restart with your gear and skills carried over, on the unlocked Ultra Hard difficulty |
| The road to Platinum | Combine collectibles, DLC, and challenge trophies into a Platinum push |
Ultra Hard in New Game+ raises the drop rate for rare coils, making it the final content for top-tier gear and the Platinum trophy.
Related Games#
- The Last of Us Part II — story-driven post-apocalyptic action-adventure survival
- Monster Hunter Wilds — the closest cousin to machine hunting: learn the target, break the parts, craft from the kill
- Cyberpunk 2077 — a sci-fi open-world action RPG
- STALKER 2 — open-world survival shooting in a hostile wasteland
- The Witcher 3 — an open-world action RPG built on monster knowledge and preparation
Related Rankings#
Best Open World Games · Best RPGs · Best Open World Games of All Time
Full Guides#
In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, story analysis, characters, the combat system, weapons, the machine bestiary, skill trees, outfits and coils, boss fights, enemies, region exploration, quests, collectibles, crafting and resources, settlements, achievements, secrets and hidden content, The Frozen Wilds DLC, advanced tips, and endgame — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Horizon Zero Dawn section.