Horizon Zero Dawn

[MavericK]

The Corruptor kicked the shit out of me the first time...aiming with the bow while running is kind of a pain in the ass, especially on a controller. I did get the slow-mo skill but it doesn't seem to last long enough. The second time I basically just spammed fire arrows until I barely killed it with like 2 HP left, lol.

 

[MavericK]

I am not quite sure how much to keep of each material...starting to have real inventory issues. I have been keeping the hearts and lenses and whatnot because they say you can trade them with merchants, but I'm not sure if that's necessary. I have many of the Shadow weapons already.

Just hit level 20 I think...great game, although the combat annoys me because a lot of it is based on your skill with aiming the bow on a controller, and being accurate to hit parts is fairly important as well. I guess I need to throw more points into the slow-mo, though to get to increased slow-mo you have to take the Heavy Weapons mobility perk which is 2 skill points wasted, IMO.

 

[Viper16]

I am not quite sure how much to keep of each material...starting to have real inventory issues. I have been keeping the hearts and lenses and whatnot because they say you can trade them with merchants, but I'm not sure if that's necessary. I have many of the Shadow weapons already.

Just hit level 20 I think...great game, although the combat annoys me because a lot of it is based on your skill with aiming the bow on a controller, and being accurate to hit parts is fairly important as well. I guess I need to throw more points into the slow-mo, though to get to increased slow-mo you have to take the Heavy Weapons mobility perk which is 2 skill points wasted, IMO.

Get those bags upgraded...you can hold more arrows/bombs in the satchels as well as larger resource bag... this will help you have supplies and storage.

If you are even half-ways serious about getting all the collectibles, then down worry about wasting skill points, you will be a high enough level that you can be OP at times...Slow-mo will be your friend during some of the main story quests. Heavy weapons mobility perk will be helpful as well. Depending on your difficulty setting you can go all in rambo style or stealthy as you need to manage your health levels.

 

[MavericK]

Get those bags upgraded...you can hold more arrows/bombs in the satchels as well as larger resource bag... this will help you have supplies and storage.

If you are even half-ways serious about getting all the collectibles, then down worry about wasting skill points, you will be a high enough level that you can be OP at times...Slow-mo will be your friend during some of the main story quests. Heavy weapons mobility perk will be helpful as well. Depending on your difficulty setting you can go all in rambo style or stealthy as you need to manage your health levels.

Yeah I have upgraded most of the bags already and I still have inventory problems. Mainly because you have "slots" that get taken up by a single heart/skin/whatever rare item that you don't have many of.

Good to know about skill points, I have been getting all of the collectibles along the way that I can find in a reasonable amount of time. It seems like doing the Crucibles is really helpful, though the first one was a bit of a pain as well (Fire Bellowback in an enclosed space).

I am playing on Normal difficulty and it's plenty hard for me at this point. As I said, my main issue is aiming with the bow in combat...it'd be nice if there was a little bit of auto-aim but I guess I will just have to dump more points into the slow-mo to make it playable for me.

 

[T4rd]

Yeah I have upgraded most of the bags already and I still have inventory problems. Mainly because you have "slots" that get taken up by a single heart/skin/whatever rare item that you don't have many of.

Good to know about skill points, I have been getting all of the collectibles along the way that I can find in a reasonable amount of time. It seems like doing the Crucibles is really helpful, though the first one was a bit of a pain as well (Fire Bellowback in an enclosed space).

I am playing on Normal difficulty and it's plenty hard for me at this point. As I said, my main issue is aiming with the bow in combat...it'd be nice if there was a little bit of auto-aim but I guess I will just have to dump more points into the slow-mo to make it playable for me.

I usually kept 7-8 slots occupied with whatever ammunition-based material I could and sold off the rest and never had an issue with anything besides blaze (as I mentioned before). If you're not to Meridian yet and have already purchased any special items requiring hearts/lenses from any common enemies (watchers, grazers, striders, sawtooths, etc.), then you can go ahead and sell those off for shards, as I don't think anything further will require them and even if they do, they're too easy to acquire again.

Yeah, upgrading your slow-mo ability is a big perk to get, but more-so is the jumping while aiming slow-mo perk. I didn't catch onto it until after I had already beat the game the first time, but the jumping slow-mo perk makes you pretty OP if you just keep jumping while shooting weak spots. This becomes even more OP if you get the new bows in the Frozen Wilds area that do double damage after you draw the bow all the way back with 3 arrows nocked. I can take down any enemy pretty damn fast now with just hardened arrows and the new damage/handling mods from the Frozen Wilds area as well, just by constantly slow-mo jumping and shooting triple arrows at weak spots, dealing several hundred damage per-hit usually (sometimes over a thousand).

I played through on Normal difficulty the first time as well and thought it was about as hard as playing though it the second time on Ultra Hard since it was the New Game+ and I had all the equipment/upgrades from the first play-through. You won't be able to get it until about 2/3 through the main quest, but the Shield Weaver armor makes you pretty OP itself and the game MUCH easier if/when you acquire it. Not sure if you started the quest for it, but if you return to the ruins where you found your Focus at the beginning as a kid, you'll find a Power Node (in a room you have to knock icicles off of the entrance with your spear, so you can't reach as a kid). Picking up that Power Node will start a side quest for the armor and show you that you have 1/5 of the nodes to unlock the Shield Weaver that's locked down in another small ruins a few hundred yards (or whatever unit they're using for distance) further up the path on the left. The entrance to it is kinda hidden on top of some rocks and you have to climb down into a big hole to get inside of the armor's ruins.

 

[Verge]

If you think that scorcher is hard, you gonna be maaaaad when you get to the Fire Claw at the end of the DLC.

Took me a solid hour just to get through that fight alone (again on Ultra Hard).

I didn't think the fire claw was that bad. With the new resist fire armor, and it modded out, i had no problems. I think new armor + weps and me being lvl 52 instead of 40 make it much easier.

I got whipped by that dude at the start.


** i'm definitely not on ultra hard either**

 

[MavericK]

I usually kept 7-8 slots occupied with whatever ammunition-based material I could and sold off the rest and never had an issue with anything besides blaze (as I mentioned before). If you're not to Meridian yet and have already purchased any special items requiring hearts/lenses from any common enemies (watchers, grazers, striders, sawtooths, etc.), then you can go ahead and sell those off for shards, as I don't think anything further will require them and even if they do, they're too easy to acquire again.

Yeah, upgrading your slow-mo ability is a big perk to get, but more-so is the jumping while aiming slow-mo perk. I didn't catch onto it until after I had already beat the game the first time, but the jumping slow-mo perk makes you pretty OP if you just keep jumping while shooting weak spots. This becomes even more OP if you get the new bows in the Frozen Wilds area that do double damage after you draw the bow all the way back with 3 arrows nocked. I can take down any enemy pretty damn fast now with just hardened arrows and the new damage/handling mods from the Frozen Wilds area as well, just by constantly slow-mo jumping and shooting triple arrows at weak spots, dealing several hundred damage per-hit usually (sometimes over a thousand).

I played through on Normal difficulty the first time as well and thought it was about as hard as playing though it the second time on Ultra Hard since it was the New Game+ and I had all the equipment/upgrades from the first play-through. You won't be able to get it until about 2/3 through the main quest, but the Shield Weaver armor makes you pretty OP itself and the game MUCH easier if/when you acquire it. Not sure if you started the quest for it, but if you return to the ruins where you found your Focus at the beginning as a kid, you'll find a Power Node (in a room you have to knock icicles off of the entrance with your spear, so you can't reach as a kid). Picking up that Power Node will start a side quest for the armor and show you that you have 1/5 of the nodes to unlock the Shield Weaver that's locked down in another small ruins a few hundred yards (or whatever unit they're using for distance) further up the path on the left. The entrance to it is kinda hidden on top of some rocks and you have to climb down into a big hole to get inside of the armor's ruins.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I have most of the Shadow weapons already so if that stuff is all that the hearts/lenses are used for pretty much, I should be able to get rid of some. I also have like 3 stacks each of the plants, wood, containers, etc. so I can likely downsize there. Just wanted to avoid having to farm items but I have A LOT.

I have the jump slow-mo perk but honestly haven't used it much... Guess I need to practice.

Haven't started the Shield Weaver quest but I did read about it yesterday online... Sounds good but you have to be farther in the main quest longer than I am.

How important are the Hunter's Lodge challenges? I find them kind of annoying and I read that the weapons you get from them are not that much better than the Shadow set.

 

[T4rd]

I didn't think the fire claw was that bad. With the new resist fire armor, and it modded out, i had no problems. I think new armor + weps and me being lvl 52 instead of 40 make it much easier.

I got whipped by that dude at the start.


** i'm definitely not on ultra hard either**

Yeah, Ultra Hard is another beast.. you get can get one-shotted with full health and maxed out armor with fire resistance still on Ultra Hard. Which is why I just kept my Shield Weaver armor on so it at least acted as a buffer so I couldn't get one-shotted. I saw online after I finished the fight that apparently there were drones overhead with freezing liquid or something that you could shoot and instantly freeze the Fireclaw, which makes it much easier than trying to freeze him with your weapons (he took at least 6-8 freeze bombs with my sling with all Freeze mods on it) and then hit him with blast bombs or hardened arrows or whatever while he's frozen.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I have most of the Shadow weapons already so if that stuff is all that the hearts/lenses are used for pretty much, I should be able to get rid of some. I also have like 3 stacks each of the plants, wood, containers, etc. so I can likely downsize there. Just wanted to avoid having to farm items but I have A LOT.

I have the jump slow-mo perk but honestly haven't used it much... Guess I need to practice.

Haven't started the Shield Weaver quest but I did read about it yesterday online... Sounds good but you have to be farther in the main quest longer than I am.

How important are the Hunter's Lodge challenges? I find them kind of annoying and I read that the weapons you get from them are not that much better than the Shadow set.

Well you should go ahead and start the quest to get the Shield Weaver armor if you haven't already (by getting the first power node in the first ruin I mentioned) if you haven't already, because then it will at least tell you how many nodes you have left to collect as you're progressing through the main story. Because I think all of the nodes to unlock it are in the main quest areas anyways, so make sure you explore around a bit as you're going through those areas and you should find them naturally as I did.

The Hunters Lodge weapons aren't as powerful as the adept weapons, which are the ones that I think have the same stats as the Lodge weapons, but they have an extra Mod slot, which makes a big difference. But I did all the Lodge challenges anyways just for the fun of it and also to get the trophy for it since I wanted to Platinum the game. The Lodge challenges is another area where the jumping slow-mo perk helps a lot since you can slow down time a lot just by jumping and aiming while also making it easier to hit weak-spots on enemies. You'll find with a lot of these challenges, you can only complete (with the Sun crest at least) just by running and gunning as fast as possible with no time for stealth or trying to conserve ammo/resources.

 

[Viper16]

I didn't think the fire claw was that bad. With the new resist fire armor, and it modded out, i had no problems. I think new armor + weps and me being lvl 52 instead of 40 make it much easier.

I got whipped by that dude at the start.


** i'm definitely not on ultra hard either**

Spoiler

Using the new DLC weapons definitely helps. Using the upgraded Icerail helped freeze them quickly for max damage.

 

[MavericK]

I spent like 8+ hours playing this yesterday...this game is so good. Getting close to the end now I think, level 42.

 

[Verge]

I spent like 8+ hours playing this yesterday...this game is so good. Getting close to the end now I think, level 42.

You'll know when you're at the end because you get the "hey you cannot go back if you proceed here." Be sure to pick up the expansion, it's really meant to be played during the game.

 

[T4rd]

You'll know when you're at the end because you get the "hey you cannot go back if you proceed here." Be sure to pick up the expansion, it's really meant to be played during the game.

Yeah, I thought I was near the end of the game too when Aloy got captured by Helis in that Stadium, but nope.. that's probably only like 2/3s of the way through still, hah.

I was maxed out at level 50 well before I finished the main quest in the game, because I did absolutely every side quest I could before finishing it, or at least I thought I did. I missed two of them that I found on my next Newgame+ play through on Ultra Hard. So yeah, I definitely would have done the Frozen Wilds area before beating the game if it has been available at that time. I think they have it geared for level 30+ players, so he should be able to get through it somewhat easily at level 42+ on normal difficulty.

 

[MavericK]

You'll know when you're at the end because you get the "hey you cannot go back if you proceed here." Be sure to pick up the expansion, it's really meant to be played during the game.

Good to know, although actually there is a part earlier in the game where it tells you "make sure you're ready because you can't go back", but is not the end of the game. I think it's right before you go below Sunfall.

I really want to know how the game ends! But I do want to play the expansion as well, so maybe I will divert to that first.

Also, how much further do I need to go to get the Shield Weaver armor? I have all but the last power cell and I'm

Spoiler: Stuff

about to meet up with other Nora to assault HADES

 

[T4rd]

Good to know, although actually there is a part earlier in the game where it tells you "make sure you're ready because you can't go back", but is not the end of the game. I think it's right before you go below Sunfall.

I really want to know how the game ends! But I do want to play the expansion as well, so maybe I will divert to that first.

Also, how much further do I need to go to get the Shield Weaver armor? I have all but the last power cell and I'm

Spoiler: Stuff

about to meet up with other Nora to assault HADES

I missed it early in the game, but if you're about to do that mission to defend the Nora, there's one inside the mountain that you'll end up at when you finish that part. You were inside this mountain at the beginning of the game too after you awaken from that fall, but there's a ventilation shaft that wasn't too obvious to me at the time that you can crouch and walk into and it leads you to a power cell. If you already have that one, I think the last one available to you is in the the area where you're exploring the labs in the mountain that blew up with the lab (before the game started) and you talk to Sylens in his little workshop area where he was trying to break into the lab area there. That power cell is soon after you first enter that area and you have to climb down off to the left into a little storage area off the main path as you first start climbing down into the lab. I can't remember if that part is before or after where you're at now, hah, so sorry if you haven't made it there yet, but I'm not really spoiling anything anyways.

 

[MavericK]

I missed it early in the game, but if you're about to do that mission to defend the Nora, there's one inside the mountain that you'll end up at when you finish that part. You were inside this mountain at the beginning of the game too after you awaken from that fall, but there's a ventilation shaft that wasn't too obvious to me at the time that you can crouch and walk into and it leads you to a power cell. If you already have that one, I think the last one available to you is in the the area where you're exploring the labs in the mountain that blew up with the lab (before the game started) and you talk to Sylens in his little workshop area where he was trying to break into the lab area there. That power cell is soon after you first enter that area and you have to climb down off to the left into a little storage area off the main path as you first start climbing down into the lab. I can't remember if that part is before or after where you're at now, hah, so sorry if you haven't made it there yet, but I'm not really spoiling anything anyways.

No problem, that's about where I am at - I think I am about to go meet up with Sylens, but I have already done the Nora defense stuff and I got the power cell in Mother's Watch.

 

[MavericK]

Got the Shield Weaver...seems kinda OP, lol. Awesome though.

 

[MavericK]

One thing I will say is that I'm a little bummed that the rewards for the collectibles weren't better. Ultimately all you get is a bunch of random boxes with weapon mods, many of them not even purple or blue. By the time I got all the collectibles, I already had way better mods so it was kind of anti-climactic. Would have liked to have seen some unique rewards for those quests, but oh well. Thankfully none of them were overly difficult to obtain.

 

[Viper16]

One thing I will say is that I'm a little bummed that the rewards for the collectibles weren't better. Ultimately all you get is a bunch of random boxes with weapon mods, many of them not even purple or blue. By the time I got all the collectibles, I already had way better mods so it was kind of anti-climactic. Would have liked to have seen some unique rewards for those quests, but oh well. Thankfully none of them were overly difficult to obtain.

yeah the collectibles were very lame. the random boxes you can buy are much better. I would've liked to seen a few more quests from the hunters lodge for some even better weapons. All done and said though, after completing the expansion and finishing the game, I amd 100% satisfied and the $60+$15 for the game/exp was well worth the price.

 

[MavericK]

yeah the collectibles were very lame. the random boxes you can buy are much better. I would've liked to seen a few more quests from the hunters lodge for some even better weapons. All done and said though, after completing the expansion and finishing the game, I amd 100% satisfied and the $60+$15 for the game/exp was well worth the price.

Oh yeah totally, not taking away from the game at all, just wish for the effort the reward was a little better.

I think I am ready to brave the Frozen Wilds.

 

[T4rd]

Got the Shield Weaver...seems kinda OP, lol. Awesome though.

It's definitely OP on the normal or lower difficulties and they even nerfed it by a considerable amount after a few initial updates to the game, hah. But if you play through again on Ultra Hard, most enemies will deplete the shield in one or two shots, then kill you after one or two more hits. It's still better than most other armours though IMO, since it usually acts as a nice buffer to being one-shotted otherwise. Though it was somewhat rare that I was killed instantly from full shield and health, it did happen a handful of times.

So you down to the last mission in the main game and now going to do the frozen Wilds area?

 

[MavericK]

Yeah, I started the Frozen Wilds...the first Scorcher almost kicked my ass even with the shield, lol. Those fuckers hit hard and fast.

But yeah, it still is way better than most other outfits, though you can get the special elemental resist armors, buff them massively and depending on the enemy you can take zero damage from the elemental attacks which is kinda cool. I also prefer the stealth armor for general running around the world.

Got the Striker bow, working on getting Bluegleam. I found a couple of the epic mods as well.

 

[MavericK]

Finished the DLC today, and then the main storyline. Fantastic game. Still have a bunch of Lodge stuff and the Fireclaw side quest to do, but pretty much got all of the best gear. Not sure if I will go for NG+, I've got a bunch of other games on the backlog. Maybe eventually.

 

[mrAmazing]

This game is got me my first Platinum trophy. NG+ on Ultra Hard is the best but getting into the game after your first quest I feel like you need to play a vanilla start there just isn't enough blaze.

 

[M76]

I was going about my business merrily, then suddenly the difficulty of the game jumped like 500% or even 1000%, what's that about? I found myself in this cauldron, and the only way out was to defeat a new heavy machine, in open battle, nowhere to hide, no way to run away, and no chance for stealth. And if that wasn't enough it lets loose a dozen watchers on you at the same time the flamethrower monster is activated.

 

[MavericK]

I was going about my business merrily, then suddenly the difficulty of the game jumped like 500% or even 1000%, what's that about? I found myself in this cauldron, and the only way out was to defeat a new heavy machine, in open battle, nowhere to hide, no way to run away, and no chance for stealth. And if that wasn't enough it lets loose a dozen watchers on you at the same time the flamethrower monster is activated.

Yeah, you probably need to prepare with some traps and maybe upgrade your weapons. Cauldrons are no joke if you're not prepared.

That's one thing about this game, there's really no enemy leveling or anything like that, it's just different areas of the map which you have access to fairly early on in the story. So you can end up in some areas grossly under-prepared.

 

[M76]

Yeah, you probably need to prepare with some traps and maybe upgrade your weapons. Cauldrons are no joke if you're not prepared.

That's one thing about this game, there's really no enemy leveling or anything like that, it's just different areas of the map which you have access to fairly early on in the story. So you can end up in some areas grossly under-prepared.

I ended up tripwiring all the entrnaces where the watchers come in, annoyingly sometimes they walk right trough the tripwire without activating it, this happens about 20% of the time for me with wires.
Luckily I also had a sling that I purchased just before that and I could craft some freeze grenades as it was vulnerable to freezing, but if I didn't have the sling I don't think I could've defeated it no matter how hard I tried.

 

[MavericK]

I would say also, invest in the skills that give you slow mo right away...that can really help you hit the weak points on the machines, which is crucial in this game.

I am guessing you faced a fire bellowback, which has weak points on the neck (hoses) and the huge tank on the back. Hit those enough and they will explode, doing a ton of damage. Freezing first, as you found, is also very useful. I would recommend checking out the ropecaster as well, since it allows you to immobilize machines so you can deal with the lesser ones first.

 

[M76]

I was surprised by the change of scenery after crossing the gate. I thought the entire game takes place in this autumn - wintery scenery. Then I suddenly find myself in a savannah.

The AI has two easily exploitable weakness. One that if you target them from a cliff, they're too dumb to find their way up. Second, if you run away they only follow a short distance. So you can hit them run away, then hit them again, until they're destroyed pretty easily.

I haven't found slowmo particularly effective. It has the same problem as in Max Payne 3, when you're in slowmo your aiming slows as well, not just time, so in the end you don't get better reflexes. So I didn't find it any easier to hit them in slowmo.Except from a distance as slomo also gives a slight zoom in effect.

BTW is it possible to increase the size of the weapon wheel? As it started with 4 slots and it's already full. If I were to get a ropecaster can I assign it as fifth or I have to get rid of something else then?

 

[Vengance_01]

Just bought this and the dlc combo. Do you guys recommend I just play through it without looking up any general guides on the basic of the game? Watched the opening and this game is very pretty even on my 7 year old 42inch Visio xtv 1080p tv.. I would love to see this in 4k and hdr

 

[MavericK]

I was surprised by the change of scenery after crossing the gate. I thought the entire game takes place in this autumn - wintery scenery. Then I suddenly find myself in a savannah.

The AI has two easily exploitable weakness. One that if you target them from a cliff, they're too dumb to find their way up. Second, if you run away they only follow a short distance. So you can hit them run away, then hit them again, until they're destroyed pretty easily.

I haven't found slowmo particularly effective. It has the same problem as in Max Payne 3, when you're in slowmo your aiming slows as well, not just time, so in the end you don't get better reflexes. So I didn't find it any easier to hit them in slowmo.Except from a distance as slomo also gives a slight zoom in effect.

BTW is it possible to increase the size of the weapon wheel? As it started with 4 slots and it's already full. If I were to get a ropecaster can I assign it as fifth or I have to get rid of something else then?

No, it's always 4 weapons, but you can switch them on the fly even during combat, so it's not a huge deal. Once you get down what each machine requires to kill you won't need to be swapping too much. Especially after you get all your weapons upgraded to at least the Shadow stuff with some decent purple mods.

Slow-mo is extremely effective if you get good at using it. I am a terrible controller aimer, so I need all the help I can get, because you really do need to be precise in this game to be effective. And it's hard to be precise when a machine is bearing down on you.

For the smaller machines, I went with the Stealth armor and Silent Strike skill, especially at the start - but it is useful throughout the game. Makes clearing out an area pretty trivial. I also found it really helpful for clearing bandit camps later on.

As for the AI...yeah, you can cheese some of the fights using terrain or running away. It's nice because if it gets frustrating you can retreat, heal up, and then continue and the machine doesn't regen health (as long as you stay reasonably close so it doesn't despawn). Really though, once you get the hang of it and some decent weapons, you shouldn't need to do that.

Just bought this and the dlc combo. Do you guys recommend I just play through it without looking up any general guides on the basic of the game? Watched the opening and this game is very pretty even on my 7 year old 42inch Visio xtv 1080p tv.. I would love to see this in 4k and hdr

I would just go through it. I would also play the DLC before finishing the main storyline, but JUST before - you are going to want to be level 40+ for the DLC most likely. It recommends 30 but I think it would be tough at that level.

If I were to recommend anything, it'd be a guide to tell you what skills to get first, as leveling them up can take awhile. The lower level stuff is easy but once you get into the higher tiers it takes 3 levels per skill to unlock.

And it looks incredible at 4K with HDR.

 

[M76]

Really though, once you get the hang of it and some decent weapons, you shouldn't need to do that.

Well that seems kind of unbelievable. Like a corrupted charger can basically one hit kill me, and it takes about 40 arrows to take it down, even if I hit weak spots on it, or use fire. It's kind of random, hitting weak spots don't always work, as sometimes I can keep shooting it and it won't tear off. Like when I first encountered the fire belowback in the cauldron no matter how much I shot it's tank, it wouldn't explode. Then next time I encountered one it took only a few hits and it exploded taking more than half of it's hp immediately. I can't last more than 5 seconds in open battle against anything bigger than a strider. Even a damn watcher takes almost half my hp with one hit. Armor doesn't seem to do much in the game, unless it's upgraded, but I'm yet to find any good upgrade, I think I have 15% meele protection and this is a heavy armor.
I'm upgrading all the offensive and damage increasing skills, but I still feel like I'm worthless against the bigger machines. OK I disable it by tripwire or shock or whatever, then go in for a critical hit, but my critical hit makes about 200 damage, and these things have around 1000hp each, so what can I do but run away after the hit?

 

[M76]

Ok, I take it back I just got the shadow sharpshooter bow, and it's a night and day difference compared to my little pea shooter.. Had I known this I wouldn't have wasted money shards on armor at first as it is worthless in comparison. Altough I have to admit I choose the armor based on aesthetics rather than functionality.

 

[MavericK]

Ok, I take it back I just got the shadow sharpshooter bow, and it's a night and day difference compared to my little pea shooter.. Had I known this I wouldn't have wasted money shards on armor at first as it is worthless in comparison. Altough I have to admit I choose the armor based on aesthetics rather than functionality.

Yeah, I mostly rolled with the stealth armor for a large part of the game, it's really more about dodging attacks than tanking damage. Even with full mods on certain armor you can only get so good with defense. With the status-specific armors, though, you can upgrade them with purple mods and basically negate all of that damage type. Sometimes useful, but expensive.

The sharpshooter bow is good for early and mid game, though later once you get a better main bow I pretty much only used the sharpshooter bow for the Tearblast arrows. The fire rate is so slow. One thing that can help with that is handling, which I believe determines the fire rate... something I was not aware of for most of the game, but it's hard to balance speed and damage.

Make sure you are upgrading your pouches as soon as possible, too.

 

[M76]

Is it possible that machines level depending on the mission as well? I mean I find it very often than defeating a type of machine takes 10 minutes of cat and mouse, then I bump into the same type half an hour later during a different mission and I can take it out much faster. How is that?

 

[MavericK]

Is it possible that machines level depending on the mission as well? I mean I find it very often than defeating a type of machine takes 10 minutes of cat and mouse, then I bump into the same type half an hour later during a different mission and I can take it out much faster. How is that?

I don't think machines of the same type have different stats, but I am not 100% sure. Keep in mind that corrupted (and if you play the DLC, there's another type) machines are stronger and more dangerous than their normal counterparts. Also can't override them which is annoying.

Other than the first few missions I never really felt vastly underpowered throughout the game. I found that tough or frustrating fights could be mitigated a lot by preparation and traps/tripwires. Then again, I spent a lot of time collecting stuff and doing side quests before I did the main quest, so I may have been overlevelled for a decent amount of it.

 

[Verge]

Is it possible that machines level depending on the mission as well? I mean I find it very often than defeating a type of machine takes 10 minutes of cat and mouse, then I bump into the same type half an hour later during a different mission and I can take it out much faster. How is that?

I noticed the same thing, wasn't sure if it was because i was a higher level for the next encounter, or if their stats were different.

 

[M76]

I don't think machines of the same type have different stats, but I am not 100% sure. Keep in mind that corrupted (and if you play the DLC, there's another type) machines are stronger and more dangerous than their normal counterparts. Also can't override them which is annoying.

Other than the first few missions I never really felt vastly underpowered throughout the game. I found that tough or frustrating fights could be mitigated a lot by preparation and traps/tripwires. Then again, I spent a lot of time collecting stuff and doing side quests before I did the main quest, so I may have been overlevelled for a decent amount of it.

Corrupted ones are different those are stronger by design, that's clearly noticeable. I think what happens is more down to luck than actual stats. Because it just happened that I encountered a corruptor and barely could damage it, had to retreat, then I encountered it again, and it fell apart almost immediately in front of me. It's always luck whether the terblast arrow will actually tear anything off or not. But not just that, even with regular shots sometimes I fire a few regular arrows and a critical component falls off a machine causing major damage, other times I can hit it dozens of times and nothing happens. And I mean hitting the weak spot, not just the machine.

 

[MavericK]

Corrupted ones are different those are stronger by design, that's clearly noticeable. I think what happens is more down to luck than actual stats. Because it just happened that I encountered a corruptor and barely could damage it, had to retreat, then I encountered it again, and it fell apart almost immediately in front of me. It's always luck whether the terblast arrow will actually tear anything off or not. But not just that, even with regular shots sometimes I fire a few regular arrows and a critical component falls off a machine causing major damage, other times I can hit it dozens of times and nothing happens. And I mean hitting the weak spot, not just the machine.

Yeah, I'm not sure. I definitely have encountered a couple of instances of weird hit detection or hitboxes (like for instance, arrows getting stuck in the "antenna" of a machine which was basically an invisible hitbox) but for the most part it seems pretty consistent as far as targeting the weak spots or not. Some of the weak points are shielded with metal casings or whatnot so sometimes you have to get rid of those first.

One funny/weird thing that happened once was a mission where there were two Corruptors and while I was scouting out an approach, one of them triggered a log trap or something and killed itself. Everyone started freaking out and running around...I never did anything...lol.

 

[M76]

I haven't played the game this weekend at all. Have to say my beginner's enthusiasm about it has somewhat diminished. I got burned out already. Initially it seemed much better than it actually is. It started with the exploration when aloy was a child, and that bit was brilliant, but I just now realized that there is no more of that later in the game. Only the grind remains and the quests all using the same scheme. Talk to NPC, go here, kill a few machines, go back talk to the npc. Or talk to the NPC, follow tracks, kill a few machines, go back to the npc. This covers all the quests in the game unfortunately. And the sense of exploration is completely gone. There is nothing to discover, no hidden hints on the past, no cool references, just meaningless truncated text messages that offer almost no lore. It turned out to be an assassin's creed, beautiful open world, with no substance in it. I wish it was more like what it teased at the start. Now it just feels a re-skinned mad max with machines instead of cars.

 

[M76]

OK I just broke my controller. I hate unreasonably hard games. How can you defeat a thunderjaw in a 2 feet wide caulrdon, huh? It's on top of me all the time. I try to run to the other end of the room, but it's so big, by the time I turn around to actually get some shots in it's already on top of me again. No matter how I try to run and dodge it will get me all the time and one hit from it takes 3/4 of my HP despite having 500. OK I can tear off two usable heavy weapons from it, but they have so little ammo that isn't nearly enough to defeat it. And conventional weapons are not effective at all, and it's immune to shock, no weakness for freezing or fire and can't get critical hits against it either. So now what? And this is supposed to be normal difficulty. Fuck it.