Horizon Forbidden West – Weapons Guide

Equipment can be very important in Horizon Forbidden West, and when it comes to dealing damage, your weapons are the most important tool in your toolbox. Knowing what to expect out of the various weapons in the game can help you appreciate them more, and our Horizon Forbidden West weapons guide can help you get started.

Weapons, Damage, and Techniques

In the game, players will have the opportunity to use different weapons that function differently. There are the bows – Hunter, Warrior, Sharpshot – with also the Blastslings, Tripcasters, Ropecasters, Spike Throwers, Boltblasters, and Shredder Gauntlets rounding out the arsenal.

There are also several damage types to get your head around. Impact is all about the damage you are causing, while Tear refers to the damage that can remove components while dealing lesser damage.

Explosive is heavy area damage, Adhesive slows down movement, Fire deals damage over time, and Frost will increase Impact damage. Shock is all about stunning a target, Purgewater helps to disable elemental attacks, Acid does its part to weaken and damage armour, and Plasma stores damage until an eventual explosion.

The different weapons will allow for different ammo, oftentimes with varying Elemental effects. Having a well-rounded arsenal will keep your ready for any situation, and any kind of enemy.

Each weapon type also comes with its own Weapon Techniques, ways to use your weapon more effectively at the cost of Stamina. We will be covering the best techniques to use in conjunction with the different weapons as well.

Hunter Bow

The dependable option, the Hunter Bow strikes a nice balance between damage and speed. It has good range, with moderate Tear and Impact damage. Should you find variants that come with Elemental arrows, all the better. This is a definite mainstay for the arsenal in the entire game.

The Weapon Technique of Triple Notch is great if you want to deal concentrated damage at a particular spot, or hasten the Elemental buildup in an enemy.

Warrior Bow

A Warrior Bow is all about speed, trading range and damage for a flurry of arrows. This is a great way to induce Elemental states in enemies, or you much rather not worry about accuracy over arrow spread.

As if a Warrior Bow is not firing fast enough, the Weapon Technique of Burst Fire will let players fire off three arrows in one quick burst. Rinse, repeat, and nothing will be left standing soon enough.

Sharpshot Bow

The best weapon at longer range in Horizon Forbidden West, the Sharpshot Bow allows for huge damage from afar, but is slow to draw and reload. If you are looking for the best way to start off a fight at a safe distance, a good Sharpshot Bow is your best option.

Perhaps the most effective of all Weapon Techniques, the Sharpshot Bow’s Braced Shot fires off a powerful arrow that does huge damage, but it does require Aloy to kneel in place for a short time. Use it to cut enemies down to size in the shortest amount of time.

Blastsling

An explosive weapon in every sense, Blastslings are your best bet when it comes to area damage while still keeping the option of Elemental states open. Any group of enemies caught too close together will not stand much longer against the might of the many bombs from a Blastsling.

Getting out of trouble quickly is made even easier with the Weapon Technique Burst Dodge, which drops a burst of bombs in front of you while dodging backwards. This is great to discourage chasing enemies and causing some mayhem at the same time.

Ropecaster

The dependable Ropecater is back, and in addition to its ability to tie down machines with enough shots, you can also use it to attach Elemental canisters to machines and then exploit them for even more damage.

Just make sure to aim for the exposed parts so it is more effective, armour is a big deterrent against the Ropecaster. That is, unless you use the Penetrating Rope Weapon Technique, which can attach to any part of an enemy without a fully drawn shot.

Tripcaster

Fancy setting traps for your enemies? The Tripcaster does that nicely with a variety of tripwires that can cover a good distance. Retreating and placing a few traps in your wake will ensure you get protected while your enemies are getting hurt.

Instead of worrying about how to position your tripwires, utilise the Quick Wire Weapon Technique to drop a tripwire with a preset length. It might not cover as much ground, but it certainly comes in handy when things get hectic.

Spike Thrower

A high damage alternative to the Sharpshot Bow, Spike Throwers come in some interesting varieties. There are some that can drill through armour, dealing constant damage, or explosives one that deals damage at the point of puncture, then exploding for the second round of hurt.

Exploit the effectiveness of the Spike Thrower even more with Propelled Spike, which is a long-range spike that explodes on impact. You can even get two enemies at once with a properly aimed shot.

Boltblaster

One of the faster weapons available in Horizon Forbidden West, the Boltlbaster certainly does more damage than the Warrior Bow, with more shots being fired. However, its long reload time and restriction of dodging can be hard to overcome and is best used when enemies are incapacitated.

Using the Weapon Technique of Ultra Shot allows for a burst of explosive bolts that can hit enemies from further and keep you safe from danger.

Shredder Gauntlet

Shredder Gauntlets are a unique beast, allowing Aloy to throw damaging shredders that dig into enemies, before returning. If you catch three of them in a row, the next one will become a useful explosive. It definitely requires more nous to master, but it is a fun weapon to use against some of the more dangerous opponents in Horizon Forbidden West.

You can enhance your use of the Shredder Gauntlet with Shredder Mine, which turns a shredder into a hovering mine that does Shock damage to targets within range.

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Hopefully, this guide will have gotten you off to a good start. For even more help, please visit the guide wiki to have a convenient resource to refer to for other areas of Guerrilla Games’ latest.