Horizon Forbidden West [+DLC] - 100% Achievement Guide

Read the intro chapter as early as possible! - 2 missable achievements! - Full NG+ playthrough on Ultra Hard difficulty required.

The stuff you need to know about

The DLC for Horizon Forbidden West - The Burning Shores - is a direct continuation of this game's main story, and only becomes available after you've successfully completed said main story. So unlike Zero Dawn you can't accidentally walk into it too early this time.

This also means that completing the story does NOT automatically put you in NG+ as some games like to do.

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Let's talk about missable and annoying achievements.

Image	Achievement	Description
	All Machine Types Scanned	Encountered and Focus scanned every type of machine.
	All New Machines Scanned	Encountered and Focus scanned every new machine in the Burning Shores.

Unlike the previous game, the final mission for Forbidden West is NOT repeatable anymore!
There's 2 new Non-Dinosaur machines tied to the main mission, which you HAVE to scan within any of the main or side missions featuring them, and can NOT be encountered infinitely in the overworld.

This also applies to the final boss of the DLC.

IF you fail to do scan those 3 however, you'll have at least a second chance anyway, because of the following achievements, which we need to talk about, as early into your playthrough as possible...:

Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed New Game+	Completed a New Game+ playthrough on any difficulty.
	Completed Ultra Hard	Completed a new or New Game+ playthrough on Ultra Hard difficulty.
	Obtained All New Game+ Rewards	Obtained all New Game+ weapons, dyes, and face paints.

The REALLY annoying achievement here is "Obtained All New Game+ Rewards".
You """obtain""" these rewards by buying them from any respective Vendor in NG+.
But in order to buy all of them, you need a total of 125 "Champion Tokens".
These tokens are rewarded exclusively in NG+ for completing basically every form of quest (so main, side, Tallnecks, Cauldrons, Rebel Camps etc. included).

To obtain 125 of these Tokens, you'll have to do A LOT of content.
Even if you rush the main story on easiest difficulty, then immediately go to NG+, finish the main story again + all achievement related side-content + the DLC and then complete yet another full main story playthrough on Ulta Hard, you'll barely have enough of them...

If you're going for all available side-content though, 1 playthrough is definitely more than enough. That singular NG+ playthrough would have to take place in Ultra Hard though, potentially making this a lot more time and resource consuming.

As such, I recommend you to consider doing exactly that: Finish the main story once and advance into NG+ on a difficulty of your choice, before doing any of the side content.
Skipping all of the cutscenes and having access to certain upgrades from your first playthrough makes a second go around of the main story mission a lot faster.

Both the Ultra Hard difficulty and it's achievement unlock upon completing the main game's story; DLC story not required.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Skill Tree Learned	Learned all available skills on one tree.
	All New Skills Learned	Learned all new skills in the Burning Shores.

Lastly, let's talk about skill point allocation.

The Burning Shores' skills are located at the bottom of each of the 6 skill trees. Learning all these skills includes maxing the Valor Surges to level 3 each, requiring a total of 72 skill points, not counting all the skill points required to even advance down to them.
You also need the other marked skill nodes in the "Warrior" tree for another achievement, as well as one maxed out tree of your choice.

Make sure to grab the marked skills before finishing all other achievements, in order to save yourself from some avoidable grind:

• 

And once you've got all achievements from the main game (so NG+ and DLC excluded):

Image	Achievement	Description
	All Achievements Obtained	Obtained all Horizon Forbidden West Achievements.

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Also, this game is an actual sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn and expects you to be familiar with the first game's characters and story beats of both the base game AND it's DLC, which served as a direct bridge into Forbidden West's story.
As such, I highly recommend you to play Zero Dawn first, if you haven't done so yet.

Here's my guide for that one:

• https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2190967879

Main Story

Image	Achievement	Description
	Reached the Daunt	Arrived at the Daunt seeking passage into the Forbidden West.
	Secured Passage to the Embassy	Cleared the way to the Embassy and reopened the Daunt.
	Attended the Embassy	Survived the ambush at the Embassy and gained passage into the Forbidden West.
	Established the Base	Secured a base of operations and rebooted GAIA.
	Recovered AETHER	Defended the Kulrut and recovered AETHER.
	Recovered POSEIDON	Drained Las Vegas and recovered POSEIDON.
	Recovered DEMETER	Encountered the Quen and recovered DEMETER.
	Recovered Beta	Followed Beta’s distress signal and brought her back to base.
	Discovered Faro’s Fate	Survived Thebes and befriended the Quen.
	Flew on the Wings of the Ten	Flew into battle and vanquished Regalla.
	Discovered Nemesis	Put an end to the Zenith threat and discovered Nemesis.

Just finish the main story on a difficulty comfortable to you. Dialogue choices do NOT matter.

Make sure to scan the final boss, as the final story mission is NOT repeatable, unlike Zero Dawn! (Though you're gonna have to do at least 1 NG+ playthrough)

Side Missions

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Image	Achievement	Description
	Saved the Daunt	Resolved all of the problems troubling the Daunt.

For this you gonna need to complete 4 specific side missions:

"The Bristlebacks" will automatically be accepted very early on as part of the main story.
"The Twilight Path" can be started by talking to Petra in Chainscrape.

"Shadow from the Past" starts by talking to the Prisoner in Barren Light.
"Shadow in the West" will then be started automatically as a follow-up quest.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Healed the Land-gods	Helped Zo reboot the land-gods to save Plainsong.

Complete "The Second Verse".
Can be accepted within your Base during the story, or on the upper floor of Plainsong after having completed the final mission.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Aided Kotallo	Helped Kotallo build and test a mechanized arm.

Complete "What Was Lost".
Can be accepted within your Base during the story, or next to Hekkaro's Throne in the Memorial Grove after having completed the final mission.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Recovered Alva’s Data	Helped Alva retrieve data to help the Quen.

Complete "Forbidden Legacy".
Can be accepted within your Base during the story, or at Legacy's Landfall, the Quen base to the far west, after having completed the final mission.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Chose a Desert Commander	Aided both Drakka and Yarra and chose the better candidate.

Complete the quest chain "Thirst for the Hunt" -> "The Wound in the Sand" -> "The Gate of the Vanquished".
The first one starts in Arrowhand, a small settlement just south-west of your base.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed a Set of Salvage Contracts	Completed all contracts at a Salvage Contractor.

Go to any of the 4 locations marked above, which don't have specific quest names next to them, and complete all contracts available at that location.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed 2 Flying Mount Quests	Completed 2 quests that required a flying mount.
	Completed a Long Glide	Glided uninterrupted for 60 seconds.

Complete any 2 of the 4 named missions marked above.
While you're at it, jump off your mount at any point and do the 60 seconds gliding.

Open World Activities

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Image	Achievement	Description
	First Tallneck Overridden	Reached the top of a Tallneck and accessed its information.
	All Tallnecks Overridden	Reached the top of every Tallneck and accessed their information.
	First Core Overridden	Reached the Core of a Cauldron and accessed its information.
	All Cores Overridden	Reached the Core of every Cauldron and accessed their information.

The Tallneck at the middle of the map is locked to a late game main story mission and one is hidden inside the northern most cauldron.
Two of the cauldrons are story-locked as well.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed 3 Relic Ruins	Discovered and completed 3 Relic Ruins.
	Recovered 5 Different Collectables	Completed 1 Survey Drone, 1 Black Box, 1 Relic Ruin, 1 Vista Point, and 1 Signal Tower.

Complete any 3 of the relics, as well as 1 of each type of icon from the map just above.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed 4 Rebel Outposts	Defeated the outpost leader and recovered the tags from 4 Rebel Outposts.
	First Rebel Camp Completed	Completed key objectives in 1 Rebel Camp.
	Defeated Asera	Investigated all Rebel Camps and helped Erend defeat Asera.

Complete all of the major camps and any 4 of the rebel outposts.

The final rebel camp, the north-western one, is locked until the other 5 have been completed.

The outposts require you to collect a "Soldier Tag" to complete them. Some of the outpost leaders have them on their body, some of them have a key to a chest you'll have to find and loot.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Defeated Machine Strike Challengers	Won a match against 2 different Machine Strike challengers.

Just do the two earliest machine strike challenges in Chainscrape and Barren Light.
The tutorials from the Chainscrape NPC don't count, though the "Beginner's Practice: Easy" does.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Won 2 Gauntlet Runs	Won first place in two different Gauntlet Runs.

There's 4 gauntlet runs in total, with each successful win unlocking the next one.
For the first one, go to the location marked with a green circle in the map just above.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed Arena Challenge Set	Completed 1 Arena challenge set.
	Defeated the Enduring	Defeated the Tenakth melee master known as the Enduring.
	Obtained 3 Stripes at a Hunting Ground	Earned at least a Quarter Stripe mark in all three trials at one Hunting Ground.
	Obtained 3 Stripes at All Hunting Grounds	Earned at least a Quarter Stripe mark in all three trials at all Hunting Grounds.

Well, complete the 3 types of combat challenges spread all over the open world.

In order to play all of the melee pits on your way to access the Enduring, you'll have to unlock all of the melee combos - the kinda square skill nodes illustrated both at the top of this guide, as well as in the Skills chapter a bit further down below.

For the Arena challenges to become available, you'll have to complete the side-mission to the immediate east of the arena (the one located pretty much at the exact center of the map).

Machines & Combat

Image	Achievement	Description
	All Machine Types Scanned	Encountered and Focus scanned every type of machine.
	All Acquisition Machines Killed	Killed at least one of every type of Acquisition machine.
	All Recon Machines Killed	Killed at least one of every type of Reconnaissance machine.
	All Combat Machines Killed	Killed at least one of every type of Combat machine.
	All Transport Machines Killed	Killed at least one of every type of Transport machine.

You do NOT need to scan or kill all the sub-types of a given machine. One each of the 43 base game machines is sufficient.

The vast majority of the machines are forced encounters during the story and otherwise required content for all achievements, so there's not that much to grind here.

As with Zero Dawn, there's 2 new story-specific machines, but those are actually missable this time around, as the final mission is no longer repeatable.
The returning story-specific machine from the first game (the scorpion-like machine) is infinitely encounterable in the arena.

The 4 DLC machines do NOT count towards the 4 achievements above (as they have their own achievement in the DLC section).

Image	Achievement	Description
	Stealth Killed 10 Machines	Performed a stealth kill on 10 machines.
	Tore off 100 Components	Detached 100 components from machines.
	Picked up 5 Heavy Weapons	Picked up 5 different heavy weapons.

Basically self-explanatory.
Heavy weapons = Useable weapons detached from machines.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Used all Elemental States	Inflicted every elemental state on an enemy at least once.

You do NOT need to apply all of the 6 elemental states through your own weapons (although it's easier). Destroying machine cannisters, to basically have them apply the elemental states to themselves, works for this as well.
There's 6 states required for this achievement: Fire, Frost, Shock, Acid, Purgewater, Plasma

Image	Achievement	Description
	Rode All Regular Mounts	Rode a Charger, Bristleback, and Clawstrider.
	10 Types of Machine Overridden	Unlocked and used the overrides for 10 different types of machine.

Overrides are once again the rewards for completing the cauldrons, which you gonna have to do for another achievement anyway.
The Clawstrider is one of those cauldron-locked overrides.

Level-Ups and Skills

Image	Achievement	Description
	Reached Level 20 Reached Level 30	Reached player level 20. Reached player level 30.
	Reached Level 50 Reached Level 60	Reached player level 50. Reached player level 60.

Easily achieved on your way to all other achievements.




Marked skill nodes are required for achievements.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Fully Upgraded a Valor Surge	Upgraded a Valor Surge to its maximum level.
	Skill Tree Learned	Learned all available skills on one tree.
	Unlocked 3 Weapon Techniques	Unlocked a Weapon Technique for 3 different weapon classes.
	All New Skills Learned	Learned all new skills in the Burning Shores.

Self-explanatory.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Performed 3 Melee Combos	Successfully performed 3 different unlockable melee combos.
	Used Grapple Strike on Machines	Used Grapple Strike on 5 unique machines.
	Killed Machines While Gliding	Killed 5 machines with the Specter Gauntlet while gliding.

Put your aquired skills to use.
The Specter Gauntlet is a DLC weapon, so I'll mention it again in the chapter below for your convenience.

Equipment

Image	Achievement	Description
	Obtained All Weapon Classes	Obtained 1 weapon from every weapon class.
	Upgraded 3 Weapons	Fully upgraded 3 weapons.
	Upgraded 3 Outfits	Fully upgraded 3 different outfits.
	Upgraded Every Pouch Type	Upgraded the Food Pouch, Potion Pouch, Resource Pouch, Trap Pouch, and any ammo pouch at least once.
	Enhanced Weapon with Coils	Equipped a weapon of any tier with 2 coils.
	Used Dye Flowers	Used dye flowers to unlock and apply a new dye.

Basically self-explanatory.

In order to upgrade the food pouch, you'll have to go out of your way to specifically buy food from a vendor.
To apply a new dye, go to any of the 4 vendors:


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[DLC] - The Burning Shores

You'll get access to the DLC area after you've finished the base game's main story, as the DLC story is a direct continuation.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Discovered the Ascension	Located the missing Quen and discovered Londra’s plan to leave Earth.
	Confronted Londra	Uncovered the truth of Londra’s plans for the Quen and rescued Seyka’s sister.
	Defeated Londra [...]	[...] Put a stop to Londra’s plans.

Complete the DLC's main story.

As with the base game, make absolutely sure to scan the DLC's final boss, as it's an unique, one time encounter and the quest is NOT repeatable (until NG+)!


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Image	Achievement	Description
	All Quests Completed	Completed all main and side quests in the Burning Shores.
	Aided the Quen	Helped the Quen of Fleet’s End recover priceless knowledge and rescue those held captive.
	Specter Gauntlet Upgraded	Fully upgraded the Specter Gauntlet.
	Cauldron THETA Core Overridden	Reached the Core of Cauldron THETA and accessed its information.

Well, complete the Epilogue mission, the 2 side missions in Fleet's End (one of which makes you upgrade the specter gauntlet), the mission unlocked upon completing the relic ruin (which requires a flying mount), as well as the cauldron.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	All New Machines Scanned	Encountered and Focus scanned every new machine in the Burning Shores.
	Killed Bileguts and Stingspawn	Killed 5 Bileguts and 50 Stingspawn.

Self-explanatory.
Make sure to scan the DLC's final boss.
Go for the Kill x achievement after having completed the achievements further above in this chapter, specifically the cauldron.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Killed Machines While Gliding	Killed 5 machines with the Specter Gauntlet while gliding.

Unlock the required skill node, find a place with lots of Stingspawn and get to it.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Equipped an Elite Coil or Weave	Equipped an elite coil on a weapon or an elite weave on an outfit.

Refers to the orange coils and weaves, which literally have "Elite" within their names.

Image	Achievement	Description
	Used Brimshine	Used Brimshine to purchase 1 outfit and 1 weapon.

Just grab 16 Brimshine and buy any 1 weapon and 1 outfit in Fleet's End.
There's over a hundred Brimshine in the DLC, so this shouldn't pose a problem.
You can also get them from the base game's Arena, once you've completed the DLC's main story.


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Image	Achievement	Description
	Recovered All Aerial Captures	Discovered and completed all Aerial Captures.
	Completed the Dino Digits Quiz	Recovered all Pangea Figurines and completed the Dino Digits quiz.
	Recovered the Delvers’ Trove	Recovered all Delver Trinkets and unearthed their trove.

Unlike the base game, you'll have to recover all of them for the DLC achievements.

New Game +

Image	Achievement	Description
	Completed New Game+	Completed a New Game+ playthrough on any difficulty.
	Completed Ultra Hard	Completed a new or New Game+ playthrough on Ultra Hard difficulty.
	Obtained All New Game+ Rewards	Obtained all New Game+ weapons, dyes, and face paints.

Check out the first chapter at top of this guide, as I've said basically all the important stuff over there.

Starting a NG+ playthrough on Ultra Hard locks you into that difficulty until you start yet another NG+ cycle, while any other difficulty still let's you change it mid-run... to anything but that Ultra Hard.

Yes, you can buy the NG+ Rewards throughout several NG+ cycles; they carry over.
(So you might want to prioritize the weapons.)

Good Luck!

Credits

All of the map overviews have been created with the interactive map at:

https://mapgenie.io/horizon-forbidden-west/maps/world

[rogermorse]

It was referred in general. Guides on PC/steam don't have those initial guidelines that are ALWAYS on powerpyx or other console platinum guides. Was just an observation which you took as a critic against your guide (was not). Also to reply to your comment: time to 100% is only partially subjective, there is a certain range of hours that can be totally taken as a good guideline for a 100%, same goes for difficulty and give a quick view on the general effort needed to 100% a game. The lowest value doesn't need to be a speedrun and the longest doesn't need to be a week long idle playtime. Of course there are always exceptions, but on average, those stats (expressed in a range of hours) will seem fair and realistic.

[Brachragon]

@rogermorse - Time to 100% and difficulty are entirely subjective, wildly inconsistent and basically useless, imo.

# of missable achievements, # of playthroughs and difficulty based achievements are at the very top of the guide, immediately beneath the header.

I've put everything else that's important to know and possibly time-saving in a chapter literally called "the stuff you need to know about".
I don't know how I could have made the information more digestable...

[rogermorse]

100% on PC is so much harder then just getting "platinum" on consoles. So many times we need NG+, highest difficulties, DLC additional achievements etc. It would be cool if PC guides (I did some myself, the main one for SUPERHOT is mine) would still include the same layout as the console guides...that is, time to 100%, how many playthroughs, difficulty affecting trophies etc. so to have some "big picture" without having to read the whole guide. This game seems a pain to 100% on PC, I hate NG+ in general (no real value for me) unless the game is very short (I did it for Miles Morales).

[AYUSHHH]

Thanks for this dude <3

[oldeschool]

didn't get All Machine Types Scanned until ng+ -- tip, if you are thrown in a fight, scan first -- the machines I missed were a carryover from HZD and I knew them, didn't scan on first playthrough.

[Brachragon]

@Sticz - Fair enough. I've added a paragraph to the first chapter, in order to make it less ambiguous. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Sticz]

I'm not denying two NG+ playthroughs is probably a more convenient way but your guide gave me the impression that it is an absolute necessity.
You said "(after two NG+)you'll BARELY have enough of them..."
False, after 2 NG+ you will be drowning in tokens

[Brachragon]

@Sticz - It depends. If you do all side content, it's really easy to obtain the token amount required for all "rewards". If you go strictly for achievement related content, it's rather close.
I personally think, that getting all tokens in a single ultra hard NG+ playthrough takes more time, than doing 2 NG+ cycles, out of which the thorough one is on an easier difficulty.

[Sticz]

"Obtained All New Game+ Rewards" no longer requires two NG+ playthroughs.
I am half way through my FIRST NG+ (on normal difficulty) and i have bought everything and got the achievement.

[chippyjohn]

i need help in english all my settings have gone wrong.this is 5 days now,,,,,,,,,,,,,,