Horizon Forbidden West Tips - Scanning, Parts, and Upgrades

Horizon Forbidden West is strongest when you treat every machine fight as a small hunt instead of a straight damage race. Aloy has bows, traps, spear attacks, skills, traversal tools, and accessibility options, but the biggest advantage usually starts before the first arrow: scan, plan, remove the right parts, then spend the rewards on gear that fits how you play.

This guide covers the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 base game. Later packages can include Burning Shores, but these tips avoid expansion-only systems and story content.

Essential Tips

1. Scan Before You Shoot

Use the Focus before committing to a fight. A scan tells you what machine you are facing, which elements it resists or fears, and which parts can be detached. That information turns a chaotic monster fight into a list of targets.

After scanning, tag the most important machine and look for components that matter. A weapon, armor plate, canister, or resource part may be more valuable than raw health damage. If a fight feels too hard, the missing step is often better reading, not better aim.

2. Hunt Components, Not Just Health Bars

Many machines are designed around removable parts. Tear damage can strip armor, expose weaker areas, deny dangerous attacks, and preserve upgrade materials. When an upgrade needs a part, remove that component before finishing the machine.

This also makes fights safer. Taking off a machine weapon can remove one of its worst attacks, and some detached weapons can be turned against enemies. Big machines become much less intimidating when you dismantle their toolset first.

3. Match Elements To The Target

Elemental ammo and traps are not side options; they are how you control fights. If a scan shows a weakness, bring the right bow, sling, trap, or spike option before the fight starts. If it shows a resistance, do not force that element just because it worked on the last machine.

Think of elements as setup. A frozen, shocked, corroded, or otherwise pressured enemy gives you safer windows to tear parts, land precision shots, or reposition. The best loadout is the one that answers the next machine, not the one that looks strongest in the inventory.

4. Use Weapon Techniques On Purpose

Weapon Techniques spend stamina to change what a weapon can do. They are best saved for moments where a normal shot is not enough: cracking a component, bursting a weak point, interrupting pressure, or finishing a dangerous enemy before it closes distance.

Do not unlock techniques randomly across every weapon type. Pick the weapons you actually carry, then invest in techniques that solve problems those weapons already handle. A good technique should make a familiar tool more decisive.

5. Match A Valor Surge To Your Current Job

Skill trees include Valor Surges aimed at jobs such as part-breaking, elemental combat, traps, critical damage, melee pressure, and fighting groups. Choose a surge that complements the tools and tactics you already use.

Do not spend Skill Points across every tree just to collect more surges. Prioritize one that fits your current approach, then expand into alternatives when your core skills are established.

6. Upgrade Gear At Workbenches Regularly

Weapons and outfits improve through upgrades, and those upgrades often ask for machine resources. Check workbenches after major hunts and settlements, then track the materials needed for the gear you actually use.

Avoid spreading resources too thin. Upgrading one reliable hunter bow, one precision option, and one outfit that supports your style is usually better than lightly improving everything. If a future upgrade requires a specific part, mark that goal and hunt deliberately.

7. Treat The Stash As Part Of Your Route

Aloy cannot carry everything, and extra resources flow into the stash. Settlements and shelters are natural reset points because they let you restock and reorganize before the next hunt.

Visit the stash before long errands, ruins, cauldrons, and machine sites. Refill ammo materials, healing supplies, traps, and travel basics before you leave. A prepared route saves more time than grabbing every plant during combat.

8. Use Traversal Tools To Create Better Angles

The Pullcaster, Shieldwing, climbing routes, underwater exploration, and later traversal upgrades are not only for puzzles. They help you enter fights from better angles, escape bad terrain, reach loot, and approach side activities without brute forcing the path.

If the route forward looks blocked, scan the area and look upward, downward, and across gaps. Forbidden West rewards careful environmental reading.

9. Pick Difficulty And Assists Early

The game supports Story through Very Hard and a Custom Difficulty option. If you want exploration and story with less combat friction, lower damage pressure. If you enjoy technical hunts, raise the challenge and accept that component removal, traps, and preparation matter more.

Accessibility options are also gameplay tools. Controls, subtitles, pathfinding, reminders, assist settings, and Easy Loot can reduce friction without changing what makes the game interesting. Tune them before frustration sets in.

10. Let The Open World Feed Your Build

Side quests, salvage work, cauldrons, hunting challenges, camps, ruins, and machine sites all support progression in different ways. Do not sprint only through main objectives if your gear is lagging behind. A short loop of side activities can give skill points, resources, and practice with new tools.

Prioritize activities that improve the next thing you want to do. If you need upgrades, hunt machines. If you want more machine control, look for cauldron progress. If combat feels sloppy, practice before pushing into harder fights.

Base-Game Scope

This guide is for Horizon Forbidden West as the 2022 base game on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Treat Burning Shores as separate content. Expansion storylines, expansion-only tools, added skill entries, and post-main-quest assumptions should not shape a standard base-game plan.

That matters because the base game already has enough to manage: Focus scanning, machine part removal, elemental planning, workbench upgrades, stash restocking, skill trees, Weapon Techniques, Valor Surges, traversal tools, and difficulty settings. Learn those first.

Combat Priorities

Start fights with information. Scan the machine, identify the dangerous parts, choose the right element, and decide whether you want resources, safety, or a fast kill. Those goals can conflict. A quick kill may destroy or skip the part you wanted, while a careful component hunt may ask for safer positioning and more patience.

Use traps and terrain when machines are still unaware or approaching through predictable paths. Use elemental pressure to open windows. Use Tear when a component matters. Use Weapon Techniques when stamina can buy a decisive result. Match Valor Surge choices to the encounters you expect.

Against human enemies, do not forget stealth, high ground, and crowd control. Against machines, do not stand still trading hits. Forbidden West rewards movement, planning, and part targeting more than stubborn face-to-face damage.

Exploration and Upgrades

Open-world progress works best as a loop: explore, scan, hunt, restock, upgrade, then push farther. Shelters and settlements are not just map icons; they are places to refresh your stash, adjust gear, check workbench needs, and prepare for the next route.

When a new tool opens a route, revisit nearby blocked paths and side activities. The Pullcaster, Shieldwing, underwater access, and climbing surfaces can turn an old obstacle into a quick reward. If a ruin or path seems impossible, leave a mental marker and return when your traversal kit has grown.

For upgrades, focus on what you use every fight. A stronger main bow, a reliable elemental option, and an outfit that supports your preferred approach will carry more value than hoarding materials forever. Track specific upgrade parts, then hunt the machine with that goal in mind.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not skip the Focus scan - You lose weakness, resistance, and component information before the fight begins.

2. Do not destroy machines blindly - Important upgrade parts can depend on removing components before the kill.

3. Do not force one element everywhere - A machine that resists your favorite element will waste ammo and time.

4. Do not ignore Tear damage - Stripping armor and weapons can make hard fights safer and more profitable.

5. Do not unlock skills without a plan - Match Weapon Techniques and passives to the weapons and tactics you actually use.

6. Do not buy Valor Surges without a plan - Spend Skill Points on a surge that supports the tools and tactics you already use.

7. Do not hoard upgrade materials forever - Workbench improvements are part of progression, not a late-game souvenir.

8. Do not leave the stash full while your pack is empty - Restock at settlements and shelters before long routes.

9. Do not treat traversal tools as puzzle-only items - Better movement creates better combat entries and safer exits.

10. Do not mix expansion advice into a base run - Burning Shores systems belong after the base game, not in early planning.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Scanning	Open with the Focus before committing to a fight
Parts	Tear off components before killing machines when upgrades matter
Elements	Match ammo and traps to each machine’s weakness
Techniques	Spend stamina when a Weapon Technique changes the outcome
Valor	Choose a surge that complements your current tactics
Upgrades	Improve the weapons and outfits you use most often
Stash	Restock at settlements and shelters before long routes
Traversal	Use Pullcaster, Shieldwing, climbing, and swimming to find better paths
Difficulty	Tune challenge and assists early
Scope	Keep Burning Shores separate from base-game planning