Horizon Zero Dawn Catch-All

Yikes.

Spoiler:

That was the first thunderjaw I managed to take out, but I think I was closer to around level 27 or so. It's tough because you don't have a lot of room to maneuver.

If you have the outfit that protects against melee damage, wear that. You're gonna get walloped by its tail, or stepped on, so mitigating that damage is key. You can try using traps and the sling to cause freeze damage. If you're able to trigger the Frozen status, it'll take more damage. Go for as many of the chunky components as you can. Knocking off the tail helps a lot, but I have trouble doing that consistently. There's also side plating that, if you knock it off, exposes the heart. Shooting that does more damage, but in the close space you're in, it's tough to get an angle on it.

You might have to take the loss on that one and come back later, though.

Wow, I just had maybe my best in-game performance of the decade lol. Beat him on my second try and honestly it was just meant as a practice run. I guess I stumbled across the right strategy.

Laid into him with about a dozen Tearblast arrows til all his parts fell off then saw he dropped some kind of usable weapons. Dumped all the ammo from those into him and that got him to about 1/4 health. Then I put about 40 fire arrows into his gut before switching to the heavy piercing arrows and aiming for his eyes. Took 6 heath potions but done! Exhilarating!

Tearblast arrows were my addiction through most of the game, because of encounters like that.

Yeah it was a blast.

Conversely, why did the devs feel like 4 is the minimum number of snapjaws needed in an area? What can 4-6 snapjaws convey to the player that 2 cannot? -_-

I honestly keep forgetting about trying to use weapons that get knocked off machines.

Those disc launchers were doing 400ish damage a shot so I do recommend it

Blind_Evil wrote:

Yeah it was a blast.

Conversely, why did the devs feel like 4 is the minimum number of snapjaws needed in an area? What can 4-6 snapjaws convey to the player that 2 cannot? -_-

Much more convenient to farm for parts.

beanman101283 wrote:

I honestly keep forgetting about trying to use weapons that get knocked off machines.

THIS IS WHY THE TRIALS ARE IMPORTANT TO AT LEAST LOOK AT!

I took out pretty much all of the harder enemies with their own weapons.

Vector wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

I honestly keep forgetting about trying to use weapons that get knocked off machines.

THIS IS WHY THE TRIALS ARE IMPORTANT TO AT LEAST LOOK AT!

I took out pretty much all of the harder enemies with their own weapons.

Yeah, I didn't discover this until very late in the game, after I'd already got too frustrated and moved the difficulty all the way down...*takes notes for the sequel*

Vector wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

I honestly keep forgetting about trying to use weapons that get knocked off machines.

THIS IS WHY THE TRIALS ARE IMPORTANT TO AT LEAST LOOK AT!

I took out pretty much all of the harder enemies with their own weapons.

I DO WHAT I WANT DAD!!

I'm about to delve into the

Spoiler:

Zero Dawn Facility

. Probably gonna mainline the game to the end at this point. Excited to see how it all turns out!

Blind_Evil wrote:

Wow, I just had maybe my best in-game performance of the decade lol. Beat him on my second try and honestly it was just meant as a practice run. I guess I stumbled across the right strategy.

Laid into him with about a dozen Tearblast arrows til all his parts fell off then saw he dropped some kind of usable weapons. Dumped all the ammo from those into him and that got him to about 1/4 health. Then I put about 40 fire arrows into his gut before switching to the heavy piercing arrows and aiming for his eyes. Took 6 heath potions but done! Exhilarating!

That's a great strategy! Almost any good early strategy for (spoiler) is to knock off their best weapons, and Tearblast arrows are the easiest way to do that fast when you're running around trying not to get creamed.

As you're more powerful and better armed and skilled with time, more strategies become viable, but if you can lay into it with its own weapons that's always good.

Congrats! Can't believe that was the first one you fought, too.

Next to tearblast arrows, I think I used the corruption ones the most to help me when I'm fighting a herd of anything. That way their attention will be on the one fighting them.

I haven’t seen any weapons with corruption or freeze yet, are those elements only in slings or ropecasters?

Blind_Evil wrote:

I haven’t seen any weapons with corruption or freeze yet, are those elements only in slings or ropecasters?

You'll eventually be able to craft arrows with those too. It's part of all the different pouches.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I haven’t seen any weapons with corruption or freeze yet, are those elements only in slings or ropecasters?

The War Bow line is where you get Freeze Arrows and Corruption Arrows.

Ropecasters only fire disabling ammo. They don't fire anything else.

Tripcasters fire Blast, Shock, and Fire trapwires.

I did a little bit more over the weekend, and completed the Revenge of the Nora side quest. Hitting those bases definitely did not make me feel powerful. I did a good job sniping one or two foes before alerting the camp, but dealing with multiple hostiles at the same time, in this game, just feels kind of awkward. Or, at least, I don't feel good at it. Should I be doing more to set traps and mine the area before I kick things off? But then, if I did that, the traps would all be around the perimeter, and that doesn't feel so helpful.

I also think I might need some better gear. I am starting to run into more enemies, like Fire Bellowbacks and the corrupted version, that need a lot of ammo to bring down. I'd like to do more damage. So, I may press on to Daytower and see if I can upgrade my gear.

I have been watching Keith Ballard's lets play recently. Very enjoyable.

I have finished it twice and now am watching someone else play it...it is very much a favorite game.

LastSurprise wrote:

I did a little bit more over the weekend, and completed the Revenge of the Nora side quest. Hitting those bases definitely did not make me feel powerful. I did a good job sniping one or two foes before alerting the camp, but dealing with multiple hostiles at the same time, in this game, just feels kind of awkward. Or, at least, I don't feel good at it. Should I be doing more to set traps and mine the area before I kick things off? But then, if I did that, the traps would all be around the perimeter, and that doesn't feel so helpful.

I found that luring hostiles away from the camp to take them on one-on-one or into traps can help. Also finding all the ways to cause maximum damage to hostiles first - finding blaze barrels etc. - is a good way to ease some of the awkwardness. I sometimes still found myself picking off a couple of people first and then eventually just jumping into the mess and using all my tools to do damage and kill.

I googled the main quest line progression and apparently I’m at the first of two points of no return.

Anyone have quest or activity suggestions that I hit before moving forward?

I’ve done all the available cauldrons, bandit camps, all but the Frozen Wilds tallneck, corrupted zones up to level 23. I’ve avoided the metal flowers and ancient vessels because I read that they aren’t worth it, and the hunting grounds because someone here said they were too hardcore (I’m not amazing at this game). I have killed at least one of every machine.

I ventured into the frozen wilds at level 29 but kept getting killed by the first enemy. I ran past him and got to the town but decided the fact I had to run past him was a sign I should go back. Anything I should definitely do there before moving forward?

I have the distinct feeling there's only one point of no return.
You should definitely do the Frozen Wilds before that. I don't remember the first enemy being that hard. I remember concealing myself and using traps.

I'd hazard that many people, and possibly most, who played both played Frozen Wilds after finishing the main game (as did I), since the game was a big success out of the gate and TFW didn't come out until eight months later.

I probably played Frozen Wilds about 3/4 of the way through the main game. It worked well for me

Before the main quest that takes you into Sunfall, Sylens specifically says “this humble vent represents a point of no return. If you are not properly prepared or equipped, go become so.” I guess because there’s a boss fight at the end you can’t escape. But after that you’re back in the open world.

Anyway, that whole section left me feeling torn.

Spoiler:

The revelations about the nature of Project Zero Dawn were awesome. The method of delivery was the opposite. Audio logs have been a tired storytelling method for half a decade and this whole dungeon was nothing but then and text dumps with boring human encounters peppered throughout.

I’m not sure what they could have done differently but it was the least fun the game has been so far.

Complete Edition is currently on sale in the PS4 store for $15 so I had to bite. Any non spoiler tips for a beginner?

You gather materials from machines and regular animals. Go out of your way to kill more animals than might normally occur to you. Health potions use a lot of fatty meat, and I find I’m usually low on it. Playing naturally I find I’m usually drowning in machine parts and herbs, and going out of my way to bludgeon rabbits, foxes, etc. Fish are also included.

Metal shards are both used for crafting ammo and as currency so be sure that you need what you buy. I found myself running out when maxing my carry pouches and buying high end weapons. Should also reserve 200 or so for ammo crafting mid-quest.

Fast travel uses a consumable item, but about 1/3 through the game you can buy an item from a merchant that that allows unlimited fast travel. It costs 50 shards, 1 fox skin and 10 fatty meat.

You will need rare drops from animals and machines to upgrade things, so getting the gathering type skills is helpful early on.

Feel free to drop useless machine parts. I am sure I kept items that I had no use for and then missed out on some really good stuff since my satchel was full

Thanks all!

Mixolyde wrote:

Complete Edition is currently on sale in the PS4 store for $15 so I had to bite. Any non spoiler tips for a beginner?

The advice about "gathering" skills and making an effort to kill animals is good, I agree.

Like a lot of games with RPG-style progression, it can be a little frustrating in the beginning because you're fairly weak. Don't let the first required stealth tutorial set the tone; you'll get more powerful. However, this isn't a game where grinding is advisable, because story missions unlock things too. Alternate story and free roam exploration without focusing on either exclusively.

Try every training ground you come across. Most will require leveling up to beat their time challenges; but every challenge is also kind of a tutorial, and you'll learn from the attempt.

The beginning reminds me a lot of the new Tomb Raider games.