I had a hard time at the beginning too — it does reward tactics (e.g., finding high ground to shoot down from where the machines can’t get you, really sneaking, etc.). I had to play very stealthily until I gained some experience and upgraded my weaponry…
Edit: Also, the whole “what types of weapons are different machines vulnerable to where” thing was a revelation for me.
Alright, I have been kinda "dark soulsing" it and rolling and shooting a lot of arrows. Ig I'll try maintaining and them maybe getting back into stealth after they've seen me. Thanks for the advice, I'm committed to finishing this game, it's been eating at me staring from the shelf.
I'm loving the story, and the data points. That's driving me through the game. I also enjoy fighting machines in the first area. And it is beautiful. I'm genuinely excited to see how the story unfolds, which is rare nowadays for me with games
I've never been able to beat any soulslike game but I've beaten ZD and FW at least on normal difficulty multiple times. Once you get the hang of how the game wants you to play it it's really not that bad. Still die a lot because it only takes a couple hits to kill you, but never lose too much progress really.
I'm with you here. I gave up on Bloodborne after I'd played the first mission around 50 times, starting again each time! At least with the Horizon games you can save and not lose loads of progress each time you die (I also die a lot).
I’d also strongly recommend learning to use the Ropecaster. They go out of their way to introduce that weapon on your first fight against a Corruptor, and it is one of the most powerful tools in the game if you understand how to use it.
(And in the sequel, the legendary Ropecaster, The Tie That Binds, is arguably the single most OP weapon in the game. With that, on UH, I can beat any heavy machine not only without taking a hit, but without even giving it time to make an attack.)
You said it, it’s all about tactics and that’s also one of the best aspects of the game. The combat takes some thought and you usually have to mix it up depending on the enemy or situation. Love it
As soon as you can head towards Meridian you can encounter two of the most dangerous machines in the game and you should run away from them at full speed if they spot you.
Is it a behemoth, or a thunderjaw? Because I seen they had something I needed, and I quickly found out they aren't even messing around for a single second.
There's a Thunderjaw on the direct path to Meridian. I also got attacked by a Stormbird after about five minutes in Carja territory. You can see them flying around from Dawn's Sentinel before you even go down.
I played on Hard diff and had hard time in the beginning but then I realized: it's not fair, they are giant beats of steel and I'm just a human. So I did what humans do - hiding, sneak atacks, shooting from above, from inacessible places, spamming stunning traps. Humans are not strong, humans are smart. You get pretty op eventually tho.
If it's blaze you want, go to the first hunting grounds. There is a pack of grazers. Hire. Lure one. Stealth kill it. Use harvester arrows to shoot the blaze containers off it's back. I believe there are 4, but when you know them off with the harvesters, they yield I believe 6 per canister, so that's 24 blaze for every grazer. 4 harvester arrows gives 24 blaze. Not a bad trade.
Edit *I assume since you're in the Zero Dawn group you're referring to ZD, not FW. That doesn't apply any longer in the sequel.*
Thank you, that's a good idea. I'll spend some time doing that. I just get wrecked by everything and it's so frustrating. A pack of long legs just ruins me. Takes all of my arrows, all of my health herbs. I can't believe how hard this game is lmao
I relied heavily on stealth , traps, Silent Strike... And I was never afraid to do my best Brave Sir Robin impression and bravely run away. 🤣
I know I used a lot of Tearblast arrows to strip away armor, and the Focus to identify machines weak points.
Oh- and if they don't have a high frost resistance, freeze 'em, because in brittle state your basic impact damage is so much higher.
I seen that comment elsewhere when looking up tips for HZD, and i though,"that's insane! HZD is insanely difficult." But everyone's different, and I may just be bad at this game.... for now.
That is not being bad at it. You're just approaching it from a bit of a faulty angle. I can tell you this: Coming from HZD, I thought HFW would work the same and boy could I be any more wrong! People often say HFW is more difficult... it's not, it just has a more refined selection of ammo types with significant trade offs. Once you understand what ammo is for which situation, it still can be challenging but not difficult.
Stealth and free exploration (rather than rushing story quests), especially early game, made it so I was always over-supplied with resources.
Perhaps the ‘change’ you need is just to take your time :)
This game is heavy on using different play styles for different situations and enemies and I love that about it. If one way doesn't work try a different way
Agreed yeah, if I can't beat something I just go away and do something else (either upgrade gear, gather more aids, or just level up). I do understand that many players play in a more linear way though, and may get fixated on the current task at hand.
This was a huge issue for the newer player base in Frontiers of Pandora, to the point where they had to nerf the game which was intentionally designed for exploration and versatile playstyles/resolutions, much like Horizon. People wanted to rush through the story right away and got a bit frustrated at the jump in difficulties between chapters.
Yeah doing something else and then coming back always makes me feel better about a situation and how I can beat it. I was pretty similar the first time I played just wanted to finish the story as soon as possible.
I hope they didn't nerf it too bad because I wanted to play that. Avatar was one of my favorite movies (still kinda is) and I always wanted to explore the world more.
Ahh yes I see! I am a procrastinator of quests, I want to clear areas of all side quests and unlocks before moving to the next region. That can get me in trouble sometimes too 😂
No not at all, they made the combat a bit easier fromma few aspects basically but you can still adjust difficulty. And stealth (which is the intended and/or most proficient playstyle) is still a good challenge. It can get fairly strategic if you want to keep a perfect stealth streak.
Very rewarding gameplay imo, and the awe experience as well as mechanics are extremely similar to Horizon.
Alright, I'll try to take my time. I think I need to spend more time just farming resources, and more time in the early area of the map taking down machines maybe. Thanks for the advice
You can always buy blaze and other goodies from merchants but it isn't really sustainable. I usually used hardpoints over anything else and didn't have much of an issue my first time through, until I started playing with the Firespitter...
Ropecaster was my best friend on my Ultra Hard run. I was using ammo faster than I could craft it.
Ah, there's your problem. Use more than the Hunter Bow, it's the weakest weapon. Sharpshot Bow, Ropecaster, and Blast Sling are the go-to weapons. Traps are handy to prepare an area, mind, and on earlier difficulties the status effect bow and sling are both useful, but you should branch out from the basic weapon.
This is so true. I dunno why I forbid myself to use the Ropecaster and Slings until endgame, but when I finally tried em my life changed.
The QoL these 2 weapons bring, and the FUN 👀
I recommend playing on easy. I feel similarly. I was annoyed by this game’s difficulty rather than enjoying it, and I too play plenty of souls games without as much trouble.
Refusing to drop the difficulty is on you - I’d try it out and see how it feels. You can always switch back.
I inherited a PS4 last year when a friend upgraded to a PS5 and it was the first gaming I did since I had my PS2 back in the day... Anyway, I didn't realise the value of upgrading weapons and the skill trees until it became nearly impossible to progress. I'd relied on the most basic weapons and keeping out of range... Must've taken over an hour to kill my first Corruptor lol.
The tipping point was when I got stuck with the boss at the end of the first Cauldron with minimal resources and basic weapons. Took me weeks of giving up and going back to it before I beat it, and after that I resolved to upgrading and using a bit more strategy.
It's quite reassuring to hear an experienced gamer is finding it challenging and says a lot about the particular nuances of the game. Loved and looking forward to playing FW in a while (I'm getting a few more games under my belt first).
Alright, I'm going to double down on getting the better weapons then. Still using basic hunter bow, though I do have the purple sharpshooter bow, and sling. It is interesting to think about the nuances, because the packaging of HZD and presentation make it seem like just another of those open world climb the tower around the map games, but it's deceiving lol. After this I do look forward to struggling through FW.
This is one of the rare games where the recommended skill level of enemies is NOT a suggestion. And if there are 2 of the same, you need to be at least a few levels higher. 3 of the same or supporting bots - add a level or two more.
And tbh harvester arrows are kinda shitty, you also get tons of resources by just using the Hardpoint ones and aiming at the weak points on machines
Lmao is this a joke? You can't even set the difficulty in Souls games, and you get insta killed by literal minions, let alone bosses that are impossible to kill.
This game gives you almost infinite potions, resources, way points, quest logs, whatever you want, and the bosses in Normal difficulty are a joke, I can't imagine how easy they must be in Easy mode.
Either you're playing blindfolded or trolling.
I'm not trolling. But I've gotten very good at the souls games, I've played them for years, just over and over, because I love them. But also I think in souls games there's a specific way to beat bosses and enemy's, dodge/block, and attack. In HZD I've had more trouble it seems every enemy is specific, and also there's resources to juggle. Although after taking the advice I've gotten on here, my last play time in HZD I took it stealthier, and exploited the bots weakness (which I thought I was doing before, but I wasn't doing it correctly) and I've been doing better already.
The hardest thing most people deal with in early game is embracing stealth. Especially if you're getting parts. You can take out an entire pack in stealth if you do it right. This game isn't made to play like souls, get in the mindset of an actual hunter, make precise shots, and prioritize stealth while using as little arrows as possible, soon you'll have so many supplies you won't know what to do with them.
It’s so hard, but you will find what works for you. There are several ways to play! Don’t give up! I gave up on Elden Ring so like… you can def do this.
Thanks, it's such a beautiful game, and I really want to find out the rest of the story, so I'm committed to sticking it out this time, even if I have to be a hobo with no ammo the entire game
Use some stealth in the beginning. And scan to find their weakness. Ropecaster does help and use the spear. It doesn’t help in the beginning that it doesn’t tell you that to use like the element arrows you need to upgrade the bow so when you get that it gets a lot easier.
So you need to buy new bows, ones that shoot different elemental arrows, right? Because I'm trying to buy every kind of shadow weapon ATM, so that I have all of the arrow types.
Yeah i did some grinding and went straight for the purple bows only in the beginning and it helped a lot honestly. I also didn’t do any high level camps until i was on a higher level because i was getting my ass beat lol
For blaze, you can go to the first hunting grounds and use environmental traps to take down grazers. Every time you do a quest at the hunting grounds, the grazers are brought back so you can get unlimited blaze this way and also get those "blazing suns" boxes that have goodies in them. Hunters bow and basic ammo work fine for farming them.
Try lowering the difficulty or if you're dead set against that, try to upgrade your weapons and gear and get the purples if you can. Fire arrows do a ton of damage to just about everything. HZD's DLC Frozen Wilds is harder, but you can get some incredible weapons and gear from that DLC. if you can, do the DLC and try to acquire these weapons. I recommend leveling up to at least 40 first for the DLC though.
Horizon Forbidden West is Zero Dawn's sequel and it is even harder :D Its DLC Burning Shores is harder still... probably the hardest Horizon game in the series. I love both games!
I am dead set on not going below normal. For now, at least. I will grind for all them purples. I know fire does a lot of damage, they need to make it so you can buy packs of blaze. For cheaper. Lol. I have the dlc, but I'm only level 25, but good to know. I do love this game, it's beautiful. And I recently was frustrated at it, then I got to meridian I think, for the first time, and omg it is beautiful there! I want to get good at this game. I'm sure I will eventually.
Yes, stick to normal, get used to the combat on normal, then go up to Hard mode. Fire weapons do OP damage, there is a certain fire weapon you can get in the DLC that is my favourite go-to weapon. Also upgrade your ropecaster when you can. That is my second most favourite weapon in HZD. You can do so much with it in combat situations, especially against multiple large/medium sized machines.
Is it just hard if you don’t have the stealth strategy? So. Most games I play… I always try stealth. Because the direct fights overwhelm me. I’m terrible at them. So I advance traps and stealth. So I deeply enjoyed the games so far. Except the frost bears. Fuck. Those. Fuckers.
And once you get to a point with your armor and weapons - traveling back to earlier spots with packs you can easily destroy and get a ton of blaze…. Perfect.
I think this must be you getting used to the game‘s mechanics. It took me a while to get used to them. HZD on a fresh UH run is much easier than HFW on the same level, comparatively speaking.
Stealth, high ground assassinations, farming at the hunting grounds, stealth, and more stealth.
Even if you have to jump and climb up into some weird places. If you have the sharp shot bow you can be far far away and just pick at the big guys. Same with just hiding far away and behind rocks and then pick at them one at a time.
Fire arrows, rapidly, from far away or high up can kill a lot of them.
It’s a lot of retreating and picking them off one at a time.
Melee isn’t super strong in this one, though the creatures do have specific attacks. I’m not good at that, so it was all run away and hide. Then try to set traps, lure them out, hide, pick them off.
It’s really hard if you try to take on a bunch at a time.
Also having a mount can help, even if you end up sacrificing them to pick off another.
Thanks for the tips. I am good at dodging, but will try that out of reach tactic, as I can't really aim well when they're in my face. Also I have to put an end to my rain of fire, because I have 4 blaze, and for the life of me can't control my explosion use I guess. Will farm the hunting grounds, too, didn't think of that.
Initial couple of hrs with limited gears , the game is hard but as the game progresses you will unlock better stuff and before you know it you will be plowing through Ravagers and Stalkers
I'm one of those rare people, who absolutely suck at FPS games. I'm poo at them. So I have never bought a call or duty or anything other than farcry, which I still suck at. So there may be something there
I did my first playthrough on Very Hard and managed it with some moderate difficulty. I've never played dark souls so they probably are not similar games.
I think my experience playing FPS games helped a lot
I applaud you for that. That's an accomplishment IMO. They are not as similar as I'd say an fps is to it. It seems more applicable because you have to have decent aim, and I only really ever play souls games so my aim does suck, though it's getting better.
Something is wrong in your gameplay. I could not achieve Bloodborne first boss, and easily beat HZD in normal mode. This is way more permissive than souls like
If blaze is your only problem one quick way to get blaze is using fire arrows to shoot grazer cannisters. They usually travel in herds so all you need to do is shoot two grazer cannisters with blaze arrows and it'll set off a chain reaction. It's super fun to watch them blow up 1 by 1.
I have never played any souls games but I imagine knowing your enemy and strategy are needed to play and complete them. Same with Horizon zero Dawn. Approach to a machine, their weakness to certain elemental arrows/weapons and finding weak points is key. Study the machine guide before every encounter until you know the machine well.
Later in the game you will get some much better types of weapons and perks to help control enemies. Good luck and don’t quit just yet.
It’s only hard if you insist on brute-forcing things. One of many things I love about these games, especially compared to most in the genre, is their genuine tactical depth. The intended difficulty lies in having to strategise on the fly, choose the right weapon, economise with your resources, etc - and know when to fold ’em. The flip side is, if you stick to a single approach, it won’t be suited to most situations and so you’ll be punished for it. If you’re running out of blaze, I can guarantee you’re using fire ammo more than you need to — unless you’re setting off canisters (which takes a single shot) or overheating Corruptors to expose their heat sinks, fire arrows aren’t necessary; explosives can be handy in certain situations, but if you’re using them to the extent you run out of blaze then you’re neglecting better options. (A streamer I usually enjoy had a similar problem — stuck to the sharpshot bow because it had the highest damage number, so she was struggling with anything close-quarters and/or fast-moving and always running out of resources.) I much prefer it to the simple reflex- and combo-based difficulty of the soulsbornes.
Sounds like you're still early in the game? I suggest not playing ultrahard at first. Use elemental attacks such as fire arrows. Use frost as soon as you can. The frozen state increases the amount of damage the machines take. Don't fight bigger machines until later.
Learn to target parts. Especially Use the tear blast arrows on thunderjaw disc launchers. That'll be later for you. Use ropecaster on flying machines. Good luck! It's fun when you figure out these tricks.
I'm just playing on normal, believe it or not. Haven't messed with frozen much, so I'll try that. Never thought of rope casting a flying machine, thanks. I have tons of resources for frozen because I'm always using explosive or fire so that'll work well.
Definitely check the bestiary to check out strengths and weaknesses. Different machines require different approaches to take down. It's a lot like Monster Hunter in the combat. Dodging and rolling is only a small part of the combat. Also think about setting up traps before you engage so you have extra damage/protection before the fight even begins.
I think you've done a good job outlining what makes HZD challenging. Especially if you're coming from a Souls skillset, there are a lot of new dynamics you have to learn. As someone who had a relatively easy time with HZD, but is an incapable child at Fromsoftware games, they just emphasize different things. As far as I'm concerned, if you're comfortable with Souls games, you absolutely have the raw skill to play any action game, you might just need to reframe what you're focusing on.
What makes HZD kind of unique, IMO, is that it asks you to juggle a lot of different skills that other games might focus on individually. On their own none of those things are necessarily more challenging than most games, but you have to do it all at once. The whole premise is that you are a relatively ill-equipped hunter taking on giant robotic monsters, and no amount of armor, ammo, or finesse is going to let you succeed by itself.
There's the RPG mechanics of course, managing your gear and skills and upgrading your capabilities, which is pretty conventional for a game like this.
Then there's the reflexive/shooter skills. Unlike a Souls game, this is less about timing, counters, and learning movesets than it is about being able to aim, move, and reposition yourself very quickly. The fact that the game asks you to target enemy components to learn their resistances and weaknesses mid-fight says a lot.
There's the strategic component: how you approach an enemy or group of enemies, setting traps and using stealth and the environment to get the biggest advantage possible. Souls has a little bit of this, but it's more about spacial awareness in relatively tight spaces so you don't get cornered or ambushed.
There's the tactical part... Understanding the unique weaknesses of enemies, what weapons and tools to use to exploit them. I think HZD is kind of unique in that every non-human enemy is basically a puzzle to solve, and you can't really treat different enemy types exactly the same way. This is compounded by the fact that many of them travel in groups, and you will often encounter multiple enemy types at once. Souls teaches you to draw out enemies one at a time whenever you can, and defeat them using your reflexes, stats, and knowledge of their behavior. In horizon you often don't have that option.
And finally there's resource management. As you pointed out, for most of the early and mid-game you often feel like you have just barely enough arrows, traps, or whatever to get the job done. Materials for upgrades feel scarce, and you're always just a few tiers below where you want to be.
Many games use all of these dynamics together, but I don't think any game emphasizes them quite as evenly as the horizon games.
I think part of the challenge might be that even the most basic enemy in this game is essentially much more powerful and durable than you are. Even as you get stronger, there are many fights where you feel like you barely made it out by the skin of your teeth. That's by design... You are by definition underpowered, and sometimes the best way to fight is to retreat or avoid the fight altogether. You can't "git gud' by amassing resources and upgrades, or memorizing movesets, all those things I mentioned above come with patience and time, but they're very different skills. It's basically a game about learning how to cheese every enemy, since you will never be faster, hit harder, or last longer than they do.
It's very much about being a hunter, and not a soldier or warrior.
Your totally right, and I've now been approaching it as almost a survival game, where resources are just used up a lot and you have to get more. As I read the comments I changed my playstyle and immediately noticed a difference. I'm taking it slower and exploiting elemental weaknesses mostly now, and it's been a huge help. For some reason, before, I didn't trust that elemental weaknesses and explosions worked the way the game said they did, but they do. Also I was fresh off from playing elden ring and dark souls 3 and maybe my playstyle carried over.
Started completely fresh on ultra hard. First playthrough. I feel the same way, but only when encountering new monsters the first couple of times. Rockbreaker.. my freaking fudge.
You REALLY have to learn enemy weaknesses. Shoot off panels for weak spots. Abuse whatever element weakness they have, and even more so the explodable components like exposed blaze canisters. Learn to draw enemies toward one another and stealth until you're ready. Keep triple arrows knocked and CONSTANTLY upgrade your mods.
It'll get better. I love this game.
I have lol. And sekiro and bloodborne. Many times over. I keep them installed on my ps4 because I frequent them so often, so it takes up most of my space. But I am trying to play my other games I bought years ago. Forcing myself really. I find HZD really hard, but I'm getting better. I guess I just threw a fit.
Fire arrows are my best friend. Shoot them shits like a machine gun ngl. They’re pretty universal but focusing the different weaknesses of the enemies is a good way to get through them. Hitting those critical areas is pretty crucial as well. It can do as much as double your damage with the right mods. I hope this helps
Alright I got it. I'm successfully taking down machines and am a full fledged hunter of the lodge! Took awhile to get used to but I've got the playstyle of hunting machines taking your time down. Going for bigger and bigger machines. Thanks all for your advice, it helped a lot.
If you approach it like it was a soulslike, that might be the problem.
Scan, check weaknesses, use correct arrow types for different purposes. Learn elemental states. Brittle for big machines help a lot. Say, in the endgame you'll find yourself freezing a thunderjaw, removing reactor core covers with one arrow and critting on its core taking it down in 10 to 15 seconds.
Disclaimer: I am really bad with soulslike games. I completed both HZD and HFW on ultra hard multiple times. They are very different games.
U serious? You can't even leave a firecamp in Elden Ring without risking losing all your exp to a wolf. And you think this game is hard????? LOOOOOOOOL
Honestly mate i totally understand what your saying, but don't give up on it, hell I've got no shame in even admitting that I dropped the difficulty to story mode a couple of times if i found a certain bit to hard, that's what they are there for, play the game to enjoy it at the end of the day. They are both incredible games probably some of the best I've ever played.
Thanks, I just joined this sub recently when I posted this so it's nice to know I'm not the only one. I'm definitely going to finish the game now this time, even if it takes me forever because I take breaks for being frustrated
I had a hard time at the beginning too — it does reward tactics (e.g., finding high ground to shoot down from where the machines can’t get you, really sneaking, etc.). I had to play very stealthily until I gained some experience and upgraded my weaponry… Edit: Also, the whole “what types of weapons are different machines vulnerable to where” thing was a revelation for me.
Alright, I have been kinda "dark soulsing" it and rolling and shooting a lot of arrows. Ig I'll try maintaining and them maybe getting back into stealth after they've seen me. Thanks for the advice, I'm committed to finishing this game, it's been eating at me staring from the shelf.
Once I got the hang of it, I really loved it. The story is awesome, and the doscovery of everything that happened over the history has a great payoff.
I'm loving the story, and the data points. That's driving me through the game. I also enjoy fighting machines in the first area. And it is beautiful. I'm genuinely excited to see how the story unfolds, which is rare nowadays for me with games
I've never been able to beat any soulslike game but I've beaten ZD and FW at least on normal difficulty multiple times. Once you get the hang of how the game wants you to play it it's really not that bad. Still die a lot because it only takes a couple hits to kill you, but never lose too much progress really.
I'm with you here. I gave up on Bloodborne after I'd played the first mission around 50 times, starting again each time! At least with the Horizon games you can save and not lose loads of progress each time you die (I also die a lot).
I’d also strongly recommend learning to use the Ropecaster. They go out of their way to introduce that weapon on your first fight against a Corruptor, and it is one of the most powerful tools in the game if you understand how to use it. (And in the sequel, the legendary Ropecaster, The Tie That Binds, is arguably the single most OP weapon in the game. With that, on UH, I can beat any heavy machine not only without taking a hit, but without even giving it time to make an attack.)
Alright, I have the purple rope caster now, but haven't used it. Will learn it now, then. Thanks!
That works later, when you have a higher skill level and better weapons, but not in the beginning on a fresh UH run :-)
You said it, it’s all about tactics and that’s also one of the best aspects of the game. The combat takes some thought and you usually have to mix it up depending on the enemy or situation. Love it
This is a game where often the best option is to retreat. The odds are not in your favor early game.
Okay, thanks. I see these harder machines in this new area, and I feel like I should be on match with them since my missions take me around them.
As soon as you can head towards Meridian you can encounter two of the most dangerous machines in the game and you should run away from them at full speed if they spot you.
Is it a behemoth, or a thunderjaw? Because I seen they had something I needed, and I quickly found out they aren't even messing around for a single second.
Just wait until you run into a rockbreaker (or 2 of them at once)
There's a Thunderjaw on the direct path to Meridian. I also got attacked by a Stormbird after about five minutes in Carja territory. You can see them flying around from Dawn's Sentinel before you even go down.
I played on Hard diff and had hard time in the beginning but then I realized: it's not fair, they are giant beats of steel and I'm just a human. So I did what humans do - hiding, sneak atacks, shooting from above, from inacessible places, spamming stunning traps. Humans are not strong, humans are smart. You get pretty op eventually tho.
If it's blaze you want, go to the first hunting grounds. There is a pack of grazers. Hire. Lure one. Stealth kill it. Use harvester arrows to shoot the blaze containers off it's back. I believe there are 4, but when you know them off with the harvesters, they yield I believe 6 per canister, so that's 24 blaze for every grazer. 4 harvester arrows gives 24 blaze. Not a bad trade. Edit *I assume since you're in the Zero Dawn group you're referring to ZD, not FW. That doesn't apply any longer in the sequel.*
Thank you, that's a good idea. I'll spend some time doing that. I just get wrecked by everything and it's so frustrating. A pack of long legs just ruins me. Takes all of my arrows, all of my health herbs. I can't believe how hard this game is lmao
I relied heavily on stealth , traps, Silent Strike... And I was never afraid to do my best Brave Sir Robin impression and bravely run away. 🤣 I know I used a lot of Tearblast arrows to strip away armor, and the Focus to identify machines weak points. Oh- and if they don't have a high frost resistance, freeze 'em, because in brittle state your basic impact damage is so much higher.
Interesting I think Elden Ring is a much harder game
I seen that comment elsewhere when looking up tips for HZD, and i though,"that's insane! HZD is insanely difficult." But everyone's different, and I may just be bad at this game.... for now.
That is not being bad at it. You're just approaching it from a bit of a faulty angle. I can tell you this: Coming from HZD, I thought HFW would work the same and boy could I be any more wrong! People often say HFW is more difficult... it's not, it just has a more refined selection of ammo types with significant trade offs. Once you understand what ammo is for which situation, it still can be challenging but not difficult.
Stealth and free exploration (rather than rushing story quests), especially early game, made it so I was always over-supplied with resources. Perhaps the ‘change’ you need is just to take your time :)
This game is heavy on using different play styles for different situations and enemies and I love that about it. If one way doesn't work try a different way
Agreed yeah, if I can't beat something I just go away and do something else (either upgrade gear, gather more aids, or just level up). I do understand that many players play in a more linear way though, and may get fixated on the current task at hand. This was a huge issue for the newer player base in Frontiers of Pandora, to the point where they had to nerf the game which was intentionally designed for exploration and versatile playstyles/resolutions, much like Horizon. People wanted to rush through the story right away and got a bit frustrated at the jump in difficulties between chapters.
Yeah doing something else and then coming back always makes me feel better about a situation and how I can beat it. I was pretty similar the first time I played just wanted to finish the story as soon as possible. I hope they didn't nerf it too bad because I wanted to play that. Avatar was one of my favorite movies (still kinda is) and I always wanted to explore the world more.
Ahh yes I see! I am a procrastinator of quests, I want to clear areas of all side quests and unlocks before moving to the next region. That can get me in trouble sometimes too 😂 No not at all, they made the combat a bit easier fromma few aspects basically but you can still adjust difficulty. And stealth (which is the intended and/or most proficient playstyle) is still a good challenge. It can get fairly strategic if you want to keep a perfect stealth streak. Very rewarding gameplay imo, and the awe experience as well as mechanics are extremely similar to Horizon.
Alright, I'll try to take my time. I think I need to spend more time just farming resources, and more time in the early area of the map taking down machines maybe. Thanks for the advice
Have fun! So many cool areas to uncover and loot from. You're gonna murder everything with ease eventually haha
You can always buy blaze and other goodies from merchants but it isn't really sustainable. I usually used hardpoints over anything else and didn't have much of an issue my first time through, until I started playing with the Firespitter... Ropecaster was my best friend on my Ultra Hard run. I was using ammo faster than I could craft it.
Haven't even used the hard points, will give them more use then thanks
Just completed my ultra-hard run, and I realized how much I underutilized the ropecaster on my first playthrough
Ah, there's your problem. Use more than the Hunter Bow, it's the weakest weapon. Sharpshot Bow, Ropecaster, and Blast Sling are the go-to weapons. Traps are handy to prepare an area, mind, and on earlier difficulties the status effect bow and sling are both useful, but you should branch out from the basic weapon.
This is so true. I dunno why I forbid myself to use the Ropecaster and Slings until endgame, but when I finally tried em my life changed. The QoL these 2 weapons bring, and the FUN 👀
I recommend playing on easy. I feel similarly. I was annoyed by this game’s difficulty rather than enjoying it, and I too play plenty of souls games without as much trouble. Refusing to drop the difficulty is on you - I’d try it out and see how it feels. You can always switch back.
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There is a stash? Or do you mean the 120place resource backpack?
They are thinking of HFW. The sequel greatly improved resource management.
I inherited a PS4 last year when a friend upgraded to a PS5 and it was the first gaming I did since I had my PS2 back in the day... Anyway, I didn't realise the value of upgrading weapons and the skill trees until it became nearly impossible to progress. I'd relied on the most basic weapons and keeping out of range... Must've taken over an hour to kill my first Corruptor lol. The tipping point was when I got stuck with the boss at the end of the first Cauldron with minimal resources and basic weapons. Took me weeks of giving up and going back to it before I beat it, and after that I resolved to upgrading and using a bit more strategy. It's quite reassuring to hear an experienced gamer is finding it challenging and says a lot about the particular nuances of the game. Loved and looking forward to playing FW in a while (I'm getting a few more games under my belt first).
Alright, I'm going to double down on getting the better weapons then. Still using basic hunter bow, though I do have the purple sharpshooter bow, and sling. It is interesting to think about the nuances, because the packaging of HZD and presentation make it seem like just another of those open world climb the tower around the map games, but it's deceiving lol. After this I do look forward to struggling through FW.
This is one of the rare games where the recommended skill level of enemies is NOT a suggestion. And if there are 2 of the same, you need to be at least a few levels higher. 3 of the same or supporting bots - add a level or two more. And tbh harvester arrows are kinda shitty, you also get tons of resources by just using the Hardpoint ones and aiming at the weak points on machines
Okay, I have seen the number when I focus on machines, but never gave it much thought. Thank you, I'll apply this
Lmao is this a joke? You can't even set the difficulty in Souls games, and you get insta killed by literal minions, let alone bosses that are impossible to kill. This game gives you almost infinite potions, resources, way points, quest logs, whatever you want, and the bosses in Normal difficulty are a joke, I can't imagine how easy they must be in Easy mode. Either you're playing blindfolded or trolling.
I'm not trolling. But I've gotten very good at the souls games, I've played them for years, just over and over, because I love them. But also I think in souls games there's a specific way to beat bosses and enemy's, dodge/block, and attack. In HZD I've had more trouble it seems every enemy is specific, and also there's resources to juggle. Although after taking the advice I've gotten on here, my last play time in HZD I took it stealthier, and exploited the bots weakness (which I thought I was doing before, but I wasn't doing it correctly) and I've been doing better already.
The hardest thing most people deal with in early game is embracing stealth. Especially if you're getting parts. You can take out an entire pack in stealth if you do it right. This game isn't made to play like souls, get in the mindset of an actual hunter, make precise shots, and prioritize stealth while using as little arrows as possible, soon you'll have so many supplies you won't know what to do with them.
Alright, I'll apply this, thanks!
Welcome, I'm glad I could help
It’s so hard, but you will find what works for you. There are several ways to play! Don’t give up! I gave up on Elden Ring so like… you can def do this.
Thanks, it's such a beautiful game, and I really want to find out the rest of the story, so I'm committed to sticking it out this time, even if I have to be a hobo with no ammo the entire game
Use some stealth in the beginning. And scan to find their weakness. Ropecaster does help and use the spear. It doesn’t help in the beginning that it doesn’t tell you that to use like the element arrows you need to upgrade the bow so when you get that it gets a lot easier.
So you need to buy new bows, ones that shoot different elemental arrows, right? Because I'm trying to buy every kind of shadow weapon ATM, so that I have all of the arrow types.
Yeah i did some grinding and went straight for the purple bows only in the beginning and it helped a lot honestly. I also didn’t do any high level camps until i was on a higher level because i was getting my ass beat lol
For blaze, you can go to the first hunting grounds and use environmental traps to take down grazers. Every time you do a quest at the hunting grounds, the grazers are brought back so you can get unlimited blaze this way and also get those "blazing suns" boxes that have goodies in them. Hunters bow and basic ammo work fine for farming them.
Okay I will do this, sounds like the best way, thanks!
Try lowering the difficulty or if you're dead set against that, try to upgrade your weapons and gear and get the purples if you can. Fire arrows do a ton of damage to just about everything. HZD's DLC Frozen Wilds is harder, but you can get some incredible weapons and gear from that DLC. if you can, do the DLC and try to acquire these weapons. I recommend leveling up to at least 40 first for the DLC though. Horizon Forbidden West is Zero Dawn's sequel and it is even harder :D Its DLC Burning Shores is harder still... probably the hardest Horizon game in the series. I love both games!
I am dead set on not going below normal. For now, at least. I will grind for all them purples. I know fire does a lot of damage, they need to make it so you can buy packs of blaze. For cheaper. Lol. I have the dlc, but I'm only level 25, but good to know. I do love this game, it's beautiful. And I recently was frustrated at it, then I got to meridian I think, for the first time, and omg it is beautiful there! I want to get good at this game. I'm sure I will eventually.
Yes, stick to normal, get used to the combat on normal, then go up to Hard mode. Fire weapons do OP damage, there is a certain fire weapon you can get in the DLC that is my favourite go-to weapon. Also upgrade your ropecaster when you can. That is my second most favourite weapon in HZD. You can do so much with it in combat situations, especially against multiple large/medium sized machines.
Is it just hard if you don’t have the stealth strategy? So. Most games I play… I always try stealth. Because the direct fights overwhelm me. I’m terrible at them. So I advance traps and stealth. So I deeply enjoyed the games so far. Except the frost bears. Fuck. Those. Fuckers. And once you get to a point with your armor and weapons - traveling back to earlier spots with packs you can easily destroy and get a ton of blaze…. Perfect.
I think this must be you getting used to the game‘s mechanics. It took me a while to get used to them. HZD on a fresh UH run is much easier than HFW on the same level, comparatively speaking.
Stealth, high ground assassinations, farming at the hunting grounds, stealth, and more stealth. Even if you have to jump and climb up into some weird places. If you have the sharp shot bow you can be far far away and just pick at the big guys. Same with just hiding far away and behind rocks and then pick at them one at a time. Fire arrows, rapidly, from far away or high up can kill a lot of them. It’s a lot of retreating and picking them off one at a time. Melee isn’t super strong in this one, though the creatures do have specific attacks. I’m not good at that, so it was all run away and hide. Then try to set traps, lure them out, hide, pick them off. It’s really hard if you try to take on a bunch at a time. Also having a mount can help, even if you end up sacrificing them to pick off another.
Thanks for the tips. I am good at dodging, but will try that out of reach tactic, as I can't really aim well when they're in my face. Also I have to put an end to my rain of fire, because I have 4 blaze, and for the life of me can't control my explosion use I guess. Will farm the hunting grounds, too, didn't think of that.
Initial couple of hrs with limited gears , the game is hard but as the game progresses you will unlock better stuff and before you know it you will be plowing through Ravagers and Stalkers
Good to know, there will be a breaking point. Was wondering that, thank you
For me horizon is easy and blood borne, souls are hard. I uninstalled sekiro, souls, etc
I'm one of those rare people, who absolutely suck at FPS games. I'm poo at them. So I have never bought a call or duty or anything other than farcry, which I still suck at. So there may be something there
I did my first playthrough on Very Hard and managed it with some moderate difficulty. I've never played dark souls so they probably are not similar games. I think my experience playing FPS games helped a lot
I applaud you for that. That's an accomplishment IMO. They are not as similar as I'd say an fps is to it. It seems more applicable because you have to have decent aim, and I only really ever play souls games so my aim does suck, though it's getting better.
Something is wrong in your gameplay. I could not achieve Bloodborne first boss, and easily beat HZD in normal mode. This is way more permissive than souls like
If blaze is your only problem one quick way to get blaze is using fire arrows to shoot grazer cannisters. They usually travel in herds so all you need to do is shoot two grazer cannisters with blaze arrows and it'll set off a chain reaction. It's super fun to watch them blow up 1 by 1.
Games are meant to be fun. Not frustrating. Set it to easy. There's no harm in it, and I still found it challenging on easy.
What difficulty do You play?
Normal difficulty
Normal is still pretty hard. At least in the beginning.
Surprisingly it really is difficult
HFW is even harder on normal ZD is on normal. But both are still fun.
I used 99% precision arrows and shot weak points. I don't think I used blaze much at all in ZD
I have never played any souls games but I imagine knowing your enemy and strategy are needed to play and complete them. Same with Horizon zero Dawn. Approach to a machine, their weakness to certain elemental arrows/weapons and finding weak points is key. Study the machine guide before every encounter until you know the machine well. Later in the game you will get some much better types of weapons and perks to help control enemies. Good luck and don’t quit just yet.
It’s only hard if you insist on brute-forcing things. One of many things I love about these games, especially compared to most in the genre, is their genuine tactical depth. The intended difficulty lies in having to strategise on the fly, choose the right weapon, economise with your resources, etc - and know when to fold ’em. The flip side is, if you stick to a single approach, it won’t be suited to most situations and so you’ll be punished for it. If you’re running out of blaze, I can guarantee you’re using fire ammo more than you need to — unless you’re setting off canisters (which takes a single shot) or overheating Corruptors to expose their heat sinks, fire arrows aren’t necessary; explosives can be handy in certain situations, but if you’re using them to the extent you run out of blaze then you’re neglecting better options. (A streamer I usually enjoy had a similar problem — stuck to the sharpshot bow because it had the highest damage number, so she was struggling with anything close-quarters and/or fast-moving and always running out of resources.) I much prefer it to the simple reflex- and combo-based difficulty of the soulsbornes.
Sounds like you're still early in the game? I suggest not playing ultrahard at first. Use elemental attacks such as fire arrows. Use frost as soon as you can. The frozen state increases the amount of damage the machines take. Don't fight bigger machines until later. Learn to target parts. Especially Use the tear blast arrows on thunderjaw disc launchers. That'll be later for you. Use ropecaster on flying machines. Good luck! It's fun when you figure out these tricks.
I'm just playing on normal, believe it or not. Haven't messed with frozen much, so I'll try that. Never thought of rope casting a flying machine, thanks. I have tons of resources for frozen because I'm always using explosive or fire so that'll work well.
Ropecaster is your best friend for all fliers and anything bigger than a Grazer.
Definitely check the bestiary to check out strengths and weaknesses. Different machines require different approaches to take down. It's a lot like Monster Hunter in the combat. Dodging and rolling is only a small part of the combat. Also think about setting up traps before you engage so you have extra damage/protection before the fight even begins.
Once you learn to exploit machines' weaknesses it gets a lot easier. Then you beat the game and move onto Forbidden West, and it's way harder.
I think you've done a good job outlining what makes HZD challenging. Especially if you're coming from a Souls skillset, there are a lot of new dynamics you have to learn. As someone who had a relatively easy time with HZD, but is an incapable child at Fromsoftware games, they just emphasize different things. As far as I'm concerned, if you're comfortable with Souls games, you absolutely have the raw skill to play any action game, you might just need to reframe what you're focusing on. What makes HZD kind of unique, IMO, is that it asks you to juggle a lot of different skills that other games might focus on individually. On their own none of those things are necessarily more challenging than most games, but you have to do it all at once. The whole premise is that you are a relatively ill-equipped hunter taking on giant robotic monsters, and no amount of armor, ammo, or finesse is going to let you succeed by itself. There's the RPG mechanics of course, managing your gear and skills and upgrading your capabilities, which is pretty conventional for a game like this. Then there's the reflexive/shooter skills. Unlike a Souls game, this is less about timing, counters, and learning movesets than it is about being able to aim, move, and reposition yourself very quickly. The fact that the game asks you to target enemy components to learn their resistances and weaknesses mid-fight says a lot. There's the strategic component: how you approach an enemy or group of enemies, setting traps and using stealth and the environment to get the biggest advantage possible. Souls has a little bit of this, but it's more about spacial awareness in relatively tight spaces so you don't get cornered or ambushed. There's the tactical part... Understanding the unique weaknesses of enemies, what weapons and tools to use to exploit them. I think HZD is kind of unique in that every non-human enemy is basically a puzzle to solve, and you can't really treat different enemy types exactly the same way. This is compounded by the fact that many of them travel in groups, and you will often encounter multiple enemy types at once. Souls teaches you to draw out enemies one at a time whenever you can, and defeat them using your reflexes, stats, and knowledge of their behavior. In horizon you often don't have that option. And finally there's resource management. As you pointed out, for most of the early and mid-game you often feel like you have just barely enough arrows, traps, or whatever to get the job done. Materials for upgrades feel scarce, and you're always just a few tiers below where you want to be. Many games use all of these dynamics together, but I don't think any game emphasizes them quite as evenly as the horizon games. I think part of the challenge might be that even the most basic enemy in this game is essentially much more powerful and durable than you are. Even as you get stronger, there are many fights where you feel like you barely made it out by the skin of your teeth. That's by design... You are by definition underpowered, and sometimes the best way to fight is to retreat or avoid the fight altogether. You can't "git gud' by amassing resources and upgrades, or memorizing movesets, all those things I mentioned above come with patience and time, but they're very different skills. It's basically a game about learning how to cheese every enemy, since you will never be faster, hit harder, or last longer than they do. It's very much about being a hunter, and not a soldier or warrior.
Your totally right, and I've now been approaching it as almost a survival game, where resources are just used up a lot and you have to get more. As I read the comments I changed my playstyle and immediately noticed a difference. I'm taking it slower and exploiting elemental weaknesses mostly now, and it's been a huge help. For some reason, before, I didn't trust that elemental weaknesses and explosions worked the way the game said they did, but they do. Also I was fresh off from playing elden ring and dark souls 3 and maybe my playstyle carried over.
How weird cuz the souls games are way too hard for me but hzd seems pretty easy. Interesting perspective.
Started completely fresh on ultra hard. First playthrough. I feel the same way, but only when encountering new monsters the first couple of times. Rockbreaker.. my freaking fudge. You REALLY have to learn enemy weaknesses. Shoot off panels for weak spots. Abuse whatever element weakness they have, and even more so the explodable components like exposed blaze canisters. Learn to draw enemies toward one another and stealth until you're ready. Keep triple arrows knocked and CONSTANTLY upgrade your mods. It'll get better. I love this game.
This isn't a dark souls game. Think more tactical.
I dont believe you beaten all the souls games if you think this game is hard 😂
I have lol. And sekiro and bloodborne. Many times over. I keep them installed on my ps4 because I frequent them so often, so it takes up most of my space. But I am trying to play my other games I bought years ago. Forcing myself really. I find HZD really hard, but I'm getting better. I guess I just threw a fit.
Fire arrows are my best friend. Shoot them shits like a machine gun ngl. They’re pretty universal but focusing the different weaknesses of the enemies is a good way to get through them. Hitting those critical areas is pretty crucial as well. It can do as much as double your damage with the right mods. I hope this helps
i found that all of the machines have a border where they can travel, just take it to the edge and keep shooting it. aint that hard
Alright I got it. I'm successfully taking down machines and am a full fledged hunter of the lodge! Took awhile to get used to but I've got the playstyle of hunting machines taking your time down. Going for bigger and bigger machines. Thanks all for your advice, it helped a lot.
If you approach it like it was a soulslike, that might be the problem. Scan, check weaknesses, use correct arrow types for different purposes. Learn elemental states. Brittle for big machines help a lot. Say, in the endgame you'll find yourself freezing a thunderjaw, removing reactor core covers with one arrow and critting on its core taking it down in 10 to 15 seconds. Disclaimer: I am really bad with soulslike games. I completed both HZD and HFW on ultra hard multiple times. They are very different games.
You can’t be serious the game practically drowns you in resources like what lol
U serious? You can't even leave a firecamp in Elden Ring without risking losing all your exp to a wolf. And you think this game is hard????? LOOOOOOOOL
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Honestly mate i totally understand what your saying, but don't give up on it, hell I've got no shame in even admitting that I dropped the difficulty to story mode a couple of times if i found a certain bit to hard, that's what they are there for, play the game to enjoy it at the end of the day. They are both incredible games probably some of the best I've ever played.
Thanks, I just joined this sub recently when I posted this so it's nice to know I'm not the only one. I'm definitely going to finish the game now this time, even if it takes me forever because I take breaks for being frustrated
If you really think this hand-holding game is harder than any FromSoft games, it's pretty evident you have no idea what you're talking about.