Hello and welcome back to my blog!
This is Part 3 of the Let's Play Horizon Zero Dawn series. To read Part 2, click here.
In the last part, we completed a mission saving the life of one of the tribesmen and retrieving a special spear. It was the first big mission where we had to take down machines without any external help.
Aloy has grown up but still remains an outcast with a lot of questions about her origins. The only people who seem to know the answers are the matriarchs of the tribe, but since she’s an outcast, no one is allowed to speak to her. What did she do to deserve that? That’s one of the questions she wants answered, too. But there’s an event called The Proving, and if she can ace it, she’ll be granted a boon and be accepted into the tribe again.
Rost, her caretaker and the man who raised her, wants to give her one final lesson. But before that, he asks her to collect some machine parts and trade them for a new weapon: the Tripcaster.
After collecting enough materials, we visited the trader. He’s part of the tribe but doesn’t care about the laws and still talks to Aloy like she’s a normal person.
We learned a bit more about Rost through Karst, the trader. Rost is an outcast for life, but Karst doesn’t know why—he never found out what Rost did to deserve such harsh punishment.
After some more chit-chat, we got down to business. I sold a bunch of unnecessary items and bought the Tripcaster.
I also noticed the Sharpshot Bow in the weapons tab. It deals more damage than the regular bow and is great for long-range attacks, but it’s slower. It fits my stealth playstyle, so I bought it as well.
I like that you can modify your weapons; it has a slot for a modification coil that can enhance things like damage, handling, elemental effects, etc.
This was a much better bow for long-range attacks. It was more precise too. I could hit the weak points of machines more easily. Also, with each new weapon you purchase, there are tutorial quests where you have to kill 3 enemies using that weapon.
I had to kill 3 Watchers with a precision shot to the eye using this new bow.
It didn’t take me long. The first two were easy, but I had to look around for a while to find the third Watcher.
I didn’t do the Tripcaster tutorial quest yet—I was more curious about what Rost had in mind for the final lesson.
To begin that, I had to meet him at the North Gate after purchasing the new weapon. Rost looked a bit sad. After The Proving, Aloy will become a Nora, and he’ll remain an outcast, which means he won’t be allowed to speak to her anymore. Aloy promises that she’ll come and talk to him secretly, making sure no one sees her. But Rost is a man who follows the law, even if it hurts him.
We waited for nightfall and then left through the northern gate. We were out in the wild. There are much bigger dangers here. Until now, we had only seen two types of machines—they were fairly easy to deal with.
As we went outside the gates, we saw a lot of dead machines. This was a hunting ground, but the machines were doing the hunting. Rost brought Aloy here to see if she was ready to face a Sawtooth and prove herself for The Proving.
I used the Tripcaster’s wire and set up two traps, then waited for it to come close so I could hit its weak points. Once aggroed, the Sawtooth charges at you with its melee attacks. Placing the traps between you and the machine is a great way to make it trip. Once tripped, we can deal a lot of damage—even land a powerful critical strike.
It didn’t take long for us to kill the Sawtooth, and Rost was impressed with Aloy.
Rost is kind of saying a final goodbye to her. He seems to be planning to leave this settlement once she becomes a full member of the Nora tribe.
The day of The Proving is here. Is she ready for the challenge? What will happen to Rost? Stay tuned to find out.
Thanks for reading
- All the content is mine unless otherwise stated.
- Screenshots are from the game, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.