The Journey Begins

Mother's Heart: Make your way north of the Embrace to find Rost. After a goodbye, enter Mother's Heart. Meet Teb, who gives you the Nora Brave armor and a free Treasure Box. Interact with village events for lore, including the story of the All-Mother and the Metal Devil from an elder. Find Karst for another Treasure Box. Upgrade skills like Hunter Reflexes, Critical Hit, Healer, and Gatherer. Locate the two Grazer Training Dummies. Head up the road for a cutscene with the Carja, then speak to a man with a Focus. Erend will arrive, and Olin will leave. Talk to Erend for lore about the Sun King. Attend the Blessing Ceremony to meet Teersa. Confront Olin, then head to the Hunter's Lodge for a scene. Confront Bast and speak with Vala if desired before sleeping.

The Proving: After a cutscene, begin your first trial: defeat a Grazer and claim a Proving Trophy. Use a shockwire and Critical Strike for a quick kill. Harvest the Grazer and claim the trophy. Bast will interfere, so quickly kill another Grazer, grab its trophy, and proceed to the Brave Trial. Climb the path, take the zipline, cross the felled tree, and ascend ledges and platforms. Rappel off the cliff, follow the path, climb more cliffs, cross another downed tree, and use a zipline to finish. During the contest, attackers ambush. Climb a ledge to the right of the archers, flank them, and use Silent Strike. After they are defeated, head back up to deal with melee attackers and archers again. A new attacker with a Deathbringer Gun appears. Use rocks for cover against melee attackers, then use Fire Arrows on the gunman while avoiding archers. Use heavy attacks when stunned to finish him. Loot his gun and use it on the remaining archers. This quest unlocks the trophy Triumphed in the Proving.

The Womb of the Mountain: After the cutscene, find Aloy's clothes and Focus. Proceed through doors. If the path is blocked, go right to a locked door, then look left for a vent shaft. Crawl through to find a Power Cell, which grants the Side Quest: Ancient Armory. Backtrack and enter the room across the hall for Aloy's equipment and story revelations. Follow Teersa to a large door for more revelations about Aloy's birth. Exit the mountain with Teersa, then speak to Teb by the village gate for context. Climb the ladder and speak with Resh about the Proving.