Combat

Learn how to battle enemies head-on in Horizon Zero Dawn. Discover weak points, use the weapon wheel effectively, and gain experience to level up and improve your skills.

Horizon Zero Dawn's combat involves attacking enemies head-on using weapons and tools. For human enemies, aiming for the head is key to dealing the most damage, with most succumbing to a single headshot. Humans typically fall into two categories: melee attackers and ranged archers, though some heavier variants exist within the ranged group.

Machines, however, present more variety. While they have exploitable weak points, which can be temporarily revealed by scanning with your Focus, some are difficult to hit due to their location or protective armor. For instance, the Snapmaw has a sac on its neck that can be challenging to target, and Blaze Canisters on its back may be armored.

Fighting a new machine for the first time can be daunting. Use these initial encounters to study their behavior and learn their patterns, enabling you to fight more effectively without excessive reliance on healing items. Hitting a weak point will be indicated by a green arrow, while hitting a strong point shows a red arrow.

Defeating enemies grants experience points, with tougher foes like elites or Thunderjaws yielding more than basic humans or smaller machines. Additional experience can be earned by inflicting burning or freezing status effects, or by achieving kills through stealth, but the primary source remains direct combat.

Upon leveling up, you receive a Skill Point and an increase of 10 max HP.

Weapon Wheel

Holding down the L1 button accesses the weapon wheel, a crucial combat tool. You can equip up to four weapons on the wheel, meaning some may need to be left out. Notably, different bow ammo types count as a single weapon slot. To switch weapons, use the left analog stick (left/up/right/down). For multiple ammo types on a bow, a slight slide in the desired direction will highlight the chosen ammo. While the weapon wheel is active, the in-game action slows down, and you can still perform actions like rolling and using items.