To Curse the Darkness

Follow this detailed walkthrough for Horizon Zero Dawn's 'To Curse the Darkness' quest. Learn how to infiltrate the Eclipse base, defeat machines and soldiers, and escape.

Alright, so after a chat with Sylens, you'll need to head into a crevice. Use your Focus right away to spot some corrupted machines up ahead. You're looking at four Redeye Watchers and two Longlegs. Good news is, there's plenty of tall grass around, so use it to get the drop on those Watchers with some Silent Strikes. The Longlegs are a bit tougher, though. Aim for their concussion sacs with a few precision arrows – hitting those will really soften them up for the finish.

Keep an eye out for more handholds near where the second Longleg was patrolling. These will get you up to a ledge and deeper into the base. Watch out though, the next area is crawling with Corrupted Scrappers. They've got a radar that can spot you even in tall grass, so be extra careful. If they do spot you, aim for their weak points or, even better, a shock arrow to the power cell on their backside will take them down quickly.

You'll find more handholds on the opposite side, leading you to an area with some Eclipse soldiers. Aloy will automatically drop into some tall grass, which is perfect for marking all the enemies. Notice the elite soldier on the far side. Use your Lure Call to draw the closest guard to you, then take him out stealthily. If the other guard nearby notices his body, you'll need to act fast and take him out too. Otherwise, just keep using Lure Call to pull them closer to your hiding spot. There's another enemy to the east you might have missed in your initial scan.

Inside one of the tents, you can find Datapoints that give you a peek into Helis's mindset. Headshots with precision arrows are your best bet against him and the other soldiers on and across the bridge. When you get close to the elite, hit him with a triple shot right to the head. You'll also find a bunch of Audio Datapoints here: Wife, Without Pity, Chosen of the Sun, Meridian’s Fall, Itamen Coddled, and Prophecy. When you get to the edge of this area, you'll see a prompt to push over a tree, creating a path across a gap. Follow that path, and you'll finally find the derelict Tallneck Sylens has been after.

Escaping the Eclipse Base

Now, you'll see a ladder and a ramp. The ladder is a dead end, so take the ramp. At the top, a cutscene will trigger, revealing the Tallneck and sending you on a frantic escape. Sylens will tell you to just keep running, and he's right – don't look back! The initial part is the toughest, especially with a Deathbringer on your tail. You'll probably get hit a few times, so keep those potions and your medicine pouch handy.

The reason the beginning is so rough is because you have to climb along some ledges. This makes you an easy target, so hopefully, you won't take too much damage. Once you get past this section, things ease up a bit, and you'll only have to deal with Eclipse soldiers. Just listen to Sylens and keep running; there are far too many to fight. Your main goal is the bridge Sylens mentioned earlier. Keep moving, and when you reach it, get to the middle to find a rappel point, which will bring this quest to a close.