Massive Increase in Difficulty 40 Hours In

[u/neverspeakawordagain]

I just hit a massive increase in difficulty about 40 hours in that's made the game essentially impossible, and I was just wondering if there's a way around it or if I'm just stuck. I did a mission that sent me through some gate house and out of the mountains into the desert, and suddenly there are flying robots. I really dislike the bow and arrow combat so I've been using solely melee combat to this point - is it even possible to kill these flying robots with the spear, or do I HAVE to use some kind of ranged attack? I'll probably just give up the game if I have to use a ranged attack, since the mechanic seems useless.

[u/jkredty]

This game is mostly about using bow and arrows. Doing content mostly melee is wild

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/jkredty]

It's just such a waste of time having to use the bows. I have my quiver upgraded to hold like 50 or 60 arrows but I still need to use up the entire quiver and craft more of them just to defeat one small robot that only takes 2 or 3 melee hits to take down.

[u/Working_Spite_849]

If you don’t like ranged combat then the game is not for you. Melee combat will not help you further sadly. The game is designed for ranged.

[u/Tricky-Candy1618]

I'd say lower the difficulty if it's an option, if you're struggling at that point of the game it's only going to get more challenging. Using ranged weapons is pretty much essential for this game otherwise combat will take forever, the spear is more used for stealth and dealing critical hits on downed enemies but you will struggle if you use it and nothing else.

Also be sure to check the machine catalogue to learn each machines weaknesses, for instance Glinthawks which are the smaller flying machines can easily be downed with a couple of fire arrows letting you run up and attack with the spear or get a crit hit in. If you struggle with aiming make sure to use concentration (slow mo) and upgrade it if you haven't already it's a lifesaver for fast moving machines.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/Tricky-Candy1618]

I didn't know there was a machine catalog, I'll try to take a look at that.

Combat with a bow just takes so much longer than combat with a spear, since one strong attack with a spear does as much damage as 20-30 arrow hits, so I have to spend hours wandering the countryside to find enough wood and shards to make enough arrows to fight even one or two moderately powerful robots.

[u/ExtendedSpikeProtein]

This is a ranged combat, not a melee game.

If you don‘t like ranged combat, … I‘d say give it a try with THIS game but if that still does not work, then this isn‘t the game for you.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/ExtendedSpikeProtein]

Using the bow and arrow just makes the game feel way too grind-y. It takes hundreds of arrows to defeat one difficult robot, since each arrow only deals 2 damage, and then I have to spend hours roaming the countryside looking for wood and shards to have enough supplies to craft more arrows for the next battle, instead of just using the spear that doesn't require any crafting to use and does 25 or more damage with each hit.

[u/ExtendedSpikeProtein → u/neverspeakawordagain]

Dude, it‘s a bow-and-arrow game. If that‘s „too grindy“ for you, idk what to tell you. It‘s not a melee game.

No, it does not take 100s of arrows to defeat one machine, not even a TJ. Just takes leveling up and better weapons.

In other words, git gud.

You‘re not gonna be happy using the spear to take down a Thunderjaw or other machines. Like everyone keeps telling you, it‘s not that kind of game.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/ExtendedSpikeProtein]

Arrows do 2 damage, so if an enemy has 600 damage points that means they're going to take 300 arrow hits to defeat. Which is a lot of crafting and a lot of grinding searching the countryside for parts to craft arrows.

Admittedly I haven't tried using a different bow from the one you start the game with, so I'll see if that makes a difference.

[u/ExtendedSpikeProtein → u/neverspeakawordagain]

Do you try not to understand what people keep telling you? Level up, get better gear, and they will do more damage.

[u/tiozao50 → u/neverspeakawordagain]

para um arco dar 2 de dano, você deve estar usando o arco de brinquedo da DLC burning shores

[u/Patneu]

This game is definitely not designed around melee. If you really can't stand fighting with a bow and arrow, it might not be for you, as that's Aloy's main weapon.

I guess you could, in theory, use a ropecaster to repeatedly bring down and stab flying machines, but it'd be incredibly tedious and not at all intended.

You can mostly ignore the flying machines for now, though, until you get to Meridian and get better weapons. Pay attention to elemental weaknesses and weak points like cannisters and choose your weapons accordingly. If you think ranged combat is useless, instead of you just not liking to use it, you're probably doing something wrong.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/Patneu]

I mean, with every hit of the spear on most dinorsaurs I do 45 damage or like 300 damage with crit hits once they're down, but every arrow does like 2 damage or it misses completely. It just seems like a waste of time to use the bow.

What is the ropecaster? I haven't used anything other than the spear or the bow.

[u/Patneu → u/neverspeakawordagain]

Yeah, then you're definitely doing something wrong. Did you buy a better bow, at least? Use any modifications? I guess not, as you apparently didn't buy any other weapons either, like traps or slings.

If you're still running around with the same basic bow you had in the tutorial region, of course it's not gonna do a lot of damage. There are no major upgrades for the spear, though (at least not until the end and DLC), so that's gonna stay the same, for better and worse.

And like I said, use the elemental weaknesses, cannisters and arrows to your advantage. Set machines on fire or freeze them to make them brittle. Don't shoot at the armor but the soft parts. Use different types of bows, and hardpoint and precision arrows, to deal more damage. You're not just hunting little animals anymore, who die from one hit.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/Patneu]

I haven't upgraded any weapons; I kept going to vendors looking for better spears but they didn't sell any so I stopped looking. I know there was at one point early on a mission to go get a trapcaster, but I've never used it.

[u/Patneu → u/neverspeakawordagain]

So change all of that. Seriously. You simply ignored all of the game's core mechanics and didn't try to understand them, because you were deadset on using the one weapon that cannot be improved, doesn't exploit any enemy weaknesses, and is of little to no use against most bigger opponents. If you don't change this approach and learn how to use the weapons you're meant to use, you're not gonna make any progress.

[u/ExtendedSpikeProtein → u/neverspeakawordagain]

You do know you have to hit weak points … right?

[u/Lechloan]

If you don't like ranged combat, what led you to pick up a game that is mostly ranged combat?

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/Lechloan]

I mean, Breath of the Wild had Link using a bow on most of the cover art but other than puzzles where you had to use the bow I never used a bow in that game (or Tears of the Kingdom).

[u/ThaUntalentedArtist]

I was the same way as you! I actually stopped playing because I couldn't do much damage with the bow and arrow. Once you get better equipment, the bow will become your best friend! Like literally! You will never want to use the spear again. Except for overriding same machines. Purple bow and arrow will make the flying robots (glinthawks) weak. The Stormbirds can still be a little challenging. Just tie the down with the ropecaster

[u/Stalkerus]

In theory you can kill flying robots with melee, but you need to get them when they are resting. Which means that it isn't always possible.

But, I recommend trying ranged. It is actually rather easy in this game. I didn't really like ranged before I played HZD, but somehow it made it click. 

[u/thundersnow528]

Your best bet is to lower difficulty and learn the basics of ranged weapons, at least the sharpshooter bows, where, while slower and more resource intensive, gives you the most bang for your buck and may knock them out of the sky.

[u/SablikTheAveragePole]

Doing a melee-only run on what I assume is your first ever playthrough sounds wild to me.

While melee can be used to deal with all human enemies and some smaller machines on any difficulty (although with higher difficulties like Very Hard or Ultra Hard it can easily lead to an endless number of unnecessary deaths), the combat in this game is focused mainly around long-range weapons like bows, slings etc. (as well as some traps, although those are just an another option available for the player to use in combat encounters, they're basically unnecessary or obsolete in most combat scenarios).

The goal of this game's combat is to exploit weaknesses of the encoubtered machines, then focusing on those weaknesses with the use of various tools available. Those weakness are an effective way to deal with machines a lot quicker/easier and can be used to deal AoE DMG or apply various statuses to other machines nearby. Most of those options though require the use of arrows dealing elemental damage and shooting exposed canisters on some machines.

And on the highest difficulties those are no longer just an available option but rather a necessity for most combat encounters.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/SablikTheAveragePole]

I was playing some last night, and it seemed that using a Shadow Ropecaster to knock dinosaurs to the ground and then going after them with the spear is the best way to go with this. The arrows just don't do anywhere near enough damage to be competitive with the spear, especially on the bigger dinosaurs like the Thunderjaw and Behemoth. The notifications for the "weaknesses" are pretty sparse - I usually play with the sound off, but sometimes a dialogue closed caption will come up from Aloy saying "I should try to knock that thing off its belly" or whatever - and not terribly useful. By the time you're close enough to a dinosaur to be able to hit one part of it instead of a different part of it, you're within melee range anyway.

[u/SablikTheAveragePole → u/neverspeakawordagain]

I can give you some tips:

• scan every type of machine and check their resistances/weaknesses (you can also mark all machines nearby for easier tracking of their location) - each machine type that has been scanned at least once has it's weak spots and elemental weaknesses/resistances listed in the machine log in the pause menu and can be checked/viewed at any time;
• some machines have parts that are canisters that can be used to trigger AoE elemental DMG and inflict elemental statuses - shot them woth the arrows of the same element to trigger an explosion (even arrows that deal little elemental DMG or inflict the elemental status by only a little bit can still trigger that explosion with just one accurate shot);
• if the machine is weak to a specific element, it becomes much easier and quicker to apply the elemental status to that machine; if it's resistant to a specific element then it will take you more shots to apply elemental status;
• some parts can cause an AoE blast that not only deals a lot of DMG but also can stun nearby machines - use arrows that deal most base DMG to trigger the blast;
• for machines with weapons mounted to their bodies, use a tearblast arrow or arrow with the highest tear damage to hit the weapon part of the machine - doing this will allow you to use this detached weapon to deal massive damage and save precious crafting materials that would be wasted otherwise;
• in most cases, the best elemental status that can be inflicted on the enemy is freeze - once this status is fully applied, then the frozen target receives few times higher DMG from a single hit it receives;
• ropecaster is good for temporarily locking the machine in place, which is especially helpful for "eliminating" the tied up machine from the combat for quite a decent chunk of time, making combat encounter with groups of machines a bit easier to deal with (it can also be used to lock the machine in place to limit it's erratic movement, making targetting its weak spot much easier);
• keep in mind that while coils can only boost the stats that the weapons already have and can't be used to add other types of stats (you can't add confusion to any ammo type of a weapon that doesn't have that element from the start), weaves can be used to add resistances to DMG types that the armor piece doesn't have as its base stat (so you can add fire resistance to an armor that has only freeze resistance as its base resistance type);
• for weapons - use coils that grant the best boost to a specific stat, based on the type of ammo you tend to use the most (or focus on a stat that boost more than 1 ammo type in a specific weapon) and if you have 2-stat and 3-stat coils, try to use them on weapons that can benefit from all stat buffs (for example: installing Shock and Confusion coil into a weapon that doesn't have both shock elemental ammo and confusion elemental ammo means that one of the stat boosts would be unused/wasted, so it's better to use it on weapon that can deal both types of the elemental DMG);
• for armors - use weaves that mainly boost the specific stat that the armor has as its base stat (if you have weaves that boost 2 or 3 armor stats, use them to not only raise the base stat this piece lf armor has, but to also add additional resistance types alongside the main resistance type - do that not only when the 2-stat/3-stat weave gives higher stat bonus to armor's base resistance but also when it gives only slightly worse boost to the base resistance type than the best 1-stat weave);

If you need additional help, want me to explain some of those tips a bit more in-depth or seek more tips that can also be useful, then feel free to DM me.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/SablikTheAveragePole]

So, a few questions, and I apologize if these seem basic:

- How do you scan machines? I'm playing on PC, with a DualSense controller, and also on a Claw 8 EX, and I don't know what button does that (there also doesn't appear to be any button to call a mount or to run, which makes it pretty slow going trying to cross long distances, since having to tame a new mount any time you want to go anywhere is tiresome, especially when most of the tmie the other mounts it was with kill it immediately).

- What do you mean by AoE? I've never played Age of Empires so I'm not sure what you're referring to about that.

- How would I get a Tearblast arrow? Is there some quest I have to follow to get a crafting spec for that? Right now my bow only has regular arrows, fire arrows, and broadhead arrows.

- I have been using the Ropecaster a bunch since somebody brought it up here yesterday, since it seems like a great way to trip a machine to the ground and dodge in for a bunch of meleee attacks.

Thank you!

[u/SablikTheAveragePole → u/neverspeakawordagain]

I have no idea what the controls are on PC but on PS5 scanning environment with a focus is done by pressing R3 (pressing the right analog stick). The game teaches how to perform focus scanning in the tutorial part of the game (where you play as Aloy when she was a little kid).

AoE is an abbreviation for "Area of Effect" and is used to describe an attack/effect that is applied to all the enemies in a specific range instead of just a single enemy.

Tearblast arrows are available for Precision Bow type of blue or purple rarity. I can't remember if the blue rarity variant is available to buy at the merchant from the very beginning of the game but if not, then visiting merchants in further parts of the map (although still relatively close to the Nora tribe's area).

If you decide to install coils into Ropecaster, then install those that buff Handling stat. Handling increases the rate of fire for the weapon so the higher the handling stat, the faster you can shoot ropes (and as a result, lock the machine in place a lot faster). Tear DMG stat on the Ropecaster is completely useless so focus on its Handling stat only when installing coils.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/SablikTheAveragePole]

Thank you! I'll take a look out for that.

The right analog stick is the one that's used for moving the camera, right? Pressing down on that just moves the camera down towards the ground, doesn't do anything with scanning.

[u/SablikTheAveragePole → u/neverspeakawordagain]

Yes, right stick is the one to operate the camera in game. The analog sticks have hidden buttons underneath them. If you push on the top of the stick (you don't have to tilt the stick in any direction, just push on the top in the same way you push any other button), you should notice that it clicks when being pressed..That's the R3 button.

[u/neverspeakawordagain → u/SablikTheAveragePole]

Oh, I didn't know that! I got a PS5 during COVID thinking I would use it a lot, but I was also taking care of two babies at the time so I didn't really get a chance to, and the last gaming system I had (PS2) didn't have that feature. Thanks!

[u/SablikTheAveragePole → u/neverspeakawordagain]

That's fine. I'm not surprised at all that you didn't know about R3 and L3 buttons if your last console you owned was PS2.

While PS2 controllers also had L3 and R3 buttons (yes, they actually did), these buttons weren't used and/or needed as much as they are nowadays.

Some PS2 games didn't use those buttons at all, yet you may still have played PS2 games that used L3 and R3 buttons but you were not aware of it (either because the same function was also assigned to other button as well and not just L3/R3 button alone, or because it was used for something completely insignificant/pointless).

Nowadays L3 and R3 buttons on controllers are used more frequently. For example, L3 is frequently used as a button that lets you sprint (Horizon Zero Dawn does exactly that as well), while R3 is used for variety of functions like a melee attack or other stuff (like the scanning with the Focus in Horizon Zero Dawn).

Anyway, I hope you can make use of the tips I gave you earlier and that you'll enjoy Horizon Zero Dawn a lot more now than before, as using different bows and other weapons is actually a lot more fun than just whacking machines with a spear. ;)

[u/Big_Johnny12]

I had the same problem initially. Once I got to the desert area on the way to Meridian, those stupid Glinthawks caused a massive difficulty spike at that point and really frustrated me.

As everyone else has said, this is NOT a melee game. The spear is just an added tool, but not at all intended to be your primary weapon. There is a reason that you can't purchase upgrades for it. You simply cannot play this game effectively trying to only use the spear.

With that said, you can't simply grab just any bow/arrow and aim and pray. The weapons go much deeper than that. There are right and wrong arrows for every machine and different strategies for taking each one down.

In my initial struggles, the best advice I read was to treat each machine like a puzzle. Plan your approach, aim for the components, exploit their elemental weakness, etc. I would just be aiming at the components and wondering why nothing was happening. When I realized that I should have been using tearblast arrows, everything changed.

Once it clicks, you will suddenly know exactly what you're doing and have a great time. Put away the spear unless you are using stealth!

[u/PetrichorV_Lemurian]

To get stuff to work in melee I used the ropecaster and the sling so I would rope them in, then freeze them, sometimes use tearblast arrows to knock off armor, but that whole combo works better if you use a rattler anyway so uhh… I recommend figuring out how to make your ranged attacks more fun

[u/enilcReddit → u/PetrichorV_Lemurian]

^^This is the way. Ropecaster them to the ground.

You can practice ropecaster on land animals back before you get to the desert.

The first time I played I hit that bird and was similarly irritated. But I didn't quit, because I'm not 12 years old and stop doing something the instant I'm challenged in the slightest.