The Face of Extinction

This is it, everything you’ve been fighting for is now on the line. Watch the cutscene and once you’re back in control, you’ll be immediately dropped into a fight with Helis and a few of his men. There are blaze barrels everywhere, and Helis likes to attack with a blast sling that will detonate the barrels, so be aware of where you are. On the other hand, it also means you can use the barrels against him and his men. Take out his guys first then go for him.

 

The arena you’re fighting in is actually a circle, so you can use that to your advantage and keep Helis away from you, whilst at the same time dropping traps and harrying him from a distance. Be aware though that you’re on an unseen time limit here as the Deathbringers are pounding the structure you’re on. Take too long and it’ll break and that’ll be you and Helis equally dead. One of this guys carried a Deathbringer gun, so if you can turn that on him, it’ll eat away a good chunk of his health for you.

Once you defeat him, a cutscene and a conversation between the two of you will take place. Make your choices then when you’re back in control, loot Helis then break the door down and zipline down to the battlefield at the ridge. When you land, grab an Oseram cannon and start letting rip on anything that resembles a Machine. The cannon’s rounds fall in a large arc, so you’ll probably have to dial it in a little, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble, what with the ammo being unlimited and all.

At first you’ll just be facing a Deathbringer, but quickly other machines will follow. The cannon chews through normal Machines fast, but Deathbringers take a good number of direct hits to go down. There will be a wave to the right, then the left, then the right will send a few more waves again, each wave being larger and more difficult to put down than the last. Be aware that the Deathbringers will start hurling missiles your way once you hit them a few times, so be ready to move, or heal, whichever you want. Keep killing everything that comes your way.

Eventually you’ll get a wave with Corrupters in it, as well as Ravagers and Bellowbacks. At the same time a Deathbringer will still be sending missiles your way. Keep on the move, try to hit everything with fully charged shots to bring it down as quickly as possible. After you deal with them, a Stormbird will join the fight. Whilst it might seem imposing, its size actually works against it, making it an easier target to hit with the cannon. Keep blasting it and it should go down pretty quick.

 

After it goes down, kill the final Deathbringer and then a cutscene will trigger. Congrats, that’s the first half of the battle down.

Once you’re back in control, follow the trail of destruction through the burning village. You’ll come across a couple of guards fighting a Longleg, take it out and keep going. Swim across the river and you’ll have to Scrappers to deal with. Use the usual combo of heavy spear strike then critical hit to kill them then carry on up to the spire.

There will be a cutscene that triggers when you get close enough. Back in control, run up the path to the top of the Spire until you find Erend, Varl and Talanah, if you completed the Hunter’s Lodge quest line. Raid the supply boxes for anything you need then climb up and over the top to trigger the cutscene. When it’s over, it’s time for your greatest challenge yet, a Corrupted Deathbringer.

You also are fighting to a time limit, so try not to get too distracted. If you can rack up multiple arrows, now’s the time to do it to keep hitting any and all weakpoints you can. The arena you’re fighting in is circular, and the Deathbringer can’t turn too quickly so use that to your advantage, keep strafing to the side as you fire to protect yourself from a lot of the damage. Try to kill the two Railguns on top as they do major damage. If you can, use a Sling to hit it with Fire damage and force it to overheat then hit the cooling rods when they appear. Alternatively, wait for it to do a swarm missile strike where it exposes its knees. Hit its knees to knock it over for some free reign to hit it.

Once you get it to half health, HADES will call in other Machines to the fight. Try to leave them to your allies unless they’re really in the way. As soon as the Deathbringer goes down, don’t bother fighting anything else, sprint for HADES to trigger the final cutscene.

 

And congratulations, that’s you finished Horizon: Zero Dawn. Quite a ride! Stick around after the credits for a sneaky look at some potential further stories in the franchise. Hopefully this guide has been useful to you, and if you’re looking to complete it 100%, we’ve got plenty of other info in the guide to help you get that goal.

 
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