Topic: Horizon: Zero: Dawn

@Mega-Gazz Have you reached Meridian yet?? All the collectables maybe a bit of a 'filler' but they are not 'useless' like Uncharted for example - Just for an additional trophy but have little/no use in the actual game. I haven't collected a full set yet to know if the 'reward' is worthwhile - its not just a trophy...

Vantage points also show the world as it was and some back story on the time before...

I am definitely not having an issue with leveling - my next Story mission is 14 and I am currently on 39...

@BAMozzy No I haven't, but I did realize there was a turnin... still totally classic filler, even if you get a trinket for it. Its not bad, as far as filler goes I guess.

I'm lvl 20 now just headed to the lvl 12 story quest, so definitely outlevelling things, because I'm doing all the side stuff as I go.

@BAMozzy @Mega-Gazz It's a balancing act in those type of games between main/side content. I definitely don't like to approach story missions totally overleveled. I've heard somewhere that the main missions have "jumps" in recommended level between them (as they should have, the first example is when you leave the first zone) and those gaps pretty much encourage the player to do some other optional stuff.

@KratosMD Have you met the Stormbird yet?? That may well change what you think about the 'toughest' enemy in the game!! Thunderjaws aren't too bad if you can use its own weaponry against it and/or use the environment to your advantage...

I only reached Meridian after quite some time into the game too. At that point, I had virtually all carrying pouches at maximum. I think if I had just followed the Main story, I would have needed to run from the Thunderjaw en-route. I rarely ride any of the machines as I am always hunting/collecting as I move between points. Invariably that means I still need to find a merchant to clear my inventory.

I do like to complete most Side missions before progressing to the next Main Story mission. I still have a lot of the hunting grounds to do - Only completed 1 so far but ridden all the Tallnecks and also completed all the Cauldrons too. I still feel I have 'options' to do - Bandit Camps, Collectables, Hunting grounds, Vantage points as well as general 'killing' everything to mix things up...

I have reached level 40 after 45hours and still only 50% completed...

I love how challenging the enemies can be in groups, especially if your not paying attention, really makes want to avoid a pair of Sawtooths if I'm my way to somewhere rather than simply mashing X on anything thats in my way. Amazing world to travel in

I am trying to show some restraint. I love the story and just want to find out more but showing some discipline and doing collectibles, crafting better gear, side quests, errands and hunting grounds where I can before moving on. I need to experiement more with modifications, traps and potions (still quite early into the game). Wish I didn't have work so I could get more time on it!

@Rudy_Manchego I am torn because I want to show restraint but when I have in the past I usually fatigue with a game eventually and either fail to finish or rush to the finish line. Trying to find a middle ground here, so I do a lot of optional stuff but not everything, in a 'if it's on the way I'll do it' kind of way.

@finalstan Yeah I know what you mean, it's a balancing act between keeping engaged and making progress and grinding. I know on some open world games (cough ubisoft cough), I've spent like 2 nights just collecting pointless bits and bobs so that my grind list wouldn't be too huge when I came to 100% complete. However, in Zero Dawn, so far, I feel like I am earning something for collectibes and hunting etc. So I think each session, do some collectibles/hunting and then at least a side quest or errand.

Once you get the hang of it the Tripcaster it's a game changer. I didn't use it much at first but once you start fighting bigger/harder machines it's a must.

@Splat I love tripcaster, I feared it would not work on bigger (huge) machines, haven't encountered those yet.

@Splat Agreed, the tripcaster is great. I thought it would be useless and cumbersome but it's surprisingly easy to use and very effective.

I've become all too reliant on it... especially if you have a chance to prep for a fight, you can lay out like 6 lines in a row and basically nuke anything.....

I like the tear arrows too on the slower bow, I often use that to pull with.

I don't like the sling at all, mostly because to get any real distance your camera needs to look at the sky and you can't see what you're hitting. Too awkward to use well so far.

The ropecaster I took off my bar, but I'm tempted to replace the sling with it in the hopes of using it when a machine gets the jump on me so I can regroup and lay some tripcaster lines

I still haven't tried the ropecaster. It's the only one I haven't used yet I believe.

@Splat Its like the elemental arrows in that you have to build up the effect... I didn't have the critical hit skill at the time so I stopped using it.... but there have been a couple times where I needed a defensive tool and I think that may be it.

What do you use if you get caught off guard?

My main set up is the 3 bows and trip-caster for machines and I swap out the trip-caster for the sling when fighting bandits/humans - its a pocket grenade (or molotov cocktail) launcher and one hit will take out a group of enemies really quickly. Its great too with some enemies if you want/need to freeze but I use the War bow for that.

According to my 'save file' I am 55hrs into this game and Level 46 - still not beaten the main story but Redmaw is Red-no-more now LOL

@KratosMD I like the 3 bows as the one with 'tear' arrows is great on high level enemies. It rips their armour and weapons off really quickly. I use the War Bow for elemental as well as the hunter for the fire and hard-point arrows - the normal arrows I use on wildlife. Therefore I only have 1 space left and swap out the Tripcaster when fighting machines but the Carja Sling for humans - that's the one with elemental and use fire on the humans - the area it spreads kills a few at once...

I also have done all the cauldrons so can hack all but the corrupted. I came across 2 thunderjaws, some grazers, watchers, scrappers and glinthawks - so I hacked the thunderjaw so it would seriously damage the other and sat back and watch it go on a rampage - especially as I used a tear arrow to disarm the other Thunderjaw. After the fight I picked up the Disc Launcher and annihilated the hacked Thunderjaw. Its great to watch these giant beasts fight each other...

I just saw on Amazon in the US that Horizon is "Temporarily out of stock". Sony has a hit on their hands.

@Splat
Only saw a few copies of the game at my local Target and only left at Walmart. Circumstantial evidence, of course, but seems to be off to an excellent start. Hopefully it'll have long legs as well.

@Splat Ropecaster is brilliant on the Bellow-something machine. I've encountered a lone one yesterday and the battle was EPIC, most fun I've had in HZD since I started.