Unleashing Power: The Ultimate Guide to Horizon Forbidden West's Legendary Weapons

Aloy's journey in the Horizon series is filled with dangers as she unravels the truth about her origins, battles against rogue machines, and seeks to reunite GAIA with its sub-functions in Forbidden West. To restore Earth's damaged biosphere, Aloy must overcome numerous obstacles to locate these sub-functions, and players have a wide range of weapons at their disposal to ensure her success. Horizon Forbidden West offers legendary weapons that are considered the pinnacle of equipment in the game, but even these powerful weapons vary in terms of effectiveness.

Aloy herself is a formidable adversary for the villains in Horizon Forbidden West, an expert in unarmed combat. The game offers nine ranks of weapons to assist her, with the legendary weapons being the top choices for enhancing her damage-dealing abilities. Among these legendary weapons, a select few stand out for their immense power and are the recommended options for facing Specter Prime, while others are slightly less popular. Including the Burning Shores DLC, players can discover a total of 26 legendary weapons, each with its own unique abilities that separate them into different tiers.

S Tier

The Tears of the Land-God is widely considered the top Hunter bow in Horizon Forbidden West. It delivers impressive damage, especially when paired with purgewater ammunition. Its exceptional perks include a 20% concentration damage boost, allowing it to quickly defeat Aloy's enemies in Forbidden West. It is the ultimate choice for any loadout.

Before the New Game+ update, the Death Seeker's Shadow held the title of Forbidden West's best weapon. This Hunter bow surpasses the Tears of the Land-God in terms of its shock damage capabilities. Additionally, its ability to target arrows has made it a popular choice among fans.

Defiance: When faced with the decision between Defiance and Last Argument in Horizon Forbidden West, players may find it challenging to choose, given that both spike throwers excel in their respective categories. However, when considering overall usability, Defiance holds a slight advantage over the Burning Shores DLC counterpart, as it offers enhanced knockdown damage through a diverse range of Spikes.

A Tier

Alternative Perspective: When comparing the Oseram weapon to Defiance, some gamers may lean towards the former due to its minimal difference in power. The Last Argument boasts the use of Plasma and Beef Spikes, resulting in heightened effectiveness against Forbidden West's toughest bosses. Additionally, with its activated Instant Brittle Chance, this weapon can create chaos on the battlefield.

The Wings of the Ten: Blastslings are incredibly powerful weapons in Horizon Forbidden West, offering a wide range of combat possibilities. With their explosive and adhesive ammunition, these versatile weapons become even more effective when paired with valor surges.

Skykiller, a spike thrower, becomes accessible only after completing the mission "The Way Home" in Forbidden West. This weapon proves to be exceptionally devastating, inflicting explosive and fire damage on machines. Despite the high cost of its ammunition, many gamers opt to use it when taking on larger enemies.

Forgefall: Functioning primarily as a sniper, the Forgefall exhibits exceptional destructive capabilities with its plasma and regular arrows, the latter proving deadly. While it does possess certain limitations such as limited ammo and the costly nature of plasma arrows, its sheer potency justifies the trade-off.

Iriv's Downfall: Included in Horizon Forbidden West with the arrival of the New Game+ Update, the Sharpshot Bow stands as one of the top weapons in the game when fully enhanced. Nevertheless, the production of its ammunition proves exorbitantly expensive and nearly impossible to uphold.

B Tier

Legacy's Reach: Legacy's Reach shines in terms of versatility, offering advanced explosive bombs that excel at disabling Horizon Forbidden West's tougher machinery and dealing with smaller groups from a respectable distance.

Gravesinger's Lament: If sneaking around and staying hidden is your style, Gravesinger's Lament is the ideal choice. This sharpshot bow eliminates enemies with incredible efficiency when used for sniping. However, its specialization limits its effectiveness compared to other bows in different situations.

The Blast Forge is ideal for taking advantage of weaknesses in the armor of opponents. It combines impressive handling abilities with powerful explosive and penetrating bolts. As the primary adversary of machines like the Grimhorn, the Blast Forge only suffers from slight drawbacks of being slower and bulkier.

The Specter Gauntlet stands out visually with its elegant design, setting it apart from other weapons in the game as it originates from Far Zenith. This Special weapon is cherished by fans for its exceptional damage and distinctive aiming techniques. However, its lack of progression limits its overall effectiveness.

Content fragment

Emperor's Reign: Another remarkable Hunter Bow, Emperor's Reign boasts a formidable damage output when using regular ammunition, making it a tempting choice for players who prefer not to spend excessive time hunting for rare items. However, its allure is also its biggest drawback, as Emperor's Reign lacks the variety of Elemental options found in other bows.

Skyhammer: Armed with fire, ice, and purgewater ammunition, the Skyhammer reaches its full potential when players combine its explosive bombs with its unique abilities. For example, in the Forbidden West game expansion Burning Shores DLC, players can effectively cripple Waterwings by utilizing the aerial damage and firebombs of the Skyhammer, causing severe damage.

Content rephrased:

The Sun Scourge: Unlocked after successfully eliminating all rebel camps, the renowned Hunter Bow has the power to shoot fire, ice, and poison arrows, causing immense destruction to Aloy's enemies. However, its reload speed is slower than what most players prefer and upgrading it is a tedious task.

Eye of The Storm: Equipped with an impressive arsenal of Elemental abilities, the Eye of the Storm enhances concentration damage and provides a chance of instantly causing Corrosion. The Warrior Bow's capabilities allow for substantial damage even in close combat, and the Burning Shores addition stands out as one of the top choices in its category.

C Tier

Ancestor's Return: The Shredder Gauntlets in Horizon Forbidden West may not be the most appealing weapons, considering their complex usage. However, the Ancestor's Return stands out with its impressive acid effects and impact damage. Although, the unpredictable repositioning of its ammo can make it a cumbersome choice among the various items in the game.

Tinker's Pride: In Forbidden West, traps offer a thrilling way to catch Aloy's enemies off guard. Tinker's Pride is equipped with an extensive array of tricks, including explosive wires that can stagger even the most formidable machines. Using the Tripcaster demands some finesse, as its strike pattern can be somewhat unpredictable, but the damage it inflicts with minimal effort is undoubtedly remarkable.

Carja's Bane: Known for its simplicity, Carja's Bane is a highly efficient bow in Horizon Forbidden West with impressive DPS, making it an ideal choice for eliminating foes up close. However, its limited range and lack of adaptability when compared to other legendary weapons can be seen as drawbacks. Furthermore, the demanding process of completing every Gauntlet Race in order to obtain this weapon may discourage players.

The Final Chapter: Recently introduced in the New Game+ update, The Final Chapter proves to be most effective when paired with Ancestor's Return, which grants it piercing ammunition. On its own merits, though, the Shredder Gauntlet fails to distinguish itself from similar weapons.

All-Mother's Blessing: Enhancing the New Game+ experience, All-Mother's Blessing employs the power of elemental attacks to catch opponents off guard. Players can strategically utilize fire, shock, and plasma tripwires, providing them with versatile options. Despite its occasional utility, this weapon tends to be overlooked by many players in the Forbidden West.

Rain of Sparks: Recognized for their effectiveness, Warrior Bows are highly valued in Horizon Forbidden West. Rain of Sparks, in particular, delivers substantial knockdown damage and excels at generating critical hits with its adhesive arrows. However, the lackluster perks associated with this bow hinder its overall popularity among players.

Eternal Vengeance: Known for its raw power, Boltblasters are favored for their ability to deliver crushing blows. The Eternal Vengeance variant, with its faster reload time and increased chance of explosive damage, aims to boost players' overall damage output. Nonetheless, it falls short compared to other renowned weapons like The Blast Forge in terms of effectiveness.

The Tie That Binds: With its swift reload speed and capability to catch adversaries off guard, the Ropecaster proves to be a valuable asset in combat. However, in the Forbidden West gameplay, it often gets overlooked due to an abundance of superior weaponry found both in the Burning Shores DLC and the base game.

Revising the Fragment

Distant Thunder: Navigating the Shredder Gauntlets can be quite challenging, and unfortunately, the impact damage boon doesn't make much of an impact in Distant Thunder, as it lacks diverse elemental ammunition choices. Although it can still incapacitate foes with its high raw damage, the Distant Thunder falls short in delivering the necessary bite for formidable opponents.

Brawlbreaker: Regrettably, Brawlbreaker is one of the most underappreciated weapons in Horizon Forbidden West. It offers fewer powerful features compared to others in its category and is plagued by frustratingly long reload times. Players have only managed to find solace by utilizing mods in conjunction with the Brawlbreaker.

Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.