Horizon Zero Dawn: 100% Achievement Guide (Story, The list of all Allies…)

There are but 2 achievements, which you really need to know about, before actually starting the game:

All allies joined

Given Aloy’s actions, all possible optional allies joined the defense.

All machines catalogued

Encountered and Focus scanned every type of machine.

Story

You need to explicitly finish a NG+ run on Ultra Hard, so play whichever difficulty you fancy for the first run.

Followed Rost’s teachings

Learned to hunt and fight alongside Rost.

Defeated the Sawtooth

Defeated the Sawtooth that threatened the Nora.

Triumphed in the Proving

Overcame adversity and placed first in the Proving.

Victorious with the War-Chief

Found the Nora War-Chief and defeated the killers in the Ring of Metal.

Fought back the corruption

Destroyed the corruption inside the Nora valley.

Saved Meridian from its foe

Helped Erend investigate Ersa’s fate, and foiled a plot against Meridian.

Learned of the ancient past

Learned of the ancient past at Maker’s End.

Crashed the Eclipse network

Infiltrated the Eclipse battle camp and crashed their network.

Discovered the truth

Discovered the truth of Zero Dawn.

Broke the siege of All-Mother

Defeated the invaders and went inside the sacred mountain.

Recovered a powerful weapon

Explored the Mountain That Fell and recovered a powerful weapon.

Up until this point, nothing is missable. So just play whichever way you want.

All allies joined *missable*

Given Aloy’s actions, all possible optional allies joined the defense.

In order to recruit allies, you need to finish several side quests scattered all over the map.
Some quests will only unlock later in the story, but they will stay available until the end of the game.
The first chapter of this guide will show you the point of no return.

For the complete list of allies, check the chapter right below this one.

Ended the war machine threat

Ended the threat of the ancient war machines.

The list of all Allies

Aluki

• Side Quest: A Moment’s Peace | Level 12
  • Near the Temple of the Sun in Meridian, a man with an eyepatch, named Vilgund, can be heard calling out to “able-bodied adventurers.”
  • Note: This quest will take you to a Banuk camp in the northeastern snowy part, just outside the DLC region. If you visit the camp without having accepted the quest, it will automatically start from there and the man in Meridian will disappear.

Nakoa

• Side Quest: A Daughter’s Vengeance | Level 15
  • While at Mother’s Rise, Aloy encounters a young Nora man named Yan making supplication to All-Mother. Yan tells Aloy that his prayers are for All-Mother to watch over his sister Nakoa, who had left to find and exact vengeance upon Zaid, a brutal Carja captain.

Namman

• Side Quest: Honor the Fallen | Level 16
  • In Meridian, Sun-Priest Namman wishes to support Sun-King Avad’s push for peace by helping three pilgrims from different Tribes in the region mourn loved ones lost during the Red Raids. Aloy decides to help him.

Elida

• Side Quest: Sun and Shadow | Level 20
  • In Brightmarket (located in the Sundom, northwest of Meridian), Aloy encounters a nobleman leaning over a bridge and searching the river. The man, Lahavis, explains that his young daughter, Elida, has gone missing after last being seen in the family’s garden.

Janeva

• Side Quest: Sunstone Rock | Level 20
  • While traveling through the Jewel (the jungle south of Meridian), Aloy hears a commotion at Sunstone Rock, a small settlement far to the south of the Sundom. Upon approach, Aloy sees that Carja guards are attempting to take down two Behemoths who have descended on the settlement. After helping dispatch the Behemoths, Aloy is greeted by the guards and told to visit Janeva inside.

Uthid

• Side Quest: Traitor’s Bounty | Level 21
  • When Aloy arrives in Sunfall during the main quest Deep Secrets of the Earth, she gains access to the Citadel’s throne room by blending in with a group of outlanders who are gathering to listen to High Priest Bahavas list the day’s bounties. Among them is a high bounty for a Shadow Carja traitor named Uthid.
  • While Aloy listens to Bahavas list Uthid’s crimes, a woman in the crowd remarks quietly to Aloy that Uthid has been falsely accused and cryptically requests that Aloy seek her out in Shadowside for more information.

Vanasha

• Side Quest: Queen’s Gambit | Level 28
  (given automatically directly after completing the quest for the ally just above)
  • At the end of Traitor’s Bounty, Vanasha reveals that the death of High Priest Bahavas has created a window of opportunity for the captive Dowager Queen Nasadi and her son, Prince Itamen, to defect from Sunfall and escape the Shadow Carja. She asks for Aloy’s help in securing the arrangement.

This will also unlock you:

Aided the defectors

Aided the escapes of Uthid and the child king Itamen from the Shadow Carja.

Talanah

• Side Quests (each of them automatically unlocks the next):
  Hunting for the Lodge | Level 16
  Hunter’s Blind | Level 12
  Deadliest Game | Level 18
  Redmaw | Level 19
  • As Aloy visits any of the Hunting grounds, she’s challenged to participate in the trials. Upon earning medals in all 3 available trials, the Hunting grounds Keeper offers her to join the Hunters Lodge in Meridian. There she’s given a chance to climb through the ranks of the Lodge and to face a real dangerous foe at the end of it.

This will also unlock you:

Hunted Redmaw with Talanah

Rose through the ranks of the Hunters Lodge and helped Talanah defeat Redmaw.

Level Ups and Skills

Reached level 10

Reached player level 10.

Reached level 25

Reached player level 25.

Reached level 40

Reached player level 40.

Reached level 50

Reached player level 50.

Reached level 60

Reached player level 60.

All Skills learned

Learned all available skills.

All Frozen Wilds Skills

Learned all of the new skills in the Frozen Wilds

This is rather straight-forward. Kill everything you come across, complete all quests and invest all your skill points.

Amoung those skills, you will find what you need to unlock:

Stealth killed 10 machines

Performed a stealth kill on 10 machines.

3 Strikes From Above

Killed 3 enemies using the Strike from Above skill.

5 Dismount Strikes Killed

5 enemies using the Dismount Strike skill.

5 Machine Types Repaired

Used the Machine Repair or Mount Repair skill on 5 different types of machine.

Once you unlocked the skills, you shouldn’t have any problems unlocking the achievements as well.

Machines & Combat

Headshot 30 human enemies

Killed 30 human enemies by landing headshots on them.

Self-explanatory. There are by far enough human enemies in the game to unlock this without any problems.

Tore off 10 components

Detached 10 components from machines during combat.

Tore off 5 heavy weapons

Detached 5 heavy weapons from machines during combat.

It’s completely impossible not to tore off 10 components while playing the game.
Heavy weapons on the other hand are somewhat rare.
There are but 3 machines in the game, which are equipped with such weapons:

• Ravager – 1 “Ravager Cannon”
• Thunderjaw – 2 “Disc Launcher”
• Deathbringer – 2 “Gun Turret”

10 Vulnerable machine kills

Killed 10 machines weak to Fire while burning, or weak to Freeze while frozen.

Should come naturally. Fire and Freeze are actually really strong in Horizon, so you’d do yourself a favor by using them.

7 types of machine overridden

Unlocked and used the overrides for 7 different types of machine.

You’ll automatically unlock the ability to override machines early on in the story. You won’t be able to override all machines from the get go, though. In order to unlock more overrides, you need to complete the Cauldrons (the sci-fi dungeons), which are revealed on your map by overriding a tallneck.
Here’s the full table of overrides:

Cauldron PSI
Watchers
Tallnecks
Striders
Chargers
Broadheads

Cauldron SIGMA

Grazers
Scrappers
Lancehorns
Sawtooths

Cauldron XI

Glinthawks
Stalkers
Bellowbacks
Behemoths

Cauldron RHO

Longlegs
Shell-Walkers
Tramplers
Ravagers
Snapmaws

Cauldron ZETA

Rockbreakers
Stormbirds
Thunderjaws

All Acquisition machines killed

All Recon machines killed

All Transport machines killed

All Combat machines killed

All machines catalogued *missable*

Overworld

Note, that all the achievements in this chapter exclude the DLC region in the northeast of the map.

First & All
Tallnecks Overridden Scaled a Tallneck and accessed its information.

Scaled all of the Tallnecks and accessed their information.

First & All
Bandit Camps cleared Took back a settlement from a bandit clan.

Took back all settlements from the bandit clans.

First & All
Corrupted Zones cleared Killed all the corrupted machines in a Corrupted Zone.

Killed all the corrupted machines in every Corrupted Zone.

First & All
Cores Overridden Reached the Core of a Cauldron.

Reached the Core of every Cauldron.

All Suns
– at one Ground
– at all Grounds

Earned at least a Half Sun mark in all three trials
– at one Hunting Ground.
– at all of the Hunting Grounds.

Blazing Suns
– at one Ground
– at all Grounds

Earned a Blazing Sun mark in all three trials
– at one Hunting Ground.
– at all of the Hunting Grounds.

These achievements are pretty self-explanatory.
Override all the Tallnecks and the locations for the other activities will be revealed on the map.

First & All
Vantages found Found and accessed a Vantage datapoint.

Found and accessed all of the Vantage datapoints.

First & All
Metal Flowers found Discovered a strange metal flower.

Found all of the Metal Flowers.

First & All
Banuk Figures found Found a wooden effigy left by a Banuk traveler.

Found all of Arnak’s figures.

First & All
Ancient Vessels found Found an ancient vessel once used by the Old Ones.

Found all the Ancient Vessels.

You can actually buy some maps at most merchants under the “Special Items” tab, which roughly display all their locations.

That being said, here are a few further hints on how to locate them exactly:

• Vantage Points (12)
• Metal Flowers (30)
• Banuk Figures (6)
• Ancient Vessels (12)

Miscellanious

First Modification

Used a Weapon Coil or Outfit Weave on a modifiable weapon or outfit.

Modifications are uncommon drops from killed machines.
To use them, open your menu, go to crafting, choose weapons or outfits, pick a weapon/outfit with an empty slot and choose a mod to equip.
You’ll be given your first outfit with a slot just before the Proving.

Downed 23 Grazer dummies

Found and knocked over all of the Grazer training dummies in the Nora region.

Here’s a screenshot with all locations:

Got the Shield-Weaver outfit

Recovered an ancient technology and put it to use.

DLC – Frozen Wilds

Yes, the DLC is already included and does not need to be purchased separately.

All of the achievements below refer to the snowy area in the north-east corner of the map:

Took the Shaman’s Path

Survived the Shaman’s Path and found Ourea’s retreat.

Won the Werak Challenge

Challenged Aratak at the Frostfigures and won.

Completed the Second Expedition

Successfully assaulted Thunder’s Drum.

Conquered the Mountain

Drove out the threat within the mountain.

These 4 are the story achievements of the DLC and therefor impossible to miss.

All Quests completed

Completed all side quests and errands in the Frozen Wilds.

All Activities completed

Completed the Tallneck, Bandit Camp and Hunting Ground in the Cut.

All Control Towers disabled

Disabled all Control Towers by overriding or destroying them.

All Pigments Found

Found all of the Pigments in the Cut.

All Animal Figurines found

Found all of the Animal Figurines in the Cut.

Self-explanatory. Pretty identical to the base game activities.

Drained the Flood

Completely drained the floodwater from inside the Greycatch.

This is part of the side quest “Waterlogged”. While the quest itself is pretty self-explanatory, there’s somewhat of an optional pipe puzzle in the facility, which also needs to be completed for the achievement to unlock. It doesn’t matter, in which order you complete quest and puzzle.

Won Ikrie’s Challenge

Met Ikrie again at the Snowchants Hunting Ground and took first place
in her challenge.

Complete the side quest “Survivor”, upon which Ikrie will be unlocked. Find her at the Snowchants Hunting Ground in the north of the region and complete “Ikrie’s Challenge”.

First Spear Modification

Applied a modification to your spear.

Complete the errand “Secret Shared”, and you’ll unlock a mod slot for your spear. Put a mod inside it via the crafting menu.

First Bluegleam Trade

Traded Bluegleam for a special weapon or outfit.

Fully Improved Weapons

Killed 15 Scorchers

Killed 10 Frostclaws

Killed 6 Fireclaws