Workbench Guide in Horizon Forbidden West: How to Upgrade Equipment

Just like in the previous part of the series, in Horizon Forbidden West, players can upgrade their equipment and increase the capacity of their ammo pouches. To do this, you'll need to thoroughly search the surroundings for resources and kill animals. In this guide, we'll tell you in detail how to upgrade your equipment and increase your inventory capacity.

At the end of the prologue, after activating the quest Reach for the Stars, Aloy will meet familiar characters in a small village. Here, she receives a new spear and can use the workbench for the first time.

After receiving the quest On the Edge, the player should head west. Use the elevator and you'll find yourself in the open world. From this point, Aloy can use workbenches in shelters at any time.

Approach the table and press the Triangle button to enter the upgrade menu. Now you need to select the appropriate upgrade section. In this menu, the player can upgrade weapons, outfits, and pouches, as well as craft traps, potions, and special equipment that will be unlocked through the storyline.

To upgrade an item, follow the instructions below (using the Freeze Blast Sling as an example):

This principle applies to any section. Note that at the beginning of the game, pouches are only of six types: for potions, hunting arrows, resources, traps, and bombs. As you explore the world and progress through the storyline, other types become available: for tripwires, spikes, precision arrows, projectiles, and food.

More rare weapons and armor can be purchased in the store. Moreover, changing the rarity color is not possible, so when upgrading, you can only improve the device's characteristics.

There is another way to upgrade weapons and armor. The player will constantly find various coils and fabrics in chests and after killing robots. The former can be inserted into weapons, and the latter into armor. With their help, the user can add extra damage or increase protection against certain characteristics: acid, cold, electricity, water, plasma.

Upgrading items requires a variety of resources. The most important among them are metal shards, which are scattered throughout the world. Many resources are hidden in chests, however, the rarest can only be obtained by inspecting defeated enemies and wildlife. It's worth noting that plants and animal meat are also necessary for creating arrows and potions.

For simplified searching of necessary resources, which are only obtained from robots, it's recommended to use the map. Throughout the game world, there are special points, habitat zones, marked with specific symbols. With their help, you can find the location of any robotic machines.

Ordinary animals are easy to find in the forest. They constantly appear in real-time, so it's enough to spend some time searching for animals and upgrading the pouches. To detect them, you need to press the R3 (right stick) button — a visor will be activated, highlighting all the wildlife in the area with a bright orange color.

In Horizon Forbidden West, there is a special feature that will help find the missing materials for upgrading pouches. It can only be activated at the workbench. Get to it, find the necessary item for upgrading and press Triangle. This action will create a separate quest.

The system will suggest activating this task as the main one. To confirm, click on Cross or cancel this action with Circle. After creating the quest, a small yellow icon will appear over the pouch. From this moment, it will be displayed in the task list in the corresponding menu section.

The game automatically selects suitable locations for collecting the necessary materials regardless of the hero's current position. This system does not always work perfectly. In the marked place, the player will definitely find suitable animals to obtain the missing items, but in some cases, it is possible to find the animals much closer.

Note that some wildlife (crabs and fish) are much rarer than boars or squirrels. Finding them will be quite difficult, so don't be surprised by long journeys in search of suitable materials.

In some large settlements, locals sell a small amount of rare and unusual materials from animal bodies. To buy them, the player will have to pay with shards and other valuables, for example, feathers, which can be obtained from wild animals. If the hunter offers a suitable material for crafting an item, a corresponding icon will appear in the shop menu.