Horizon Forbidden West is one of the best open-world games to come out this year. While the game is hard on the hardest difficulty, Guerrilla Games surprised players with a New Game+ mode, which increases the difficulty even more. The New Game+ mode allows players to keep their skills, armor, and gear from the first playthrough, but the main difference is how much harder Horizon Forbidden West becomes.
The great thing about playing this new mode is that players will feel more rewarded, and in turn, they can try harder. In the end, this can make Horizon Forbidden West much more satisfying. Along with making sure their character is relatively strong at the get-go, players should use these tips, which can go a long way in the New Game+ mode.
Updated on September 29, 2022, by Raza Malik: As the Horizon franchise grows in popularity, so do the games. In this case, Horizon: Forbidden West keeps players engaged by getting them through the game on harder difficulties. Since the Horizon: Forbidden West New Game+ mode was released this past summer, it has allowed players to get even more immersed in one of the most complex worlds of modern gaming in Horizon: Forbidden West. This way players can challenge themselves more, and in turn, get more out of the game, which has made Horizon: Forbidden West kind of a popular game among not just fans, but newcomers. Even though a lot of the same strategies as leveling up, doing side missions, and more, apply in the base game, as much as they do in the New Game+ mode. Many players will overlook things that work better in this mode, and can only be done in the New Game+ mode as well. Players who want to get the best experience overall should continue reading.
10 Using Traps
This is rather more important in the New Game + mode than it is in the base version of Horizon: Forbidden West. Since the difficulty is now raised, even more, players will take more of a hit, these traps allow them to pack more of a punch, and keep safe at the same time. The great thing is that players can study the robotic animal paths, and track them. On top of that, wherever these robots gather, there are a lot of dense bushes, so players can hide in them, look for a good place to drop the trap, and then return to the hiding spot.
When the robot hits the trap, many things can happen, depending on the trap being used. But the main thing is it’ll do an AoE effect, which can make things much easier for players. Allowing players to take down many enemies at once, all while putting less effort into it is more important in this mode. The traps are a great way in the New Game + mode for players to have more than a fighting chance because as mentioned before, things get so much harder in this mode.
9 Explosive Weapons
If players want to maximize their damage and put in fewer shots, this is the best way to go. Because in the New Game + mode, this matters the most since enemies are tougher this time around. Thankfully, there’s a lot going on in terms of explosive weapons. They can come from Aloy’s arrows to her quicker attacks. And ultimately makes Horizon: Forbidden West a lot easier to play. Just like the traps, these weapons have AoE effects, so if players launch these weapons toward a group of enemies, they’ll get hurt quicker over time.
Taking these weapons against bosses is a perfect idea since everything is much harder, the boss battles become an actual fight that can make players sweat. So using these explosive weapons can make them a lot more of a threat since they don’t have to worry about attacking one target but rather a group of them. When players are going up against the bigger robots in Horizon: Forbidden West, these types of weapons become more crucial, because now the objective is to take down the beast as soon as possible in the New Game + mode.
8 Loot/Hunt More
This is a rule in the base game of Horizon: Forbidden West, and in the New Game+ mode, it’s crucial. Upgrading things is really important, and can’t be done if players don’t have the resources to do so. In the New Game + mode, if players loot and often hunt, both by hunting animals and robots, they’ll have a better experience. With these newfound resources they got, players can upgrade the arrows, do more damage, or upgrade how much health they can get back, and many other things.
Because in the New Game + mode, if players get into a fight by having armor or weapons that are weak, they’ll be punished harder. This way they can get level up faster as well, and learn even more mechanics of Horizon; Forbidden West. When players hunt for resources, they can come across things to sell as well, and get more shards for the more expensive gear. So this tip is great for not just being stronger, but also getting other things as well.
7 Be More Nimble
Since the New Game+ mode is a lot harder, players get to keep the progress that they made during their first playthrough. This means, if they have good armor, or created a build, they get to keep that. However, in the New Game + mode even if players have kitted up well, it does not matter that much. But what helps is that players are mobile. Because the enemies in Horizon: Forbidden West are already quite a challenge, and in this mode, they hit even harder.
So if players avoid every shot, by dodging, rolling, and jumping out of the way, players can find their tempo quickly. The good news is that Aloy’s movements are very fluid, she can do all those things and put a crazy amount of damage in at the same time, which in this mode can make her deadly. On top of that, the controls are well done, enough for players to have good control of what Aloy is doing, this makes fighting so much more immersive than any other third-person game.
6 Get Legendary Weapons
All gear and weapons have tiers in Horizon: Forbidden West, from common to rare, they all have perks and benefits, and all impact gameplay. In the base game for Horizon: Forbidden West, there are legendary weapons, that can make life easier for players and can be obtained in various different ways. For the New Game + mode, they are exclusive legendary weapons just for that mode, which are all bought by the new currency, Champion Tokens. To get these tokens, all players need to do is play the main story missions of Horizon: Forbidden West.
These weapons are not only easier to get in the new mode, but they also equalize the fighting, since Aloy can now output devastating damage that can hinder the bigger robots and destroy the smaller and medium-sized ones. All weapons have perks, as mentioned before, but these legendary ones have perks that make gameplay a lot more manageable in the New Game + mode, which in turn makes the mode itself easy to tackle. Plus, if players have just legendary weapons and gear on them, they can be a force to be reckoned with, and turn makes this mode a lot more manageable.
5 Complete Side Missions
Open-world games mainly rely on side missions to drop a massive amount of XP, and Horizon Forbidden West follows suit. While the game has a wide selection of side activities, players should go after the side missions. Harder ones, naturally, yield more XP, which helps players level up more quickly than farming.
Not only do these missions reward players with XP, but they're also quite fun to play. Horizon Forbidden West has a wide range of side missions and features some pretty cool ones. This can be attributed to not just what happens on the missions themselves, but how each one impacts Aloy and her story. As players get through Horizon Forbidden West, everything is being done for a reason. The side missions play a big role in that.
4 Level Up
This tip works best with everything in the game, including side missions. The faster players level up, the more skills they can unlock. This is true in the base game; however, players may have not gotten all the skills during the first playthrough. New Game+ allows players to complete all the skill trees in Horizon Forbidden West.
In New Game+, players can pick which tree they want to specialize in because some are better than others. As players level up, things get easier, and taking down robotic beasts becomes achievable. The best part of Horizon: Forbidden West is that players will level up by doing almost anything.
3 Upgrade Weapons & Gear
Upgrading is just as important as leveling up. As players level up, they can use stronger gear or weapons. The best way to do this is for players to harvest the robots they've fought. This, in turn, can give Aloy good crafting materials to either trade or create things for high-value gear. Upgrading can go a long way because as players get better equipment, they can do more damage. In New Game+, this is especially important because enemy damage has increased.
While hunting for new materials to upgrade with, players should focus on specific parts. Some are better than others and can change the experience. If players know what they need, they can organize and prioritize to make the game easier. When players upgrade the appropriate amount, they can play more aggressively, and in New Game+ mode, that way is more rewarding.
2 Use & Enhance Heavy Weapons
One of the more important things in Horizon: Forbidden West is weapons. The game features a wide variety of weapons that Aloy uses, and each offers a different way to fight. If players consistently get new gear, they should often replace their weapons. As players get new weapons, they'll see that the higher-level ones have more slots to enhance.
These enhancements can exploit enemy weaknesses, and in New Game+ mode, that becomes even more important because enemies take longer to go down. While all weapons act differently, and each one does a different amount of damage, players should still utilize them. In New Game+ mode, doing the most amount of damage at once is the best strategy, so players should pick up heavy weapons when they can.
1 Health
When players take everything from this guide and put it all together, they can get through New Game+ mode more easily. However, the main thing that connects everything together is health. In New Game+ mode, this is a matter of life and death — even more so than usual. While players can keep the health they had in the first play-through, they'll still see one hit taking massive chunks from their health bar This aspect is really important in the hardest difficulty of Horizon: Forbidden West. The same story follows in New Game+ mode, but because players are able to restart with everything, they have a chance to upgrade their health.
Even if players have the best gear, weapons, and skills during the second playthrough, all this sadly won't mean anything if the health isn't upgraded alongside. If they take care of their health in New Game+, taking hits becomes manageable. However, it's still advised that players get hit as infrequently as possible, due to how much damage is dealt to Aloy.
Horizon: Forbidden West is available now on PS5 and PS4.