Horizon Forbidden West introduced various new weapons and tactics built upon the system established in Horizon Zero Dawn. The new system overhauled a lot of the mechanics of the bows previously featured, disposing of several conventions from the first game and doubling down on new classifications and types in Horizon Forbidden West. The changes redefined the tactical advantages of each weapon class, helping players create better builds adaptive to their play style.
While weapon ammo types such as Frost, Fire, Acid, Plasma, Berserk, and more are repeated on different weapons, possibly creating confusion among players, paying attention to the weapon class and its use helps sift through and organize the myriad of weapons. For example, War Bows from Horizon Zero Dawn which dealt elemental payloads were removed, with Warrior Bows picking up the slack in the sequel. While some feature elemental ammo, not enough of them used Berserk ammo to make the damage type feel special.
Berserk Arrows in Horizon Forbidden West
Berserk Arrows are featured on two Hunter Bows in Horizon Forbidden West. While some Hunter Bows offer elemental arrow types, they arguably aren't the best for delivering such a payload, even though they can be found to have all elements except for Plasma.
Hunter Bows are the only weapons in the game to carry the Berserk Arrow, the two being the Berserker Hunter Bow and the Marshal Hunter Bow. In Horizon Forbidden West, Berserk Hunter Arrows do not damage enemies; each hit builds up the Berserk state until the meter is full, sending the enemy into a frenzied state. In this state, the enemy will attack anything nearby, which is a valuable tactic to thin a pack of machines while remaining out of sight.
Many players found the Berserk effect weak compared to other elemental effects featured in Horizon Forbidden West. On Reddit, Horizon fans lobbied numerous complaints that the Berserk Arrows did not seem to affect machines as intended, whether players used it in the throes of battle or sniped machines from hidden vantage points. It made many players wonder why Berserk Arrows were added and Corruption Arrows from Horizon Zero Dawn were removed.
Corruption Arrows in Horizon Zero Dawn
The weapon system in Horizon Zero Dawn was much simpler than the one featured in Horizon Forbidden West. In the first game, there generally were Hunter Bows, Sharpshot Bows, War Bows, Elemental Slings, Blast Slings, and Ropecasters. Each weapon rarity offered an additional ammo slot, and the organization was a little cleaner, with each type of bow working a particular way. The War Bow was the elemental bow, utilizing only Frost, Shock, and Corruption ammo.
The Corruption ammo type in Horizon Zero Dawn operates very similarly to the Berserk ammo type in Horizon Forbidden West. Corruption deals no damage to enemies, but each hit fills up the Corruption meter until the machine or human enters the Corrupted state. In this state, the enemy afflicted became hostile to nearby machines or humans until the effect wore off. If used strategically, the player can use these arrows on an entire group of enemies without additional action on the player's part.
One arrow of Corruption usually filled the meter on smaller machines, while larger machines required multiple hits to trigger the effect. This could be increased on the larger enemies with very rare Corruption mods, which could infect most enemies quickly. Corruption did not affect Corrupted machines, Daemonic machines, and Chariot machines such as the Corrupter in Horizon Zero Dawn. It's important to note that a machine in the Corrupted state would attack the player if spotted.
Berserk Arrows Aren't Tied to the Story or Quests Like Frost and Acid
Many weapons in Horizon Forbidden West are tied to the story or to quests, whether primary or side. In the main tutorial quest, Reach For The Stars, Varl gives Aloy the Frost Blastsling as they progress through the Far Zenith base looking for a GAIA backup. This reminds returning players that the Frozen state causes machines to become brittle, taking more damage when hit with damage-dealing arrows.
Acid is also introduced in the same tutorial quest, where Varl and Aloy discover the Oseram miners killed by a dangerous machine and its acidic qualities. This is eventually revealed to be a Slitherfang, which Aloy battles using her Hunter Bow and Frost Blastsling. Acid is further enhanced through the story when Aloy gets to Chainscrape, and the Workbench and crafting system is introduced to players. Here, Aloy upgrades her Hunter Bow, which opens the Acid Arrow and helps her clear the Daunt of Acid Bristlebacks that mysteriously appeared.
Other ammunition types such as Shieldwires are offered as rewards from side characters. Some rare weapons are introduced in the Arena after Aloy saves the Kulrut and completes the quest to open the Arena. In contrast, Berserk Arrows, could have been an enhanced version of the Corruption Arrows, but they aren't tied to any story or quest. The Marshal Bow at the Arena says nothing about the ammo type, and the Quen version offers only a tidbit of lore. In Horizon Zero Dawn, the Corruption Arrows were narratively built off the Corrupted machines; it's a shame that Guerrilla didn't dig deeper for the Forbidden West counterpart.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
