As well as a brand-new main story campaign, the Burning Shores DLC expansion also brings a few new side quests to Horizon Forbidden West. One of these side quests is called A Friend in the Dark and sees Aloy reuniting with an old friend from the Frozen Wilds. It's a short yet enjoyable encounter and one that brings with it a pretty great reward.
Before players can begin A Friend in the Dark, they'll first need to complete the Murmuring Hollow Relic Ruins puzzle and then open the door next to the spot where they picked up the ornament. This will lead to Aloy running into her old friend Gildun, who asks for her help rescuing his delving partner Olvar, who is trapped down in the depths below.
A Friend in the Dark Door Code #1
After following the tunnel down for a little while, players will eventually come to a locked door. For those who are in a hurry, the three-digit code needed to unlock the first door is 117. Players can find this out for themselves by heading back up the tunnel just a little and then using Aloy's Focus to scan the purple datapoint dead ahead of them. It's hard to miss as it's literally right in front of players as they approach the first left turn.
A Friend in the Dark Door Code #2
Once they've opened the door, players should head down the stairs and into the large cavern. They'll notice a ledge dead ahead of them, but before they can reach it, they'll first need to find themselves a crate. Thankfully, this is fairly straightforward, with players simply needing to have Gildun help them to push the nearby railcar. They can then pull the crate up onto the stone slope and use it to reach the upper area.
From here, players will need to head into the room to the left of the locked door and use the Pullcaster to remove the blue grate and gain access to the vent. This will allow them to get to the other side of the railcar, at which point, they should use the nearby yellow beams to get over to the other side of the cavern. Here, they should scan the purple datapoint to get the next door code (1247) and then use the pull caster on the blue grate near the ledge to reveal a yellow wheel that controls the elevator.
Now that players have a way of working the elevator, it's time to bring Gildun up to the second floor. Once he's there, players should head back over to the railcar and work with him to push it forward. It's then just a simple case of dropping back down to the ground floor and pulling the crate from earlier into the elevator, at which point, Gildun will turn the wheel and transport both the crate and Aloy up to the second floor.
Players should be sure to explore all of the side rooms coming off the main cavern. Many of them contain Brimshine , which is needed for purchasing and upgrading some of the expansion's best weapons.
Players can now push the crate next to the railcar and use it to climb on top. From there they'll be able to jump across to the area above the locked door, where they'll need to ignite some Firegleam crystals by holding the R2 button. On the other side of this wall, players will find Ron's Spare Key Module as well as a Deathbringer gun. They'll want to pick both up and use the latter to take out the wave of Burrowers that has now appeared down beneath them.
With all of the Burrowers taken care of, players can finally open the door, using both the Key Module that they just picked up and the code from a little earlier. For those who've already forgotten it, the second door code for A Friend in the Dark is 1247. After scanning the datapoint on the other side of the door, players should use the Pullcaster to remove the blue grate and then head through the vent to find Olvar.
Should Aloy Tell Gildun the Truth About Olvar?
Upon entering the room, players will find Olvar's corpse. Examining the body will reveal that he stole Gildun's Looking Glass, which reaffirms Aloy's suspicions that Olvar didn't actually like Gildun all that much. After climbing back through the vent, players will be asked to choose whether to tell Gildun the truth, encourage him to figure things out for himself, or allow him to go on believing that Olvar genuinely cared about him.
Though the resulting dialog is different depending on which option players pick, it doesn't really matter what players decide to do. Regardless of what they choose, Aloy will give Gildun a Focus and introduce him to Gaia, who seems a lot less bothered by Gildun's overeagerness than everybody else. In return, Gildun will give Aloy the Last Argument: a Legendary Spike Thrower that's capable of dishing out some serious damage to machines. Players will also get 13,650 XP and two Skill Points for their troubles.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.