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The Burning Shores expansion for Horizon Forbidden West is filled with a remarkable amount of new content for Aloy to explore. Aside from the main story, which adds a great deal to the world of Horizon, The Burning Shores features a wide variety of side content that is both engaging and itself a compelling addition to the story of Horizon Forbidden West. While there are several impressive pieces of side content in The Burning Shores, one of the most interesting is the Aerial Capture series of quests.
These small missions pick up where the Vista Point missions from Horizon Forbidden West left off, offering Aloy a unique view into a past she knows little about. Unlike so much side content in modern gaming, the Aerial Captures show that the Horizon series considers every piece of content a viable avenue for storytelling, placing important lore in nearly every experience. Trophy hunters will also be pleased to know that locating and completing every Aerial Capture will reward them with the Recovered All Aerial Captures Trophy.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: West
Locate the Dark Clouds:
The western Aerial Capture is found over the small island that was once the coastal city of Santa Monica. To find it, players should look for the remains of a roller coaster and a Ferris Wheel. There will be a massive dark cloud floating over the island, with lightning noticeably flickering throughout. Using a flying mount, Aloy can approach the cloud to begin the quest.
This capture is decidedly harder than the rest, for reasons that will become clear as Aloy gets closer to the clouds. As she approaches, she will notice a massive Apex Stormbird flying in and out of the ominously dark clouds. Players should scan the machine to see its flight path, then follow it to initiate a combat encounter. Aloy must destroy the Stormbird before moving on to finding the location of the flight path signal.
How to Defeat the Apex Stormbird:
The Apex Stormbird has the following attributes:
Weak Vs.
- Acid Damage
- Plasma Damage
Strong Vs.
- Fire Damage
- Frost Damage
- Shock Damage
Strategy:
The Apex variant of the Stormbird is decidedly more aggressive than the base bird, which is already a formidable challenge. Using Acid Bombs or Advanced Acid Hunter/Precision Arrows will build up the corroded status very quickly. This makes the Stormbird take damage over time, as well as permanently weakening its armor. This is a great time to aim for weak spots and detachable parts. Players can see the image above for specific details and should remember to try and keep the Stormbird constantly under the Corroded or Plasma Blast status effect.
The Burning Shores DLC's new Specter Gauntlet is pretty much always a good option as well. It works particularly well with the Stormbird in a corroded state.
Locate the Flight Path:
Once the Apex Stormbird is dealt with, the usual purple circle that marks the Aerial Capture quest is available for use. Players should fly Aloy's mount through the circle and along the path to locate the desired image.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: Northwest
Locate the Transmitter:
This transmitter is found inside the ruins of a skyscraper. The signal can be seen coming from the tower, but Aloy will not be able to get inside until she has her mount rip the metal grate off the wall. Holding down R3 will allow Aloy to see exactly where she needs to take her flying mount, as there are two talon symbols clearly visible. Once the wall is destroyed, Aloy can enter the chamber and download the flight data.
Follow the Flight Path:
The start of the flight path can be found just east of the ruined skyscraper. Players should follow the signal up to the Hollywood sign to see the Aerial Capture.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: North
Locate the Transmitter:
To find the improvised transmitter that puts out this flight path, players will need to head to the small Devotee Outpost located west of the Slitherfang Site. Besides several machine sites, there is not much else in the area. The improvised transmitter is found up on a hill in the northernmost area of the camp.
Follow the Flight Path:
Once Aloy gets the flight info, players should take to the sky with her mount. The path's starting point will be right near the camp, and the path will take her directly over, so they'll need to watch out for projectiles if Aloy didn't clear the outpost.
As they follow the flight path through the Hollywood Hills, players should hit the green audio log markers along the way. They'll also need to make sure to press R3 as Aloy passes through the final marker to begin the Aerial Capture. If they miss their chance, players will have to return to the beginning and do it all over.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: Northeast
Locate the Transmitter:
The signal that leads to the northeast Aerial Capture is found, not surprisingly, just east of the Aerial Capture: North icon on the map. Players should head to the area marked on the map above, then use Aloy's Focus to find the source of the signal. They can then head inside the large concrete ruin to locate the transmitter.
Follow the Flight Path:
The flight path begins not far to the east of the transmitter location. If Aloy has the quest set as her active mission, she can simply follow the mission markers to find it.
To complete Aerial Capture: Northeast, players will need to follow the path up the volcano and through the hills to reach the final capture site.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: East
Locate the Transmitter:
Continuing down the eastern edge of the Burning Shores map, Aloy will encounter the Aerial Capture: East transmitter just north of Cauldron THETA. Using the Focus, players will see that the signal is coming from what appears to be a small section of a ruined road. They should then head to the source of the signal to locate the improvised transmitter.
Follow the Flight Path:
The starting coordinates are a little further away from the transmitter than the previous captures. Here, Aloy will head down to the northern edge of Pangea Park, which was the theme park featured in the Burning Shores expansion's main story. If players select the east capture as their active mission, they'll see the marker located just north of Reggie's Adventure. They can then enter the circle from the northern side to follow the flight path.
Aloy will fly around the park listening to a voice from the past lamenting that there is no hope. Players can then continue on and out over the ocean to see the Aerial Capture scene.
How to Complete Aerial Capture: South
Locate the Transmitter:
To complete Aerial Capture: South, Aloy must complete all of the other captures first. When she has finished the penultimate capture, she'll automatically begin the Aerial Capture: South mission after commenting to herself that she seems to be picking up another signal. Making the quest her active mission will allow players to see the marker on her map. Due to the nature of this mission, there is no transmitter that Aloy must find, only the start of the flight path.
Follow the Flight Path:
The start of the flight path is located southeast of Fleet's End and just west of the Murmuring Hollow Relic Ruins. The circle Aloy must fly through is much closer to the ground than normal, so players should look out for the beach while descending. They'll also need to make sure to head through the circle from the south side to avoid needing to turn around.
After heading through the circle, players should follow the path through the canyon that splits the ruins of downtown Los Angeles and listen to the final message from a time long past. Completing this flight will unlock the "Recovered All Aerial Captures" trophy.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.