Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Side Quest Guide

This one is really the main story and it can’t be missed, you get it when you get into Song’s Edge. Speak to the man at Song’s End to get some info and then follow the waypoint to Naltuk. He will introduce you to control towers that you need to destroy or take over. Either way, when you are done you will have to clear the robots out as well. Afer that return to Naltuk and follow the waypoint to the Shaman Path. There are some rocks to climb near the end to get higher.

When you are inside the path, use the beacons and follow their light until you find some windchimes. Now you will follow the windchimes to the next markers. Follow the windchimes and markers until you are out. From there you have to keep climbing. Once you reach the top you will find another control tower that you can take over or destroy. When it is out of the way, go further up until you reach the inside of a bunker type area. Use your vision on the left side of the door and a waypoint will pop up, follow that to a minor puzzle. You have to make the light go to the center, just take it away from the red area and all the light will end up in the center.

Now you will have to climb again and this time you finally reach the top. There is another light puzzle here but this one is much harder. I really have no idea how to explain it with words but I made a video to help anyone out who needs it.

You can pick this up in Song’s End once you can move around freely there. The woman there has lost her drum and her village to a mysterious flood and she wants you to check it out. Head to the waypoint and you will run into some of those crocodile robots in the water. Aloy will wonder what happened and suggest you check upriver. Follow the river all the way up until you run into the ancients ruins called Greycatch, it’s basically a dam. Go inside and use your vision to find a trapped guy in the area. Go speak to him and you will start the second part of the quest.

When he is at the first valve, climb the ladder and follow the wall until you can see a small tunnel. Go inside and follow that around to find the valve you need to turn. Do some platforming to get to the next valve and then repeat going through the tunnel and through a small hole to get to your valve. The valve that the NPC is at isn’t working because of the counterweight so you have to climb up and balance that out. When you get low enough, jump off and head back to your valve. This will lower the water and make it so you can kill the Croc down below to get the ring. This one is weak to fire if you care to know.

Return to the command post and put the ring back in. You can use your vision on the panel next to the five rings to find out which way they need to rotated. It was left, up, down, up and right for me. Grab the supplies and the power cell and reset the dam. The water will drain and you can go lower into the dam for a valve puzzle if you want or you can return to the quest giver and complete the quest. I added a video for the valve puzzle down below if you need some help.

This is in Song’s End but you need to complete The Shaman’s Path quest before you can get it. When you return to Song’s End, talk to Burgrend and he will ask you to find three hunters out in the wilds. They are marked on your map but each hunt is a little different.

The first one is fire beasts, so make sure to use your fire resist potions and set up electric and explosions traps. They are right by a control tower which means you need to lure them away or disable it. If you fight them in the tower’s radius, it will heal them and that will just make the fight drag. Your allies can’t die so don’t worry about them. I focused the smaller enemies first and then brought down the scorcher last.

The second hunt was much easier, just stalkers this time. I went from behind towards the control tower and when I got close, the other hunters went in and distracted the stalkers. While they were distracted I took over the tower and then finished off the stalkers. Grab the item from one of the stalkers and talk to the hunters to get the last hunt.

The third hunt was a bit different as the enemy spotted me right after the conversation. Still, you can just let the AI focus on the enemies while you wrap around to the right and go into the river towards the towers. Disable them both and then return to the fight. You might have to kill one croc near the second tower because it will shoot you with water blasts over and over. Ice worked very well on these enemies if you have any ice ammo.

You do get a minor choice at the end, it just helps them choose their hunting party name. Return to Burgrend after and you will get your reward.

This quest can be found here on the map.

There are missing hunters in the area and you have to find them. By missing they mean to follow the waypoint to find them. this quest is pretty basic compared to the others, kill the enemies in the area and return back to the quest giver. There are three choices at the end and I am pretty sure they all result in the hunter getting into the tribe. I chose “By your laws, she succeeded” or something to that effect and it got her in.

You get this right after you complete “The Shaman’s Path”. You have a few objectives you need to complete to beat this quest.

One is reactivating the tall strider, which Id id before I got this quest. You have to find all the parts and restore the beast, they are marked on the map though so it’s easy.

Another one is to do a hunting challenge and get a rank. You don’t have to beat them all, or even get gold, just rank and it will complete. We have a guide here if you want help with them.

The third objective is to clear the bandit camp on the map. It isn’t easy, but if you keep to stealth and clear the alarms you can do it without much trouble.

You only have to do a couple of these to progress with the story. Return to Song’s End and speak to the NPC there to start a challenge. You have to climb and hunt and attempt to beat someone during the race. It isn’t difficult until the end and then you fight three giant bear robots. My best tip is blowing their chest panels off so they freeze and you can do more damage. The AI isn’t helpful here so you will have to do most of the work here yourself. When you beat all three, you will have beat the quest.

This opens up at Song’s End after you complete “For The Werak”. There is a man who is accused of killing an outsider and you have to see if he is innocent or not. Head to the waypoint and speak to the woman there. You will have to check out where the body was found next. Use your vision and there is a purple light near a tree for you to scan. Check it out after you scan it and then follow the tracks. The tracks start up in the trees but eventually fall to the floor is you are having a hard time seeing them. When you get to the end, follow the path to a small cave and enter it. Inside there will be a fight with some humans, ice and fire are good for them.

When you kill them, use the scanning tool again and it will give you more tracks to follow. When you climb up near the yellow rope, grab the headdress near the blue lights and then scan near the rope for the gear you need. When it is collected you have to go to the next waypoint. You have to climb up pretty high and face a couple of flying enemies on the way up. At the top you can find the guy behind a rock almost naked. Give him the clothes and fight the enemy bots with him. Two bear robots will spawn for the last wave, take them out and return to town to complete the quest.

This is the next stage in the main line of side quests for Frozen Wilds, it is the final mission. Head to Longnotch in the East and speak with Aratek before continuing North East to meet with Ourea. You’ll have to work your way through a large fortress type building. Mostly small jumping and climbing areas followed by large group of enemies. Nothing you haven’t dealt with before. When you reach the part where you get to pick your route, take the right route up the stairs as it’s a lot easier. You can stealth your way through and don’t have to kill the enemies, you can just head straight to the objective point.

Eventually you will arrive at a door you have to override. When you attempt to override the door security response protocols are activated. This is a Thunderjaw and several aerial robot drones. It’s a tough fight. Start the fight with Tearblast Arrows to take away it’s additional weapons, vastly limiting its attacks. After that just pepper it with fire arrows. When the drones starting targeting you just keep rolling until they stop.

Once you open the door, this side quest is complete.

This is a direct follow on from Firebreak. You get it once you are through the override door. This is a series of mini puzzles exactly like the Cauldrons from the original game. Nothing too difficult. Just be wary of the traps. As you progress the areas get more and more difficult. The room you reach when you see the Frostclaws in production can be intense. I recommend just ignoring the enemies and proceeding with the objectives, activating the bridges so your allies can get across and then just run through the door.

Keep moving forward, eventually you will reach another of the floor light puzzles. Same as the other ones so you should be fine here. In the final room override the tower to begin the final battle. You will have to defeat a Fireclaw.

Similar process to killing the Frostclaw. Target its stomach area with any attacks to disable its main fire arsenal first. If you have fire resistance potions or gear, use those too. Your Icethrower should be your primary weapon choice here. Towers will spawn throughout the fight, override them to stop them healing the Frostclaw, it also knocks it down. Don’t critical hit straight away. Build up frost damage with your Icethrower first, as it’s about to get up, then launch your critical attack.