Go over how to complete the Ancient Armory quest, find all of the Power Cells, and unlock the Shield-Weaver Armor in Horizon Zero Dawn. This Horizon Zero Dawn Power Cell Locations Guide will tell you where to find all of the Power Cell's so you can complete the Ancient Armory.

Table of contents.General adviceEach type of machine you encounter is different, with their own weak points, weaknesses and necessary tactics, but there are some general rules you can follow when fighting any machine. Always start stealthily. When they see you, machines tend to either attack or turn their more heavily defended sides toward you.

When they’re attacking, machines are moving fast and bounce around a lot, making it hard to land a strategic shot. When they turn toward you to defend themselves, their weakest points tend to be hard (or impossible) to get at.

Sneaking up on machines means you take fewer shots and end fights faster. Take out the guard dogs first. Herds of machines tend to be escorted and patrolled by either watchers or longlegs.

Taking out the smaller enemies first lets you focus on their bigger, more valuable charges without worrying about the aggressive little protectors. Shoot things that explode. Freeze or blaze canisters and power cells will explode when shot with the corresponding type of arrow (freeze, flame and shock, respectively). When the canister explodes, it will deal a large amount of damage to the machine as well as all those around it (including you). For example, a couple of well-placed flame arrows can take out an entire herd of grazers in a really, really satisfying explosion.

Shoot off parts and armor. High tear damage weapons — like the tearblast arrows and the tearblaster — will remove components and armor from the machines you’re fighting.

Taking these pieces off — like the stormbird’s lightning gun or the behemoth’s force loaders — are sometimes required to best a machine because they disable the machine’s attacks. Beyond that, removing heavy weapons from ravagers or stormjaws lets you pick up those weapons and unleash a lot of firepower. Listen. When a fight inevitably gets up close and personal, you’re not out of options. No machine that you face will attack you unannounced — they all make some sort of screech or mechanical powering-up sound before they charge or attack. Get out of sight.

When a fight with a machine drags out, tactics kind of go out the window, and you’ll find yourself in a dodging and swinging-filled war of attrition. Getting into tall grass probably isn’t going to hide you from any machine for very long.

When this happens, use the terrain to your advantage. Look for rocks or hills to hide behind.

Even trees can hide you briefly. Use your hidden time to regroup or to plan a new angle of attack. Damage is damage. Below, we’re going to talk about the ideal way to defeat the machines — usually focusing on components and exploitable weaknesses.

This is just the fastest and (arguably) easiest way to take them out. Any weapon will deal damage and, with enough time, destroy a machine. If you’re having trouble with machine or you get into trouble during a fight, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with switching to general damage weapon and just unloading everything you have. Also, bombs for your sling are expensive to make, but can finish off a tough fight definitively. Modify your weapons. All of those extra perks you get with your modifications really pay off in machine fights.

Modifications like extra elemental damage, adding tear damage to generic damage arrows or simply decreasing reload times with handling all become invaluable. Use your ropecaster. With enough ropes, you can tie down just about any machine and give yourself either some breathing room or an opportunity for a critical hit. Sclera. Override machines. A great help in any fight, but especially one where you’re outnumbered, is to get at least one machine on your side. Hide, then use a lure call to get one to approach you.WatcherWatchers are the most common machine you’ll encounter in Horizon Zero Dawn, and you’ll find them everywhere.

They are also the weakest enemy, but that doesn’t mean you should (or can) ignore them.How to fight watchersShoot them in the eye.That’s kind of it. Even with your earliest bow, you can usually knock out a watcher with one shot.StriderStriders are strange machines to fight.

It’s surprisingly difficult to get the blaze canister on their back to explode and, when attacked, they have a tendency to become very aggressive and tenacious. They’ve got a wildly bucking kick attack that is not a lot of fun to receive, but they’re not very well armored, so you can usually drop them with regular arrows before the fight gets too personal.How to fight stridersTry for the blaze canister on their back. If that doesn’t work, just shoot them.GrazerGrazers are a lot of fun to blow up. The problem is, if they see you or get spooked (say, when their neighbor explodes), they turn to face you. They’re not overly aggressive, but this positioning makes it basically impossible to hit the blaze canisters on their back.How to fight grazersTarget the blaze canisters on their back with flame arrows.

For added fun, hit multiple blaze canisters on multiple grazers for an impressive fireworks show. If there are any left standing after the explosions, target the tips of their antlers to deal a lot of damage.ScrapperScrappers are small (for machines), cat-like scavengers — sometimes a pack of them will show up after a large fight and ruin your parts collecting. They are small, fast and have a really annoying laser cannon on their heads. They also have a radar dish that allows them to find you even when you think you’re out of sight — they can’t find you if you’re not moving, though.How to fight scrappersTarget the radar — that thing sticking up off of their shoulders — and their power cell — that orange — with high damage arrows.Redeye WatcherRedeye watchers are tougher versions of watchers. Don’t let their similarity to regular watchers fool you — these are much better armored and won’t drop as easily as their cousins.How to fight redeye watchersYou fight redeye watchers the same way as watchers — shoot them in the eye — but you must be prepared to cut through some armor before you can get a clean shot.BroadheadBroadheads are one of the game’s three mountable machines, so you probably won’t find yourself fighting them very often. More likely, you’ll be looking to hack one for a ride or just ignoring them.How to fight broadheadsThe blaze canister on their butts is armored, so your best bet at dealing a lot of damage fast is to target their horns.

You can finish them off with generic damage arrows after that.LancehornLancehorns may seem like the antelope companions to the deer-like grazers, but they’re a bit more complicated than that. Where grazers will run away, lancehorns will rush straight at you and attack with their laserhorns.How to fight lancehornsTarget the freeze canisters on their backs with freeze arrows to create a nice explosion that effects all of the machines around your target. Attack the horns of any left standing.Longleg.