Horizon Forbidden West expands Aloy’s movement options far beyond what Zero Dawn offered, turning traversal itself into one of the game’s most satisfying systems. Between free climbing, underwater diving, grappling with the Pullcaster, and gliding with the Shieldwing, getting around the Forbidden West is rarely a straight line from point A to point B. This guide covers every major traversal tool and how to use them efficiently, along with tips for tackling Tallnecks and reaching the map’s trickiest corners.
Free Climbing and Reading the Terrain
Aloy can climb freely across huge sections of rocky terrain, and the game visually marks climbable surfaces with handholds, ledges, and textured rock faces so you can identify a route at a glance. Learning to read these visual cues quickly saves a lot of time compared to circling a cliff face looking for a way up. Scanning an area with Focus will also sometimes highlight climbing routes directly, particularly around puzzle areas or ruins where the correct path isn’t immediately obvious.
Stamina matters during long climbs, so watch your stamina meter on extended vertical routes and look for ledges to rest on rather than pushing through a climb and falling partway up. Grapple points, marked throughout the environment, allow for quicker vertical progress and often bridge gaps that free climbing alone can’t cross.
Using the Pullcaster
The Pullcaster is one of Aloy’s signature tools in Forbidden West, functioning as both a grappling hook and a utility device for solving environmental puzzles. Aiming it at a high anchor point and firing lets Aloy grapple up and gain a boost of momentum, which speeds up climbing tall structures considerably compared to free climbing alone. Beyond vertical traversal, the Pullcaster can rip open vents, pull down breakable walls, and yank apart mechanisms blocking a path forward, making it essential for both combat shortcuts and puzzle-solving in ruins.
Many of the game’s environmental puzzles are built specifically around Pullcaster mechanics, requiring you to pull a series of components in sequence to open a passage or activate ancient machinery. Approaching these puzzle rooms with patience and a willingness to scan every visible anchor point will get you through faster than trial and error alone.
Gliding with the Shieldwing
The Shieldwing becomes available during an early main story mission and instantly changes how you approach height in Forbidden West. Once unlocked, it deploys automatically whenever Aloy is falling, letting her glide gently to the ground instead of taking fall damage. This means leaping off cliffs, towers, and even the backs of flying machines becomes a viable way to descend quickly rather than a risk to avoid.
With enough forward momentum, the Shieldwing can carry Aloy impressive horizontal distances, effectively turning tall vantage points into shortcuts across large sections of terrain. Climbing to a high point specifically to glide toward a distant objective is a legitimate and often faster alternative to trekking across the ground, especially in mountainous or canyon-heavy regions.
Diving and Underwater Exploration
Underwater exploration is a major addition in Forbidden West, opening up an entire layer of the map that didn’t exist in the first game. Aloy can dive, swim through submerged ruins, and explore coral reefs and flooded structures that often hide valuable loot, lore collectibles, and hidden pathways. A diving mask, unlocked relatively early through the main story, extends how long Aloy can stay underwater and is essentially mandatory for tackling the game’s more demanding underwater areas.
Watch your oxygen meter closely during longer dives, and look for air pockets in submerged structures if you need to surface briefly without swimming all the way back up. Some of the game’s more elaborate environmental puzzles and side content are built entirely around underwater navigation, so treat diving as a core traversal skill rather than an optional distraction.
Overriding and Riding Machines
Beyond Aloy’s own abilities, overridden machines dramatically expand traversal options. Mounts like Chargers and Broadheads offer fast ground travel, while flying machines, once override capability is unlocked later in the story, let you cross the map far faster than any combination of climbing and gliding. Machine Master skills further enhance what overridden mounts can do, making investment in that skill tree worthwhile if you plan to rely on machines for long-distance travel.
Climbing and Overriding Tallnecks
Tallnecks return in Forbidden West as towering, non-hostile machines that map out large sections of the surrounding region once climbed and overridden. There are six Tallnecks scattered across the game’s map, and reaching each one typically involves a short platforming puzzle or a specific approach to safely mount its back, since they move continuously along a set circular path around a central structure. Unlike most large machines, Tallnecks won’t attack Aloy directly, which makes climbing one primarily a puzzle-solving challenge rather than a combat encounter.
Once overridden, a Tallneck reveals map details for its surrounding region, including points of interest, collectibles, and unexplored areas, making them one of the most efficient ways to fill in your map early in a playthrough. Prioritizing nearby Tallnecks as you enter a new region will save considerable time compared to discovering points of interest purely by wandering.
Tips for Efficient Exploration
Combine traversal tools rather than relying on just one. Climbing to a high vantage point, gliding with the Shieldwing toward a distant objective, and finishing the approach on foot or via Pullcaster grapple is often faster than any single method alone. Keep an eye out for environmental storytelling and hidden ruins while exploring, since many of the game’s best collectibles and lore details are tucked away in locations that require some combination of climbing, diving, and Pullcaster puzzle-solving to reach.
For a broader look at how exploration ties into the main story, side quests, and overall progression, check out our complete Horizon Forbidden West guide. Mastering these traversal systems early pays off throughout the entire game, turning what could be tedious backtracking into one of Forbidden West’s most enjoyable moment-to-moment activities.