Longleg

"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

"There's so much to learn, and less time than I'd hoped." This article or section does not reflect changes introduced by new releases in the series. You can help by updating the contents.

Longleg
A deafening sonic blast attack, powerful jump jets, and an alarm call make it a tricky opponent.
Size	Medium
Weight	Midweight
Class	Reconnaissance
Override	Cauldron RHO Cauldron IOTA (Forbidden West)
Machine Sites	12 1 (HFW)
Combat
Challenge Level	13 20 (Corrupted) 23 (Daemonic and Apex)
HP	750 1125 (Corrupted and Apex) 1313 (Daemonic)
Weakness	Shock
Strength	None (HZD) Acid (HFW)
Explosive Components	Concussion Sac
Weak Points	Eyes Alarm Antenna Glowblast Canister (x2, Apex) Wing (x2) Power Cell (x2)

"With those legs, that machine looks as fast as it is loud. I'd better be careful."

―Aloy, upon sighting a Longleg

The Longleg is a machine in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, and is a Reconnaissance Class machine, alongside Watchers and other small machines. It is one of three known avian machines; however, it is incapable of flight. As a recon machine, it patrols on a constant lookout for perceived threats. Unlike its much smaller fellow recon machine the Watcher, it is able to scan and call reinforcements via radar as well as visually. It is also one of the four machines that can locate a player through Tall Grass.

History

Like all combat-capable machines, Longlegs began appearing after the onset of the Derangement. They were presumably created by HEPHAESTUS upon deciding that it needed a recon machine that was combat-capable and much more dangerous to humans than Watchers. It is unclear whether it is a variation of a machine that came before the Derangement machine, or something new designed by HEPHAESTUS.

The Oseram warlord Dervahl created a sonic weapon from a modified Longleg head and concussion sac, mimicking the machine's sonic blasts. He also had a number of them chained at his camp, likely for further experimentation and for security.

The Nora huntress Aloy saw Longlegs mainly at sites scattered throughout the Carja Sundom. She usually saw them guarding Zero Dawn terraformer herds or walking in machine convoys. She encountered them patrolling the approach to the Tallneck deployed at the location in The Jewel known as the Spearshafts. She also sold a Longleg Lens to the Carja trader Ranin.

Outside the Sundom, she encountered two Longlegs in the Cut. The Longlegs in The Cut are augmented by HEPHAESTUS, and are known as Daemonic Longlegs. Aloy encountered them as guards around one of HEPHAESTUS’ Control Towers, as well as inside the ancient Firebreak facility as part of a three-person expedition to HEPHAESTUS’ R&D cauldron, EPSILON.

Appearance

As GAIA states that many machine designs are based off of extinct megafauna, it is possible that a Longleg's chassis is based off a phorusrhacid (terror bird). The head terminates in a vertical pair of sharp, beak-like structures, and is mounted on a long, flexible neck. Six optical sensors are located on each side of the head in the same position as a ratite’s eyes. Three antennae extend from the back of the head, from which the Longleg can emit a signal calling for reinforcements. Mounted on the chest are a pair of bulbous components called Concussion Sacs. These are part of its scanning array, as well as powering one of its attacks. Each of its two short, flightless wings are equipped with three engines that emit jet-like blasts of flame, which the Longleg uses in attacks. Each of its two feet is equipped with a single claw. A power cell composed of a pair of components called Sparkers is mounted on its lower back.

Behavior

Longlegs are mainly deployed in groups of no more than three to patrol around herds of Zero Dawn terraformers, allowing them to work without having to stop and watch for perceived threats. Each Longleg walks in a set circuitous path around the herd, frequently stopping to scan the surroundings. While scanning, unalerted (and even overridden) Longlegs are frequently seen firing their sonic blasts towards the horizon, scanning for humans and other threats in the tall grass with echolocation.

Longlegs guard the sole known Behemoth site. Pairs of Longlegs also escort Behemoths and Shell-Walkers in machine convoys.

An overridden Longleg can destroy another unalerted Longleg with a single strike.

Abilities

Longlegs are fast and agile. They employ a number of Fire-based attacks using the engines on their wings, melee attacks using their beaks and claws, as well as a disorienting sonic attack using their Concussion Sacs. This attack was harnessed by the renegade Oseram warlord and inventor Dervahl to construct a sonic weapon capable of incapacitating human enemies. Aside from combat purposes, the Concussion Sacs can also be used as an echolocation device, emitting less powerful waves to detect hidden enemies, even those in tall grass. This makes the Longleg one of four machines that can detect the player when they are usually hidden in tall red grass, with the others being the Scrapper, Thunderjaw, and Scorcher.

Weaknesses

A Longleg has two structural weaknesses: its Concussion Sacs and its power cell. Strikes on the Concussion Sacs with high-powered projectile weapons such as Precision Arrows from a Sharpshot Bow cause a concussive explosion that damages the machine, destroys the Concussion Sacs and disables the Longleg’s sonic attack and scanning ability. A strike on the one of the Sparkers in the Longleg’s power cell with a Shock arrow causes a damaging electrical explosion that immediately stuns the Longleg. Additionally, Longlegs are particularly susceptible to attacks from weapons that utilize Shock; repeated strikes from Shock weapons quickly inflict a Shock state, stunning the Longleg.

Attacks

Horizon Zero Dawn

Stun blast does not work on other machines.

Name	Damage Type	Primary Damage	Secondary Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Jet Blast	Fire	190	-	1m - 50m	Wings go back, soon after releases a fire wave
Beak Thrust	Melee	160	-	10.5m - 15.5m	Lunges and attempts to 'peck'
Chicken Scratch	Melee	130	-	5m - 14m	Jumps and scratches with legs
Dashing Claw Jump	Melee	100	80 (7m radius)	5m - 7m	Lunges and scratches with legs
Jumping Wing Blast	Melee	180	-	5m - 13.5m	Jumps up and slams down with an AOE
Stun Blast	Sonic	0	-	1m - 30m	Shrieks at target, incapacitating them for a short time

Horizon Forbidden West

Name	Windup Time	Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Sonic Stun	Medium	Deafened	0m - 30m	Emits sonic projectile that causes Deafened on contact.
Ranged Heat Blast	Medium	199 89 buildup	0m - 50m	Heats Wing Burners and launches fireball. Exclusively used if it cannot reach target with other attacks. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Beak Thrust	Short	180 Melee	4.5m - 11m	Jumps forward before slamming the ground with its beak in a pecking motion.
Dashing Claw Jump	Short	180 Melee 90 Melee (shockwave)	5m - 12m	Hops short distance while slashing with both claws. Landing impact creates a small shockwave. Attack disabled when Slowed.
Hovering Chicken Scratch	Short	137 Melee	5m - 19m	Leaps toward target and scratches multiple times with its legs while in the air. Attack disabled when Slowed.
360° Burning Wing Flap	Medium	180 Melee 180 89 buildup	0m - 5m	Activates Wing Burners and jumps directly up before slamming down, creating a Fire explosion on impact. Fire damage disabled when Drenched.
Jumping Wing Blast	Medium	180 Melee 180 89 buildup	7m - 20.5m	Jumps towards target before slamming down, creating a large shockwave on impact.

Components

Horizon Zero Dawn

Component	Image	Information	Weakness	Strength
Body		Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	Shock	None
Concussion Sac		Destroying this component disables ranged sonic attacks and triggers a compressed air explosion inflicting tear damage. Blowing a Concussion Sac will send a human flying several meters away.	All	None
Alarm Signal		Destroying this component disables the ability to call reinforcements.	Tear	None
Power Cell		Shooting with Shock arrows will trigger a Shock explosion. Sparker resource can be looted from this component.	Shock Tear	None
Wing		Destroying this component disables the charge attack.	All	None

Horizon Forbidden West

Component	Variant	Image	Description	Attributes
Body	All		Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	None
Antenna	All		Signal transmitted used to call in machine reinforcements.	Detachable Reinforcement Call Removal Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Concussion Sac	All		Compressed air sac. Destroy to disable concussion attacks or leave intact to add loot to the carcass.	Explosive Ability Removal Persists When Killed Contains Resources If Intact
Wing Burner	All		Thrusters used to attack at range with a flame burst and enhance other attacks with fire. Detach or destroy both to disable.	Detachable Attack Removal Destroyed When Killed Key Upgrade Resource
Sparker	Standard		Shock storage. Tear off to collect this resource or shoot with a Shock Arrow to detonate.	Chain Reaction Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Glowblast Canister	Apex		Glowblast storage. Tear off to collect this resource or shoot with a Plasma Arrow to detonate.	Chain Reaction Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed

Loot

Horizon Zero Dawn

Sparker

1

Echo Shell

15

Metal Shards

1

Wire

1

Machine Core - Medium

50

Luminous Braiding

30

Longleg Heart

64

Longleg Lens

32

Horizon Forbidden West

• Longleg
• Apex Longleg

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Echo Shell (100%)
• Longleg Circulator (34%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Longleg Primary Nerve (23%)
• Braided Wire (20%)
• Metal Bone (11%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (10%)

Antenna

• Braided Wire (67%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (34%)
• Longleg Primary Nerve (11%)

Concussion Sac

• Echo Shell (100%)

Wing Burner

• Longleg Wing Burner (100%)

Sparker

• Sparker (100%)

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Echo Shell (100%)
• Apex Longleg Heart (67%)
• Volatile Sludge (50%)
• Longleg Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (30%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Longleg Primary Nerve (22%)
• Braided Wire (21%)
• Metal Bone (11%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (10%)

Antenna

• Braided Wire (67%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (34%)
• Longleg Primary Nerve (11%)

Concussion Sac

• Echo Shell (100%)

Wing Burner

• Longleg Wing Burner (100%)

Glowblast Canister

• Glowblast (100%)

Variants

Variant	Weak Vs.	Strong Vs.
Longleg	Shock	Acid
Apex Longleg	Frost	Shock Acid

Trivia

• The attack "Chicken Scratch" was heavily inspired by videos of chickens attacking with their legs. This choice was a result of animator Richard Oud seeing the Longleg as "just a big chicken".

Gallery

Concept art by Erik van Helvoirt

A dead Longleg strung up in a bandit camp

References

Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn
Acquisition Class	Broadhead - Charger - Fireclaw - Frostclaw - Glinthawk - Grazer - Lancehorn - Rockbreaker - Scrapper - Snapmaw - Strider - Trampler
Chariot Class	Corruptor - Deathbringer - Metal Devil
Combat Class	Ravager - Sawtooth - Scorcher - Stalker - Stormbird - Thunderjaw
Communication Class	Tallneck
Recon Class	Longleg - Watcher (Redeye Watcher)
Transport Class	Behemoth - Bellowback - Shell-Walker
Unknown Class	Control Tower
Horizon Forbidden West
Acquisition Class	Bilegut - Bristleback - Clamberjaw - Fanghorn - Plowhorn - Scrounger - Spikesnout - Stingspawn - Sunwing - Tideripper - Waterwing - Widemaw
Combat Class	Clawstrider - Dreadwing - Grimhorn - Shellsnapper - Slaughterspine - Slitherfang - Specter - Specter Prime - Tremortusk
Recon Class	Burrower - Skydrifter
Transport Class	Leaplasher - Rollerback
Unknown Class	Defense Drone