Damage

Damage is a game mechanic in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West that measures the impact of attacks or harmful behaviors, such as falling. Taking damage will reduce Aloy's health and delivering damage to humans or machines will reduce theirs.

As in most games, death occurs when a health bar is fully depleted.

Damage Types in Horizon Zero Dawn

There are different types of damage, depending on the method of attack.

Type		Effect on Machines	Effect on Humans
Damage		Reduces health with no secondary effects.
Tear		Dislodges components, possibly dealing preset amounts of damage depending on the component that is severed.	Heavy knockdown; sends regular enemies flying.
Fire		Deals damage over time based on target's size. Forces Corruptors and Deathbringers to expose their Cooling Rods.	Deals damage over time.
Freeze		Slows the target's movement and increases susceptibility to Direct Damage by up to 300%. Negates additional defense provided by armor.	Slows the target's movement and increases susceptibility to Direct Damage by 50%.
Shock		Causes temporary paralysis, immobilizing the target and enabling Critical Hits.
Corruption		Causes targets to become hostile to all units, including allies. Corrupted and Daemonic machines are immune.	Causes targets to become hostile to all units, including allies. If inflicted on Aloy, causes massive damage over time and prevents her from running until it wears off.

• Note: Especially in Aloy's case, direct Damage can be divided into several categories: Explosive, Laser, Melee, and Ranged. None of the outfits or weaves she has can provide damage mitigation to explosives, while she does for the rest.

Elemental Damage in Horizon Zero Dawn

In addition to traditional impact damage, several weapons and ammunition types can impose element-based status effects on enemies by reaching set severity thresholds. "Severity" refers generally to the build-up to these status effects and applies to Freeze, Fire, Shock, and Corruption attacks. Each of the four attack types produce a different status effect with varying impact on enemies. In addition to elemental attacks, severity thresholds indicate the amount of damage required to trip a sprinting enemy or knock one down with explosives.

When an enemy is hit by an elemental attack, an elemental icon will appear above them indicating the current severity build-up. Only one type of severity build-up can be charged at once (Freeze, Fire, Shock, or Corruption); and it will naturally decay unless subsequent elemental attacks are landed, or the severity threshold is reached. Once a severity threshold is reached, a white ring will appear around the elemental icon and the status effect will be applied. The white ring will indicate the remaining duration of the inflicted status effect as it depletes.

Status effects cannot be prolonged by performing additional elemental attacks. Similarly, elemental attacks that are the same as an applied status effect will not contribute towards a new severity build-up, however a different elemental severity build-up can be initiated. If a severity threshold is reached while an inflicted status effect has duration remaining, the existing status effect will be removed and the new status effect will be applied.

Severity Thresholds

	Normal Machines			Corrupted Machines			Humans
Damage Type	Small	Medium	Large	Small	Medium	Large	Normal	Heavy/Elite
Fire	75*	150	300	113	225	450	50	75
Freeze	75*	150	300	113	225	450	25	75
Shock	75*	150	300	113	225	450	25	75
Corruption	50	100	150	-	-	-	50	100

* 70 for Watchers

Every weapon with stats that include one of the four elemental damage types contributes to the build-up of a status effect. For example, if a weapon has a Freeze attack with a value of 25, it would need to hit an enemy with a 100 Freeze severity threshold four times in order to apply the Frozen status effect. Likewise, a weapon with a Freeze attack value of 50 would reach the threshold twice as fast.

Fire Damage

Fire damage can be dealt using Fire Arrows from the Hunter Bow, Fire Bombs from the Sling, fire wires from the Tripcaster, and all ammo types used by the Forgefire. Applying Fire damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Burning effect, dealing damage over time.

BURNING STATUS EFFECT

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	10 Sec.	5 dmg/sec = 50 dmg
MEDIUM MACHINE	15 Sec.	12 dmg/sec = 180 dmg
LARGE MACHINE	20 Sec.	18 dmg/sec = 360 dmg
ALL HUMANS	3 Sec.	15 dmg/sec = 45 dmg

Freeze Damage

Freeze damage can be dealt using Freeze Arrows from the War Bow, Freeze Bombs from the Sling, Freeze Bolts from the Rattler, and all ammo types used by the Icerail. Applying Freeze damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Frozen effect, slowing their movement speed and making them more susceptible to direct damage.

FROZEN STATUS EFFECT

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
ALL MACHINES	30 Sec.	Up to 300% additional damage
ALL HUMANS	15 Sec.	3 dmg/3 sec = 15 dmg + 50% dmg

Shock Damage

Shock damage can be dealt using Shock Arrows from the War Bow, Shock Bombs from the Sling, Shock Wires from the Tripcaster, Shock Bolts from the Rattler, and all ammo types used by the Stormslinger. In addition to weapon ammunition, Shock Traps also apply shock damage. Applying Shock damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Stunned effect, temporarily immobilizing the target.

STUNNED STATUS EFFECT

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	10 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
MEDIUM MACHINE	15 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
LARGE MACHINE	20 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
ALL HUMANS	3 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized

Corruption Damage

Corruption damage can be dealt using Corruption Arrows from the War Bow. Applying Corruption damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Corrupted effect, turning enemies hostile to all other targets. In Aloy's case, stepping in pools of Corruption, receiving melee attacks from Corrupted machines, or getting hit with Corruption projectiles builds up a Corruption meter next to her health meter. Once this is filled, she will suffer damage over time and cannot run until the effect wears off or she uses an Antidote. The damage over time effect scales with the difficulty setting.

CORRUPTED STATUS EFFECT

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	10 Sec.	Target turns hostile to all others
MEDIUM MACHINE	15 Sec.	Target turns hostile to all others
LARGE MACHINE	20 Sec.	Target turns hostile to all others
ALL HUMANS	30 Sec.	Target turns hostile to all others

Damage Types in Horizon Forbidden West

Type		Effect on Machines	Effect on Humans
Melee		Reduces health with no secondary effects. Considered direct damage.
Ranged		Reduces health with no secondary effects. Considered direct damage.
Tear		Dislodges components, possibly dealing preset amounts of damage depending on the component that is severed.	Heavy knockdown; sends regular enemies flying.
Fire		Deals damage over time based on target's size. Forces Corruptors to expose their Cooling Rods.	Deals damage over time.
Frost		Slows the target's movement and increases susceptibility to Direct Damage by up to 300%. Negates additional defense provided by armor.	Slows the target's movement and increases susceptibility to Direct Damage by 50%.
Shock		Causes temporary paralysis, immobilizing the target and enabling Critical Hits.
Purgewater		Target is more susceptible to elemental attacks. Disables elemental attacks.
Acid		Weakens armor and deals damage over time.
Plasma		Time delayed explosion. Explosion deals more damage if direct damage is applied during the time delay.
Explosive		Deals damage over a wide area. Considered direct damage.
Adhesive		Slows movement of target and disables certain attacks.	Slows movement, prevents running or dodging, and disables acrobatic attacks.
Berserk		Deals no damage, but forces a target to attack anything.

Forbidden West also introduces additional non-elemental status effects, which are referred to as Afflicted States.

Elemental Damage in Horizon Forbidden West

Just like in Zero Dawn, several weapons and ammunition types can impose element-based status effects on enemies by reaching set elemental limits. New effects include Acid, Purgewater, and Plasma. In addition to elemental attacks, severity thresholds indicate the amount of damage required to trip a sprinting enemy or knock one down with explosives.

When an enemy is hit by an elemental attack, an elemental icon will appear above them indicating the current severity build-up. It will naturally decay unless subsequent elemental attacks are landed, or the severity threshold is reached. While multiple types of severity build-up can be charged at once only one limit can be triggered at a time. Once a limit is reached, a white ring will appear around the elemental icon and the status effect will be applied. The white ring will indicate the remaining duration of the inflicted status effect as it depletes.

Status effects cannot be prolonged by performing additional elemental attacks. Similarly, elemental attacks that are the same as an applied status effect will not contribute towards a new severity build-up, however a different elemental severity build-up can be initiated. If a severity threshold is reached while an inflicted status effect has duration remaining, the existing status effect will be removed and the new status effect will be applied.

New are multiple tiers of elemental weaknesses and resistances, which affect the damage and buildup modifiers against machines and humans. These are indicated by the number of arrows when scanned by the Focus.

Note that the Difficulty setting will also affect the amount of damage Aloy takes after entering an elemental state (e.g. Burning), along with scaling enemy elemental/status limits.

Resistance Level	Damage Modifier	Buildup Modifier
Very Weak	+50%	+100%
Weak	+25%	+50%
Neutral	0%	0%
Strong	-50%	-25%
Very Strong	-80%	-50%
Immune	-80%	Immune

Elemental/Status Limit

	Machines								Humans****
Damage Type	Light 1	Light 2*	Mid 1**	Mid 2	Mid 3	Heavy 1	Heavy 2	Heavy 3	Soldier/Rider				Archer				Heavy/Champion
									Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4
Fire	63	88	250	350	450	525	735	945	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Frost	63	88	250	350	450	525	735	945	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Shock	63	88	300	420***	540	612	857	1102	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Acid	63	88	250	350	450	525	735	945	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Plasma	63	88	250	350	450	525	735	945	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Purgewater	63	88	250	350	450	525	735	945	105	167	278	834	105	167	278	417	179	313	625	834
Adhesive	50	50	250	312	375	450	525	600	50	90	136	179	50	90	136	179	83	136	200	239
Berserk	25	38	150	250	350	437	735	945	209	334	556	834	209	334	556	834	358	625	1250	1667

*Tracker Burrowers have a 113 Elemental Limit, 100 Adhesive, and 63 Berserk

**Stalkers share the same limits as a Midweight machine, despite being classed as a Lightweight.

***350 for Ravagers

****Humans have a base 25 Elemental limit and 50 for Adhesive/Berserk, but have innate modifiers for each class and tier, effectively increasing the threshold.

Fire Damage

Fire damage can be dealt using Fire Arrows from the Hunter Bow or Warrior Bow, Fire Bombs from the Blastsling, Fire Tripwires from the Tripcaster, Fire Spikes from Spike Throwers, and Fire Canister Harpoons from Ropecasters. Heavy weapons such as the Fire Repeater, Inferno Bomb Launcher, Blaze Bomb Launcher, and Firespitter also inflict Fire damage and buildup. Applying Fire damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Burning effect, dealing damage over time.

In Aloy's case, taking fire-based attacks and stepping in pools of fire or lava builds up the Burning state. Once applied, she will take ~150 damage over a 12 second duration.

BURNING STATE

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	10 Sec.	5 dmg/sec = 50 dmg
MEDIUM MACHINE	15 Sec.	12 dmg/sec = 180 dmg
LARGE MACHINE	20 Sec.	18 dmg/sec = 360 dmg
ALL HUMANS	12 Sec.	2 dmg/sec = 24 dmg

Frost Damage

Frost damage can be dealt using Frost Arrows from the Hunter or Warrior Bow, Frost Bombs from the Blastsling, Frost Bolts from the Boltblaster, and Frost Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster. Applying Frost damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Brittle state, slowing their movement speed and making them more susceptible to direct damage.

In Aloy's case, taking Frost damage builds up the Brittle state. Once applied, she takes 20% additional damage for 25 seconds.

BRITTLE STATE

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
ALL MACHINES	25 Sec.	Damage increased up to 200%
ALL HUMANS	15 Sec.	Increased damage taken

Shock Damage

Shock damage can be dealt using Shock Arrows from the Hunter or Warrior Bow, Shock Shredders from the Shredder Gauntlet, Shock Tripwires from the Tripcaster, Shock Bolts from the Boltblaster, and Shock Ropes or Shock Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster. In addition to weapon ammunition, Vertical Shock Traps also apply shock damage, along with the Tremortusk Shock Cannon and Slitherfang Electric Rattle. Applying Shock damage to an enemy's status threshold will produce the Stunned effect, temporarily immobilizing the target.

In Aloy's case, taking Shock damage or stepping in pools of electricity will build up the Shocked state. Once applied, she will be stunned for a second, knocking her to the ground.

SHOCKED STATE

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	10 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
MEDIUM MACHINE	15 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
LARGE MACHINE	20 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized
ALL HUMANS	3 Sec.	Stunned / Immobilized

Acid Damage

Acid damage can be dealt using Acid Arrows from the Hunter or Warrior Bow, Acid Shredders from Shredder Gauntlet, Acid Bombs from the Blastsling, and Acid Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster. Additionally, the Acidspitter, Acid Bomb Launcher, and Acid Traps also inflict Acid damage. Applying Acid to an enemy's status limit produces the Corroding effect, which deals damage over time to its health and armor plating. The additional protection from armor plating is reduced, and critical hit chance is increased. Spikes from the Spike Thrower and Ropes and Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster will also penetrate armor without having to be fully drawn.

In Aloy's case, taking Acid damage or stepping in pools of Acid builds up the Corroded state. Once in it, she will take 100 damage over 30 seconds and all outfit resistances are reduced by 40%.

CORRODING STATE

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT
SMALL MACHINE	25 Sec.	50% damage received to armor plates 80% damage passed through to core health when armor hit x2 Critical hit chance	1 dmg/sec to HP 2-6 dmg/sec to 75% of armor plating
MEDIUM MACHINE	30 Sec.		3 dmg/sec to HP 2.5-5.5 dmg/sec to 75% of armor plating
LARGE MACHINE	35 Sec.		5 dmg/sec to HP 2.8-3.8 dmg/sec to 75% of armor plating
ALL HUMANS	30 Sec.

Plasma Damage

Plasma damage can be dealt using Plasma Precision Arrows from the Sharpshot Bow, Plasma Bolts from the Boltblaster, Plasma Spikes from the Spike Thrower, and Plasma Ropes and Plasma Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster. Additionally, Plasma damage can be inflicted with the Plasma Bomb Launcher, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Spine Launcher, and Plasma Lancer. Applying Plasma damage to an enemy's status limit produces the Plasma Blast state, which after the state wears off, explodes and deals additional damage to the target. The explosion damage and radius can be increased by dealing additional damage for the duration of the state, which is represented by a bar next to the Plasma Blast state icon.

In Aloy's case, taking Plasma damage or stepping in pools of Plasma builds up to the Plasma Blast state. In it, the state lasts for 12 seconds before detonating and dealing 35% damage of her maximum health.

PLASMA BLAST STATE

ENEMY TYPE	DURATION	RESULTING EFFECT	DAMAGE TO TRIGGER LEVEL 2
SMALL MACHINE	15 Sec.	Level 1: 35 dmg, stagger Level 2: 100 dmg, stagger and plasma explosion (16m radius, 75 dmg, 35 buildup)	50
MEDIUM MACHINE		Level 1: 80 dmg, stagger Level 2: 240 dmg, stagger and plasma explosion (16m radius, 150 dmg, 70 buildup)	120
LARGE MACHINE		Level 1: 200 dmg, stagger Level 2: 600 dmg, stagger and plasma explosion (16m radius, 250 dmg, 100 buildup)	300
ALL HUMANS		Delayed explosion

Purgewater Damage

Purgewater damage can be dealt using Purgewater Arrows from the Hunter Bow, Purgewater Bombs from the Blastsling, and Purgewater Canister Harpoons from the Ropecaster. In addition to weapon ammunition, Purgewater Traps also apply Purgewater Damage. Applying Purgewater damage to an enemy's status limit produces the Drenched state, which removes all elemental resistances, removes elemental damage from most attacks that incorporate it, and disables specific elemental attacks.

In Aloy's case, taking Purgewater damage or stepping in pools of Purgewater builds up to the Drenched state. In it, all elemental weapons deal reduced damage and cannot inflict elemental buildup over the course of 25 seconds.

DRENCHED STATE

Enemy Type	Duration	Resulting Effect
Small Machine	20 Sec.	Elemental resistances removed Elemental damage removed from specific attacks Specific elemental attacks disabled
Medium Machine	25 Sec.
Large Machine	30 Sec.
All Humans	25 Sec.	Elemental damage removed