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Horizon Forbidden West Mounts Guide - How To Unlock Them All

You can tame and ride a bunch more machines in Horizon Forbidden West than you could in its predecessor--here's which robots can carry you and how to unlock them.

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Fighting machines is cool in Horizon Forbidden West, but hacking them to make them your allies and turn them against your enemies is cooler. Even cooler is hacking them to make them your pets, especially since the game is enormous and it's a lot to conquer on your own two feet. While you can eventually turn any machine into a teammate for a brief period with Aloy's Override ability, a handful of machines can be ridden as mounts, making it a lot easier to get around the game world.

Forbidden West adds more mounts than were available in the last game, Horizon Zero Dawn, and also includes a couple of robot creatures you might not expect to be able to ride. Overriding each one requires you to venture to and override a specific Cauldron, however, and one mount can't be unlocked until you progress the story to a certain point. We'll keep that one to the end of this list, but note that there will be slight spoilers if you want to uncover that last mount on your own.

Here's the full list of mounts you can find in the games and what it'll take to unlock them.

Horizon Forbidden West mounts

There are four total mounts you can unlock in Horizon Forbidden West, and the first is one you'll inherit from the first game. For the others, however, you'll need to complete Cauldrons found in the game world.

Charger

You start the game with the ability to Override the Charger, so make use of it to get around.
You start the game with the ability to Override the Charger, so make use of it to get around.

Your first mount in the game is the Charger, the ram-looking machine you'll find in herds early in the game. Aloy starts the game with the override code for the Charger, so you can nab this mount whenever you see it from the start of the game to help you get around quickly. Chargers are fast but weak, so keep in mind that they won't take much damage if you get into trouble while riding one.

Bristleback

Bristlebacks might be large, but they can hustle when you're riding one.
Bristlebacks might be large, but they can hustle when you're riding one.

In the first area you reach in Forbidden West, the Daunt, you'll find the locals struggling with a batch of large machines called Bristlebacks. You can also unlock the ability to ride these large warthog robots fairly early as you work through the story. Bristlebacks are good fighters and usually have a lot of elemental attacks, and they're speedy to ride, which makes them great for getting around and for taking into a fight when you need backup.

You'll hit the Repair Bay Cauldron as part of the stories you complete around Plainsong.
You'll hit the Repair Bay Cauldron as part of the stories you complete around Plainsong.

Find the override for Bristlebacks in the TAU Cauldron (also called the Repair Bay) just west of Plainsong.

Clawstrider

Clawstriders are vicious fighters, but they're a bit on the slow side as far as Forbidden West's mounts go.
Clawstriders are vicious fighters, but they're a bit on the slow side as far as Forbidden West's mounts go.

Deeper into the game, you'll start encountering the velociraptor-like Clawstrider. These bots are tougher fighters than the other machines you've encountered to this point, making them good allies, but the trade-off is that they're slower as mounts. They're not as big as Bristlebacks, though, so they're a bit more maneuverable and won't get hung up on trees or other obstructions quite as often.

The IOTA Cauldron is off the beaten path, requiring you to head north of Scalding Spear to find it.
The IOTA Cauldron is off the beaten path, requiring you to head north of Scalding Spear to find it.

The Clawstrider Override can be gained by completing the IOTA Cauldron you'll find near the northern edge of the map, just north of Scalding Spear.

Sunwing

The Sunwing makes getting around incredibly easy, but you'll need to advance most of the way through the story to unlock the flying mount.
The Sunwing makes getting around incredibly easy, but you'll need to advance most of the way through the story to unlock the flying mount.

Far and away the best mount is the flying Sunwing, the pteranodon robot you'll have found roosting in a few places. The ability to fly makes getting around the map extremely easy, and you can also trivialize some missions or puzzles with the ability to drop into them from above rather than climb up to them from the ground. The Sunwing is the fastest mount, of course, and makes it easy to get to some tough-to-reach places on the map. It's not a great fighter, though, and can get pummeled when you ride it into hostile territory.

You'll get the Sunwing Override as part of the main story--it's not something you can unlock until you've advanced to a certain point, and you'll be guided toward it. You'll need to do the mission that takes you to the Gemini Cauldron to get it.

You can find Overrides for a whole lot of other machines in Horizon Forbidden West, but those machines will only fight for you in battle--they won't let you ride them. Keep that in mind as you hunt down Cauldrons and decide which Corrupted Overrides to pursue. In general, it's a good idea to complete each Cauldron as soon as you find it, in order to maximize your ability to hack machines, gather mounts, and speed up your trek across the West.

For more on the huge sequel, don't miss our Horizon Forbidden West tips for beginners, a breakdown of the best skills and Valor Surges, a guide on how to use armor dyes, and our Horizon Forbidden West review.

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