How to easily defeat Horus, the Metal Devil, in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Horizon Forbidden West recently welcomed its latest story DLC, Burning Shores. Teeming with interesting new quests, fresh weapon unlocks, and a handful of unique mechanical monsters, players have a lot to go up against. While most machines in the DLC are returning from the base game (albeit more aggressive and powerful), there are a few new ones that you will face during the main story quests.

Among the handful of fresh machines introduced in the Burning Shores DLC, nothing is more spectacular and intimidating than the Horus, also known as the Metal Devil. It debuted in the first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, and subsequently appeared in Horizon Forbidden West.

However, it is only in the Burning Shores DLC that players get to see and fight the fully functional Horus rampaging across the landscape. The Metal Devil is arguably the most visually captivating machine in the Horizon series, partly due to its massive stature and the challenge it presents.

Here's a comprehensive guide on easily and efficiently defeating Horus, the Metal Devil, in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC.

---

Tips on how to easily defeat Horus, the Metal Devil, in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Unlike most boss fights in the Horizon series, the battle against Horus is not a traditional one-on-one boss fight. Instead, the ordeal is divided into several short sequences (phases). Each of these allows Aloy to damage Horus' most vulnerable parts, i.e., its heatsinks, which are hidden in different locations on its body.

Here is a complete breakdown of how to defeat Horus, the Metal Devil, in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC:

• You come face-to-face with the Horus in the Burning Shores DLC's penultimate quest, His Final Act.
• The quest starts with Aloy meeting up with Seyka, followed by a stealth-focused section where you are tasked with stealthily making your way to the Horus and its external heatsink, which you must destroy.
• This section can be quite challenging due to the Corruptors guarding the heatsink. However, you can easily bypass the Corruptors using stealth.
• If you alert the machines, you can use fire elemental weapons to dispatch the Corruptors guarding the heatsink.
• Once you destroy the external heatsink, Londra, the Far Zenith and the main antagonist of the Burning Shores DLC, will activate the Horus, prompting you to chase the Metal Devil and destroy the heatsinks on its body to stop it dead on its tracks.
• You must use the newly acquired Specter Gauntlet weapon to shoot down the heatsinks on the Horus' body.
• You can find the location of the heatsinks using Aloy's focus and fire the homing projectiles of the Specter Gauntlet to disable the cooling system of the Metal Devil. Once you deal enough damage to the machine and disable the first heatsink, you will progress to the third and final phase of the battle.
• In the final phase, the Horus will attack using three of its tendril-like arms, each with a heatsink that you will need to destroy.
• The best way to deal damage to the machine in this phase is to dodge the flailing attacks and wait until the arms rest. Once the arms become stationary, scan them using the focus for the heatsink and destroy it with the Specter Gauntlet. You must repeat this process three more times to destroy all four heatsinks.

Once all the heatsinks are dealt with, the Horus will come to a standstill, allowing Aloy to enter the machine and fight Londra. Defeating Horus isn't as challenging as some of the other machines in the Burning Shores DLC, such as the Apex Slaughterspine or the Apex Bilegut. However, it is easily the most visually arresting boss fight in the game and one that perfectly concludes the DLC.

---

The Burning Shores DLC for Horizon Forbidden West is now available exclusively for the PlayStation 5.