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The Proving
The Proving is a Main Quest in Horizon Zero Dawn that will test Aloy’s skills as a hunter.
- Recommended Level: 6
- Rewards: 2500 XP, 1 Skill point
Today is the day Aloy will prove herself worthy, hopefully allowing her to compel the High Matriarchs to reveal the secrets of her birth. She must be quick and precise to earn her place as a top new Nora Brave in the tribe.
Technically, Aloy’s first task is to climb up a cliff face with her competition, but this is only observed by you in a cutscene. The real challenge starts at the top of the cliff on a hill.
Take Down a Grazer and Loot Your Trophy
The first real goal in the Proving requires Aloy to take down a Grazer, a new type of machine. They’ll be in a herd, running circles around the hill you’re atop. They’ll take extra damage if you hit the canisters on their backs, their horns, and their eyes.
Once you’ve killed one, you must loot its carcass to find a trophy. Be careful not to get run over by the other Grazers when you do this.
Unfortunately, Bast promptly destroys the trophy as soon as Aloy holds it up in victory. The proctor ignores the injustice, requiring Aloy to find another trophy. All of the other fallen Grazers have already been looted of their parts, so you must take down a new one.
With trophy in hand, follow the Nora who have left you behind.
Run the Abandoned Brave Trail
Approaching the start of the Brave Trail, it’s obvious Aloy has no hope of catching up… if she takes the same trail. The Proctor warns her not to take the abandoned trail, as two died on it last year, but Aloy doesn’t listen and starts that way regardless.
The path is treacherous and requires quick reactions to continue on it as quickly as possible. Horizon Zero Dawn however is very forgiving. If you fall, you’ll start back from an Auto-Save not long before. Quickly make your way down the path, pressing the right buttons when prompted without being overzealous with jumping, and you’ll be fine.
Jumping on a zip-line, soaring above the other Proving contestants, Aloy barely makes it ahead of Bast and Vala. But she makes it, embedding her trophy into the altar just seconds before her fiercest competition. Bast objects and accuses Aloy of cheating, but the Nora Proctor renounces Aloy’s outcast title and names her not only a brave, but the first among them all.
Aloy’s victory is short lived however, as only seconds pass before the Proctor receives an arrow to the heart.
Kill The Attackers
Volleys of fire arrows rain down from above, taking out many of the Nora tribe who ran with Aloy. Thinking quickly, Vala rallies Aloy and Bast to help protect the others, finding cover behind a boulder to fire from.
Instead of staying behind the boulder with your allies, sneak into the tall grass, and shoot from there to avoid detection.
Focus on the attackers without cover first, using Concentration to aim for head-shots to quickly take the enemies out without alerting their cohorts. Leave the one with cover for last. With only one shooting, it’s safe to come out from your hiding spot and move around to avoid his shots while flushing him out from behind his protection.
More will come once you take out the last on the ridge. This time, they’re accompanied by melee-attackers on foot. You can take these out with a single arrow to the head as well, but they gain on you quickly—so if you miss, you will be left incredibly vulnerable to attack. If you miss your first-head shot, put down your bow and attack with your spear instead. They’re taken out with just two attacks from the spear.
Once you’ve taken care of the axe-wielders, follow the previous strategy by hiding in the grass. A cutscene will follow again once you’ve taken out the last one.
Vara, Bast, and Aloy cover their comrades when it looks like there’s finally an opening to retreat. Right when it comes their turn to flee however, another enemy appears with an incredibly formidable weapon: A heavy machine gun. He takes down Vala, and Bast soon follows suit, running out to help her.
With Aloy the only one left, it’s up to you to take the rest of them out. Take cover behind a ridge to the right, forcing your attackers to follow. From here, aim to take out the gun-user first; lure him as far away from the other attackers as possible, then take him out.
Do this so you can safely dodge his shots without worrying about fire arrows, and then loot his body once he’s down. Pick up his Deathbringer gun and swiftly take down the rest of the enemies.
Once they’re down, you may want to drop the gun with Triangle to get around a bit easier. Loot all of the enemies before you loot the Enemy Leader, as you won’t have another chance to later. Aloy finds a Focus just like hers on his body, and while inspecting it, is snuck up on by a huge man with ill intent.
With his hand around her throat, the unknown killer tells Aloy, “Turn your face to the sun, child,” preparing to slit her throat. At that moment, an arrow pierces his chest, prompting him to drop Aloy and search for his assailant. Rost comes seemingly out of nowhere to fight the man, but unfortunately his efforts are in vain.
Left with a lit bomb behind them, Rost does the only thing he can do and pushes the delirious Aloy off the ledge to save her from the explosion, hoping she survives.
Severely injured, she’s miraculously found and experiences fever dreams as she’s brought into the sacred mountain, beginning your next Main Quest, The Womb of the Mountain.