To the Burning Shores is the first Main Quest in the Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC, and it sees Aloy travel south to the untamed wilds of the Burning Shores to track down a new sinister threat. To begin the Burning Shores expansion, you must complete Horizon Forbidden West's main storyline and install the Burning Shores DLC. For more information on how to begin the DLC, check out our comprehensive How to Start the Burning Shores DLC guide!

In this walkthrough, you'll receive detailed instructions to help you complete the various objectives in the Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores opening quest, To the Burning Shores.

To the Burning Shores Walkthrough

Click the links below to learn more about a specific objective in the To the Burning Shores Main Quest:

• Meet Sylens at Tilda's Mansion
• Kill the Machines
• Follow Seyka and Ride the Skiff to the Settlement
• Meet Seyka Across the Bridge and Head to the Tower
• Kill the Bilegut
• Search for a Way Up the Tower
• Search for a Way to Disrupt the Weapon
• Destroy the Zenith Weapon

Meet Sylens at Tilda's Mansion

After completing Singularity (the final quest in Horizon Forbidden West's main storyline) and installing the Burning Shores DLC, you'll receive the notification pictured above. Hold X to confirm and you'll be contacted by Sylens, who will ask you to meet him at Tilda's Mansion. Tilda's Mansion sits south of the Thornmarsh Settlement and west of the Zenith Base.

Even if you were in the middle of a mission, To the Burning Shores should become your active quest and a trail to Tilda's Mansion should automatically appear on your Map. If a path to Tilda's Mansion does not appear on your Map, press the Touchpad to bring up your menu, scroll over to the Quests tab, find To the Burning Shores, and press X to activate this quest.

Enter Tilda’s Mansion, and you’ll find Sylens waiting on the balcony where Aloy and Tilda had their conversation right before the end of Forbidden West's Main Story. Speak to Sylens, and after providing some background information, he'll reveal that he discovered that a thirteenth Zenith named Walter Londra remains at large in the volcano-wracked Burning Shores region.

As the conversation ends, you'll receive the prompt pictured above and you'll be given the option to travel to the Burning Shores.

When the cutscene ends, Aloy will crash land at the Burning Shores, and before exchanging pleasantries with the stranger that watched her bite the dust, the duo will be threatened by a flock of Machines.

Kill the Machines

After the cutscene, you'll find yourself hiding in tall grass as a couple of Widemaws and several Apex Burrowers infiltrate the area. Though you can certainly use the tall grass and smoke bombs to stealthily take down the Machines, this is also the perfect opportunity to practice using Unstable Firegleam to dispatch your foes. Unstable Firegleam is a resource introduced in Burning Shores, and it's described as, "Volatile crystalline and fungal growth of unknown origin. Detonates on impact".

When shot, Unstable Firegleam detonates to damage nearby enemies, and they can also act like the traps seen in Hunting Grounds that drop rubble onto unsuspecting Machines. Lure your enemies toward the Unstable Firegleam before shooting the crystals with a well-timed arrow and you'll quickly wipe out the Machines.

For a few more details that can help you take out the Machines, check out the table below:

Once you've defeated all of the Machines, a cutscene will automatically begin and you'll be formally introduced to Seyka. When the cutscene ends, Seyka will prompt you to follow her to her skiff, but feel free to roam as Seyka will wait for you. You will be able to return to this area soon, but before following Seyka, you should backtrack to loot the defeated Machines since their parts will disappear if you leave render distance.

If you choose to explore the area, you can find various chests and the following items:

• Dimorphodon Pangea Figurine Collectible
• Aerial Capture: Northwest
• Acceptance Speech (V6) Datapoint
• Ugh! Elijah! Datapoint
• Brimshine Sliver 1
• Brimshine Sliver 2

Follow Seyka and Ride the Skiff to the Settlement

When you've had your fill of exploration, head toward the yellow objective marker, and follow Seyka south to her skiff. After some preparations, hop aboard the skiff and Seyka will sail to the settlement of Fleet's End where you'll enter a lengthy cutscene. Toward the end of the cutscene, you'll have the opportunity to learn more about Seyka, and she'll ask you to meet her across the bridge that leads to the tower. At this time, you can freely roam the Fleet's End settlement so feel free to speak to Admiral Gerrit, visit the nearby shops, or even talk to Theoa – a local that'll assign the Side Quest, The Splinter Within.

Meet Seyka Across the Bridge and Head to the Tower

To continue the main storyline, head across the southeastern bridge and speak to Seyka. Seyka will encourage you to take either of the nearby trails since they both lead to the tower, so pick a path and she'll follow you. Though the trails ultimately intersect and lead to the same area, the two routes vary slightly in the Machines you'll encounter and in potential loot. As you continue down your selected path, you'll soon reach a narrow passage where you'll discover Stingspawn Eggs.

These eggs house Stingspawns, a new Machine added in Burning Shores, and getting too close to the eggs will cause the Stingspawns to hatch and attack. To make quick work of the Stingspawns, shoot the eggs with a rapidly-firing weapon, use area-of-effect weapons like Blastslings to break several eggs at once, or sprint toward the eggs to melee them before they hatch.

Once you've defeated the Stingspawns, continue down the trail, walk past the campfire, and you'll stumble upon an open area that's home to another new Machine, the Bilegut.

Kill the Bilegut

The Bilegut is a large, frog-like Machine, and its stomping grounds are filled with Stingspawns and eggs because Bileguts produce swarms of Stingspawns to collect resources. Though you might get distracted by the Stingspawns buzzing by your face, these low-HP foes are no threat if you keep them at range. Because of this, it's recommended that you try to ignore these pesky insects until you have no other alternative. Instead, focus your efforts on defeating the Bilegut since killing the frog-like Machine will prevent it from creating additional Stingspawns.

Bileguts are weak to Fire and Frost Damage, and a great way to deal near-guaranteed Elemental Damage is by targeting its Metalbite Sac. A Bilegut's Metalbite Sac can be found under the Machine's chin and on its belly. Destroying the Metalbite Sac will cause an explosive reaction and it can trigger the beast's Elemental Limit which will cause the Bilegut to take Acid Damage over time.

As you fight, keep on the move to avoid the Bilegut's various leaping attacks, and if needed, explore the battle arena to collect Medicinal Berries. Once you've defeated the Bilegut, loot the Machine carcass, return to the trail, and follow Seyka as she climbs the ruins that lead to the tower.

Search for a Way up the Tower

After hurdling up two platforms and climbing the handholds pictured above, walk through the leaves directly ahead to enter the tower. Follow Seyka through the tower and you'll quickly reach a dead-end where Seyka will mention she couldn't find a way to get further up the tower.

Search the Supply Box on the ground, use your Pullcaster (L2+▲) to tear down the ceiling above you, then climb up the yellow beam. Next, continue to follow Seyka while thoroughly searching each floor for Ancient Valuables Boxes and Chests.

When you reach the yellow beam pictured above, climb to the top, then press O with no directional movement to leap backward and grab the second beam. Climb up the second beam, then perform the same action again to reach the ladder before doing it once more to jump onto the nearby platform.

Search the platform to find a Brimshine Fragment that yields 2 Brimshine, then leap upward to continue climbing the yellow-colored handholds until you reach Floor 5.

Once on Floor 5, approach the vent pictured above. Double-tap X to pull the vent open before double-tapping X again to grapple into the vent. When you emerge, continue using the yellow-colored handholds to climb to the following level.

Next, use your Shieldwing to glide across the gap pictured above, and after a bit more climbing, you'll reach a ruined balcony. On this balcony, you can find a dead Waterwing, a Campfire, and a Brimshine Sliver. Use the ramp of rubble near the Waterwing to continue climbing and you'll finally reach the Zenith Weapon at the top of the tower.

Search for a Way to Disrupt the Zenith Weapon

Because the weapon is high in the sky, you'll need to disrupt it by finding and overriding the weapon's Control Node. To find the Node, look toward the southwestern corner of the area. Here, you'll find a yellow beam hanging beside a doorway near the edge of the platform.

Climb up the yellow beam, then hold R2 to override the Control Node.

Destroy the Zenith Weapon

Once you've overridden the node, the Zenith Weapon will lower and begin to attack. Hold R3 to use your Focus to scan the weapon, and you'll learn that you need to destroy the weapon's Power Cores to take it down. To destroy the first Power Core, head through the doorway on the left side of the platform and follow the natural path until you find the wall covered in Unstable Firegleam.

Shoot the crystals to breach the wall, then walk out on the ledge to climb the yellow handholds. When you run out of handholds, look to your right and double-tap X to grapple up to the next platform. Now that you've flanked the Zenith Weapon, shoot its first Power Core. The weapon will retaliate with a barrage of missiles and drop you back down to the lower platform.

Hold R3 and aim your Focus at the weapon to determine the location of its two remaining Power Cores. Shoot the remaining Power Cores, and the Zenith Weapon will explode and fall to the ground. Search the Defense Drone to collect a +15% Elite Critical Hits Coil, then speak to Seyka to complete this quest, and you'll automatically begin the next quest, Heaven and Earth!