How to breathe underwater in Horizon Forbidden West: Craft the scuba mask

Horizon forbidden westThe world of is vast, built to be explored over long periods of time. The vast, open wilderness is breathtaking and overwhelming, giving players the ability to roam freely through some of the West Coast’s most iconic natural sites and cities. There are towering Sequoia forests endemic to parts of Northern California along with parched Death Valley and its sandy ocean. You scale mountain peaks and famous American landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge. They also swim in lakes, caves and oceans which are among the unique highlights of Forbidden West.

Ultimately, the way these elements are woven together emphasizes the exploration aspect of the game. “One of the first things we said at the beginning of development was that we wanted to focus more on diversity and density,” says Mathijs de Jonge, director of Horizon forbidden westsaid igamesnews.

Swimming plays a key role in this: it is beautiful and, most importantly, absolutely seamless. Outside of games dedicated specifically to swimming, I’ve typically experienced bodies of water as gating mechanisms. If I can Swimming, it’s often with a limited stamina bar – or it could be on a creature’s back, as in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. in the Forbidden West, there’s no running around lakes to avoid falling in, or tiptoeing around waterfalls. I’m fucking jumping in. There are brimming ecosystems, crumbling American landmarks, and tons of collectibles.

Luckily, although Aloy is initially limited by holding her breath, there is a scuba mask tool that allows her to breathe indefinitely. Granted, swimming can feel unforgiving before finding this tool, as quests require Aloy to navigate labyrinthine underwater passages. Hang in there and get this scuba mask and swimming will be really liberating and exciting. It makes the game one of my all-time favorites for exploration.

Once you’ve unlocked your base and spoken to GAIA, I’d highly recommend getting this scuba mask ASAP. Here’s how you can.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

[Ed. note: spoilers follow for certain Horizon Forbidden West story quests.]

How to make the diving mask for infinite breathing underwater

In order to craft the diving mask, you must exit The Daunt, unlock your base, and upload the GAIA kernel. Crafting the Diving Mask is an early part of The Poseidon’s side feature quest line called “Sea of ​​Sands”. When GAIA tells you which of the three sub-functions you wish to exercise – Aether, Poseidon or Demeter – choose Poseidon and head to Las Vegas.

When you arrive, the map shows a large, yellow, circular area. You’re looking for a building that looks like a pagoda but has water pouring out of it. You’ll know it’s right as Aloy will call it a “tower of tears” when she sees it. The easiest way to find it is to go to a high point and look for the building.

To get inside, there’s a grapple point on the edge of the first floor, near where the water pours out. You will encounter three NPCs who tried to dive into the recently flooded building. Talk to Morlund and he will give you the task of crafting the diving mask.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

To craft the diving mask you will need three items:

• compressed air capsule
• Machine kneecap
• Synthetic membrane

The compressed air pod is in the flooded elevator shaft where the three NPCs dived. Dive in, swim down, and harvest the Compressed Air Pod from a protruding panel on the wall.

To get the other items, activate the hunt objective part of the questline and follow the clues to activate Aloy’s Focus. Focus will reveal clues that lead Aloy to a Bellowback and Leaplasher site. Bellowbacks have synthetic membranes; Leaplashers will have machine kneecaps. You may have to kill several to get the items.

After that, go back to the pagoda, talk to Morlund and craft the diving mask at the workbench inside the building. You now have it permanently, and it activates instantly when you jump in the water – you don’t need to equip it.

What makes swimming underwater so special

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Just like in real life, explore the underwater world in Forbidden West feels expansive and free – in larger bodies of water, like the lake (probably based on Lake Mead) that players may encounter first in The Daunt. At this point you don’t have infinite underwater breathing. But once you’ve unlocked the diving mask, the options expand beautifully – players can freely swim across the entire great lake, swim past schools of fish and explore the many mysteries that lie within its depths. This is just one of many many hidden corners that become available once you have the scuba mask.

This sense of freedom underwater is largely intentional. The developers chose not to make underwater combat an option, instead giving players stealth options in the form of large seaweed. “I think it’s pretty similar to moving on the ground; The mechanic himself has to be responsive and you have to feel like you’re in control,” said de Jonge. “In addition, the environment matters and the player needs options to avoid underwater battles with machines. We didn’t even try to develop that because the player’s mobility underwater is just too limited and the machines are big, fast and deadly.”

[Warning: the following contains spoilers for late-game locations and machine types in Horizon Forbidden West.]

Some of the game’s most cinematic moments happen when Aloy is underwater. You’ll see some of Las Vegas’ most iconic hotels, presented in a post-post-apocalyptic future with light shows and holograms. Here, Aloy meets one of the game’s deadliest and most intimidating enemies for the first time, the Tideripper, a machine inspired by the Loch Ness Monster. Here players can also see how charming Burrowers are while swimming. The frustratingly hopping entry-level enemies become otter-like underwater, chirping and writhing around.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Exploring San Francisco underwater also feels like a gift in the final stretches of the main quest. It’s haunting to see parts of the familiar city underwater – especially as it’s a city I’ve lived in. The post-apocalypse struck as I swam around the ferry building in its oceanic tomb. These are just some of my fondest memories from my time in Forbidden West‘s incredible underwater world. My dive mask and I will be making many more.