Top 10 Coolest Things About Aloy (Horizon)

Aloy anchors the world of the ‘Horizon’ games with skills that mix ancient survival know-how and Old World tech. She uses tools that read machine data, scales cliffs with ease, and turns towering robots into rideable allies. Across wild frontiers and forbidden ruins, she solves problems with quick study and careful planning.

This list pulls together concrete things she does in the games and how they work. You will find the gadgets she relies on, the systems she masters, and the roles she plays in major events. If you are new to the story, there are light plot details that explain her place in the world and why her abilities matter.

The Focus and augmented reality toolkit

Aloy’s Focus is a small triangular device that projects a data overlay only she can see. With a tap, it highlights machine paths, weak points, elemental canisters, and interactive objects in the environment. It also logs datapoints from Old World terminals and audio beacons, which builds a searchable codex for locations, people, and machines.

The Focus network connects to other devices and systems, which lets Aloy share or receive data when the story requires it. In ruins, it reveals power nodes to reroute, keypads to hack, and hardpoints to grapple. In open areas, it tracks footprints to follow a target across brush or sand. The tool works in real time without pausing combat, so she can scan while moving and act on new information instantly.

Machine overrides and Cauldron hacking

By exploring subterranean Cauldrons, Aloy acquires override codes for different machine classes. Each Cauldron functions as a manufacturing hub guarded by security protocols and modular puzzles. Completing one grants specific overrides that let her pacify or temporarily control machines such as Striders, Chargers, and later more advanced types.

Overrides expand travel, combat, and stealth options. A controlled machine can serve as a mount for fast crossing or act as a frontline distraction in a fight. Aloy upgrades and extends override durations at workbenches with parts gathered from the same machines, which ties exploration directly to progression.

Versatile bows and elemental combat

Aloy carries multiple bows that accept different arrowheads, from precision shots for long range to rapid fire for close pressure. Elemental arrows apply effects like fire, frost, shock, and acid, which build status meters that trigger burning, brittle shatter windows, stuns, or armor corrosion. She swaps ammo types on the fly to match a machine’s resistances and canisters.

Specialized weapons add further layers. Blastslings deliver area bursts that strip plates, ropecasters pin large targets, and spike throwers punch through heavy armor. Workbenches unlock improvements that increase draw speed, reload flow, and component tear, and weave slots allow coils that boost specific damage types. This makes loadouts configurable for hunts, contracts, or story missions.

Stealth and trap mastery

Tall grass and quiet movement allow Aloy to approach machines undetected. She marks patrols with the Focus, sets tripwires along their paths, and uses rocks or sound to redirect attention. Silent strikes remove human foes or smaller machines when their alert state is low, which lets her thin groups before a full fight begins.

Her trap kit includes tripcasters that create shock or explosive lines, blast traps that detonate on contact, and smoke bombs that reset enemy awareness in a pinch. Crafting these from common resources keeps preparation practical in the field. The result is a repeatable loop where scouting leads to trap placement, then controlled engagements that favor precision and part collection.

Traversal with Shieldwing, Pullcaster, and machine mounts

Aloy’s movement grows with story upgrades. The Pullcaster acts like a grapple for marked anchors and breakable plates, opening shortcuts and puzzle routes. The Shieldwing deploys as a glider that turns high climbs into safe descents and enables long lateral crossings between towers or rock arches.

Machine mounts change the map scale. Early mounts increase ground speed and allow mounted attacks, while later access to flying machines opens vertical exploration of remote peaks and offshore sites. Climbing is assisted by handhold markings and optional assisted highlights, and diving gear supports extended underwater routes that link caves to open lagoons.

Old World knowledge and the GAIA project

Datapoints and main quests reveal that Aloy is a genetic clone of Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, the engineer who led the GAIA terraforming project after a global machine catastrophe. This connection gives her access to locked facilities that recognize Sobeck’s credentials. It also places her in the middle of efforts to repair GAIA’s subordinate functions that maintain climate, wildlife, and machine behavior.

Key story arcs follow the retrieval or reintegration of these functions to stabilize the biosphere. Aloy uses authentication to enter sealed bunkers, restore servers, and rekey security that affects machine swarms. Her access explains why doors open for her that remain closed to others, and why various factions seek her help to address system failures.

Precision scanning and part tearing

Combat rewards accurate part targeting. Aloy scans each machine to reveal detachable components that power attacks or reinforce armor. By aiming at canisters, heat sinks, or weapon mounts, she can remove special moves from an enemy or trigger chain reactions that end fights faster.

Part tearing is also the foundation for upgrades. Many coil improvements and weapon tiers require rare drops that only fall if specific parts are shot off before the machine is destroyed. This encourages deliberate aim and the use of tear arrows or high impact shots, and it makes the Focus database a practical reference during hunts.

Field crafting and resource economy

Aloy crafts most ammunition and traps from wood, metal shards, and elemental resources gathered while traveling. Quick crafting lets her refill during encounters if she has the right materials. Workbenches provide deeper upgrades that consume machine parts, greenshine crystals, or rare animal goods found in side areas.

Pouches expand with small hunts that increase carrying capacity for arrows, potions, and food. Traders buy and sell components in settlements, and salvage contracts set clear goals that reward blueprints and rare materials. This loop ties exploration to combat readiness without requiring separate grind-only sessions.

Diplomacy and cross-tribe problem solving

Across the story, Aloy works with the Nora, Carja, Oseram, Tenakth, and Utaru. She mediates disputes, completes embassy objectives, and earns access to restricted zones by solving local problems such as machine incursions or infrastructure breakdowns. Dialogue choices unlock alternate quest routes and change how characters respond in later missions.

Alliances yield concrete benefits. Skilled companions join set pieces, settlement vendors offer unique gear, and specialists provide new weapon techniques. Quest lines often culminate in facility access or machine discoveries that feed back into her core goals, which makes diplomacy a direct path to new tools and information.

Underwater exploration and gear

Story progression unlocks a rebreather that allows unlimited underwater time. This opens submerged ruins with locked doors, vents, and hidden caches. Machines like Snapmaws and Tiderippers patrol these spaces, which changes combat pacing since bows and many traps do not work underwater.

Environmental puzzles use currents, buoyancy, and breakable grates. Aloy follows cable runs to power nodes, moves crates to reach maintenance shafts, and exits through kelp forests to new shoreline climbs. Underwater resource veins provide rare materials for upgrades that are not found on land, so dive routes feed both story and gear progression.

Share the one thing you think makes Aloy stand out most in the comments.