The battles between Aloy and the machines are one of Horizon Forbidden West’s most fun aspects. During your journey, you will find all kinds of animal-like machines, from meerkats to huge boars with acid tanks on their backs. Part of the fun is finding their weak spots and learning which elements are the most effective against them. However, there are some machines that are just too intimidating in the beginning. One example is the Slitherfang boss, a giant snake-like machine that is amazingly impressive but terrifying at the same time.
How to Beat the Slitherfang Boss?
Slitherfang is the first boss you fight in Horizon Forbidden West. To defeat the giant snake, aim for its weak spots on its underbelly. But also, avoid its direct attacks and the jets of acid.
You’ll first face Slitherfang during the “Reach for the Stars” questline. There are three of them at the beginning, and Aloy puts her plan in action, only one remains for you to face. The fight happens in an arena with lots of open space, and a few big rocks spread in the area. There will also be some pillars where Slighterfang stays wrapped for most of the fight.
In the course of the first phase of the fight, the boss stays far from you. Because it is too distant, you can’t attack it with your melee weapon. Focus on shooting your arrows aiming for Slitherfang’s weak spots. You can find them by analyzing it with Focus. Its main attack is a jet of acid that it throws from its pillar. To avoid it, simply take cover in one of the big rocks you can find in the arena. However, the boss will destroy it if you stay there for too long.
Slitherfang has a second phase in which it leaves its pillar. Since this is a more direct confrontation, you need to use Aloy’s roll command to escape its attacks. Different from the first phase, you will find some Slitherfang Coil Blaster in the arena. These are the machine’s fangs that have fallen from it and can be used as a heavy machine gun. This is a powerful weapon, but Aloy gets slower when holding it. In case you are shooting the boss with it and need to dodge an attack, the Coil Blaster will fall. Even though it has limited ammunition, you just need to find another one after you run out of bullets.
Keep at it and eventually you’ll be able to defeat the Slitherfang.
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Brazilian freelance writer who is always looking for a new JRPG to add to his pile. You can find him in Eorzea whenever he has some free time. Find me @alucarti on Twitter
