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Horizon Forbidden West

What is the Arena?

By
Jarrod Garripoli

There are a variety of activities to do in Horizon: Forbidden West. This page will concentrate on what the Arena is.

Aloy enjoying the cheers after finishing an Arena challenge

The Arena is a stage for you to fight a variety of machines, in different challenges, that will be spread out across tiers. Each tier will have four different challenges for you to complete, with each one getting progressively more difficult. It should be noted that you will have to pay a small Metal Shards fee for participating in the challenges, so you will need a health supply to keep doing them in succession. The first three challenges in each tier will lock your current equipment for that challenge, so once you start, you won’t be able to switch any equipment while fighting.

The fourth challenge in each tier will function a bit different, though. Those will have a predetermined loadout picked out for you, so you will have to do with whatever is given. This makes the fourth challenge a lot harder to defeat, since you aren’t using your usual loadout. To make things even more hectic and crazy, all of the challenges in the Arena have a time limit to them. In order to obtain the Arena Medals from each challenge, you will have to complete them within the time limit. You’re not kicked out of the challenge for going over the time limit, as the game still allows you to finish, but you won’t get any rewards for doing so. A good idea, should you be having trouble and go over the time limit, is to just play around and try to formulate a strategy on the specific challenge.

(1 of 2) You will need to complete each available challenge to unlock the next

You will need to complete each available challenge to unlock the next (left), Complete the challenge within the timer at the top of the screen to earn Arena Medals (right)

A good tip for starting out in the Arena, if you start doing them when you first unlock them, is to do the first two Hunting Grounds. You will have access to both The Daunt Hunting Grounds and the Plainsong Hunting Grounds prior to opening the Arena. If you do the Full Stripes on every Trial for those two Hunting Grounds, you should have a good number of Hunting Medals available. Head on over to Dukkah and she will offer some purple-tier weapons available, including a nice Hunter Bow (Marshal Hunter Bow) that has three different kinds of ammunition. One of these types of ammunition is Berserk Hunting Arrows, which build up the Berserk state. While under this, the machines will attack the nearest enemy, no matter if they are friend or foe, so you can use this in multi-Machine fights to have them fight each other.

Where to Turn in Hunting and Arena Medals

Upon talking to Kalla and Dukkah to begin the process of opening up the Arena, Dukkah will go off on her own after talking her spiel of what you can do with your Hunting and Arena Medals. She can be found not too far from Kalla, who handles the Arena stuff, and is marked on your map with a medal icon. Once you find her, speak to her and choose the option to Trade Medals to see what she has to offer. As previously mentioned, she handles both Arena Medals and Hunting Medals, the latter of which are obtained from participating in the Hunting Grounds around the map. They are treated separately and you can get different rewards, depending on how many medals you have on you.

(1 of 2) Dukkah is where you can trade in your Medals

Dukkah is where you can trade in your Medals (left), The Marshal Hunter Bow is a nice upgrade if you’ve done the Hunting Grounds (right)

Hunting Medals give you access to some Very Rare weapons, some of which might be an upgrade at the point you can unlock the Arena. The Arena Medals, on the other hands, will allow you to purchase Legendary weapons and armor, although they require quite a bit of them and you will need to fight a lot of battles in the Arena to earn that many medals. However, the Legendary equipment is some of the best in the game, as they typically have a lot of perks on them, as well as a high number of slots for Coils.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • Platforms,
    PS4, PS5
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    16 February 2022
  • Last Updated
    31 March 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author

Share this free guide:

This guide for Horizon Forbidden West includes the following:

  • A Walkthrough for Main Quest
  • A Guide for all Errands, Side Quests and Cauldrons
  • An in depth analysis for Weapons and Armor.
  • Information on all new and returning Machines
  • How to find and complete all four Melee Pits
  • How to unlock and complete all stages of the Arena
  • How to find and override all five Tallnecks
  • Locations on all Collectibles
    • Ornaments
    • War Totems
    • Vista Points
    • Survey Drones
    • Signal Towers
    • Black Boxe

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