Clawstrider - Horizon Forbidden West Guide - IGN (2024)

First seen during Aloy's brutal introduction to Regalla in The (and subsequently encountered throughout the various realms of the Forbidden West), Clawstriders are a combat machine that closely resembles a velociraptor. As you'd imagine for a robot designed to mimic one of the deadliest creatures of the Cretaceous period, they aren't particularly friendly and will pull out all the stops to make sure Aloy doesn't escape their clutches in one piece.

Clawstrider Attacks

• Melee Flurry - The Clawstrider will unleash a flurry of fast attacks, requiring Aloy to dodge out of the way to avoid them.
• Razor Tail Swipe - An aerial attack where the Clawstrider launches itself into the air and swipes its tail at Aloy, inflicting a significant amount of damage.
• Sonic Blast - The Clawstrider stands on its hind legs and emits a sonic pulse from its chest, disorientating Aloy and preventing her from using her weapons temporarily.
• Backup Call - A scream that alerts other nearby machines to Aloy's presence.
• Elemental Projectile - Elemental Clawstriders will fire a large single projectile at you, knocking you down and inflicting serious damage if it connects. It can deliver these in quick succession.
• Elemental Triple Projectile - Elemental Clawstriders can fire three projectiles from their tail, inflicting heavy damage if they land.
• Elemental Mist - An elemental Clawstrider will send a wave of acid or fire at you, causing element buildup if Aloy's in the line of fire.
• Elemental Area of Effect Attack - An elemental Clawstrider will fall to the ground, emitting a wide cloud of acid or fire, hitting Aloy with elemental build up.

Tips and Tricks for Defeating Clawstriders

Fighting a standard Clawstrider or an elemental Clawstrider is largely a very different beast with two varying strategies, so let's go through each individually.

Standard Clawstriders

Tip number one with these guys is that, regardless of how long you've spent honing Aloy into a melee god, close-quarters combat is not your friend. Although they look small enough that you could use the Nora Warrior skill to your advantage here, Clawstriders will tank through damage like Hulk Hogan seconds before landing a devastating leg drop.

In short, they won't be staggered by anything you throw at them, so your best bet is to stay away as much as possible and pick them apart with some well-placed projectiles. In terms of aiming for specific components, the tail should be at the top of your priority list.

The base variant of Clawstrider will constantly fall back on its tail whip, and while you'll quickly learn to dodge the predictable move, it can drain your health if it hits. Removing the tail can be tricky, but a good tip is to lean on a shredder gauntlet. Managing to get a tearing shredder shot on target will help you remove the tail quickly, so you can focus on dodging the Clawstrider's attacks rather than lining up arrows.

With the tail off, you can now try and hit the resource container on the Clawstrider's back for more damage or, if you're feeling lucky, aim an electric projectile at the sparker beneath its torso. Doing so will detonate the component, inflicting a lot of damage.

Elemental Clawstriders

As for Elemental Clawstriders, playing at range can actually be just as risky as getting in close, so you'll want to make sure you're quickly shutting down all of its projectile capabilities. One objective here stays the same: the tail's your prime target. Although the standard Clawstrider mostly uses the tail for melee, elemental Clawstriders will use their tail to throw a trio of projectiles at you, which do a lot of damage.

Use the same strategy as last time to detach the tail. You'll then be able to use the tail as a turret, which is a very handy way to turn the tide on a Clawstrider. Regardless, now the tail is gone, turn your attention to the sac on the Clawstrider's stomach. This will be glowing green (for metalbite) or orange (for blaze) depending on the type of Clawstrider you're facing. Dismantle this ASAP to disable its elemental abilities.

With that done, you'll just be dealing with a typical Clawstrider without the ranged move set, so pick away at it from afar and you should take down your prey.

Two things worth noting with the Clawstrider:

• Traps are a risky play with these robotic raptors. They'll leap over tripwires, skirt around standard traps and refuse to stay in one spot long enough for blast slings to make much of a dent. Don't bother wasting your traps on an enemy that's too fast to lockdown.
• Clawstriders and stealth are a poor mix. While you can get a silent strike on them (nixing a good amount of health), they'll turn on you and be in prime position to unleash a flurry of strikes. Seeing as they often travel in packs, it's best to pick your shots from far away.

Clawstrider Loot

Considering Clawstriders are difficult to take down at the best of times, they do come with their fair share of great loot. These are some of the best upgrade items you'll find on fallen Clawstriders:

• Clawstrider Razor Tail (Used for upgrading weapons and outfits)
• Apex Elemental Clawstrider Heart (Used for upgrading weapons and outfits)
• Volatile Sludge (Used for crafting advanced and elite ammunition)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (Used for upgrading weapons and outfits)

As for all the unique parts you'll find only on Clawstriders, taking one down can net you:

• Clawstrider Razor Tail
• Apex Elemental Clawstrider Heart
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve
• Elemental Clawstrider Sac Webbing
• Elemental Clawstrider Circulator
• Clawstrider Circulator
• Clawstrider Primary Nerve

Here's a breakdown of all the parts you'll find when looting a Clawstrider:

Body

The body is the main component of the Clawstrider and is always lootable after it's been defeated.

Sparker / Metalbite Sac / Blaze Sac

The sparker / metalbite sac / blaze sac is found underneath the Clawstrider. The standard Clawstrider's sparker must be detached to be looted, whereas Elemental Clawstriders must retain their sacs if the players want to loot them.

Razor Tail

The tail is at the rear of the Clawstrider and has to be detached during the fight to be looted.

Resource Container

The resource container can be found on the Clawstrider's back and must be detached to be looted.