Horizon Zero Dawn Quest Guide: Ancient Armory Walkthrough

Ancient Armory – Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn drops players into a large, open world with plenty to discover. One such discovery is a hidden quest called Ancient Armory that unlocks an awesome suit of armor for players to obtain, if they’re willing to put in the legwork. Of course, you must first find it. The quest is located in a bunker to the southwest of the first Tallneck you come across while playing. We marked it on the map below for you:

Once you enter the bunker for the first time, the quest will trigger. You will have to find five Power Cells in order to unlock the room where the armor is being held. Here are their locations:

First – This one is located in the very first cave you fall in when you start the game and are playing as young Aloy. You can only find the item as an adult, so you will have to revisit the location. It’s directly east of Mother’s Watch, which is in the southeast area of the world map. Drop into the cave and continue through until you come across a passage blocked by sharp, breakable rocks. It will be sitting on a desk.

Second – You’ll have to advance at least up to the Womb of the Mountain quest which allows you to explore All-Mother Mountain. As you make your way through, without advancing the mission, you’ll find a locked door with a bright red circle on it. You can’t open it, but if you look to the left of this area you’ll find a tunnel that will lead you to the next cell for the ancient armory. If you didn’t get it during this quest, you can return to this area later, after progressing further in the story.

Third – To obtain this next one you’ll have to make it up to the Maker’s End quest in Horizon Zero Dawn and climb the Faro Skyscraper (this can be done after the quest as well). You will find it all the way at the top after learning about the lady that looks like Aloy. Just look for another path after that scene and you’ll be able to go even higher.

Fourth – This one is found during or after the Grave-Hoard quest (which is after the Maker’s End quest). When you reach the main area of the ruins, scan your surroundings to find this power cell laying about.

Fifth – The final Power Cell needed for the Ancient Armory quest is found during the quest The Mountain That Fell. During the quest, you’ll come across a hologram that shows Faro talking with scientists working on GAIA. As you progress past that point, there will be a zipline that you need to ignore for a moment. Look around and you’ll find a passage to a cave nearby that leads down to a Power Cell. Now you can return to the zipline and continue the quest.

Now that you have all of the Power Cells, it’s time to complete the Ancient Armory quest in Horizon Zero Dawn by solving some puzzles. 

Opening The Ancient Armory

There are two parts to opening the ancient armory and getting Horizon Zero Dawn’s best armor set. First, you must open the door. This requires two cells. You’ll be given a clue if you scan the wall to the right. You’ll need to turn the dials that activated with the Power Cells to match the clue. The answer from left to right is:

UP, RIGHT, DOWN, LEFT, UP

After you’ve done that, it’s time to actually gain access to the armor, this is where the other three Power Cells you’ve collected come into play. They are required to open the clamps and are placed in three slots in a room after where you placed the first two. You’ll once again have to solve a complicated puzzle, but don’t worry, we’ve sorted out the answer for you. From left to right it’s:

RIGHT, LEFT, UP, RIGHT, LEFT

That’s all there is to the ancient armory quest. Once the clamps are unlocked, interact with the suit to receive the Shield-Weaver Treasure Box. Inside of that treasure box is, you guessed it, the Shield-Weaver armor that is easily the best in Horizon Zero Dawn. It absorbs all damage until it starts flashing. At that point, simply avoid damage for just a few seconds and you can get right back into the action.

For more on Horizon Zero Dawn, check out our wiki.