How to complete the Need to Know side quest in Horizon Forbidden West

For the first half of Horizon Forbidden West, you’ll likely hear a lot about Talanah and how she swept through your base in a hurry. Having met her in the east, it’s now time to help her in the west through the Need to Know side quest. This guide explains how to complete the quest and smash its intimidating boss.

Step 1: Speak to Talanah and meet her further west

Head to Camp Nowhere, the small encampment of Oseram in No Man’s Land. You’ll meet Talanah there and can begin the quest. She’s eager to get moving and heads off ahead of Aloy further west to the north of Thornmarsh. When you’re ready to attack this quest, travel to her and be prepared for a fight.

Step 2: Kill the Fireclaw

Soon after finding Talanah, you’ll meet up with her friend. He’s battling a Fireclaw and has laid a lot of traps around the area. Dodge these and join the fight because this machine isn’t going down without your help. Fireclaws are weak to frost damage, so equip anything that deals it and fire away. Once the Fireclaw is frozen, use any weapon with high tear damage to rip parts off and weaken the machine. The arena makes this fight easier than it would be in a larger open area, so use the cover around you to dodge attacks and keep dealing damage until it’s dead.

When you’ve killed the Fireclaw, collect all the parts you sheared off of it before speaking to Talanah. She’ll introduce you to her friend, and you’ll discover that he’s looking for a nearby prison called The Rot. Follow the pair to the prison and get ready to fight some human opponents.

Step 3: Clear out the prison

Aloy needs to kill all the guards in the prison, but the front gate is locked down pretty tight. Swim through the water to the left of the entrance and work your way around to the back of the prison, where there’s a gap in the wall you can enter through.

You can take all the guards out by yourself using stealth or open the door and let your companions in to help. We recommend picking up some of the machine weapons dotted around the prison and finishing the enemies off with them.

Step 4: Kill the Tideripper

Once you’ve cleared out the prison and everything seems calm, a Tideripper bursts out of the water and attacks. This may be the first time you’ve taken on one of these machines, and it’s tough. They’re weak to frost damage, so equip any weapon that deals it and get to work. The Tideripper has a disc on its back that will constantly spew water to keep you away, but tearing it off early in the fight makes it much more manageable. Tiderippers are covered in weak points to hit, and you’d be remiss to shoot it anywhere else. Keep damaging weak points until the machine is finally down, then you can free the prisoners and speak to Talanah again.

Speaking to Talanah wraps up the quest, but not before you’re given the Lightning Hunter Bow. This is a powerful bow that’s great at dealing shock damage, and getting it early on in your journey will make it an incredibly useful asset for the rest of the story.