Apex Machine

Aloy pursuing an Apex Sawtooth.

"That one with the black armor is a new breed, deadlier than the rest."

―Talanah Khane Padish

Apex machines, also known as the "new breed" in the comic series or "hunter-killers", is a variant of a machine initially seen in the Horizon Zero Dawn comic series, as well as in Horizon Forbidden West. Apex variant machines possess black armor and purple muscle, along with increased stats, often different weaknesses and resistances, and often with different types of elemental canisters and attacks.

Only machines produced by HEPHAESTUS have Apex versions. The Specter, Specter Prime, Corruptor and Horus don't have Apex counterparts as they are not produced by HEPHAESTUS.

History

First appearing sometime after the Battle of the Alight, the Apex predators were developed by HEPHAESTUS as part of its escalating culling of human hunters.

The Comic Series

The Apex machines were encountered by Talanah while in Aloy's company; the Nora huntress had been engaged in combat against a Sawtooth of this variety, and Talanah came to her assistance. After the pair defeated one, Aloy enlisted Talanah's help to track down a second that had escaped.

Following its tracks across the river, the duo discovered the machine had destroyed an entire caravan of Carja travelers; the only survivor was a young girl who fled, with the Sawtooth pursuing her relentlessly. Aloy and Talanah chased after the machine and worked together to destroy it and save the girl. Afterwards, Aloy cautioned Talanah that no one other than herself would likely be able to defeat these machines.

One week later, Talanah encountered an Apex Clawstrider in the woods near Rising Light, narrowly escaping it with the help of Amadis. After being questioned by Amadis, Talanah revealed that her mission was to destroy the machine, which she considered a danger to the entire village.

The two tracked the machine to Sunbreak Valley, where it attacked a group of mercenaries and trappers who had been aggressively over-hunting Grazers in the area. Talanah leaped into action to fight off the machine, and with assistance from Amadis she was able to stun it, then kick it off a cliff and into a river.

Horizon Forbidden West

In the Forbidden West, Aloy first encountered Apex machines on her way to Repair-Bay TAU, after they had emerged from the cauldron and attacked the Utaru.

Aloy tracked down and defeated an Apex Clawstrider that had attacked an Utaru hunting party, an Apex Longleg that was causing trouble for the Utaru, and an Apex Thunderjaw that was besieging the Quen at the Digsite.

Appearance

Apex machines are distinguished by their black armor, accented with gold-colored trim and purple muscle. If a normal machine variant has elemental canisters, its Apex equivalent typically will have canisters of a separate elemental type (except variants specifically marked as a certain element, such as an Acid Bristleback).

Abilities

Compared to their standard counterparts, their armor is tougher and more resistant to damage, they have a minimum of 50% greater health, and can inflict more damage. They will always be encountered fully armored. Additionally, they typically possess different weaknesses than their standard counterparts (if they have any at all).

Like corrupted and daemonic machines, Apex machines cannot be being overridden by Aloy. However, they are still susceptible to being overridden by Corruptors.

Behavior

Apex machines appear more often at night, with the chance of encountering one rising as the number of its standard counterpart being destroyed increases, as noted in the table below. However, Apex Scrappers and Plowhorns instead have an increased chance of spawning during the day rather than night.

Apex machines will only spawn during and after completing The Dying Lands.

Name	Tier 1 (+20%)	Tier 2 (+40%)	Tier 3 (+60%)
Behemoth	2	3	5
Bellowback (both variants)	4	7	13
Burrower	18	21	27
Canister Burrower	5	8	15
Clamberjaw	5	8	16
Clawstrider	4	7	13
Clawstrider (Acid Clawstrider)	4	7	13
Clawstrider (Fire Clawstrider)	4	7	13
Bristleback (Acid Bristleback)	6	10	20
Bristleback (Fire Bristleback)	6	10	20
Dreadwing	2	3	4
Fireclaw	1	2	4
Frostclaw	1	2	4
Glinthawk	6	10	19
Grimhorn	3	6	9
Leaplasher	4	8	14
Longleg	4	7	13
Plowhorn	5	8	15
Ravager	4	7	13
Redeye Watcher	5	8	15
Rockbreaker	1	2	4
Rollerback	4	7	13
Scorcher	1	2	4
Scrapper	6	10	19
Scrounger	13	17	25
Shell-Walker	5	9	16
Shellsnapper	1	2	4
Skydrifter	4	7	13
Slaughterspine	2	3	4
Slitherfang	3	4	5
Snapmaw	4	8	15
Spikesnout	6	10	19
Stalker	4	7	13
Stormbird	1	2	4
Thunderjaw	2	3	4
Tideripper	2	3	4
Tracker Burrower	5	8	15
Tremortusk	2	3	4
Widemaw	5	8	15

Gallery

An Apex Clawstrider in the comic series.

Trivia

• While the Charger, Grazer, Lancehorn, Fanghorn, Sunwing are the only Zero Dawn machines that appear in Horizon Forbidden West to not have Apex versions encounterable in-game, Apex Grazers, Lancehorns and Sunwings are known to exist due to the presence of their hearts being findable in-game.
• If Aloy wishes to use Bristlebacks or Clawstriders as a mount, avoiding killing them when unnecessary is advised. This will reduce the number that are replaced with Apex variants and thus cannot be overridden.
  • Since these are both tracked per variant, Aloy can kill only one variant and leave the other alone. For example, killing only Fire Bristlebacks will keep Acid Bristlebacks less likely to spawn Apex.