Clawstrider

Clawstrider
A fast and agile combat machine covered in razor-sharp blades. It is often encountered in small packs and is capable of a variety of deadly melee attacks.
Weight	Midweight
Class	Combat
Override	Cauldron IOTA
Machine Sites	10
Combat
Challenge Level	16 26 (Apex)
HP	700 900 (Elemental) 1400 (Apex) 1500 (Apex Elemental)
Weakness	Shock
Strength	Acid
Explosive Components	Blaze Sac (Fire variant) Metalbite Sac (Acid Variant)
Weak Points	Acid Bomb Launcher (Acid variant) Blaze Bomb Launcher (Fire variant) Eyes Glowblast Canister (Apex) Razor Tail (Standard) Resource Canister Sparker

"Razer sharp claws and armed to the teeth. That thing's built to kill."

―Aloy, upon sighting a Clawstrider

The Clawstrider is a mountable combat machine appearing in Horizon Forbidden West, as well as the Horizon Zero Dawn comic.

History

The Clawstrider, being a combat machine, was originally designed by the AI HEPHAESTUS as a new variant of 'hunter-killers', machines whose sole purpose was to kill humans.

They first appeared in the Sundom to attack the Carja village of Rising Light. Talanah Khane Padish took a contract to hunt the pack responsible for these attacks, thus setting her on the trail of the new and deadly machine.

A Clawstrider wounds Talanah

During her hunt, Talanah was grievously wounded when a Clawstrider stabbed her in the abdomen. Later, she encountered a black-armored Clawstrider, part of a dangerous new breed of machine, known as Apex-variant machines.

The Nora huntress Aloy encountered Clawstriders frequently throughout her journey in the Forbidden West. She first saw them during the rebel Regalla's assault on the Embassy, during which Regalla was riding one.

Later, she fought them frequently in rebel outposts, Cauldrons, and while exploring. Eventually, she learned to override them, and thus, mount them.

Appearance

The Clawstrider resembles a dromaeosaur; it stands bipedally, with claws on each limb, an enlarged hooked claw on each foot, and sharp metal plating that resembles feathers. However, its lower jaws resemble chainsaws, and two Resource Containers can be found on its back. They have also been shown to have a Power Cell on their underside.

The Elemental variants have more subtle armor plating and a dramatically different tail shape.

Behavior

Clawstriders are seen moving in packs, and appear to be highly aggressive. They are fast and agile, and will relentlessly pursue their quarry. Additionally, they are highly aggressive and territorial, and will closely guard their land and the machines within.

Clawstriders are mountable by humans, although they are noticeably slower than ungulate mounts like the Charger or Bristleback.

Abilities

Attacks

Both variants

Name	Windup Time	Damage Type	Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Deafening Shriek	Short	Deafened	-	0m - 9m	Inhales air and lets out an ear-piercing shriek.
Winding Slash	Medium	Melee	137/200	1m - 7m	Raises either arm and lunges while slashing diagonally at target.
Leaping Claw Slash	Medium	Melee Fire / Acid (Elemental Variants)	180/250 Melee Elemental Variants: 250 Fire/Acid, 50 Fire/Acid buildup	7m - 16m	Pounces at target while slashing with all claws before biting when it lands. Slashes with tail as it tumbles. Elemental versions breathes Fire/Acid as it bites and tumbles. Acid/Fire disabled when Drenched. Attack disabled when Slowed.
Relentless Maul	Medium	Melee Fire / Acid (Elemental Variants)	108/143 Melee Elemental Variants: 143 Fire/Acid, 50 Fire/Acid buildup	7m - 12m	Lunges towards target while snapping with its jaws. Follows up with 2 bites if it misses and target is still in range. Elemental versions breathes Fire/Acid while biting. Acid/Fire disabled when Drenched.
Twisting Bite	Short	Melee Fire / Acid (Elemental Variants)	137/143 Melee Elemental Variants: 143 Fire/Acid, 50 Fire/Acid buildup	6m - 14m	Hops in target's direction and rotates body to bite as it lands. Elemental versions breathes Acid/Fire while biting. Acid/Fire disabled when Drenched.
Reverse Tail Thrash	Short	Melee	180/250	4m - 12m	Turns and jumps backward, spinning 540o while slashing with its Razor Tail.
Leaping Tail Swipe	Medium	Melee	180/250	1m - 9m	Leaps forward and spins 360o while slashing in rising motion with Razor Tail.
Twisting Tail Swipe	Short	Melee	180/250	0m - 4m	Hops in place while spinning 360o and slashing with its Razor Tail.

Standard Clawstrider

Name	Windup Time	Damage Type	Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Cleaving Tail Slam	Medium	Melee	180	2m - 12m	Leaps towards target while rotating 180o to cleave through the air with its Razor Tail before slamming it into the ground.
Relentless Shredder	Medium	Melee	137	4m - 9m	Begins with a 180o overhead swipe with its Razor Tail, followed by a lunging bite before finishing with a spinning tail slash. Stops attacking if it lands a hit or target moves out of range.

Elemental Clawstrider

Name	Windup Time	Damage Type	Damage	Damage Area	Trigger Range	Description
Lobbing Tail Blitz	Medium	Ranged Fire / Acid	100 Ranged 100 Elemental 63 Elemental buildup	10/s Elemental 10/s Elemental buildup	0m - 16m	Lifts tail and fires a volley of three Acid/Fire bombs at target. Bombs explode on impact and leave residual damage areas. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Smoldering Cloud Burst	Short	Fire / Acid	286 Elemental 114 Elemental buildup	15/s Elemental 15/s Elemental buildup	15m - 53m	Spits cloud of Acid/Fire at target that leaves behind residual damage areas. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Smoldering Wave Rush	Medium	Fire / Acid	70 Elemental 20 Elemental buildup	-	3m - 25m	Walks towards target while breathing a stream of Acid/Fire. Sends out waves of elemental projectiles along its trajectory. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Smouldering Immolation	Medium	Fire / Acid	20/s Elemental 20/s Elemental buildup	15/s Elemental 15/s Elemental buildup		Body begins venting Acid/Fire, creating a cloud around itself that deals damage over time and leaves behind residual damage areas for 30 seconds. Clears any current status effect or buildup. Triggers when HP falls below 40% or when over 200 damage is inflicted under 10 seconds.

Variants

Variant	Weakness	Strength
Clawstrider	Shock	Acid
Acid Clawstrider	Plasma	Acid Fire
Fire Clawstrider	Purgewater	Fire
Apex Clawstrider	Shock	Acid Plasma
Apex Acid Clawstrider	Plasma	Acid Fire
Apex Fire Clawstrider	Purgewater	Fire

Components

Name	Variant	Image	Description	Attributes
Body	All		Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	None
Sparker	Standard		Shock storage. Tear off to collect this resource or shoot with a Shock Arrow to detonate	Chain Reaction Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Blaze Sac	Fire Apex Fire		Blaze storage. Destroy to disable Fire attacks or leave intact to add loot to the carcass.	Explosive Persists When Killed Contains Resources If Intact Key Upgrade Resource
Metalbite Sac	Acid Apex Acid		Metalbite storage. Destroy to disable Acid attacks or leave intact to add loot to the carcass.	Explosive Persists When Killed Contains Resources If Intact Key Upgrade Resource
Glowblast Canister	Apex Standard		Glowblast storage. Tear off to collect this resource or shoot with a Plasma Arrow to detonate.	Chain Reaction Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Resource Container	Standard Apex Standard		Storage container for valuable resources. Tear off to collect its contents.	Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Blaze Bomb Launcher	Fire Apex Fire		A club-like tail that can launch powerful Blaze Bombs and enhance melee attacks.	Explosive Ability Removal Persists When Killed Useable Weapon
Acid Bomb Launcher	Acid Apex Acid		A club-like tail that can launch powerful Acid Bombs and enhance melee attacks.	Explosive Ability Removal Persists When Killed Useable Weapon
Razor Tail	Standard Apex Standard		Extremely sharp metal blades used as a primary melee weapon. Detach or destroy to disable Tail attacks.	Detachable Attack Removal Destroyed When Killed Key Upgrade Resource
Resource Canister	Elemental Apex Elemental		Storage container for valuable resources. Tear off to collect its contents.	Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed

Loot

• Clawstrider
• Fire Clawstrider
• Acid Clawstrider
• Apex Clawstrider
• Apex Fire Clawstrider
• Apex Acid Clawstrider

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (73%)
• Piercing Spike (51%)
• Medium Machine Core (37%)
• Clawstrider Circulator (32%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Clawstrider Primary Nerve (23%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (11%)
• Metal Bone (10%)

Sparker

• Sparker (100%)

Resource Container

• Braided Wire (90%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (55%)
• Blastpaste (25%)
• Medium Machine Core (25%)
• Clawstrider Primary Nerve (15%)

Razor Tail

• Clawstrider Razor Tail (100%)

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Blaze (100%)
• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Braided Wire (73%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (30%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (21%)
• Metal Bone (11%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (10%)

Blaze Sac

• Elemental Clawstrider Sac Webbing (100%)
• Blaze (100%)

Blaze Bomb Launcher

• Blaze Bomb Launcher (100%)

Resource Canister

• Braided Wire (90%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (55%)
• Medium Machine Core (26%)
• Blastpaste (26%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (16%)

Body

• Metalbite (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Braided Wire (72%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (22%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (11%)
• Metal Bone (11%)

Blaze Sac

• Elemental Clawstrider Sac Webbing (100%)
• Metalbite (100%)

Acid Bomb Launcher

• Acid Bomb Launcher (100%)

Resource Canister

• Braided Wire (90%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (55%)
• Blastpaste (26%)
• Medium Machine Core (25%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (16%)

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (72%)
• Apex Clawstrider Heart (65%)
• Volatile Sludge (51%)
• Piercing Spike (51%)
• Medium Machine Core (37%)
• Clawstrider Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Clawstrider Primary Nerve (22%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (11%)
• Metal Bone (11%)

Glowblast Canister

• Glowblast (100%)

Resource Container

• Braided Wire (89%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (56%)
• Medium Machine Core (26%)
• Blastpaste (25%)
• Clawstrider Primary Nerve (16%)

Razor Tail

• Clawstrider Razor Tail (100%)

Body

• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Blaze (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (72%)
• Apex Elemental Clawstrider Heart (65%)
• Volatile Sludge (50%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (22%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (11%)
• Metal Bone (10%)

Blaze Sac

• Elemental Clawstrider Sac Webbing (100%)
• Blaze (100%)

Blaze Bomb Launcher

• Blaze Bomb Launcher (100%)

Resource Canister

• Braided Wire (89%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (56%)
• Blastpaste (26%)
• Medium Machine Core (25%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (16%)

Body

• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Metalbite (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (73%)
• Apex Elemental Clawstrider Heart (64%)
• Volatile Sludge (51%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Medium Machine Core (27%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (23%)
• Metal Bone (11%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (10%)

Blaze Sac

• Elemental Clawstrider Sac Webbing (100%)
• Metalbite (100%)

Acid Bomb Launcher

• Acid Bomb Launcher (100%)

Resource Canister

• Braided Wire (89%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (56%)
• Medium Machine Core (26%)
• Blastpaste (26%)
• Elemental Clawstrider Primary Nerve (15%)

Trivia

• The Clawstrider is the first mountable machine not to have an ungulate chassis.
• The Clawstrider was the second combat machine from Horizon Forbidden West to be revealed, after the Tremortusk. Canonically speaking, it is the first machine from the Forbidden West to appear in Carja territory.

Gallery

Artwork depicting a Clawstrider used as a mount, by Ilya Golitsyn

Aloy and Talanah engage a Clawstrider

Kyran and a group of hunters attempt to take down a Clawstrider

An Apex Clawstrider from the comics

Aloy riding a Clawstrider in the mountains

Tenakth riding Clawstrider

Clawstrider practice dummy concept art by Christian Auer

Models and sculpts

Concept model by Daniel Joustra

Concept model by Koen Wijffelaars

Sculpt by Tom Delboo

Sculpt by Tom Delboo

Clawstrider

Apex Clawstrider

Rebel Clawstrider

Acid Clawstrider

Apex Acid Clawstrider

Rebel Acid Clawstrider