Machine

"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

Every machine seen in Horizon Zero Dawn

Machine is the term used by the tribes of the Horizon Zero Dawn world to refer to any of the technologically advanced robots that have become the Earth's dominant species. These machines typically bear strikingly similar designs to various forms of fauna that have existed in the course of Earth's history, such as avians, ungulates, and even dinosaurs. The two known examples of botanical machines are the Metal Flowers spread throughout the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, and the tree-like Control Tower found only to date in The Cut.

History

The first "Machines" created by Faro Automated Solutions were domestic servants, the Focus, and @lfred. However, Faro soon began developing machines built for combat, two of which were the Scarab and Khopesh, heavily-armed robots that could supplant entire armies, convert biomass into fuel, and replicate themselves allowing them to operate indefinitely. Additionally, the Scarab's hijacking ability allowed it to slave other combat machines to its network. The entire Faro line used polyphasic entangled waveforms, rendering them virtually unhackable.

The Faro Plague

The Faro Plague

However, a "glitch" in the Faro machines caused them to ignore commands and begin attacking humans without authorization. The machines replicated faster than they could be destroyed, and began operating as an independent entity. Soon, a full-fledged war between humanity and robots began, costing billions of lives and immense destruction. Despite humanity's best efforts, the swarm could not be contained and they devoured biomass wherever they went, eliminating entire cities and ecosystems. Ted Faro, the CEO of Faro Industries, met with a former employee named Elisabet Sobeck in hopes of containing the swarm, but Elisabet found that there was no way of stopping the machines from destroying all life on Earth. However, she proposed a project named Zero Dawn to Ted, stating that it was the only way of ensuring that life on Earth could continue after the machines killed everything.

Zero Dawn was the development of an advanced intelligence known as GAIA that would crack the machine swarm's encryption codes, deactivate them, and then re-seed the Earth with plant, animal, and human life. GAIA was aided by nine subroutines, one of which was HADES, a subroutine designed to take control of the terraforming process and start it over again if it was unsatisfactory.

GAIA's machines

A variety of machines created by GAIA and HEPHAESTUS

The swarm eventually devoured all biomass on Earth, but GAIA managed to crack the encryption codes and shut down the Faro machines. She then created many different machines modeled off of former animal life to purify the Earth's toxic atmosphere and biosphere. Hundreds of years later, humans were released from the Cradles they were created in and began forming primitive tribal societies, not knowing of the "old ones" who came before them. The machines they encountered were docile and generally harmless for many generations: if they saw a human, they would usually flee. Machines, especially machine hunting, would have a large role in the culture of these new tribes.

However, at one point, an unknown signal caused HADES to go rogue and begin the Extinction Protocol. HADES attempted to take control of GAIA completely, but GAIA self-destructed before he could do so.

The destruction of GAIA meant that every subordinate function of Zero Dawn had to make its own decisions, including HEPHAESTUS, which perceived the human practice of hunting machines for resources as hostile activity. Because of this, HEPHAESTUS changed the machines' default behavior as hostile towards mankind, as well as creating a new generation of machines designed to cull the human population. This event that came to be known as the "Derangement" by the humans.

Machines in the present day are often hunted for their parts, or to cull them before they can threaten local populations. They can usually be found in large groups, although some operate in smaller packs. Machines will either run away from or attack humans (mostly the latter) that they come across, and will completely ignore wildlife. They will never attack each other unless overridden or corrupted.

Appearance

GAIA machines

The machines of the terraforming system take inspiration from animal morphology, primarily from vertebrate species (the exceptions being the Shell-Walker and Control Towers). The typical machine design features a chassis composed of darker alloys, synthetic skins, and fiber-optic cables, with lighter alloys serving as armor plating for vital components and synthetic muscles. The logo for the machine's respective Cauldron will be located in multiple places along the body, and armor plating is sometimes lacquered (the Fireclaw's armor plating is dark red). Due to their respective purposes, not all machines have jaws, and the ones that do generally have split mandibles. The machines vary in size from slightly larger than humans to as tall as ten stories.

With the exception of the Tallneck and Control Tower, all machines have visual sensors, arranged in either a monocular or binocular fashion.

Faro Plague

The Chariot Line, the robots created by Faro Automated Solutions, were designed to be unsettling in appearance. The designs of the Corruptor and Metal Devil resemble invertebrates, while the Deathbringer does not resemble any animal whatsoever. Their chassis are comprised entirely of dark metal, and weapons are easily visible on their exterior.

Varieties of machine

Zero Dawn machines

Project Zero Dawn's machines are created by HEPHAESTUS, one of GAIA's sub-functions, for the purpose of recreating Earth's biosphere. GAIA's machines fall under four classes, with a fifth later created by HEPHAESTUS for the sole purpose of combating humans.

Acquisition Class machines

Acquisition Class machines make up the bulk of GAIA's workforce, harvesting resources to assist the terraforming program and allow for the further construction of machines. Each model of Acquisition Class machine is typically specialized towards refining a single type of resource, such as breaking down plant life to create Blaze, distilling Chillwater from bodies of water, or recycling destroyed machines into Processed Metal Blocks.

• Bristleback
• Broadhead
• Charger
• Glinthawk
• Grazer
• Lancehorn
• Rockbreaker
• Scrapper
• Snapmaw
• Strider
• Sunwing
• Trampler

Transport Class machines

Transport Class machines are a diverse group, with one machine designed for the sole purpose of assisting Acquisition Class Machines move large amounts of cargo, and two others designed to carry materials intended for their own terraforming functions.

• Behemoth
• Fire Bellowback
• Freeze Bellowback
• Shell-Walker

Recon Class machines

Recon Class machines are some of the simplest machines, usually built around a single advanced detection component, such as an ocular sensor or radar. Originally created to help Acquisition Class Machines find land suitable for terraforming, their purpose shifted to serving as guards and lookouts for other machines after the Derangement.

• Longleg
• Redeye Watcher
• Watcher

Communication Class machines

Communication Class machines are a unique group, with the only known member being the Tallneck. They have no offensive capabilities, and appear completely unaffected by the Derangement.

• Tallneck

Combat Class machines

Combat Class machines didn't exist when the first humans were released from the Cradles, instead appearing after the Derangement when the HEPHAESTUS sub-function deemed humans a threat. However, it is worth mentioning that variations of some Combat Class machines (such as the Stalker) existed prior to the Derangement. Often equipped with weapons, Combat Class Machines are unquestionably the most dangerous machines and are often seen among more vulnerable machines, likely guarding them.

• Ravager
• Sawtooth
• Stalker
• Thunderjaw
• Scorcher^FW
• Fireclaw^FW
• Frostclaw^FW
• Stormbird
• Tremortusk
• Clawstrider
• Shellsnapper

Chariot machines

Chariot machines are ancient war machines that have been excavated from the earth and re-awoken by the Eclipse. They were the autonomous combat robots of the Chariot Class, designed by Faro Automated Solutions nearly a millennium before the events of Horizon Zero Dawn.

• Corruptor
• Deathbringer
• Metal Devil

Corrupted Machines

While Corrupted Machines technically fall under their original Machine Class, they have been overridden by FARO Chariot Line's Scarab (Corruptors) that have themselves fallen under HADES' control, turning their subordination to the rogue Extinction fail-safe program instead of HEPHAESTUS who created them. They are allied with the Eclipse, and are hostile to other humans and machines.

These machines have enhanced physical strength and improved firepower over normal machines. They also drip a volatile substance known as Metalburn that is toxic to both organic life and machines, making it even more dangerous to face them. These machines however are more susceptible to Fire damage, even units which are supposedly resistant, such as Fire Bellowbacks and Tramplers.

Daemonic Machines

Encountered to date only in The Frozen Wilds, these are regular machines that were augmented by HEPHAESTUS through unspecified means after it took control of the Caldera facility. They are even stronger than Corrupted machines, enhanced with higher elemental resistance, especially shock, and immune to being overridden, without any inherent weakness. Since they are products of HEPHAESTUS, they aren't hostile towards normal machines and will work together with them to take down humans.

New breed

First seen in the Horizon Zero Dawn comic series, these machine variants possess black armor rather than white, and are more deadly than their standard counterparts. They are drawn to locations where large numbers of machines have been killed, serving as guardians, and will stop at nothing to eliminate anyone they consider a threat. Only three known types have been observed by the tribes so far; Sawtooths, Ravagers, and the newly discovered Clawstrider, all Combat Class machines.

Gameplay

Machine hunting is one of the main elements of gameplay. As such, understanding a machine's abilities and behavior is essential for survival. While their behavior varies widely across different varieties of machine, there are several commonalities that can be observed.

A machine's state of behavior is indicated by their eye color. Blue light indicates their default docile state, in which they will perform their general functions. Yellow light indicates alarm or disturbance: in this state, they will search for threats until they either detect a threat or determine the threat to be passed. Red light indicates their combat state, which they shift into once they have located a threat. A machine's eyes will flash briefly before it attacks, serving as a warning to its target.

Machines have weak spots which can be exposed by shooting off their armor. Some machines can also be overridden, thus changing their behavior and forcing them to aid Aloy with her objectives. Machines can also become corrupted, posing a even bigger threat. They appear with blue outlines when scanned with a Focus. Machines have varying resistances and weaknesses to elemental damage, which can be used against them in combat.

Evolution

The designs of the machines in-game are not fixed or constant for the entirety of the game. As Aloy hunts and kills more machines, they will eventually 'evolve' and adapt by better protecting themselves with additional armor plates. The number of kills it takes to 'evolve' varies with each machine. Once this 'evolution' of a machine takes place, the player will only ever encounter the more heavily-armored variant. This 'evolution' process only works for machines that are still in production, so the Corruptor and Deathbringer are unaffected.

MACHINE	KILLS TO EVOLVE	MACHINE	KILLS TO EVOLVE
GRAZER	15	FIRE BELLOWBACK	5
STRIDER	15	FREEZE BELLOWBACK	5
LANCEHORN	10	RAVAGER	5
SCRAPPER	10	LONGLEG	5
BROADHEAD	10	SAWTOOTH	5
CHARGER	10	SNAPMAW	5
GLINTHAWK	10	THUNDERJAW	2
WATCHER	5	ROCKBREAKER	1
REDEYE WATCHER	5	BEHEMOTH	1
TRAMPLER	5	STORMBIRD	1
SHELL-WALKER	5	STALKER	-

Combat levels

Machine	Level	Level (Corrupted)	Level (Daemonic)
Strider	5	12
Watcher	5	12	14
Grazer	8	15
Scrapper	8	15	17
Broadhead	10	17
Redeye Watcher	10	17	19
Lancehorn	13	18
Charger	13	20	22
Longleg	13	20	27
Deathbringer (1)	14
Sawtooth	15	22
Trampler	15	22
Corruptor	18
Deathbringer (2)	18
Glinthawk	18	25
Fire Bellowback	18	25	27
Freeze Bellowback	18	25	27
Stalker	18	25	27
Shell-Walker	18	20	27
Ravager	20	27
Snapmaw	20	27	29
Rockbreaker	23	30	32
Deathbringer (3)	25
Behemoth	25	32	40
Thunderjaw	27	34	40
Stormbird	27	40
Deathbringer (4)	30
ScorcherFW	30		35
FrostclawFW	30		36
FireclawFW	50		55
Control TowerFW
Tallneck

Trivia

• The naming convention for the machines is either an active agent (eg. Strider or Grazer) or compound noun (eg. Bellowback or Snapmaw), and occasionally both. The Behemoth and the Metal Devil are exceptions, both of which draw from mythology.
• Although the lore mentions that there were many fully automated robots that came before the Chariot Line, there are strangely no signs of these ancient machines, dormant or dead.
  • It is possible however that said automatons were destroyed during operating Enduring Victory by humans, knowing they would only boost the Faro Plague.
    • Even so, such machines include those designed for domestic purposes by F.A.S, such as @lfred.
• According to Jan Bart van Beek, the design for the machines was influenced by discussions that Guerrilla Games had with a university in Delft: many of the features, such as legs, synthetic muscles, self-sustainable design, and external armor plating, were incorporated into the machines design.

References

Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn
Acquisition Class	Broadhead - Charger - Fireclaw - Frostclaw - Glinthawk - Grazer - Lancehorn - Rockbreaker - Scrapper - Snapmaw - Strider - Trampler
Chariot Class	Corruptor - Deathbringer - Metal Devil
Combat Class	Ravager - Sawtooth - Scorcher - Stalker - Stormbird - Thunderjaw
Communication Class	Tallneck
Recon Class	Longleg - Watcher (Redeye Watcher)
Transport Class	Behemoth - Bellowback - Shell-Walker
Unknown Class	Control Tower
Horizon Forbidden West
Acquisition Class	Bilegut - Bristleback - Clamberjaw - Fanghorn - Plowhorn - Scrounger - Spikesnout - Stingspawn - Sunwing - Tideripper - Waterwing - Widemaw
Combat Class	Clawstrider - Dreadwing - Grimhorn - Shellsnapper - Slaughterspine - Slitherfang - Specter - Specter Prime - Tremortusk
Recon Class	Burrower - Skydrifter
Transport Class	Leaplasher - Rollerback
Unknown Class	Defense Drone