Scorcher

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

"There's so much to learn, and less time than I'd hoped." This article or section does not reflect changes introduced by new releases in the series. You can help by updating the contents.

Scorcher
A very agile and dangerous combat machine with fire-augmented melee attacks and a mounted mine launcher for ranged engagement.
Size	Medium
Weight	Midweight
Origin	HEPHAESTUS
Class	Combat
Override	Cauldron EPSILON (HZD:TFW) Cauldron CHI (HFW)
Machine Sites	2
Combat
Challenge Level	30 35 (Daemonic) 48 (Apex)
HP	2000 2800 (Daemonic) 3000 (Apex)
Weakness	Freeze Shock (HFW)
Strength	Fire
Explosive Components	Power Generator
Weak Points	Eyes (snout) Mine Launcher Blaze Canister (x2, HZD) Glowblast Canister (x2, Apex) Purgewater Canister (x2, HFW) Scanning Ear (x2, HFW)

"This one's a new predator. Can see the heat coming off it..."

―Aloy, upon sighting a Scorcher for the first time

The Scorcher is a Combat Class machine in Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds and in Horizon Forbidden West.

History

At the advent of the Derangement, almost all machines started becoming increasingly aggressive towards humans. In addition, HEPHAESTUS began manufacturing Combat Class machines designed for the sole purpose of combating humans in an effort to cull their population.

Scorchers can be found in the Cut, the Clan Lands, and the eastern Burning Shores.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

A Scorcher as depicted in the notebook in Horizon Zero Dawn.

Aloy first encountered a Scorcher as she was entering the Cut, noting it as a new predator, and was also the first daemonic machine she encountered.

While searching for the Scrapper with the Tallneck Stabilizer she needed to reawaken a Tallneck, Aloy found it being guarded a daemonic Scorcher, which she either destroyed, or avoided and escaped with the stabilizer.

A daemonic Scorcher was among the machines hunting Mailen, which were destroyed by Aloy and Ikrie.

Burgrend, needing a Scorcher Claw, hired Tatai, Tulemak, and Urkai to retrieve one for him to help pay back their debt to him. They, along with Aloy, destroyed a Scorcher to get one.

The Snowchants Hunting Grounds use daemonic Scorchers as part of the Chieftain's Trial.

Daemonic Scorchers were among the machines Aloy, Aratak and Ourea destroyed during their expedition into Cauldron EPSILON. After her override of EPSILON's core, Aloy gained access to the information needed to override Scorchers.

Sometime between Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West

While the circumstances of how are unknown, Aloy somehow lost the ability to override Scorchers, as well as most other machines.

Horizon Forbidden West

A new model of Scorcher, the Apex Scorchers, were released into the wilds alongside their regular counterpart sometime after Apex machines were first released from Repair-Bay TAU.

The Arena at the Memorial Grove use Scorchers in their battles, including the 'Ring of Fire', which requires hunters to kill two Scorchers, while another known as 'Apex Predators' had hunters kill an Apex Scorcher and an Apex Thunderjaw in a single fight.

Ikkotah invited Aloy on a machine hunt in the Stand of the Sentinels, with Scorchers being one of the machines they hunted.

Scorchers were among machines that were lured into the Valley of the Fallen by a Zenith lure to keep tribal humans away from the coast where they could see the Zenith base. These Scorchers were destroyed by Aloy.

One particular Scorcher was notorious among the Sky Tenakth for killing many members of their clan. When Kotallo's new arm was ready, he brought Aloy to help him test the arm while fighting the Scorcher. Once the Scorcher was destroyed, Kotallo ripped out the Scorcher Heart within, later keeping it as a trophy at the Base.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

When Aloy returned to the Forbidden West after venturing through the Burning Shores, the Arena had started offering a new fight known as 'Apex Predators', requiring hunters to kill two Apex Scorchers and four Apex Clamberjaws.

Appearance

The Scorcher’s chassis somewhat resembles that of a Ravager but does not have the Ravager’s tactical vulnerability to fire. Indeed, whereas Ravagers are weak against fire, this element is the Scorcher’s forte. Its head is lupine, with a long, toothy snout, a split jaw and large ear-like structures. A pair of optical sensor arrays is positioned in the same location as a fox’s eyes. Mounted on its back, between its heavyset shoulders, is a mine launcher. Positioned atop each shoulder is a heavily armored Blaze or Purgewater canister, and between its haunches is an equally heavily armored power generator.

Behavior

Scorchers are found alone or in packs of up to three, either guarding a herd of terraforming machines or in the herd’s immediate vicinity, near enough to hear and immediately respond to their alarm cries on detecting a threat. Their servomotors produce a characteristic heavy, clanking sound, and embers periodically fall like spittle from their mouths, increasing their intimidating appearance. If a perceived threat such as a human is identified, either by them or a nearby machine, they immediately converge on the position and engage it.

Abilities

Scorchers attack relentlessly and ferociously with close-range fire attacks or fire-augmented melee attacks. Their unrivaled speed and agility allow them to close the distance between themselves and perceived threats with overwhelming aggression. Indeed, one of their attacks involves using a hidden pair of thrusters to zoom toward the enemy like a rocket. Additionally, they deploy mines from their mine launchers, fired in anticipation of the enemy’s projected position. Unlike the mines of a Stalker, these mines are not proximity mines, and are not scattered as a means of distraction. Instead, they are fired directly at the enemy and its anticipated change of position, and they detonate about a second after they hit the ground. If the Scorcher loses track of the enemy, its large ears are equipped with an auditory detection system that allows it to scan tall grass.

In addition to these abilities, Daemonic Scorchers have considerably tougher armor than normal, and thus are much more resilient. Furthermore, they are immune to the effects of Corruption, cannot be overridden, and have considerably higher Shock resistance. The only way to inflict a Shock state on a Daemonic Scorcher is to detonate the Power Generator on its back.

In Zero Dawn, all Scorchers take 70% less damage from Blast Wires.

Weaknesses

As a fire-augmented machine, the Scorcher is naturally weak to Freeze attacks. The Power Generator near its rear can be destroyed to temporarily stun the machine, and its mine launcher can be removed and used against it. However, removing either is best done with stealth, as the Scorcher's agility and aggression make it difficult to target its components.

Attacks

Horizon Zero Dawn

Name	Damage Type	Primary Damage	Secondary Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Cinder Claws	Melee/Fire	140 each	-	7m - 11m	Up to 4 consecutive Fire-augmented claw slashes
Scorching Fang	Melee/Fire	140 each	-	1m - 8m	Fire-augmented bite
Quick Scorching Fang	Melee/Fire	140 each	-	1.5m - 6m	Faster Scorching Fang variant
Furnace Blast	Fire	300	-	5.25m - 1.25m	Defensive radial flame blast
Heat Wave	Fire	220	-	7m - 20m	Wall of flames toward enemy
Mine Launcher: Area Fire	Explosion	250	-	15m - 80m	Cluster of 10-15 mines around enemy
Mine Launcher: Formation Fire	Explosion	250	-	15m - 80m	Fan-shaped formation of 3 rows of mines, 4 mines per row
Ignition Boost	Melee/Fire	250/100	50 Fire per second	10m - 25m	Single high-speed charge and fire-augmented claw slash

Horizon Forbidden West

Name	Windup Time	Damage	Damage Area	Trigger Range	Description
Scorching Fang	Short	135.5 Melee 135.5 75 buildup	-	1m - 9m	Steps forward and swings head while spewing flames from its mouth. Fire damage disabled when Drenched.
Quick Scorching Fang	Short	135.5 Melee 135.5 75 buildup	-	1.5m - 7.5m	Rises on hind legs and bites down while spewing flames. Quicker variant of Scorching Fang. Fire damage disabled when Drenched.
Cinder Claws	Short	135.5 Melee 135.5 75 buildup	-	7m - 18m	Lunges and slashes with fire-augmented claws up to three times. Fire damage disabled when Drenched.
Ignition Boost	Medium	180 Melee 180 100 buildup	20/s 20/s buildup	13m - 48m	Ignites leg thrusters and boosts towards target at high speed while slashing, leaving a trail of residual Fire damage areas. Attack disabled when Drenched or Slowed.
Furnace Blast	Medium	300 100 buildup	-	1.25m - 7.5m	Defensive 360o heat blast. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Heat Wave	Short	300 100 buildup	-	7m - 27m	Slams jaws into ground and releases wave of flames that travel along surface. Attack disabled when Drenched.
Mine Launcher (Row Fire)	Short	271 Ranged	-	13m - 43m	Launches 3 rows of 4 mines each.
Mine Launcher (Area Fire)	Short	271 Ranged	-	13m - 43m	Blankets area with 10-15 mines.

Variants

Variant	Weakness	Strength
Scorcher	Frost Shock	Fire
Apex Scorcher	Purgewater	Frost Shock

Components

Image:	Component:	Information:	Weakness:	Strength:
‎	Body	Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	Freeze	Fire
	Mine Launcher	This heavy weapon can be picked up and used after it has been detached from the machine.	Tear	None
	Blaze Canister	Shooting this canister with Fire Arrows will trigger an elemental explosion. Shoot off this component to collect Blaze.	Fire Tear	None
	Power Generator	Destroying this component will deal greater damage to the machine and cause an explosion electrifying anything in the area.	All	Tear

Loot

Horizon Zero Dawn

Blaze

4

Metal Shards

1

Sparker

1

Wire

1

Machine Core - Medium

50

Luminous Braiding

30

Scorcher Lens

30

Scorcher Heart

60

Loot

• Scorcher
• Apex Scorcher

Body

• Blaze (100%)
• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Sparker (100%)
• Braided Wire (77%)
• Scorcher Circulator (50%)
• Medium Machine Core (46%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (44%)
• Machine Muscle (30%)
• Scorcher Primary Nerve (30%)
• Luminous Brainstem (15%)
• Metal Bone (11%)

Scanning Ear

• Scorcher Scanning Ear (100%)

Mine Launcher

• Mine Launcher (100%)

Purgewater Canister

• Purgewater (100%)

Power Generator

• Sparker (100%)
• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Luminous Brainstem (16%)

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Sparker (100%)
• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Blaze (100%)
• Piercing Spike (100%)
• Braided Wire (77%)
• Apex Scorcher Heart (51%)
• Volatile Sludge (50%)
• Scorcher Circulator (49%)
• Medium Machine Core (48%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (44%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Scorcher Primary Nerve (17%)
• Luminous Brainstem (16%)
• Metal Bone (10%)

Scanning Ear

• Scorcher Scanning Ear (100%)

Mine Launcher

• Mine Launcher (100%)

Glowblast Canister

• Glowblast (100%)

Power Generator

• Sparker (100%)
• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Luminous Brainstem (15%)

Variants

Variant	Weak Vs.	Strong Vs.
Scorcher	Frost Shock	Fire
Apex Scorcher	Purgewater	Frost Shock

Trivia

• The Scorcher's appearance is inspired by wolves and coyotes.
  • While the Scorcher's design was inspired by wolves, its appearance and fire-based attacks make it resemble a qilin, a creature in Chinese mythology.
• During development, Scorchers were referred to as HellHounds.

Videos

Horizon Zero Dawn The Frozen Wilds - Meet the Scorcher