Specter

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

Specter
A highly advanced, mobile combat drone. Its gold armor-like plates can morph into highly lethal weapons and can gravitationally reattach when torn off.
Weight	Midweight
Origin	Far Zenith
Class	Combat
Override	None
Combat
Challenge Level	25
HP	2400
Weakness	Acid Plasma
Strength	Shock Fire Purgewater
Explosive Components	Plasma Unit Shock Unit
Weak Points	Control Nexus Eyes Nano Plate Pulse Cannon Regeneration Unit Resource Repository Vector Thruster

"Ooh, ugly one, aren't you?"

―Aloy

Specters are a Combat Class machine in Horizon Forbidden West. They vaguely resemble Corruptors and seem to be composed of nanotechnology. They are the servants of the Far Zeniths.

History

Specters were first created by Far Zenith during their residence on Sirius. At this point, the Zeniths had developed technology beyond anything achieved by the Old Ones, making the Specters extremely advanced and powerful machines. This was partly due to their nanotech composition.

The thirteen survivors of Nemesis' attack fled to Earth with the material to construct a printing matrix in order to produce an army of Specters, who often served as guards. They were encountered by Aloy several times in the Forbidden West, but she was generally able to dispatch them.

It was their design that inspired the Specter Prime- an extremely powerful exoframe used by the Zenith Tilda van der Meer.

Specters were also deployed in the Burning Shores to serve as guardians at dig sites for Walter Londra and other places of importance to him.

Appearance

Specters are covered in white-gold armor plating. They resemble the Chariot-line Corruptor, although far more advanced. Their 'eyes' are two rectangular blue lights. They are much more graceful and elegant in their movements, presumably due to their nanotech composition.

Abilities

Similarly to Chariot-line machines, Specters are immune to being overridden.

Specters have gold-plated armor that can turn into weapons and then gravitationally reattach themselves.

Attacks

Name	Windup Time	Stance	Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Phalanx Turret	Medium	Grounded	100 Ranged/hit	10m - 40m (front) 0m - 40m (back)	Deploys Nano Plates to form circular energy shield in front of itself while it fires Pulse Cannons. Remains stationary for duration.
Pulse Cannon Burst	Short	Grounded Wall Cling	100 Ranged/hit	10m - 40m (front) 0m - 40m (back)	Deploys Pulse Cannons and aims a continuous stream of projectiles at the ground before sweeping towards target.
Phalanx Barrage	Short	Grounded	100 Ranged/hit	0m - 50m (front) 20m - 40m (back and sides)	Remains stationary and deploys Pulse Cannons to fire a stream of shots in a sweeping horizontal pattern.
Serrated Flail	Short	Grounded	272 Melee/hit	11m - 16m	Remains stationary and spins with outstretched tentacle in place.
Sweeping Banishment	Medium	Grounded	Body: 254 Melee Explosion: 170 Melee	10m - 17m 0m - 9m	Lunges at target and spins 360o while swiping with tentacles. Spikes fall off tail in a semi-circular pattern behind the target.
Sacred Onslaught	Short	Grounded	271 Melee	19m - 29m	Lunges forward while swiping in a horizontal pattern with its tentacles. Follows up with another swipe if it misses and target is in range.
Longinus Lance Thrust	Short	Grounded	Body: 209 Melee Impact Explosion: 157 Melee	11m - 20m	Dives at target in a low trajectory while slamming both horns in the ground before lifting them in an uppercut motion. Will try to predict target's location if target is moving sideways.
Burning Longinus Dive	Medium	Grounded	Body: 230 Melee Horn Explosion: 170 Melee Impact Explosion: 230 Melee Damage Area: 20/s, 20/s buildup	15m - 25m	Ignites Vector Thrusters and jumps in arcing motion to smash into target, creating a trail of fire in its wake. Also leaves explosive blue spikes upon landing. Attack disabled when Slowed.
Sacred Lunge	Short	Wall Cling	203 Melee	7m - 22m (front) 0m - 25m (side)	Dismounts wall by leaping at target, slashing with its tentacles.

Components

Name	Image	Description	Attributes
Body		Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	None
Pulse Cannon		A rapid-firing, long-range energy weapon of advanced design. Capable of firing highly accurate projectiles.	Detachable Attack Removal Persists When Killed Useable Weapon
Shock Unit		Highly charged energy storage. Only accessible during attacks or when the Nano Plate covering has been removed.	Explosive Persists When Killed Contains Resources if Intact
Resource Repository		Large resource storage. Only accessible during attacks or when the Nano Plate covering has been removed.	Detachable Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed when Killed
Regeneration Unit		Used to attract and reattach torn off Nano Plates. Exposed when activated. Damage it to disrupt its ability.	Indestructible Ability Removal
Vector Thruster		A powerful propulsion device of advanced design that can enhance its jump attacks with fire.	Detachable Ability Removal Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Plasma Unit		Glowblast storage. Only accessible during attacks or when the Nano Plate covering has been removed.	Explosive Persists When Killed Contains Resources if Intact
Nano Plate		Gold armor plates that can transform to power various attacks. Especially vulnerable to certain types of elemental damage.	Detachable Ability Removal Elemental Weak Spot
Control Nexus		Processor of advanced design. Especially vulnerable to damage once exposed.	Weak Spot Contains Valuable Resources

Loot

Body

• Metal Shards (100%)
• Glowblast (100%)
• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Sparker (100%)
• Blastpaste (100%)
• Piercing Spike (51%)
• Machine Muscle (30%)
• Braided Wire (21%)
• Metal Bone (11%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (10%)

Shock Unit

• Sparker (100%)

Resource Repository

• Braided Wire (90%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (56%)
• Piercing Spike (51%)
• Volatile Sludge (50%)
• Luminous Brainstem (15%)

Vector Thruster

• Blastpaste (100%)
• Braided Wire (89%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (56%)
• Crystal Braiding (16%)

Plasma Unit

• Glowblast (100%)

Control Nexus

• Braided Wire (90%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (57%)
• Volatile Sludge (51%)
• Piercing Spike (50%)
• Luminous Brainstem (16%)

Trivia

• Specters are the second/final machine bosses in Horizon Forbidden West to be encountered more than once in the main quests, the first being Slitherfangs.
• Since they only appear in quests, Specters will never be added to the compendium in the game's initial build if the player forgets to scan them.
  • This was later alleviated by Patch 1.07 adding an endlessly respawning Specter carcass near the Ninmah Research Lab, which can be scanned provided it is not looted first.

Gallery

A Specter looking for Aloy

Destroyed Specter

Concept art by Michael Menzelincev

Concept art by Michael Menzelincev

Concept art by Michael Menzelincev

See also

• Specter Prime