The War-Chief's Trail

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

The War-Chief's Trail
Sona, the War-Chief of the Nora, went missing after an ambush killed dozen of Braves. Varl wants Aloy to find her.
Level	7
Type	Main Quest
Given by	Varl
Location	Devil's Thirst
Enemies	Eclipse Cultists Corrupted Scrapper Corrupted Watcher
Reward	1.750
Progression
Previous	A Seeker at the Gates
Unlocks	Revenge of the Nora

"Blood spilled calls for blood spilled! If the ground is cursed, then let our vengeance sanctify it!"

―Varl

The War-Chief's Trail is the eighth main quest in Horizon Zero Dawn. After talking with Varl at the gates of Mother's Watch, Aloy learns of the failed war party led by War-Chief Sona that has gone missing. As the son of Sona, Varl pleads with Aloy to find her.

Synopsis

Aloy makes her way to the battlefield where the Nora war party was last spotted. The field is littered with the corpses of machines and Nora Braves. A stampede of Corrupted machines ran down the slope and clashed with them. The war party was able to kill a Corruptor in the ensuing battle. During her search, Aloy comes across Dran, a wounded Nora Brave. He tells her that the dead and wounded have been cleared away. War-Chief Sona sent him back to report on the situation. The war party was on the trail of the killers, but Corrupted machines threw them off their trail. Dran tells her that he last saw Sona at the metal tower southeast of the runs of Devil's Thirst.

Aloy makes her way to the rise within the Devil's Thirst and finds a recently-used camp. The campsite is filled with spent medical supplies as well as a bow and arrowheads left behind. She uses her Focus to discover a blood trail that leads up onto a ridge overlooking the Devil's Thirst. She reaches the top of the ridge and finds an inactive Corrupted Sawtooth. After pulling an arrow from the machine, another Sawtooth sneaks up on her. Before she can react, an arrow strikes the Sawtooth and forces it off a cliff. The arrow came from Sona and the remnants of her war party.

Sona tells Aloy that she has tracked the killers to a nearby camp. Aloy spots barrels of Blaze throughout the camp and suggests that they ignite them to turn the tide. Aloy, Sona and the Nora party dispatch the camp. Varl appears and tells her that he wishes to rain vengeance on the killers. By examining a datapoint, Aloy discovers that the remaining killers are camped inside the Ring of Metal. Sona tells Aloy that it's located in the Devil's Grief.

Objectives

1. Go to the Massacre Site where the War Party was ambushed.
2. Investigate the Battlefield for a lead on Sona's whereabouts.
   1. Examine the Food Scraps
   2. Examine a Corrupted Watcher Corpse
   3. Examine the Destroyed Corruptor
3. Talk to the Survivor
4. Go to Sona’s Last Known Location
5. Investigate the Area for a lead on Sona's whereabouts.
   1. Examine the Arrowheads
   2. Examine the Food Scraps
   3. Examine the Bow
   4. Examine the Bandages
   5. Examine the Campfire
6. Follow the Tracks and see if they lead to Sona.
7. Examine the Sawtooth
8. Follow Sona
9. Kill the Cultists and Corrupted machines to take out the enemy camp.
   1. Destroy the Blaze Containers (Optional)
10. Talk to Sona
11. Investigate the Dig Site for information about the location of other Cultists.
    1. Follow the Trail of Blaze
    2. Listen to the Datapoint
12. Talk to Sona and Varl

Walkthrough

The War Chief's Trail - Very Hard - No Damage - Video Guide

Trivia

• The War Party will begin attacking all-out should Player kill half of the resident enemy, regardless if Aloy's cover is blown or not.