How to complete the Singularity main quest in Horizon Forbidden West

Step 1: Return to Base and head out to the bonfire

Your first task is to head back to the Base and speak with everyone there. This sets the mission up, but it’s also an excellent opportunity to have a chat with Aloy’s friends and understand what they’re thinking ahead of the mission. This might be your last opportunity to do so. Then, you need to make your way to a bonfire on the coast, which is the last point you can choose to explore rather than tackle the mission. You’ll be warned of this before you rest at the bonfire, but it’s worth noting that you can return to the world and complete the quests you’ve missed once the mission has been completed.

Step 2: Reach the Zenith base

After getting to the island, your first task is to get to the Zenith base. This requires you to follow a long path through several arenas filled with Sentinels. The fastest way to kill these machines is by using plasma damage, then a spike thrower. Any spike thrower will do, but one with drill damage is best because it deals more damage over time and tears off parts from the Sentinels. If you chose to save Regalla, she’ll join you here and provide ammo drops, so you don’t need to craft anything.

This path is a culmination of everything you’ve learned in the game so far. There are dead machines in each arena that you can shoot to deal elemental damage to the Sentinels, and there are various forms of jumping and climbing puzzles to overcome. Erend will always offer a thought that makes the path forward obvious, but scan with your Focus and look for the yellow lines if you ever get stuck. Most of the routes out of the arenas require you to jump off a rock and climb around a corner.

Eventually, Aloy’s plan will kick in, and you’ll get to see one of the best cutscenes in the game. Now machines are fighting the Sentinels, allowing Aloy to get into the Zenith base. Most of this final moment plays out in a cutscene, and what gameplay there is doesn’t require much effort since multiple allies will be helping Aloy.

Step 3: Kill Erik

In this mission, your first boss fight is Erik, the Zenith that everyone has been waiting to kill. This battle is brutal because Erik is the most challenging human opponent in the game. He’s still weak to fire and plasma damage, but he has an attack for all types of combat: long range, mid range, and close range. So keep firing whatever your most powerful weapons are at him in addition to an element, and you’ll kill him quickly enough. Also, anything with tear damage will speed the fight up because you’ll faster remove parts of Erik’s armor.

Erik likes to fire projectiles that sit on the floor and explode when Aloy goes near them. Avoid these at all costs because they will whittle down your health and prevent you from dodging more incoming attacks yet.

Step 4: Climb to the top and kill Sentinel Prime

After killing Erik, you need to head up the elevator. However, it gets stuck, so you’ll need to climb the rest of the way. The path is blocked as you climb, so use your Pullcaster to pull down a new one that allows you to continue. Once you reach the top floor, you’ll rescue Beta and find out a bit about the truth of what Tilda’s been up to. She wants to take everything you have and escape to a new planet, but Aloy isn’t having any of it. This is when Tilda pulls out Sentinel Prime, a colossal machine that’s stronger than anything else you’ll have faced.

Thankfully, Sentinel Prime is weak to plasma damage, so use that to build up and cause damage over time constantly. This machine is a monster and can attack you in all sorts of nasty ways. We found it best to keep our distance and fight it from afar with a spike thrower and anything with a high tear damage rating. It has a huge health pool, but once you’ve removed a lot of its armor, you’ll get through that health quickly. The only move to watch out for is when Sentinel Prime generates a ball of energy. This will replenish its health, so you need to hit it with a heavy attack to stop it from doing so.

Step 5: Enjoy the ending

We won’t ruin the ending in this guide, but there’s a lot to take in. The game will instantly move to the credits, but you can skip them if you wish. You’ll then pick control back up from the Base and continue exploring the open world, collecting everything on offer, and finishing all the side quests.

About the author

Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp

Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp is a Staff Writer at Gamepur. He's been writing about games for ten years and has been featured in Switch Player Magazine, Lock-On, and For Gamers Magazine. He's particularly keen on working out when he isn't playing games or writing or trying to be the best dad in the world.