#stingspawn

[hartlesshart]

These are all the character sprites @silketara and I made for @focusontheheart's Seyka route. I did the line art and design while Silke masterfully colored them and truly brought them to life. L->R (Bilegut, Aloy, Stingspawn trip, Seyka, Kina, Alva, Jomar, Dreadmaw)

[singingkestrel]

Horizon Forbidden West machine headshots compilation 4/5.

It's getting increasingly difficult to name these teams, but I've started so I'll finish.

Corruptor - Horus (team Faro)

Charger - Stormbird (team Kes' personal fave mount/combat machines)

Specter - Shell walker (team scuttle)

Fireclaw - Frostclaw (team GRRRR)

Tremortusk - Stingspawn (team little and large)

[horizonlandscape]

Stingspawn

Just as annoying like mosquitoes

[ayaitch]

I realized I didn't know what these big baddies were chomping on when they did their tongue thing and it turns out they're consuming their own spawn.

[robo-dino-puppy]

hfw: burning shores | seyka 10/?

[no-title-currently]

Due to the fact it’s been taken over by an Apex Bilegut, Cauldron Theta has a severe Stingspawn infestation, allowing me to get some decent shots of them. These small machines have pretty low health, so their strength lies in numbers as opposed to actual strength. They are often found in swarms of 3+ if their eggs aren’t broken in time, and their eggs are laid by the Bilegut, as it needs the Stingspawn primarily for obtaining/delivering resources. The resource gathering is probably what the massive claws on the bottom of this machine is for, as the simplistic claw shape allows for easy pickup for a lot of small objects.

[deleted-files]

Since I Couldn't Figure Out How to Upload the File

Here. A list of just about all the horizon machines and their rahi counterparts. At least what I think to be their counterparts... Close enough anyways. I'm always open to suggestions on this list since it's still a work in progress.

-Acquisition Machines-

Bilegut (Frog) = Ranama/Ghekula

Rockbreaker (Badger/Mole)= Blade Burrower

Bristleback (Wild Boar)=

Broadhead/Strider/Charger (Horse/Goats)= Mahi

ClamberJaw (Orangutan/Primate)= Brakas

Fanghorn/Grazer/LanceHorn (Deer,Gazel)= Fader Bull

Glinthawk (Large Savanger Bird)= Kahu

Scrapper/Scrounger (Canin)= Happaka

Snapmaw (Crocodilian)= Furnace Salamander

Spikesnout (Anteater)= Hikaki

Stingspawn (Insect/Fly?/Thing?)= Acidfly

Sunwing/Waterwing (Pterodactyl/Bird?)= Gukko/Mata Nui Fishing Bird

Plowhorn (Triceratops)= Mata Nui Cow

Tideripper (Plesiosaurus)= Proto Drake

Widemaw (Hippo)= Kraawa

Trampler (Cattle)= Kane-Ra

-Combat Class-

ClawStrider (Raptor)= Rock Raptor

Dreadwing (Bat/BirdofPrey)= Cliff Screecher

Ravager (Tiger/Leopard)= Rock Lion

Sawtooth (Sabertoothed Cat)= Muaka

Scorcher (Wolf)= Kavinika

ShellSnapper (Snapping Turtle)= Pit War Tortoise

Slaughterspine (Spinosaurus)= Archives Beast

SlitherFang (King Cobra)= Crystal Serpent

Stalker (Panther/Wolf)= Shallows Cat/Energy Hound

Stormbird (Eagle/Hawk)= Nivawk

Thunderjaw (Tyrannosaur)= Tahtorak

Tremortusk (Mammoth)=

Fireclaw/Frostclaw (Bears)= Ashbear

-Communication Class-

Tallneck (Giraffe/Stegosaur)=

-Recon Class-

Burrower (Otter/Rodent)= Archives Mole

Longleg (Ostrich/Emu/Large Bird)= Moa

Watcher/Redeye (Raptor)= Manutri

Skydrifter (Bird of Prey)= Kewa

Transport Class

Behemoth (Rhinoceros)= Kikinalo

BellowBack (Bipedal Dinosaur)= Parakrekks

Leaplasher (Kangaroo)= Fusa

Rollerback (Pangolin/Ankylosaur)= Swamp Stalker

Shell-Walker (Crab/Hermit)= Ussal Crab

[multi-muse-transect]

Maximals and Predacons as Horizon Zero Dawn machines.

Optimus Primal-Giant Fireclaw or Frostclaw

Rattrap-Giant Burrower

Cheetor-Giant Stalker

Airrazor-Stormbird

Rhinox-Giant Bristleback or Grimhorn

Dinobot-Giant Clawstrider

Tigatron-Giant Ravager

Depth Charge-Snapmaw or Giant Tideripper

Silverbolt-Giant Waterwing

BlackArachnia-Giant Corruptor

Rampage-Giant Shell Walker

Megatron-Thunderjaw

Terrorsaur-Giant Sunwing

Tarantulus-Giant Shell Walker

Scoponok-Modified Corruptor

Waspinator-Giant Stingspawn

[kyndaris]

L.A. Calling

From one red-head protagonist to another, I thought the brief lull during the holiday season (for games I was interested in anyways) would be the perfect opportunity to try out the Burning Shores DLC for Horizon: Forbidden West. After all, there was a reason why I kept the game despite finishing it after a hundred hour marathon of a month gaming last year. That reason, of course, was to ensure I knew the new story threads leading into the third game. But with the passing of Lance Reddick, it was also a chance to catch a glimpse of his last performance as Sylens - Aloy's reluctant ally.

So, from the highs of the Star Wars universe, I plunged back down to a post-apocalyptic Earth where robot dinosaur roam and a rogue A.I. is hurtling back to destroy what remains of humanity. Good stuff!

Following on from the ending of Forbidden West, Burning Shores sees Aloy heading down to the ruins of Los Angeles after being notified by Sylens that Walter Londra, a member of Far Zenith, had headed there following his arrival on Earth. Aloy agrees to investigate and heads down the coast on the back of a Sunwing.

As she approaches the the remains of Los Angeles, Aloy is shot down by a drone tower. With the help of Seyka, a member of the Quen, they take down the machines in the area before heading to Fleet's End: the settlement the Quen have made since floundering in Los Angeles after a typhoon.

It isn't long before Aloy agrees to help the Quen out and find their missing people. And it certainly wasn't very long before I was scrambling across the map of old Los Angeles to scrounge up collectibles and completing the scattered side quests and errands available on the map.

Could it have benefited with having a Tallneck to climb up? Yes, but given Aloy had flight on her side (granted soon after taking down the first drone tower), it wasn't very long before I managed to explore most of the map and engaged with a few select new machines like the Bilegut and the Stingspawn.

From a narrative perspective, Burning Shores didn't really add anything new to the overarching plot except another scavenger hunt across an open world for a weapon to take down Nemesis. Or, perhaps, the third game will truncate the search a little by focusing it once more in some area of the North Americas. Here's hoping, though, the Horizon series takes our allies across the seas and try something a little more different from the remnants of the ol' United States of America.

At the very least, though, Aloy walked away from the adventure with a new ally she was keen to work with. All throughout the DLC, Seyka stayed by Aloy's side and proved to be an effective fighter. Was it any wonder she proved to be Aloy's first actual love interest?

Both of them are capable warriors and hunters of machine. Both are practical problem-solvers, doing what needs to be done instead of fussing about if it'll offend someone's sensibilities. And both are driven.

I'm actually somewhat relieved Aloy didn't try to push Seyka away. Although, it did take her a while to finally admit the impending threat that was Nemesis heading back towards Earth, keen to destroy the Earth. Still, Seyka had her own secrets when it came to her sister and her fears Kina had willingly joined up with Walter Londra (a fairly forgettable antagonist) who was willing to irradiate the surrounding land in order to escape back into space and be surrounded by a loving and brainwashed cadre of followers.

Combat-wise, Burning Shores added in a few new different skills to tackle on enemies. In the end, though, I found myself still relying on tried and true abilities. Given it had also been a year since I last played Forbidden West, my skills were also quite a bit rusty. So, I'm not ashamed to admit I did dumb the difficulty down just to ensure I could enjoy the story rather than struggle in a high-end area because I'd forgotten Aloy couldn't parry attacks like Cal Kestis or that the way she normally tackled enemies was from afar with ranged attacks.

It was also a matter of relearning the status effects of the game, like drenched and frozen and shock and corrosion.

Targeting weak points also proved to be a trying affair after all the different games I'd played over the year. Especially given how the machines move and make it difficult to target the one spot that'll do MASSIVE damage.

Or maybe I just need to 'git gud' as the pro gamers like to say.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Burning Shores. It was good to dive back into the Horizon universe and tackle on a map that wasn't as large as the base game. It also helped there weren't a ton of collectibles needed to be found and unearthed. So, my map wasn't entirely pockmarked with '?' to drive my curiosity and insatiable need to uncover every. Single. Point. Of. Interest.

Thank goodness for small mercies.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there are huge open-world games where I need to collect a thousand and one items calling my name.

[aromanticmara]

if stingspawn have a million haters, then i am one of them. if stingspawn have ten haters, then i am one of them. if stingspawn have only one hater then that is me. if stingspawn have no haters, then that means i am no longer on earth. If the world is with stingspawn, then i am against the world.

[thunderjawsandlightning]

Also don't know how I havent mentioned it before, but oh god the Bilegut and Stingspawn are a new nightmare fuel. The Stingspawn in Cauldron Theta especially make my brain itchy with whatever the fear of many holes is

[singingkestrel]

Whilst playing Burning Shores, I apparently took a wrong turn and ended up in the Attican Traverse fighting Rachni modified by Reaper tech.

And me without my M-451 Firestorm.

[singingkestrel]

Horizon Forbidden West machines 66/?

Stingspawn.

Too small and too lacking in a head to do a headshot, so I went with something shiny instead. When these three hatched, in their apparent eagerness to attack me (Aloy), they flew straight into each other resulting in the damage sparks you see here.

Idiots.

[singingkestrel]

Horizon Forbidden West machines 65/?

Bileguts II.

These things are just, well, kinda gross. Not content with spewing various kinds of noxious gunk all over the place, they spawn itty bitty insectoid children only to then capture and cannibalise them with their weird extendible tongues. Eww, right?

Initially I wanted to showcase one of these behaviours in the headshot, but it proved to be too much of a hassle.