Ancient Armory - Horizon: Zero Dawn Guide - IGN (2024)

This page contains the walkthrough for the Ancient Armory side quest, as well as the hidden Power Cell locations in Horizon Zero Dawn. Completing this quest unlocks the Got the Shield-Weaver Trophy.

Completing this side quest will unlock the powerful Shield Weaver armor, which renders Aloy nearly invincible for a time while wearing it. The quest will appear in your Side Quests menu once any of the five Power Cells have been collected. The power cells are presented below in the chronological order they can be obtained in during the main quest line. If you would like to use a check list to keep track of what cells you've found, refer to Power Cell Locations please.

The First Two Power Cells

The first two power cells can be found in the The Escape - one is in the Bunker Ruins where Aloy explored as a child, and the other is inside All-Mother.

The Armory location is north-west of the Nora Hunting Grounds. Look for a collapsed radio antennae and climb the rock face next to it, then drop down into the water in the cavern behind the tower.

These two power cells can be used to unlock the door into the ancient laboratory where the armor is housed - complete the circuit and unlock the door by solving the locking puzzle: the numbers are hours in the day, corresponding to each wheel. Left to right, they read noon, 3 o’clock, six, nine and midnight.

Find the Remaining Power Cells

Once you’ve opened this lock and entered the Armory, you'll find out that there are three more Power Cells you need to find in order to progress.

In order, they can be found during the missions: Maker's End, The Grave Hoard and The Mountain That Fell.

Unlock the Armor

Return to the lab and use the power cells to complete the circuit, then unlock the clamps by setting the dials. The cypher for these are the angles of rotations (90 degrees is right, 180 degrees is down, and so on, in 90 degree increments. For numbers bigger than 360, simply subtract 360 to make it easy to figure out).

So the dials should be turned: right, left, top, right, left. This will allow Aloy to collect the armor - open the Outfit Box in your inventory to unlock and equip the Shield Weaver outfit.

This armor can’t fit any modifications, but more than makes up for it by letting Aloy soak up a HUGE amount of damage before taking any of her own. Keep an eye out for the armor flashing red and making a high-pitch ringing sound, which indicates that your defensive shield is almost out of power.

This armor proves invaluable going into the endgame, so be sure you’ve collected them all before reaching the final few missions.