Horizon: Zero Dawn is a massive game which boasts a wide array of main missions, side quests, errands, tasks and collectibles that the player needs to accomplish and collect. As a result, doing all of these would take a lot of time since the player still has a lot of things to do just to accomplish one of those. However, unlike other games, Horizon: Zero Dawn offers the feature of overriding the robotic creatures the player encounters to assist them.
All About Overriding Machines
According to Tech.Mic, at the beginning of the game, Aloy has only a limited number of machines that she could override and that, the bigger the machine is, the longer it takes to be overridden plus, not all overridden machines can be mounted. There are only a total of three machines that Aloy can mount and these are the Strider, Broadhead and the Charger, while the rest of the machines can only assist Aloy against opponents until the duration of the override is depleted or until the machine dies.
Furthermore, if the player locates and beats each of the four Cauldrons in the game, the amount of machines that Aloy could override would increase each time. The Cauldrons are named Sigma, Rho, Zeta and Xi.
The Four Cauldrons
In an article by Gosu Noob, the Cauldron Sigma can be located at the North of Mother's Crown. Here, the players can either sneak past the guards or eliminate them, then they can jump onto the assembly line of the machine above to get on a ride to the next area. Upon reaching the end, players will see a large machine that is protected by an energy shield and guards, so before climbing down, players should eliminate them.
After climbing down, players need to start the override by going on top of any pillar and use the staff. This would set free the Fire Bellowback in the center, however players could utilize freeze damage with the creature and target the blaze canister at the tail, the cargo sack at the back or the curved throat area to eliminate the creature. Once down, players just need to override the terminal in the center to unlock the overrides for the Grazer, Scraper, Lancehorn and the Sawtooth.
Next is the Cauldron Rho, it can be found in the South of the map, just East of the Greatlands Camp. Players aren't able to enter through the front door so they need to go down the hole and rappel until they reach another door at the bottom. Once inside, players need to be aware that there are Ravagers lurking around, however, they can all be avoided. To get to the next area, players need to ride the first big turbine then half way through, jump on to the container to get to safety. Then override the bridge to reach the second turbine, where players need to ride it to override a switch.
Afterwards, players need to return to the first big turbine where they would see that the energy barrier has been lowered. Ride the container again but jump off right before reaching the second barrier, then change the direction of the horizontal turbine. Go down to the pool and search for a ladder to go up and reach the Blaze Processing Chamber. Here, players can eliminate all the Ravagers in the area as they cannot reach them. After doing so, use the zipline down then ride the turbine to get across, then go forward and extend the bridge.
Across, override the large machine and move forward to reach the core. Here, the player would encounter Snapmaws, where they need to use fire arrows to shoot at the head or the canisters on their shoulders to defeat the machines. Once done, go to the center and proceed with the override to unlock the overrides for the Longleg, Trampler, Shell-Walker and the Snapmaw.
While the Cauldron Xi is located in a forest at the Southwestern part of the map near the edge of the world. Getting inside the cauldron is tough as the player needs to wipe out all the bandits in the courtyard to find the excavation key. Once obtained, climb to the top of the scaffolding to find the entrance to the Cauldron and use the excavation key to open it. Once inside, players just need to follow the map marker to navigate the area and get to the core. Once there, override the pillar and defend it against several waves of bandits and machines for two minutes. Afterwards, finish the override to unlock the overrides for the Glinthawk, Fire Bellowback and the Freeze Bellowback.
Last is the Cauldron Zeta, it can be found in the Northwest part of the map, just Southeast of Maker's End. Players cannot enter the area through the main gate, and would need to find the hidden entrance on a nearby cliff. While at the main gate, players need to turn around, having their backs facing the front door, and scan the cliff to the right to see a Redeye Watcher - the entrance is there.
Players need to traverse the right wall until they find a rock pillar to climb on to get to where the Redeye Watcher is. At the top, eliminate the Watcher then proceed to the hidden entrance. Once inside, players just need to go down, then jump off the platform and take a left into the cavern. Keep following the path until the core entrance has been reached. At the core entrance, players need to drop down to the body of water and proceed to the doorway at the end. Once there, players need to rappel down and eliminate the two Watchers, after doing so, climb up the discharge pylons and override it.
At this point, the players would face the Thunderjaw. Players can utilize the Teardown arrow and break off one of the disc launchers at the creature's back. Once done, players can use this weapon to eliminate the Thunderjaw but needs to take note that while handling the weapon, the player moves slowly and that the projectiles from the disc launcher is rather slow. After the Thunderjaw is eliminated, head to the core and override it to unlock the overrides for the Stormbird, Thunderjaw and the Rockbreaker.
