How to beat Skydrifter machines in Horizon Forbidden West

There's an important tool you'll need to defeat the Skydrifters in Horizon Forbidden West.
Screenshot by Gamepur

Among the wide world of Horizon Forbidden West, there lies some tough machines called Skydrifters. They can fly in the sky and cause excessive damage to our hero Aloy. Here’s how to beat them easily and get the right weapon to counter their flying abilities.

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The Skydrifters, when you first encounter them between Plainsong and Barren Light, will likely be a difficult encounter for most beginners to Horizon Forbidden West. They’re hard to hit as they fly in the air at a brisk speed and they can deal a lot of damage. However, there is one weapon that can be your sanctity.

Let’s introduce the Ropecaster, a weapon that hooks flying machines to the ground. With three hooks to the Skydrifter, this weapon can incapacitate the enemy to the ground and allow you to get a free Critical Strike. You can also get a few free hits after the Critical Strike too as the Ropecaster is so effective against them. The Ropecaster with just one hook can also significantly slow down the Skydrifter, but it’s more prone to fail with the machine’s wailing movements.

Screenshot by Gamepur

While fighting the Skydrifter, be careful of its sweeping strikes and lazers that can be fired from its tail. Keep dodging and using the Ropecaster at opportune moments. Also, make sure to fully fire the Ropecaster, so it can attach to the armor plating of the machine.

You can buy the Ropecaster from the Hunter at Barren Light. It will cost you a mere 149 Metal Shards, and while it’s not a powerful weapon, its utility is well worth the asking price.

While the Ropecaster is effective, you should also know that you should try to hit its blue canisters on the back for even more damage. They’ll break off as a resource too. Its chest is also a weak point. Try to hit its Razortail too as that’s highly valuable for crafting upgrades.

Defeating a Skydrifter is not as difficult as getting a survey drone or reaching up to a tallneck, but it’s pretty high up there. We hope this guide was useful to you.


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Author
Chris Penwell
The British “Canadian” Chris Penwell has been a video game journalist since 2013 and now has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from MacEwan University. He loves to play JRPGs and games with a narrative.