Save File Setup

Intro

This is a guide for setting up a save file for Horizon Zero Dawn NG+ Speedruns.
Sadly PlayStation does not allow players to share save files so one will have to make their own

It does take some time and effort to do this, but you will be able to practice and learn a lot that can be used in the speedrun.

The following video by Elkjaer goes over the used equipment in a NG+ speedrun.

Is it possible to continue a save file from a casual playthrough?
Yes, but there are some things that can't be changed once it's done. Referring to the skills you have learned. Speedruns can still be done if you have learned all skills, but you will be losing some time from it. But read more about it under the Skills section of the guide or see the linked video.

For PC Players

On PC it is possible for players to share save files so if you are going to speedrun on PC, then you don't have to do the manual setup of your save file. You can simply download one that already has everything you need.

Download for PC Speedrun Save File for NG+

Step by step for playthroughs

This is the step by step on what order you need to do things in order to get through the game efficiently while getting everything you need.

Note

Some things only need to be done on some of the playthroughs, so please read the Playthrough Guide below before starting to follow this step by step.

This guide will only give you the absolutely necessary coils for speedrunning. However, if you want all unique modifications every playthrough then follow this video guide.

MAKE SURE you read what you need to get in the save file before you start following the guide. Especially the skills section, as there are things there that can't be reversed.

Step by step

1. Playthrough the Main Quest until you are able to leave "The Embrace".
2. Head to the "Massacre Site", which is part of "The War-Chief's Trail" quest and complete the investigation until you have finished talking ot the survivor.
3. Complete the following quests in order:
   1. A Seeker at the Gates
   2. The City of the Sun
   3. The Field of the Fallen
   4. Maker's End
4. Continue and finsih the rest of "The War-Chief's Trail".
5. Complete "Revenge of the Nora".
6. Head north and enter The Frozen Wilds and continue until you have completed "Into the Frozen Wilds".
7. Go to the Tallneck and complete it.
8. Then finish "The Shaman's Path".
9. Head to the Hunting Ground and complete the "Control Trial".
10. Go to Song's Edge and challange Aratak.
11. Complete "For the Werak".
12. Head towards Longnotch.
13. Complete both "Firebreak" and "The Forge of Winter".
14. Kill the 5 Fireclaws that are part of "Out of the Forge".
15. Head back to Song's Edge and finish "Out of the Forge" by talking to Naltuk.
16. Head back to "The Grave-Hoard" and complete it.
17. Then complete the following Main Quests in order:
    1. "To Curse the Darkness"
    2. "Deep Secrets of the Earth"
    3. "The Terror of the Sun"
    4. "The Heart of the Nora"
    5. "Into the Borderlands"
    6. "The Mountain That Fell"
    7. "The Sun Shall Fall"
    8. "The Looming Shadow"
    9. "The Face of Extinction" (This is the end of the Main Story)
18. After beating the game, head to a merchant and sell any unnecessary stuff you are carrying.
19. Make sure you have gotten all the important coils/weaves out of the reward boxes and put them on the weapons.
20. It is recommended to make a manual save at a campfire in case something happens on the next playthrough.
21. Pause the game and select "Create NG+ Loadout".
22. Quit back to the main menu and start a "New Game+" if you are not done.

Playthrough Guide

All Playthroughs

It is recommended you do all your playthroughs on Story difficulty, since difficulty does not affect any drops. You can change difficulty at the beginning of every speedrun, so don't worry if you want to run on Ultra Hard.

On every playthrough you do, you want to make sure you loot machines and boxes along the way. This is to make sure once you are done that you have all the resources you need to do a run.

Make sure you collect meat, bones and skins from animals while playing, so that you can upgrade all your carry capacities. You can do this during just one playthrough or just try and do it along the way.

First Playthrough

Since you only need Adept weapons for the save file, you don't need to get any specific weapons on this playthrough. Just get the weapons you need in order to beat the game.

It is recommended getting the "Shield-Weaver" outfit on the first playthrough to make it easier for the following playthroughs. The "Shield-Weaver" does not get better in NG+ like other outfits and weapons. Just make sure to get the Power Cells at Maker's End, Grave-Hoard and GAIA Prime while you are there.

Complete "The Hunters Three" in The Frozen Wilds for the "Untested Weapon Coil". (1/2)

After defeating the Fireclaw inside "EPSILON", head to the control tower north of where you are, after escaping the cauldron. There is a box next to the tower with an "Insulated Outfit Weave" in it which you want. (1/3)

Second Playthrough

On the second playthrough you want to get all the weapons you need. (Except you can only get one Icerail, so get the second one on the next plathrough). You get teh adept versions of weapons the exact same way you get the normal versions.

On this playthrough you need to get all the "Blazing Suns" from Hunting Grounds (Snowchants Hunting Ground not included), in order to get the "Adept Lodge Blast Sling".

In The Frozen Wilds make sure you complete the Bandit Camp, so you can get the Forgefire.

Upgrade the "Icerail", "Forgefire" and "Stormslinger" by completeing the "Geared Up" quest.

Complete "The Hunters Three" in The Frozen Wilds for the "Untested Weapon Coil". (2/2)

After defeating the Fireclaw inside "EPSILON", head to the control tower north of where you are, after escaping the cauldron. There is a box next to the tower with an "Insulated Outfit Weave" in it which you want. (2/3)

Third Playthrough

On the third playthrough, make sure you get the second "Icerail" and upgrade it via the "Geared Up" quest.

After defeating the Fireclaw inside "EPSILON", head to the control tower north of where you are, after escaping the cauldron. There is a box next to the tower with an "Insulated Outfit Weave" in it which you want. (3/3)

Playthroughs 4 to 7

Provided that you followed the guide so far, then all you need to do on these playthroughs is follow the Step by step guide.

8th Playthrough

On this playthrough it is recommended to farm the regular coils needed. The best and fastest way of doing this is the "Hammer and Steel" Coil farm.

While farming it is recommended to only take the coils needed and the shards from the machines to prevent the inventory from filling up all the time.

It is recommended to do this farm on the 8th playthrough to have another chance on playthrough 9 if something goes wrong.

9th Playthrough

Follow the step by step guide until you have beaten the game. Then make sure you have set up all your weapons correctly. Then try to get rid of anything that is unecessary to speedruns.

Doing less playthroughs

It is possible to do less playthroughs, as you can max out the stats on the "Adept Lodge Blast Sling" with 65% or higher handling coils with damage as second tier. However these are rare and can take some time to farm extra using the "Hammer and Steel" Coil farm. So you can choose to either get extra "Pristine Coils" by doing more playthroughs or try your luck with "Hammer and Steel" farming.

Skills

Warning

When setting up the skills on your save file, there are 3 skills you don't want to learn, because they will make you lose time in the speedrun. If you accidentally learn one of these skills during your playthroug, load a save that was created before the skill was learned.

There is no way to unlearn a skill that you have already learned, so keep this in mind if you decide to use an already existing save file you have.

These skills are:

• Hunter Refelxes
• Dodge Prowess
• Mounted Pickup

These skills are all early in the skill trees, which means you will lose out on other skills as well. However none of the other skills that you miss out on are needed in the speedrun or will lose you time if you don't have them.

Weapons

Listed below are the weapons you need for speedruns. Some are only used in certain categories, so if you are only looking to run a specific category you can skip setting up the weapons that are not needed. However it is recommended setting up all of them, since it does not take much extra time to get everything and you never know if you want to try a different category in the future.

Adept Striker Bow

Used in all NG+ Categories

• 3x Pristine Weapon Coils
• 1x 60% or higher Handling Coil (If you have a Handling Coil with Fire as a third tier then use it. It will give a little boost to fire arrows)

Adept Lodge Blast Sling

Used in all NG+ Categories

• 3x Pristine Weapon Coils
• 1x 60% or higher Handling Coil

Adept Stormslinger

Used in all NG+ Categories

• 3x 65% Handling Coils with Damage in second tier

Icerail (Damage Version)

Not used in The Frozen Wilds on Story but all other NG+ Categories

• 3x Pristine Weapon Coils

Icerail (Freeze Version)

Not used in Main Game on Story

• 3x 45% or higher Freeze Coils with Damage as second tier

Forgefire

Only used in The Frozen Wilds on Ultra Hard

• 2x Untested Weapon Coils
• 1x 45% or higher Handling Coil with Damage as second tier

Powershot Bow

Used in The Frozen Wilds on Story and Ultra Hard

• 4x Purple Handling Coils of any percentage

Tripcaster

Used in all NG+ Categories Coils do no matter on this weapon. It can be any tripcaster since it is only needs to be in the inventory so you can skip going to Karst in the beginning of speedruns.

Outfits

There are two outfits used in NG+ Speedruns. The "Oseram Sparkworker" is only used in The Frozen Wilds runs on Ultra Hard. But it takes very little extra time to get it so it is recommended setting it up, even if you don't plan to run that category, since you might want to do that in the future.

Shield-Weaver

Used in all NG+ Categories You can not put weaves on this outfit

Oseram Sparkworker

Only used in The Frozen Wilds on Ultra Hard

• 3x Insulated Outfit Weaves

Resources

You should have plenty of resources after completing the playthroughs, but it's hard to tell if you have enough until you try your first run. Then you can adjust after that. You should have plenty of shards from the"Hammer and Steel" farm to buy more resources if you run low.

Once you have everything

Once you have gotten everything setup and got rid of anything unnecessary on the save file, create a Manual Save at a campfire. Memorize the name of the save file, it is easy to do by looking at the time on save or the date. Take a photo or write it down, in case you want to make sure you remember it.

Then I HIGHLY recommend you copy the save file to a USB or external hard drive so you don't lose it by saving over it by accident or if you lose your console. You can also cloud save it using PlayStation Plus if you have it.

Hope this guide helped you out and good luck with your speedruns.

This guide was originally written by Elkjaer in a Google Docs and just ported over to the wiki.