Abs%

Notice: This article is about Abs%, the HZD category extension. For Abs% the HFW category, check Abs% (HFW).

General

Abs% is a category extension in Horizon Zero Dawn, the aim of which being buying and equipping the Carja Blazon Heavy outfit to show Aloy's abs. The category originated in mid 2020, with one of the earliest runners being Charlatan_11235.

Timing And Goal

Timing for Abs% begins upon skipping the first cutscene that plays after starting a New Game. There is no New Game+ category for Abs%, as you would just be able to have the outfit in your inventory from the get-go, or have all the shards and materials ready to buy it in advance. The goal of Abs% is to gather the resources needed to buy the Carja Blazon Heavy outfit, and reach a merchant that sells the outfit. Timing ends upon equipping the outfit and exiting the merchant or inventory screen, depending on where you equipped the outfit from.

History

Abs% has it's origins in mid 2020, where the accepted form of running the category was still New Game Ultra Hard. The first known run of the category was performed by Charlatan_11235 on the 1st of July 2020 in 3:36:18. Runners like Elkjaer and Marenelinea would later also join the category, and the first real route was made. Since the category was Ultra Hard at the time, you needed 2 charger hearts instead of 1 to buy the outfit. In order to acquire these, runners would head to a charger site to then start the insane RNG-fest that is gathering 2 charger hearts on Ultra Hard.

The category would later change to be ran on Story difficulty around December 2020, the route changed to reflect this, as the new route became completing Sawtooth, Proving and Corruptor (just like the old route), before farming shards at the Nora Hunting Ground, and then heading to Meridian. At Meridian, you could buy a charger heart from a specialty merchant, before buying the outfit itself.

The route used would change again in early 2021, when Fleur_Bleue101 would use the Early Embrace Escape glitch to skip Sawtooth, Proving and Corruptor saving a few minutes. Additionally, the Dawn's Sentinel Skip was used to avoid needing to use the Carja Border that could not be unlocked due to Embrace Escape. This would bring the record to below 30 minutes for the first time. Because of using Early Embrace Escape, the grazers did not spawn inside the Nora Hunting Ground. Because of this, Potion Duping would be used to get the needed shards.

Around mid 2021, a friendly rivalry started between Marenelinea and Fleur_Bleue101, where both players would keep taking the record from each other. At this time, Marenelinea would come up with an adjustment to the route. The general route stayed the same, but instead of gathering shards with Potion Duping, the meta instead became using Campfire Teleports (CFT's) to teleport to loot locations and get the necessary shards. The CFT's were at Morning's Watch to get to Brin's hut, and at Meridian to get to the Nil Plateau. The record made it all the way to a low 23 with this route.

Around late 2021, Fleur_Bleue101 would make a new update to the route. Instead of CFT'ing to Brin's hut and then fast travelling back to Morning's Watch, you would stay at Brin's hut and make your way to Meridian from there, saving about a minute.

Later, Fleur_Bleue101 made another update to the route by CFT'ing to Brin's hut from Free Heap instead of Dawn's Sentinal.

In June of 2022, Marenelinea would make another update to the route, completely changing it. You would no longer go to Meridian, as the charger heart needed was instead acquired from a corrupted zone with chargers near the Ring of Metal. This added a new major luck factor to the run, but made going to Meridian obsolete. With this, Marenelinea became the first to get a sub 20 minute time with an 18:09 with the new route. The record would be contested a few times between Fleur_Bleue101 and Marenelinea, but is currently in the hands of Fleur_Bleue101 with a 16:54.

Trivia

• Abs% was the first meme category of Horizon Zero Dawn.
• Abs% exists in both HZD and HFW.
• Abs% is one of the few categories to utilise Early Embrace Escape and CFT's.