Early Embrace Escape
Notice: this page is about the most commonly used version of Embrace Escape. For the other version, check Varl Skip and Southern Embrace Escape.
General
The Early Embrace Escape, also known as just Embrace Escape, is a glitch in Horizon Zero Dawn possibly found by Alice in late 2020. It involves walking against a "Can't Enter This Location" wall in a specific way to clip through and exit the Embrace earlier than you are supposed to. The glitch was later brought back into the community's attention when it was used for a new Abs% route by Fleur_Bleue101.
The original video posted by Alice:
How To Activate
The Embrace Escape glitch is, as already mentioned, activated by walking against an invisible wall that gives the "Can't Enter This Location" text. As of right now, there is only 1 known spot that you can actually escape through this wall, which is located on a small rock near the North Gate.
The original version posted by Alice uses a sort of diagonal rolling against the wall in order to clip through. The common method has since shifted to aiming down and quickly walking back and forth against the wall.
The current method of Embrace Escape:
Mechanics
The Embrace Escape glitch is thought to work due to the strange collision of the rock on which the glitch is performed. After walking or rolling into the way in just the right way, the player will be teleported beyond the wall onto the ground in New Game (NG), but will be teleported to a slightly different place if playing in New Game+ (NG+). Additionally, when playing in NG+, the player may be teleported onto invisible ground beyond the wall and be stuck, and may also end up inside the rock the glitch is performed on. It is unknown why NG+ differs from NG for this glitch, as nothing should have changed. It has been theorised it has to do with learned skills or inventory, but these theories have all been disproven.
Upon escaping the Embrace early, the player will gain access to the full map of HZD early. This causes a few glitches, the most notable of which being CFT's. Beside that, campfires walked by in this state will not activate and will not show up on the player's map. Additionally, certain campfires will not exist on the map, such as the one at the Nora Hunting Grounds and the one closest to the Main Embrace Gate. It is theorised that this is because the player actually leaves the Embrace once during the main quests that take place then, and the developers wanted to prevent the player from getting campfires outside the Embrace early. Settlements and Gates will however still be discovered.
If the player escapes the Embrace early while having already opened the Main Gate to speak to Varl who is fighting a sawtooth, the player will be able to start the "The Warchief's Trail" main quest without actually having it. Additionally, the player will be able to play the game all the way until the Maker's End main quest without having any of the main quests required to get there. It is uncertain why the game does not spawn the Deathbringer and Eclipse Soldiers you are meant to fight at Maker's End.
If the player completes any part of the "Seeker at the Gates" main quest, such as speaking to Marea, Varl will disappear from the Main Gate and the player will be Hardlocked, meaning that it is impossible to complete the game on that file.
Uses
Embrace Escape currently only has uses in the Category Extensions, primarily because of it unlocking CFT's, but also because it allows you to skip the Sawtooth, Proving and Corruptor. The glitch is used in Abs%, All Cauldrons and Dummy%. Routes have been theorised for it to be used in All Bandit Camps, but nothing has come of it as of yet.
