The Proving Walkthrough

This guide will show you how to complete The Proving, a main quest in Horizon Zero Dawn. Read on to learn the objectives, strategies, location, and rewards for The Proving main quest.

The Proving Quest Information

General Info

The Proving Walkthrough

How to Complete

	Objectives
1	Kill a Grazer and Loot a Proving Trophy. Use your Tripcaster's Shock Wire to stun a Grazer or Fire Arrows to blow up the Blaze Canisters on its back.
2	Loot a Second Trophy. Use a Fire Arrow to blow up the Blaze Canisters on the Grazer's back. Loot the carcass for another Proving Trophy.
3	Go to the Start of the Brave Trail. With your trophy secured, run up to the start of the Brave Trail.
4	Run the Abandoned Brave Trail. Aloy wants to win the Proving. Run the Abandoned Brave Trail to beat the competition.
5	Kill the Attackers (First Wave). There will be 4 ranged attackers at the start. Since they will not be alerted immediately, crouch and go to the right side of the clearing. Climb up the small cliff and ambush them from the tall grass.
6	Kill the Attackers (Second Wave). This next wave is comprised of 4 melee attackers. Maintain your distance and aim for headshots to instantly kill them.
7	Kill the Attackers (Third Wave). This next wave is comprised of 3 ranged attackers and 2 melee attackers. Use headshots to quickly kill them as this wave starts with Aloy already being detected.
8	Kill the Attackers (Final Wave). The final wave is comprised of 1 ranged leader, 1 ranged heavy (Deathbringer Gun), and 3 ranged attackers. They are easily dispatched using headshots.
9	Loot the Enemy Leader. Loot the body of the ranged leader you killed in the Final Wave. This completes the quest.

Tips and Strategies

Shoot the Grazers' Blaze Canisters

To get a 1-hit kill on the running Grazers, use Fire Arrows to hit the Blaze Canisters on their back. You only need to hit it once before the Machine explodes after a short delay.

For players having a hard time hitting the fast-moving Grazers, consider learning the Concentration Skill to aid you.

Use the Tripcaster and Critical Hit Combo

Critical Hit	Press R1 (on PS4) for a high damage attack on downed enemies.

For players who have learned the Critical Hit Skill, an easier method to get a Proving Trophy is by immediately laying down a Shock Wire in the path of the running Grazers.

Once one is stunned and downed, simply run up to it and use a Critical Hit to finish it off. This is possible since Grazers run the same circular path throughout this portion of the mission.

Use Silent Strike on the First Wave of Attackers

Silent Strike	Press R1 (on PS4) to perform silent takedowns on small machines and humans, or deal high damage to medium enemies.

Aloy will start off hidden when the first wave of attackers ambush the Nora Hunter hopefuls. Make your way to the right side of the ridge and climb up to the attackers' level.

They will not be alerted as long as you stuck to the Tall Grass. Use Silent Strike or bow headshots to make quick work of them.

Maintain Your Distance and Aim for Headshots

Most attackers, especially on Normal difficulty, are one headshot away from death. Maintain your distance from them and use Concentration (if learned) to hit quick and easy headshots.

Horizon Zero Dawn Quests

List of Main Quest Guides

Main Quest Guides

Frozen Wild Main Quest Guides