New Game Plus Guide: What Carries Over and Best Loadouts

This is a guide that explains the New Game Plus mode in Horizon Zero Dawn. Read on to learn how to unlock New Game Plus, what carries over when you start a New Game Plus save, as well as the best loadouts to bring for your re-run of the game.

How to Unlock New Game Plus

Complete the Main Quest

In order to unlock New Game Plus, players will have to complete the entire Horizon Zero Dawn main questline. The option to begin a New Game Plus playthrough will only be available after finishing The Face of Extinction main quest.

Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Story Walkthrough

Create a New Game Plus Loadout

Once the final main quest is complete, a new option in the game's pause menu will appear. Select Create New Game Plus Loadout to record your current stats and inventory which will carry over if you decide to start a New Game Plus playthrough.

What Carries Over in New Game Plus?

Character Levels & Skills

Your current character level and all unlocked skills will carry over once you start a New Game Plus save. However, certain skills will be locked until portions of the main story are completed.

For example, any Override related skills under the Forager Skill Tree will be unavailable until you unlock the quest, A Seeker at the Gates.

Player Inventory Except Special Items

The entire player inventory (except Special Items) will carry over when starting a New Game Plus. This includes all weapons, outfits, modifications, resources, ammo, traps & potions, and treasure boxes in your possession.

Note: Any kind of Shadow Stalwart outfit set (light, medium, or heavy) will not carry over in New Game Plus. Players will have to earn or buy it after the completion of the main quest, The Terror of the Sun.

What Doesn’t Carry Over

Unfortunately, some items and records will not carry over when starting a New Game Plus playthrough. The following items, records, and overrides will not be available during NG+:

• Collectibles (Metal Flowers, Ancient Vessels, & Banuk Figures)
• Frozen Wilds Collectibles (Animal Figurines & Pigments)
• Bluegleam
• All Machine Overrides
• All Machine Catalogue Records
• All Datapoints
• Revealed World Map

You will have to reacquire Collectibles & Datapoints, redo Tallneck overrides, and re-run Cauldrons if you want a map or notebook with completed entries.

New Game Plus Features & Rewards

Adept Weapons

When starting a New Game Plus playthrough, all weapons categorized as Very Rare will be replaced with their Adept counterparts. Adept Weapons will have 1 extra modification slot, allowing you to equip up to 4 weapon modifications in one go.

Note: Adept Weapons will not have better stats than their non-Adept counterparts. They will also cost more when bought from a Merchant, making them a difficult investment at higher difficulty levels.

Adept Outfits

When starting a New Game Plus playthrough, all outfits categorized as Very Rare will be replaced with their Adept counterparts. Adept Outfits will have 1 extra modification slot, allowing you to equip up to 4 outfit weaves in one go.

Note: Adept Outfits will not have better stats than their non-Adept counterparts. They will also cost more when bought from a Merchant, making them a difficult investment at higher difficulty levels.

Ghost Levels

A Ghost Level is a new progression mechanic that kicks in when players start New Game Plus at a max level of 50 or 60 (depending if you have the Frozen Wilds DLC).

At max level 50 or 60, XP earned during New Game Plus will be recorded, allowing players to track progression in the form of Ghost Levels. 1 Ghost Level is granted for every 100,000 XP earned in New Game Plus.

Locked Difficulties

On top of the increased costs for high tier weapons and outfits, New Game Plus also introduces locked difficulty levels. This means that whatever difficulty you chose when starting a New Game Plus will persist for the entire playthrough.

Note: This feature does not go away even after completing the main quest. The only way to lower and increase the difficulty is to begin a new, New Game Plus playthrough.

New Trophies

	Ultra Hard Completed
	Completed a New Game Plus playthrough on Ultra Hard difficulty.
	New Game Plus Completed
	Completed a New Game Plus playthrough on any difficulty.

Two new trophies are introduced in New Game Plus. One is acquired for completing a New Game Plus playthrough, and the other is rewarded for beating New Game Plus on Ultra Hard difficulty.

Face Paints

Face Paints are a new type of cosmetic reward given to players who manage to complete a New Game Plus playthrough on either Hard, Very Hard, or Ultra Hard difficulties.

Face Paints are global rewards, meaning they can be used for any type of existing save, even non-NG+ saves. Completing a higher difficulty level will reward all the face paints of the difficulty levels beneath it.

Focus Effects

Focus Effects are a new type of cosmetic reward given to players who manage to complete a New Game Plus playthrough on either Hard, Very Hard, or Ultra Hard difficulties. However, they only alter the light of your focus, not the scanning effect as seen above.

Focus Effects are global rewards, meaning they can be used for any type of existing save, even non-NG+ saves. Completing a higher difficulty level will reward all the focus effects of the difficulty levels beneath it.

Best Loadouts for New Game Plus

Normal to Very Hard Weapon Loadout

Normal to Very Hard Weapon Loadout
Banuk Striker Bow *	Lodge Blast Sling
Shadow Sharpshot Bow	Lodge Ropecaster

Can be substituted with a Shadow Hunter Bow if playing without the DLC.

At these difficulty levels, your priority should always go to dealing the most amount of damage. It is for this reason that the primary weapons of this loadout are the Banuk Striker Bow (from the Frozen Wilds DLC) and the Lodge Blast Sling.

The Shadow Sharpshot Bow and the Lodge Ropecaster are only there for control purposes, allowing you options with which to direct combat. Either can be swapped out for a Shadow War Bow if elemental weaknesses need exploiting.

Ultra Hard Weapon Loadout

Ultra Hard Weapon Loadout
Shadow Hunter Bow	Lodge Ropecaster
Shadow Sharpshot Bow	Lodge War Bow

Ironically, none of the powerful Banuk weapons are included in this loadout. This is simply because they take too long when nocking arrows. Ultra Hard combat will hinge on movement, and Banuk weapons hinder Aloy in that department.

The bread and butter of Ultra Hard playthroughs will always be the Shadow Hunter Bow and the Lodge Ropecaster. These two weapons allow you to deal with most of the enemies the main quest throws at you. Again, the Lodge War Bow and Shadow Sharpshot Bow are only there to exploit weaknesses.

Best Outfits for New Game Plus

Best NG+ Outfits
Shield Weaver	Banuk Werak Chieftain *

Only available in The Frozen Wilds DLC.

The best outfit for any New Game Plus run is the Shield Weaver Outfit, hands down. Affording you an extra HP bar worth of regenrating health (in the form of shields), this outfit is essential when tackling higher difficulties in New Game Plus.

A close second would have to be the DLC outfit, Banuk Werak Chieftain. Offering passive health regeneration, this outfit will save you time and resources when replaying the game.

Horizon Zero Dawn Related Guides

Beginner's Guide: Tips and Tricks for Getting Started

Tips and Tricks
What's Included in the Frozen Wilds DLC?	Trophy List and How to Unlock
PS5 Upgrade Guide: How to Update From PS4 to PS5	Flashpoint Choices: Do Choices Affect the Story?
Is There a Point of No Return?	How to Override Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn Ending Explained	How to Get Tokens
How to Level Up Fast	Plot Summary Guide
How to Use Photo Mode	Best Control Layout and Button Mapping Guide
How to Get All Shadow Weapons	How to Save: Quick Save vs. Manual Save
How to Complete Tutorials	All Stranded Item Locations
Weapons Tier List	Outfits Tier List
All Editions Guide	What Does Corruption Do?
What Does Handling Do?	What Does Tear Do?
Best Builds: Damage, Resistance, and Stealth Builds	Best Modifications and How to Get
Ghost Levels: What is the Max Level?	How to Upgrade the Spear
How to Get and Use Mounts	New Game + Guide: What Carries Over and Best Loadouts
Difficulty Modes: How Hard is Horizon Zero Dawn?	Best Items to Sell
How to Unlock Face Paint