To effectively defeat a Widemaw, prioritize defensive maneuvers to avoid its powerful attacks while systematically targeting its key components to strip its abilities and weaken it.
The Widemaw is a formidable machine in Horizon Forbidden West, known for its dangerous close-range capabilities and debilitating elemental attacks. Mastering your strategy against it involves both careful evasion and precise targeting.
Understanding Widemaw's Threats
The Widemaw possesses a diverse array of attacks that can quickly overwhelm unprepared hunters:
- Heavy Melee Damage: Its close-quarters attacks are potent.
- Damage Over Time (DoT): Certain abilities inflict persistent damage.
- Knockback and Stun: These effects can disrupt your flow and leave you vulnerable to follow-up attacks.
- Purgewater and Shock Attacks: These elemental attacks can deal significant damage and status effects, often projected as projectiles or area-of-effect blasts.
Defensive Strategies
Your survival hinges on staying agile and aware of the Widemaw's attack patterns:
- Dodge Projectiles: Be prepared to constantly dodge out of the way of any ranged attacks, especially elemental blasts like Purgewater or Shock projectiles.
- Maintain Distance: Whenever possible, try to keep a safe distance to avoid its Purgewater and Shock attacks, which have a dangerous range. Staying out of its immediate melee range is crucial to prevent heavy hits, knockbacks, and stuns.
Offensive Strategies: Component Prioritization
The most effective way to neutralize a Widemaw is to dismantle its critical components. Targeting these parts will not only deal significant damage but also cripple its most dangerous abilities, making the fight much more manageable.
Here are the key components to focus on:
| Component | Priority | Effect of Removal |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum Turbine | High | Essential for its suction and pull attacks; destroying it can reduce its mobility and tactical options. |
| Vacuum Unit | High | Crucial for weakening its core offensive capabilities, making it less efficient in combat. |
| Tusks | Medium | Removing these can reduce its melee damage output and potentially yield valuable resources. |
Tactical Approach:
- Start with High-Priority Components: Immediately aim for the Vacuum Turbine and Vacuum Unit. These are typically located on its underside or near its mouth/head. Precision arrows, Tearblaster weapons, or accurately aimed blasts are excellent for detaching these.
- Follow Up on Tusks: Once the primary vacuum components are dealt with, shift your focus to its Tusks if you have the opportunity. While not as critical as the vacuum parts, their destruction further diminishes the Widemaw's close-quarters combat effectiveness.
- Exploit Weaknesses: After key components are removed, the Widemaw will be significantly weakened. Continue to exploit any elemental weaknesses it may have (e.g., Freeze, Acid) or target its elemental sacs to trigger explosions, maximizing your damage output.
By combining diligent evasion with focused component targeting, you can systematically dismantle and defeat the formidable Widemaw.
