How to destroy Horizon Forbidden West Metal Flowers

(Image credit: Sony)

Knowing how to destroy Horizon Forbidden West Metal Flowers means you can open up routes to new areas and explore the world further, but the knowledge (and the tool) required to chop down these mechanical plants isn't available until you reach a specific place in the storyline progression. This doesn't become clear until you actually hit that point in the game, so you won't be able to prioritize getting there as quickly as possible unless you know what you're aiming for, keeping your option limited for longer.

So, if you want to remove the metal flowers in Horizon Forbidden West, we can tell you what missions and progress you need. However, be warned: this guide contains incredibly minor spoilers for names of some Horizon Forbidden West missions, but we've kept them as minimal as possible.

How to get past Horizon Forbidden West Metal Flowers

To open the Horizon Forbidden West Metal Flowers you'll need an item called the Vine Cutter. This is a spear modification that lets you destroy Metal Flowers and the vines they spawn. However, it's locked behind a certain progress point in the campaign - at a certain point in the main story the Horizon Forbidden West Aether, Poseidon, or Demeter choice will task Aloy with finding three different AIs. The Vine Cutter is found on the quest called "Seeds of the Past", the highest-level option which takes you to a forested area. You will have to do all these quests, but if you want to clear the vines, do that one first.

During the Seeds of the Past quest players will gain access to a lab where they'll find a Dissolution Code Module, a crafting item which can be used to create the Vine Cutter. This item serves no function but to destroy the Metal Flowers, and more importantly the vines tied to them that usually obstruct a nearby path or item. Simply approach the Flower and attack them using your spear when indicated to open them up and let you use the vine cutter and gain access to new areas.

Metal Flowers are found all over the map, including in optional areas, meaning that the Vine Cutter can help you find a lot of new aspects to Horizon Forbidden West that you might not have been able to explore before.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

With contributions from

Leon HurleyManaging editor for guides