Where to search the battlefield in Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West cradle of echoes search battlefield
(Image credit: Sony)

You must investigate the battlefield in the Horizon Forbidden West Cradle of Echoes quest, and this can prove somewhat tricky if you're not sure what you should be doing. After witnessing a Far Zenith member have their previously impenetrable shield broken down by a mystery weapon, it's clear that there is plenty to learn from searching this scene. However, with many clues in the area and some of them well hidden, it can be easy to miss important leads and hit a bottleneck on this mission. We're here to stop that from happening, so this guide will tell you where to search the battlefield in Horizon Forbidden West, helping you to complete the Cradle of Echoes quest without too many dramas.

Where to search the battlefield in the Horizon Forbidden West Cradle of Echoes quest

Horizon Forbidden West cradle of echoes search battlefield

(Image credit: Sony)

There are 4 clues to find on the battlefield during the Cradle of Echoes. To locate them you need to use your focus to find hazy purple signals over key objects, which can then be investigated.

It can be hard to find all the clues you're looking for as not all of them are obvious and the purple haze isn't always prominent enough to stand out well against the environment. So if you don't know where you should be looking it's easy to miss the Focus icons that are meant to be guiding you. 

All battlefield clues in the Cradle of Echoes

Horizon Forbidden West cradle of echoes search battlefield

(Image credit: Sony)

Not including the Zenith corpse, there are 4 clues across the battlefield which we've listed here, along with where to find them.

  • Charred Weapon - The smoking remains of the weapon used on the Zenith, on the ridge West of the corpse.
  • Corpse - Just behind the charred weapon, on the other side of some shrubbery, is an Oseram's body that makes up another clue.
  • Spectre - An obvious one, the giant mechanical horror lying dead to the East of the Zenith's body. Walk up to it and you'll get the examine prompt.
  • Camping Gear - This is the one that's easy to miss. Just further Southwest of the Oseram's body and Charred Weapon is a bedroll and blankets laid out near the back wall of the cliffs. They're partly obscured by foliage and rocks, but once you know where to look, they should be easy to find.

Once all of these have been found, head back to Erend to discuss your findings and progress with the quest.

Examine the Zenith's Corpse objective glitch explained

Horizon Forbidden West cradle of echoes search battlefield

(Image credit: Sony)

It has been possible to trigger a glitch in the Cradle of Echoes mission where the battlefield search doesn't trigger until you examine the Zenith's corpse. The contextual button prompt to look at the body might not appear, leaving no way for the quest to progress. While this has apparently been patched, if you have any trouble restart from the checkpoint, give Erend some space as he walks about and stand close to the body where the icon should appears. Once this is done, Aloy will comment a bit on the situation before it's time to search the battlefield for more hints as to what's going on.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. 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 USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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