How to find the Horizon Forbidden West war totems and Kratos Easter egg

Horizon Forbidden West Totem — (Image credit: PlayStation)

There are three Horizon Forbidden West war totems collectibles to track down, and if you like secrets then it's worth making the effort to find them as they lead to a Kratos Easter egg. They actually start out as unknown collectibles, as they're not named in the game until you locate them, and with nothing to direct you to them in Horizon Forbidden West they'll only appear on your Focus when you're already close enough to pick them up. It's only at this point that Aloy will acknowledge them, and this can make the process of collecting them a real needle in a haystack situation. However, we're here to make things a whole lot easier, with exact locations of all three Horizon Forbidden West war totems and everything else you need to know to find them.

The Totem of Brotherhood

horizon Forbidden West totems — (Image credit: PlayStation)

The first Horizon Forbidden West war totem you can find is actually a twofer: Brok and Sindri, God of War's antagonistic brothers. Appropriately, given they're blacksmiths, you can find them in something resembling a forge on a small out of the way island here:

If you head that way you'll see the small island just off the coast. When you get there look for a small opening in the ground in a recessed nook. Scan it with your Focus and you should see a collectible resource icon. When you get close enough the totem will be be named and you can pick it up.

The totem of war and youth

The Totem of War is right by the entrance to a Sunken Cavern you can find marked on the map at number 1. It's a two stage get though, and to find it you first have to locate an axe stuck in a tree you can you can scan with your Focus. Head here to look for it:

Check the trees while pinging you Focus and Aloy will eventually talk about an axe in a tree that's cold. Use your focus to pick up the trail and follow it to a familiar looking house where the Kratos totem can be found in a lean-to on the left of the main building.

The final Horizon Forbidden West war totem can be found at number 2 on the map. Look for some school buses on a flat area that was clearly a road in the old days. There will be a rusted bridge and the totem will be on top of that. So ping your focus to find the marker and climb up to get the totem of youth, Atreus.

Horizon Forbidden West war totem reward

You reward for that near impossible treasure hunt is some Kratos face paint, which is.. nice, I guess? Not going to lie, I was hoping for something more. You can see it in the image above, with Aloy standing outside Kratos' House.