Horizon Zero Dawn: The Proving - Kill a Grazer, Brave Trail and Kill the Attackers
Complete story walkthrough plus guides, tips, and tricks for Horizon Zero Dawn.
The Proving is Aloy's big moment in Horizon Zero Dawn, and follows on from the previous quest, Mother's Heart, and has a few trials to overcome.
If you're after help for other parts of the game, consult our complete Horizon Zero Dawn walkthrough and guide
Kill a Grazer in The Proving
Kill a Grazer - first up, you need to take down one of the Reindeer-like Grazers from the stampeding herd that approaches you. It's easily done with a couple of shots from your bow, but don't rush it: be sure to spot their weakness with your Focus and take them down properly to save yourself some time.
Loot your Trophy - when you've bagged one, head over to grab your Trophy, which is needed for completing the Proving. Pick it up from the machine's corpse.
Loot a Second Trophy - snotty Bast decides to shoot the Trophy out of your hands, and seeing as it's Resh in charge here, you need to grab yourself another one. Repeat the previous step and then follow the waypoint.
Go to the Brave Trail and Kill the Attackers
Go to the Start of the Brave Trail - simple one this, just follow the waypoint.
Run the Abandoned Brave Trail - you're dead last, so it's time to take a risk on the apparently-dangerous abandoned trail. Follow waypoint-to-waypoint again, climbing, shimmying and jumping as you go, until you take the lead back again.
Kill the Attackers - A surprise attack out of nowhere! Suddenly it's time to do some real fighting. Take out the attackers by any means necessary - note that headshots with your bow do significantly more damage, and that the Tripcaster works just as well against humans! There are several waves of enemies here. Keep your cool and deal with them one enemy at a time, focusing down the high-priority targets, like the chap with a minigun before the others.
For more tips, explainers and advice on Horizon be sure to check out our main Horizon Zero Dawn guide and walkthrough hub, which includes advice for things like Horizon Zero Dawn's override Cauldrons and which machines they let you control, getting hold of the Golden Fast Travel Pack for unlimited fast travel, finding and unlocking the very powerful Horizon Zero Dawn Shield Weave Armour and Power Cell locations, and then for DLC players there's our main Horizon Zero Dawn Frozen Wilds walkthrough and guide, a page on how to earn Bluegleam quickly, and finally, a page on the handy A Secret Shared quest and how to upgrade your spear in Horizon Frozen Wilds.
With your foes dispatched, you'll reach a long cutscene sequence. That's the end of your mission here. The next main quest, meanwhile, is The Womb of the Mountain, and there are some secrets to learn.
