Horizon Forbidden West: The Base - unlocking, main rooms Horizon Forbidden West guide, walkthrough
This page of the Horizon Forbidden West guide informs you about the main uses of The Base (The Base) - Aloy's private quarters, companions, the fabricator.
Last update: 01 March 2022
On this page of the Horizon Forbidden West guide, you will find crucial information about The Base, which becomes the hideout of Aloy and other important characters during the campaign. You will learn about the camp's novelties and how you can use of the camp. For example, the rooms include Aloy's private room and the Fabrication Terminal. The location also enables you to meet up with your companions.
Beware of spoilers concerning unlocking the Base and some unique character that resides there. It cannot be avoided because unlocking the Base is not possible until a certain point of the campaign. We've tried to reduce the number of story spoilers as much as possible.
Unlocking the Base
The Base is a unique underground location in the central part of the world, which you can only unlock as you progress through the main storyline. It becomes available during The Eye of the Earth main quest.
Your first task will be to search this facility and find MINERVA. Ultimately, the Base becomes the home of GAIA. During the long encounter with GAIA, Aloy can learn more about the "strangers" and the situation on Earth as well as plan her moves in the next main quests.
The same location becomes the base camp for Aloy and her companions. Initially, only Varl and Zo will appear here, but as the plot progresses, other characters will move to the Base as well.
As part of The Eye of the Earth quest, the western part of the world map will be unlocked, but you can return to the base freely - on foot (there are side entrances) or by using the fast travel option. You can return whenever you like; it doesn't have to be forced by main quests' activities.
Main attractions in the Base
In the room with GAIA , you can have the main and optional conversions with her. As you progress through the storyline and more characters appear in the base, more topics will become available for discussions.
In the same room, there is also the PSiCLOPS console. You can use it to find survey drones (they are treated as collectibles) and review the drones you have already acquired and change the decor of the dome based on that.
Aloy can meet up with the companions staying at the hideout. Characters who have new conversation topics available are marked with white exclamation points. Additionally, green exclamation points may appear to display the possibility of unlocking side quests.
In the Base, there is a Fabrication Terminal, which allows you to unlock new machines to override. However, there are two requirements which you need to fulfill: you have to unlock machine overrides by visiting Cauldrons (unique large locations on the map) and you have to pay for the option to make override available by spending rare machine components.
One of the base's rooms will eventually become Aloy's private quarters. Inside, you can find various items related to the main character and her progress in the storyline.
The Base features one more useful object: a supply crate. Valuable items appear there regularly and you can pick them up for free. These may include different kinds of potions, machine parts, crafting ingredients or metal shards.
The base also features smaller facilities: a workbench for crafting new items and a storage roomfor storing temporarily unwanted items.
Gaining access to new rooms of the Base
Not all rooms of the Base are immediately accessible. Some of them will initially be closed or empty. Try to search the Base after completing each series of main quests and after new allies appear.
GAIA can inform you about unlocking new rooms and their use. Initially, they may be marked with question marks on the map of the Base.