Horizon Forbidden West: 10 Best Machine Strike Pieces

Summary

• Machine Strike in Horizon Forbidden West offers deep strategy with unique pieces like Slaughterspine and Tideripper, each with strengths and weaknesses.
• Scrapper is a versatile support piece for hunting down opponents in packs, while Longleg offers global range capabilities with its unique movement.
• Legendary piece Fireclaw stands out as a powerhouse unit with high stats and the ability to cover ground quickly, making it a formidable force on the board.

Horizon Forbidden West features an exceptionally deep and beautiful world to explore. In this new adaptation to the series, Aloy can traverse the ground, the sea, and the sky. While it is obvious that the developers put an extreme amount of love and care into their world, they were not satisfied with only exploring the biology of the new post-apocalyptic Earth.

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Horizon Forbidden West spends just as much time investigating the culture of the people littered around the continent as it does the machines. One such element of the new culture to develop is the vastly stimulating board game called Machine Strike. If you want to become the new world's version of a Grand Chess Master, we have tips for you.

10 Slaughterspine

Turn Your Board Into Jurassic Park

Machine Strike is a very deep strategy game, and it pays to know the rules well before engaging an opponent. That said, at a whopping 15 HP, and four base attack, the Slaughterspine can steamroll most early game opponents all on its own.

While undoubtedly powerful, this piece also has a few implementations to ensure players don't abuse it. Firstly, it is melee only, and therefore only has a short attack range. Secondly, this piece costs an unbelievable ten VP to play, meaning that this single piece has to make up your entire team with no other support.

9 Tideripper

The Loch Ness Puller

For those who value their economy over a glass cannon build, the Tideripper may suit you better. It is worth six VP, meaning you could afford one or two other low-tier machines to provide backup. It also features the Pull skill, meaning that a piece it attacks will be drawn one tile towards the Tideripper.

Beware when playing this piece. Though it is beefy at ten HP, if it is lost to an opponent, they only have to get a single victory point to end the game in their favor. Make sure you choose good support machines to back this one up.

8 Scrapper

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Scrap It

Speaking of great support machines, the Scrapper is one of the best all-around pieces in the game. It can fire from either two or three tiles away, and deals three points of base damage. It is also extremely cheap at only two VP.

Scrappers can be used alone to chase opponents around the board without taking damage. Due to their cheap cost, they can also be played en masse, like out in the wilds, to hunt their prey in packs.

7 Longleg

Look At Him Run

Machine Strike pieces do not always reflect their machine inspirations, and some of the best pieces are not the most powerful machines you'll encounter while exploring the West. The Longleg is a fantastic example of this.

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The Longleg has some of the longest movements in the game, at four movements per turn. Combine this with a two tile attack range and the ability to overcharge, and you have a global range unit, so long as it is alive.

6 Stormbird

What An Electrical Performance

The Stormbird is another valuable piece in terms of range. It has the ability to move over any type of terrain with no movement penalty. Additionally, it can attack any space in a 3X3 square directly in front of it.

Combine this with only a six VP cost, and you can field this monster alongside two Glinthawks or other support units. Make sure that you defend this piece well, because losing it means almost certain defeat.

5 Bellowback

Spray N' Pray

Bellowbacks are another unassuming piece that can be made powerful in the right context. They are a Gunner type, meaning they can hit other pieces from range. They also have the Spray ability, meaning that any piece that ends its turn in close proximity to the Bellowback immediately takes one damage.

At seven HP and three attack this piece is a force to be reckoned with on its own. It can overcharge multiple times for offense, or take beatings for defense. It is also only worth three VP, so a competent team can be fielded alongside it to make a well-rounded team.

4 Apex Clawstrider

Clever Girl

There are multiple variants of the Clawstrider piece in Machine Strike. It should come as no surprise that the Apex variant is the strongest among them. This piece features an impressive eight HP and can be fielded for six VP.

It also has the skill Retaliate, which is only shared by one other piece in the game. This ability causes an attacker to take damage if it is within the Clawstrider's range when damaging the Clawstrider.

3 Behemoth

Oh Lawd, He Comin'

For players who believe that defense is the best offense, this piece is a must-have. The Behemoth features an impressive ten HP as well as a range of two tiles for its attacks. On top of this, the Behemoth has the Shield ability.

This means that the piece gains a +1 to attack whenever it is defending. At a base attack stat of three, this piece can turn into one of the hardest hitters in the game when fortifying mountain terrain or other high ground tiles.

2 Tremortusk

A Piece That Never Forgets

Elephant lovers rejoice! This impressive piece boasts ten HP and three attack. While this is nothing special with regard to the rest of this list, the ability is where this piece shines. It has the Sweep ability, which means that the piece can attack perpendicular tiles in its attack range.

The big turn-off to this piece for many people is the fact that it is a Dash type. Dash Type pieces can only attack pieces that are both within range, but can also be jumped over by the attacking piece. This means that this piece can be single-handedly stopped by an opposing piece cornering itself or surrounding itself with other machines.

1 Fireclaw

Smokey, What Has Become Of You?

As one of the few Legendary class pieces in the game, the Fireclaw certainly deserves its ranking. With an incredible stat spread of ten HP, three movement, two range, and four attack, many players are finding that this tile is a one-man army.

Since the Fireclaw has access to so much movement and range, it can cover distances quickly and deal tons of damage while doing so. Its huge HP pool also means that it can overcharge with very little consequence, racking up multiple kills in a single turn.

Horizon Forbidden West: Things To Do After You Beat The Game

You might be wrapping up on Horizon Forbidden West, but there is still plenty for you to do out in the wilds.