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  • Northwest
  • West
  • North
  • Northeast
  • East
  • South

During your travels through the Burning Shores in Horizon Forbidden West, you'll occasionally pick up a transmission on your Focus. By tracking the signal from the air, you can find the ancient recordings of a soldier who fought as part of Enduring Victory in a last stand against the machines.

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These Aerial Captures make full use of Aloy's ability to ride flying machines, and provide a great view of the ruins from above. Like the Viewpoints back in the Forbidden West, they also give you a glimpse into the world of the Old Ones - in this case, their final days.

This guide contains spoilers.

Northwest

Northwest of Fleet’s End is an island with the ruins of a pop culture collectibles shop, Fandom Zone. Fly around to the southeastern side of the building on your Sunwing and use the machine’s ability to destroy the metal clamp in the wall. Behind it is a transmitter; inspect it, then mount your Sunwing and fly to the start point nearby.

Flying from the transmitter’s location, the flight path will appear behind you. It’s best to fly past the start point and approach from the far side.

Follow the flight path through the Widemaw and Glinthawk lairs; don’t bother trying to fight, just speed straight through to avoid losing the signal. The path will take you further northwest, to the entrance of Heaven’s Rest beneath the Hollywood sign.

West

The westernmost island in the Burning Shores is wracked by a constant thunderstorm If you land or fly over the island’s surface for too long, you’ll take heavy damage from lightning strikes.

Fly to the western side of the island and activate your Focus to look for a Stormbird’s flight path. Highlight the trail and follow it in a spiraling ascent into the storm clouds.

When you enter the clouds, the Stormbird will periodically attack. After two near misses, it will kill your Sunwing on the third strike, forcing you to the ground and following to finish you off.

Kill the Stormbird to disperse the clouds, then loot it for parts. Remembers, Stormbirds are weak against Acid damage and become much weaker if you can destroy the cannon on their chests.

There’s a campfire on the eastern shore of the island, and you can find a safe full of valuables in the shallow water just off the beach. Collect the goods, save at the campfire, then use your Focus to find the transmitter to the southwest. It’s inside a small building with an unlocked door. Examine it, loot the safe in the corner of the room, and leave.

Since your Sunwing is dead, you’ll need a new flying mount. There are Sunwings atop the cliff at the center of the large island west of Fleet’s End, and a handful of other sites scattered throughout the Burning Shores. Alternately, if you don’t mind a few loading screens, you can just fast travel back to the Forbidden West and override one from the nest near the Base.

If you avoid the island until you unlock the ability to override Waterwings, you'll have many more options for replacing your mount.

When you get a new mount, return to the island to follow the transmitter's flight path. You'll get a much better view of the destroyed seaside park from up here with no clouds and rain getting in the way!

North

Go to the middle of the northern edge of the map, almost directly north of the western Lancehorn Site. If you’ve completed The Stars In Their Eyes, there will be a Devotee Camp nearby, so watch out for armored enemies!

Climb to the top of the cliff and scan for the transmitter’s signal. Be sure to read the scroll next to it and collect the chest above, since there isn’t much reason to come back here after completing the Aerial Capture.

When you have everything, fly to the starting point. The flight path follows the westward road below; if there are still Devotees on the ground, they may fire on you as you pass.

About two-thirds of the way to Heaven’s Rest, the route takes a sharp turn to the southeast. A flock of Sunwings may attack as you fly through their territory; just keep flying so as not to lose the signal!

The flight path ends at the ruins of Capital Records - as it happens, the Devotees have another camp at the base of the building. You can eliminate this camp after getting the Aerial Capture if you haven’t already.

Related: Horizon Forbidden West: Murmuring Hollow Relic Ruin Walkthrough

Northeast

The northeasternmost island before reaching the mainland is home to a Rollerback Site. There’s a Shelter on the northwest shore; go there, activate your Focus, and look for the signal coming from the hill just inland from the beach.

Climb or fly into the ruin on the hill; inside are two chests (one of which is in a corner that you’ll need to crouch in order to enter) and the transmitter. Inspect it, then take to the air.

Fly to the center of the island, over the Rollerback Site, to start the recording. The flight path takes a meandering route to the northeast, over the lava flow and the ruined mansions of Hollywood. You’ll end up on the mainland, slightly north of the island when you get the capture.

East

Fast Travel to the campfire next to the hidden entrance to Cauldron THETA, by the lava. Walk west along the path and turn left immediately after passing the first building on your right. The transmitter will be on the edge of the cliff, in another ruin.

The starting point for this flight path isn’t actually anywhere near the transmitter; you’ll need to fly south to the edge of Pangea Park to start the recording. This means you can’t collect this Aerial Capture until you’ve completed For His Amusement as part of the main storyline since you’ll just get shot down.

The flight path takes you on a tour of Pangea Park; if you’ve completed the Pangea Figurines side quest, it’s especially impressive thanks to the holographic fireworks over the central plaza!

South

This Aerial Capture is near Fleet’s End, but won’t appear until you have the other five. There’s no hunting required for this one, as it will simply appear on the map after Aloy notices a final signal.

Go to the southern shore of the large central island, near the lagoon running up the center. The nearby campfire makes it a snap to Fast Travel here. There’s a crashed helicopter on the beach right next to the campfire; the start point for the flight path is directly above the wreck, and you don’t need to search for a transmitter in order to activate it.

This flight path is almost a straight shot north, through the ruins of downtown LA. At the northern shore, you’ll see the final Aerial Capture and receive a Trophy, the Sea Star dye pattern, and the Specter Mandible face paint design!

Aloy might say that there is another signal after this one, but that’s a bug - the South Aerial Capture completes the quest.

Next: Horizon Forbidden West: All Delver Trinket Locations