Horizon Forbidden West Outfits: Complete Guide to All Armor Sets and Cosmetic Options

Aloy’s wardrobe in Horizon Forbidden West goes way beyond fashion. Every outfit you equip affects how you engage with the game, whether you’re stalking machines through tall grass, going toe-to-toe in direct combat, or just looking sharp while saving the world. With dozens of armor sets and cosmetic skins scattered across the vast landscape, knowing which outfits suit your playstyle and how to unlock them can mean the difference between a clunky playthrough and one where you feel completely in control. This guide breaks down every major outfit option, from story-exclusive armor to DLC skins, and explains exactly how to get them all.

Why Outfits Matter in Horizon Forbidden West

In Horizon Forbidden West, armor isn’t just cosmetic fluff, it’s fundamental to how you survive. Each outfit comes with unique stat bonuses that directly impact your effectiveness in combat, stealth, and exploration. Some armor sets offer elemental resistances that trivialize certain machine encounters, while others boost your melee damage or provide better protection against specific damage types.

The game rewards players for experimenting with different loadouts. A heavy armor set might tank damage from a rampaging Tremortusk, but that same armor slows your movement and makes stealth nearly impossible. Conversely, lighter outfits let you move freely and sneak past enemies, but leave you vulnerable to hits. Beyond raw stats, your outfit choice signals progression, wearing story-exclusive armor feels earned in a way cosmetic-only skins don’t, and that matters when you’re fully invested in Aloy’s journey across the Forbidden West.

The visual design of each outfit also tells a story about the people and cultures you encounter. Wearing a Tenakth or Carja outfit isn’t just practical: it represents respect for the tribes you’ve allied with and helps you blend in during certain missions. This integration of form and function is what makes the outfit system one of Horizon Forbidden West’s smartest design choices.

Story-Exclusive and Base Game Outfits

These outfits form the backbone of your progression and are tied directly to the main narrative. You’ll unlock most of them naturally by advancing through quests and exploring the world.

Aloy’s Default Attire

Aloy starts Horizon Forbidden West in her iconic Nora hunter outfit, the same gear she’s worn since the first game. This outfit is serviceable but unspectacular stat-wise. It provides balanced defense and a small boost to machine override capabilities, making it a jack-of-all-trades option for early-game exploration. The aesthetic is instantly recognizable: the signature blue and white tribal colors, the spear sheath, and the Focus device on her temple. While you’ll upgrade away from this early on, many players return to it just for nostalgia. There’s something satisfying about seeing Aloy’s original look against the graphically impressive landscapes of the Forbidden West.

Nora Survivor Outfit

You’ll craft the Nora Survivor Outfit relatively early by gathering machine parts and common materials. This outfit emphasizes stealth and close combat, offering bonuses to melee weapon damage and a modest stealth boost. It’s perfect for players planning to rely on Aloy’s spear for takedowns and arrows for crowd control. The Nora tribal aesthetic remains consistent, but the armor plating is heavier and more functional. If you’re going full stealth-archer build, this outfit will carry you through a substantial chunk of the game before you find something more specialized. You’ll need components from machines like Watchers and Chargers to complete the crafting recipe, so farm early and often.

Carja Sundom Outfit

The Carja Sundom Outfit becomes available after you encounter the Carja civilization and complete related story missions. This outfit has a radically different visual identity, gold and red colors reflecting the desert kingdom aesthetic. Stat-wise, it provides solid fire resistance, which is incredibly useful when you’re dealing with fire-spewing machines like Fireclaws and Scorchers. The outfit doesn’t grant massive combat bonuses, but the elemental resistance means you can afford to play more aggressively when facing fire-based threats. Crafting this outfit requires Carja-specific materials that drop from machines found in the desert regions of the map.

Tenakth Infiltrator Outfit

Unlocking the Tenakth Infiltrator Outfit requires progressing through the Tenakth storyline. This is one of the best versatile outfits in the base game because it offers balanced defense, stealth bonuses, and a unique perk: increased machine override capability. The Tenakth visual aesthetic is distinct, angular armor design with earth-tone colors reflecting the tribe’s mountain heritage. If you’re planning a mixed playstyle where you’ll override machines, use ranged weapons, and occasionally sneak, this outfit delivers exactly what you need. The override bonus is particularly valuable for boss fights where controlling a powerful machine can turn the tide of battle.

Legendary and High-Tier Armor Sets

These outfits represent endgame options that require serious farming or specific quest completion. They’re significantly more powerful than base outfits and come with standout visual designs that make you stand out in the world.

Oseram Artificer Outfit

The Oseram Artificer Outfit is one of the most mechanically rewarding armor sets in the game. It provides massive bonuses to ranged weapon handling and ammo capacity, making it the go-to choice for players running a bow-focused build. The visual design reflects Oseram craftsmanship, intricate metalwork and a distinctly industrial aesthetic that contrasts with the tribal designs of other outfits. To craft this outfit, you’ll need rare machine parts from higher-tier enemies like Thunderjaws and Tallnecks. The resource grind is real, but the payoff is worth it. Once equipped, you’ll notice immediate improvements in how quickly you can draw and fire arrows, and your total ammo reserves increase noticeably.

Kargo Armor

Kargo Armor emphasizes close-range combat and offers significant melee damage and stagger resistance bonuses. This outfit shines if you’re playing an aggressive playstyle where you’re constantly in melee range with machines, using your spear to whittle down health bars and exploit machine weak points. The visual design is sleek and combat-ready, with a modern military aesthetic that stands out from other tribal-inspired outfits. The armor crafting requirements are steep, you’ll need components from multiple machine types, including rare drops from dangerous encounters. Wear this outfit when you’ve got the skills and resources to back up its aggressive stat profile.

Dervahl’s Outfit

Dervahl’s Outfit is one of the most visually distinct armor sets and provides exceptional stealth bonuses and melee damage resistance. This outfit is tied to a specific story sequence and becomes available after defeating a major narrative antagonist. The aesthetic is dark and imposing, with a unique color scheme that immediately reads as “this is a serious outfit.” If you’re planning a stealth-heavy playthrough where you prioritize avoiding detection and taking down enemies silently, this outfit will carry you through late-game challenges. It’s not just stats either, wearing Dervahl’s Outfit feels significant because of the story weight attached to it.

Cosmetic-Only Outfits and Skins

These outfits prioritize aesthetics over mechanics and are primarily obtained through purchases or limited-time events. They let you express your style without compromising your stat priorities by layering cosmetics over your functional armor.

Tribal and Cultural Themed Outfits

Horizon Forbidden West features several cosmetic skins inspired by various tribal cultures and historical aesthetics. These include outfits based on Utaru farming traditions, Banuk ice-tribe designs, and even futuristic-looking armor that contrasts sharply with the post-apocalyptic setting. Many of these skins are unlocked through shop purchases or pre-order bonuses. They don’t offer stat bonuses, but they’re perfect for players who want to create a specific visual identity for Aloy without worrying about mechanical trade-offs. Some players coordinate cosmetic outfits with specific playstyles anyway, wearing a Banuk outfit while running a bow-focused build creates cohesive character expression.

Festival and Event Exclusive Skins

Special festival and event-based cosmetic skins rotate into the shop periodically. These limited-time offerings create seasonal flavor and give players reasons to revisit the game during specific periods. Past events have included holiday-themed outfits, crossover skins referencing other gaming franchises, and special cosmetics tied to real-world gaming conventions. Since these are cosmetic-only, you can wear them over any armor set you’ve crafted, letting you maintain stat benefits while sporting event-exclusive aesthetics. The limited availability creates urgency around collecting these skins, especially if you’re the completionist type.

How to Unlock and Obtain Outfits

Understanding the various paths to unlocking outfits will help you prioritize what to farm and when to expect new gear options.

Crafting and Resource Requirements

Most functional armor sets in Horizon Forbidden West require crafting at campfires. The general workflow is straightforward: gather the required machine parts and common resources, then visit a campfire to construct the outfit. Resource requirements scale with outfit rarity, a base outfit might need 3-4 materials, while legendary armor can demand components from multiple machine types and hundreds of common resources.

The grind is designed to encourage exploration and combat. You’ll need to hunt specific machines repeatedly to farm their unique drops, which naturally pushes you to learn their combat patterns and weak points. A Ravager might drop components needed for one armor set, while a Slaughterspine has parts required for another. This system makes resource gathering feel purposeful rather than arbitrary, you’re not just clearing a checklist, you’re engaging with the game’s combat systems.

Prioritize farming high-demand materials early. Components from Watchers, Chargers, and Trampler-class machines are required for multiple outfits, so collecting these creates a foundation for multiple armor sets. Keep your crafting materials organized and track which outfits you’re actively working toward to avoid wasting time gathering resources for armor you won’t use immediately.

Quest and Story Completion Methods

Several outfits unlock automatically through story progression and side quest completion. The Tenakth Infiltrator Outfit, for example, becomes available after you’ve advanced far enough in the Tenakth-focused narrative threads. These story-gated outfits are designed as rewards for experiencing the game’s content, so you won’t miss them if you’re following the main questline.

Side quests also reward outfit blueprints and direct outfit drops. Completing questlines for faction leaders and notable characters often unlocks exclusive armor options tied to their storylines. This creates natural progression pacing, as you explore new regions and meet new people, the armor options expand to reflect your deepening relationships with different factions. Pay attention to quest rewards screens to identify which side quests offer outfit unlocks.

Shop Purchases and DLC Outfits

The in-game shop offers cosmetic skins and some functional outfit blueprints for in-game currency or real money purchases. The DLC expansion “The Burning Shores” introduced new story-exclusive outfits that are obtained through its questline, similar to base game armor sets. If you’re playing with DLC content, expect additional armor options that reflect the new region’s culture and aesthetic.

In-game currency can be earned through gameplay, but real-money purchases accelerate cosmetic skin acquisition. The decision to spend real money is entirely optional, you can complete the entire game and obtain all functional armor without spending a penny. Cosmetic purchases are purely for visual customization.

Best Outfits for Different Playstyles

Your preferred playstyle should guide your armor selection. Understanding stat distributions across different outfits helps you optimize for your preferred approach.

Stealth-Focused Outfits

If you’re prioritizing stealth and silent takedowns, the Nora Survivor Outfit and Dervahl’s Outfit are your foundation. Both provide stealth bonuses that reduce your detection radius and allow you to move closer to enemies before triggering alerts. Pair these with stealth-friendly weapons like the Sharpshot Bow for silent kills and the Spear for melee takedowns on unaware targets.

Stealth outfits also benefit from the Tenakth Infiltrator Outfit’s override bonus, which lets you turn machines against their allies without firing a shot. Imagine overriding a Ravager near enemy camps, suddenly you’ve got a 1000-pound machine doing your dirty work while you remain hidden. The best stealth runs layer these benefits: wear stealth-focused armor, override key machines, and use your arrows to eliminate isolated targets. Stealth rewards patience and positioning over raw damage output, so outfit choices should reinforce that approach.

Combat-Oriented Armor Sets

For direct confrontation, the Oseram Artificer Outfit and Kargo Armor dominate. The Artificer excels at ranged combat, faster reload speeds and increased ammo capacity mean you can rain arrows on machines without running dry mid-fight. The Kargo Armor emphasizes melee, giving you the survivability and damage output to hold your ground against charging machines.

Combat-focused outfits pair well with weapons that reward consistency and aggression. A full elemental arrow rotation combined with the Artificer Outfit lets you apply status effects rapidly and keep enemies staggered. Similarly, the Kargo Armor works beautifully with a melee-heavy playstyle where you’re constantly using your spear to exploit machine weak points and interrupt their attacks. These outfits assume you’ll take hits and need the durability to survive, they’re for players confident in their combat reflexes.

Balanced and All-Purpose Options

The Tenakth Infiltrator Outfit remains the best all-rounder because it doesn’t sacrifice heavily in any direction. You get decent stealth, solid ranged bonuses, and the valuable override capability that works across all playstyles. This outfit bridges stealth and combat, letting you adapt on the fly if a silent approach fails and escalates to direct combat.

Also consider Aloy’s Default Attire or Carja Sundom Outfit depending on your needs. The Carja set’s fire resistance is invaluable in desert regions and against fire-heavy machines, making it viable for balanced builds that want to specialize slightly against common threats. The key to balanced outfits is flexibility, wear gear that supports multiple approaches so you’re never locked into one tactic.

Outfit Customization and Dye Systems

Horizon Forbidden West’s dye system lets you customize your armor’s color without affecting its functionality. After unlocking an outfit, you can visit campfires and apply dyes to change its appearance, shifting the color palette from the default design to something unique.

Dyes are primarily cosmetic but can be farmed by gathering flowers and plants throughout the world. Different plant types yield different dye colors, so exploring the landscape with dye farming in mind gives you purpose during traversal. Some rarer dyes require hunting specific machines or completing challenging tasks, adding another layer to the progression system.

The dye system shines when you’re running cosmetic skins over functional armor. You can wear the Oseram Artificer Outfit (for its ranged bonuses) while displaying a cosmetic skin on top, then customize that cosmetic’s colors to match your personal aesthetic. This separation of mechanics and appearance is crucial, it means you’re never forced to sacrifice your preferred stats just to look a certain way.

Experiment with dye combinations to personalize Aloy’s appearance. Some color combinations look cleaner and more cohesive than others, and since dyes are easily removable and reapplied, there’s no penalty for trying different looks. Players often coordinate outfit colors with specific regions they’re exploring or with weapon loadouts they’re running, creating a sense of intentional character customization rather than random gear swapping.

The visual payoff of a well-dyed outfit makes the endgame feel rewarding. When you’ve farmed enough resources to craft legendary armor and hand-picked dye colors that reflect your playstyle and personality, the result feels earned. That’s the goal, armor that looks as good as it performs and tells a story about how you play the game. When tackling challenges like Metal Flowers in Horizon Forbidden West, your outfit choices become as important as your weapons.

Conclusion

Mastering Horizon Forbidden West’s outfit system transforms how you experience the game. Whether you’re grinding legendary armor for late-game challenges, collecting cosmetic skins for purely aesthetic reasons, or experimenting with different builds across multiple playthroughs, the depth here rewards player engagement.

Start by identifying your preferred playstyle and gearing toward outfits that support it. A stealth-focused player should prioritize stealth armor early, while aggressive combatants should farm resources for the Oseram Artificer or Kargo sets. The beauty of the outfit system is that it respects player agency, you’re never forced into a specific build, and successful approaches exist across the entire spectrum from pure stealth to head-on combat.

Remember that outfit progression is iterative. You’ll upgrade armor multiple times as you progress and farm better resources. The outfit you craft at level 15 will eventually be replaced by something more powerful, so don’t get too attached to early gear. Instead, treat each outfit upgrade as a meaningful checkpoint in your journey through the Forbidden West.

As you dive deeper into post-apocalyptic exploration and machine hunting, revisit your armor choices periodically. What worked against Watchers might not be optimal for Tremortusks, and being flexible with your loadout is the mark of a skilled player. The Forbidden West’s dangers demand adaptability, your outfit system should reflect that flexibility. For more comprehensive strategies and detailed breakdowns of every system in the game, explore the Horizon Forbidden West Guide to continue building your mastery of Aloy’s world.