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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

"The murder of the true Sun-King broke the cosmic cycle short of completion. The whole world, cast into darkness. Doomed."
Helis, Chosen of the Sun

To Curse the Darkness is the sixteenth main quest in Horizon Zero Dawn.

Synopsis[]

Still no closer to understanding what Project Zero Dawn is after exploring the ruins of the U.S.R.C.HQ, Sylens informs Aloy that their next stop lies buried beneath Sunfall, the Shadow Carja capital. Knowing that Aloy will not be able to approach the capital safely while Eclipse agents equipped with Focuses roam the city, Sylens formulates a plan to take down the Eclipse's Focus network. He instructs Aloy to meet him at the location marked on her Focus, at the falls southeast of Brightmarket.

Closing in on the location, Sylens informs Aloy that upon close inspection of the rock wall, she will find handholds that will take her up. Scaling the wall, Aloy comes to a campsite in an a small alcove where she rests until nightfall to await further instruction. When nightfall comes, Sylens reveals that he has brought Aloy to the Eclipse's main base where she will be able to disable the Focus network. He explains that her target is a derelict Tallneck that the Eclipse have modified to function as a kind of router for their network. Thus she is to infiltrate the base and destroy the transmitter atop the Tallneck's head. Upon her questioning, Sylens admits that he used to assist the Eclipse but departs before Aloy can inquire any further.

Squeezing through the crevice, Aloy emerges into a clearing patrolled by a number of Corrupted machines, at the back of the base. Sneaking past the machines, Aloy makes her way to a ledge overlooking the camp where a number of cultists are prowling. Despite Sylens' intel, Aloy only comes across the legs of the Tallneck. Concluding it must have been moved, Sylens then instructs her to check the ravine to the left. Either by sneaking past or killing the cultists, Aloy comes across a tent; after listening to the numerous datapoints scattered around the tent and examining the ceremonial armor on display, she realizes that it belongs to Helis.

Moving on, Aloy fells a dead tree to cross the ravine where she finds the Tallneck, surrounded by a series of wooden platforms, although deserted. Climbing to the top, Aloy sees the skeleton a Metal Devil which she deduces must be HADES. As she tries to pry the casing off the module atop the Tallneck's head, she is shocked and thrown back, with HADES using the wire connecting the machines to approach Aloy. While knowing she cannot destroy HADES then, she drives her spear through the module, successfully crashing the Focus network. At this, HADES orders Aloy to be killed, with a Deathbringer shooting down the Tallneck. Now under heavy fire,  Aloy flees, heading for the rappel point by the bridge. As she throws herself over the edge, the bridge is blown up, severing Aloy's tie to the rappel point and sending her plummeting into the river below. Injured although not pursued, Aloy climbs to the riverbank where Sylens appears once again. Angered that he led her to HADES but knowing that she needs her Focus, she makes her way to the Shadow Carja capital to find the answers that both she and Sylens seek.

Objectives[]

  1. Hunt down the Proving killers (if Revenge of the Nora has not been completed)
  2. Go to the Campfire and speak to Sylens (if Revenge of the Nora has not been completed)
  3. Go to the Location that Sylens indicated
  4. Climb the Escarpment
  5. Rest at the Campfire
  6. Infiltrate the Eclipse Base
  7. Search for the derelict Tallneck
  8. Crash the Eclipse Focus Network
  9. Escape the Eclipse Base!

Walkthrough[]

To_Curse_the_Darkness_-_Very_Hard_-_No_Damage_-_Video_Guide

To Curse the Darkness - Very Hard - No Damage - Video Guide

Collectables[]

Audio Datapoints[]

Trivia[]

  • If Aloy fails to find all the datapoints in the base, they will be available at the base of the waterfall.

Gallery[]

Horizon Zero Dawn Quests
Main Quest A Gift from the Past - Lessons of the Wild - The Point of the Spear - Mother's Heart - The Proving - The Womb of the Mountain - A Seeker at the Gates - The War-Chief's Trail - Revenge of the Nora - The City of the Sun - The Field of the Fallen - Into the Borderlands - The Sun Shall Fall - Maker's End - The Grave-Hoard - To Curse the Darkness - Deep Secrets of the Earth - The Terror of the Sun - The Heart of the Nora - The Mountain That Fell - The Looming Shadow - The Face of Extinction
Side Quests A Daughter's Vengeance - A Moment's Peace - Acquired Taste - Ancient Armory - Blood on Stone - Cause for Concern - Farewell - Death from the Skies - Fatal Inheritance - Heap of Trouble - Honor The Fallen - Hunters' Blind - In Her Mother's Footsteps - Insult to Injury - Queen's Gambit - Redmaw - Robbing the Rich - Sun and Shadow - Sunstone Rock - The Forgotten - Traitor's Bounty - Underequipped - Weapons of the Lodge
Errands A Curious Proposal - Collateral - Deadliest Game - Demand and Supply - Hammer and Steel - Healer's Oath - Hunting for the Lodge - In Foreign Lands - Luck of the Hunt - Odd Grata - Sanctuary - Shortage of Supplies - Sun's Judgment - To Old Acquaintance
Activities Bandit Camps Blackwing Snag - Devil's Thirst - Gatelands - Hollow Fort - Shattered Kiln - Two-Teeth
Cauldrons Cauldron RHO - Cauldron SIGMA - Cauldron XI - Cauldron ZETA
Corrupted Zones Corrupted Zones
Hunting Grounds Greatrun - Nora - Spurflints - Sun Furrows - Valleymeet
Tallnecks Copper Deeps - Devil's Thirst - Rustwash - Spearshafts - Sun-Steps
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Quests
Side Quests Firebreak - For the Werak - Frontier Justice - Into the Frozen Wilds - The Forge of Winter - The Hunters Three - The Shaman's Path - The Survivor - Waterlogged
Errands A Secret Shared - Ikrie's Challenge - Geared Up: Forgefire - Geared Up: Icerail - Geared Up: Stormslinger - Out of the Forge - The Claws Beneath
Activities Tallneck: Frostfigures - Snowchants Hunting Grounds - Stone Yield Bandit Camp
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