“A Soldier’s March is one of the early side quests in Horizon Forbidden West where Aloy must head out to confirm the status of a missing Tenakth soldier. This side quest particularly involves a lot of climbing.
The following walkthrough will help you complete A Soldier’s March in Horizon Forbidden West with ease.
How To Unlock A Soldier’s March
The A Soldier’s March side quest is unlocked after you complete the main quest The Broken Sky.
After The Broken Sky is completed, Aloy runs into two Tenakth Warriors. One of the warriors Jekkah requests Aloy to go look for his brother, Penttoh who has gone to the mountains to complete his soldier’s march of the ten to achieve his soldier’s mark but has yet to return. The recommended level to start the side quest “A Soldier’s March” is level 18.
How To Complete A Soldier’s March
After accepting the quest, head west towards the mountains. You will notice markers that notify you about where the climb starts.
Once you reach the base of the mountains, you will notice handholds that will be yellow colored. Using these handholds, you can start climbing the mountain, once you start climbing the mountain, you will hear some voices along the way.
Once you reach the mid-point, you will arrive at a camp and find many injured Tenakth warriors there who tried completing the march of the ten. Aloy will come across their leader Wekatta who tells Aloy that they were hit by a storm and thinks that Penttoh did not survive the storm.
Wekatta also shares that two other warriors other than Penttoh have also been missing. During their discussion, one of the soldiers, Zikka, arrives and shares that her partner Rokko also got separated from her when the storm hit. After hearing this, Aloy will offer to go look for both Rokko and Penttoh.
After the discussion with Tenakth is done, continue along the path by following the markers. You will soon come to a cliff which you will have to climb, using your focus you can figure out where the handholds are and continue climbing the cliff using the markers.
If you keep on climbing up, soon you will hear the sounds of a man and a fight going on. Follow the voice and join the fight and help the Tenakth soldier against the stalker. If you attack from a range while the Tenakth soldier fights up close, the stalker will be defeated easily and quickly.
After talking to the Tenakth soldier, you will learn that this person is Rokko. He will let Aloy know about Penttoh; that he saved Rokko from the storm and then decided to continue the climb. Rokko will be unsure about Penttoh’s safety but will point Aloy in the right direction.
After the discussion with Rokko, continue following the markers until you come across another cliff, and then climb it. Once you climb to the top, use your focus and you will be able to see Penttoh’s tracks.
Follow them, however, the storm will have erased some parts of the path so you will have to climb the mountain. You can again use your focus to highlight the handholds.
Once you reach the top of the cliff, there will be no further path for you to climb to. Look behind you and you will see a gap that would lead you to the next mountain. Glide through it and you will successfully land on the next mountain’s ledge. Use your focus again and you can see the tracks again, but you will still need to climb the mountain again as you won’t be able to follow the trails all the way.
Once you climb the mountain, you will notice Penttoh fighting machines at the top of the mountain. Help him defeat these machines. Penttoh will thank Aloy for his assistance and Aloy will offer to go with him for the rest of his duration of the climb.
After you start accompanying Penttoh, use your focus to highlight handholds and keep on climbing the mountain until you can’t go up anymore. Once you can’t go up anymore you will notice a ledge, climb on it and then move towards the right and you will notice a gap.
Identify a grapple point and use your pullcaster to go the other side. Once you reach the other side, look for a tree and push it so it forms a bridge for Penttoh to come over to the other side.
After this, you will finally reach the top of the mountain. A machine named Frostclaw will suddenly appear and you will have to defeat it along with Penttoh.
Frostclaw is a machine with quick claws and frost damage abilities. It is strong against frost damager however fire and shock components are its weakness, so it is better to fight Frostclaw using fire and shock components.
Frostclaw has four components:
- Chillwater Sac: Stores chillwater and deal frost damage
- Sparker: Located on the shoulders and deals shock damage
- Chillwater Unit: Located on the chest and explodes when destroyed
- Resource Container: Located on the backside and contains valuable resources.
While fighting the Frostclaw, try to aim for the components and Penttoh will support you from a range and the Frostclaw can be defeated quickly by attacking its components.
After defeating the Frostclaw, follow Pentoh to the summit and there he will grab a Blood Chest Bloom which will mark his accomplishment. After this, you can leave him and return down the mountain to Wekatta. You can glide your way down the mountain.
You can go and talk to Wekatta and Penttoh will return. Jekkah will be happy to meet her brother again and Wekatta will welcome Penttoh as a member of the squad.
A Soldier’s March Side Quest Rewards
After you are done completing the side quest “A Soldier’s March” you will be given some rewards. The rewards for completing the side quest are:
- 5400 XP
- +2 Skill Points
- +1 Tenakth Tactician Face Paint
