What Are Hunting Grounds?

Learn how Hunting Grounds work in Horizon Forbidden West, including time trials, stripe rewards (Quarter, Half, Full), trophy requirements, and how to earn Hunting Medals for powerful weapons.

Hunting Grounds are back in Horizon Forbidden West, offering special time trials where you'll need to complete specific tasks. Think of them like mini-challenges that test your skills. Each Trial has a unique objective, and finishing within the time limit nets you some sweet loot. The faster you are, the better the reward, with different 'stripes' acting like medals: Quarter Stripes for bronze, Half Stripes for silver, and Full Stripes for gold. Aiming for higher stripes means shaving more time off your completion, but each tier of stripes comes with better rewards.

Completing all the Trials at a single Hunting Ground earns you a Grand Stripes prize, and you'll get a special Grand Stripes prize for clearing all Trials across every Hunting Ground. If you're just chasing trophies, you only need to hit a Quarter Stripe in every single Trial across the game. You'll unlock Obtained 3 Stripes at a Hunting Ground for getting at least a Quarter Stripe in all three trials at one location, and Obtained 3 Stripes at All Hunting Grounds for doing this at every Hunting Ground. However, if you're a completionist and manage to snag Full Stripes in every Trial, you'll be rewarded with the legendary Tripcaster, the Tinker’s Pride weapon.

As you conquer these Trials, you'll earn Hunting Medals. These are super important because you can trade them with Dukkah at the Maw of the Arena, located in the western part of the map. With these medals, you can buy some seriously powerful weapons, so dedicating time to the Hunting Grounds is definitely worthwhile. The best part? There's no entry fee to join any of the Hunting Grounds, and you can retry them as many times as you like to improve your score. Just a heads-up: any resources you use during a Trial will be gone if you finish or quit by talking to the Grounds Keeper. But if you happen to die, all your spent resources are returned, and you'll have to start the Trial over from the beginning.

Tip

If you want to restart a Trial and get all your resources back without dying, you can simply use the Restart From Save option. The game conveniently autosaves right before you begin a Trial, so this is a neat trick to keep your inventory full while you practice.