Horizon Forbidden West’s addition of large, explorable underwater areas to the open world was a welcome one. Giving Aloy the ability to explore more freely was always going to work out well.

But what made underwater areas truly shine was the presence of inspired new machine designs. Taking inspiration from creatures both existing and extinct, Guerilla Games upped the ante with machines that stay with you long after you beat the game. The Tideripper is a great new addition to the game and comes with very interesting combat mechanics that make it a challenge Aloy simply cannot refuse.

What Next, The Kraken?

Aloy first encounters the Tideripper in the story mission The Sea of Sands, deep in the depths of what was once a vibrant Vegas casino. She immediately wonders how the creature would fare on dry land, and soon finds out.

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As it turns out, the Tideripper can take very good care of itself on dry land, making it a very powerful addition to the franchise’s amphibious roster of machines. You can find another Tideripper in Cauldron KAPPA, which you will have to take down for the location’s valuable overrides. Another one lies southeast of Plainsong, and yet another between the Isle of Spires and Cauldron CHI.

Resembling a Loch Ness Monster, the Tideripper brings a barrage of watery attacks mixed in with heavy-hitting melee charges and tail swipes. A unique, purgewater-based arsenal accompanies its design, with cannons, disc launchers, and a dangerous melee weapon on its tail allowing the Tideripper to inflict a lot of pain.

It can be a good idea to slap on your best purgewater-resistant armor before you get started with the fight.

How to Defeat Tideripper in Horizon Forbidden West

Defeating the Tideripper requires a fair bit of strategy and swapping your ammunition around to account for its unique mechanics. That’s because this machine’s amphibious nature can be a blessing and a curse.

While the Tideripper uses its devastating purgewater attacks on land, it exposes a series of exhaust ports on its body that allow it to cool down by spraying a cooling mist around it. However, damaging these ports interrupts that process which causes the Tideripper to overheat. This exposes larger exhaust ports around its tail section that you can hit for massive damage.

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The Tideripper’s Heart is another important weak point that you could consider aiming for every time you get an opportunity. It can be difficult to hit but is a major source of damage in the encounter.

While interfering with Tideripper’s cooling systems is one part of the strategy, an equally important aspect of the fight is disabling its most powerful attacks.

To that end, starting with the purgewater cannons on either side of Tideripper’s jaw can help remove the nasty high-pressured beams that the Tideripper hits Aloy with. Use tear damage to detach them and turn the machine’s weapons against it.

The next major weapon to take out would be the tidal disc on the Tideripper’s back. This disables an attack where the spinning disc can emit streams of purgewater at Aloy with varying frequency, making them a challenge to dodge.

Finally, the flipper on its tail can be removed to negate the threat of the Tideripper lashing out with its tail for a ton of damage.

Until these weapons are removed, it can be a good idea to use a Hunter Bow or Sharpshot Bow with high tear damage to make sure that disabling deadly attacks doesn’t take longer than it has to. Once the weapons have been dealt with, it is time to focus on depleting the Tideripper’s massive heath bar.

Using frost or shock ammunition is effective when the Tideripper’s cooling systems are functional, while fire works well against it when it is overheated.

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Aiming for sparkers, glowblast containers, and chillwater containers with the right arrows to inflict status effects and a lot of damage on the Tideripper. The Processing Capsule it carries must be detached from it before it is killed. You may need it to craft specific upgrades, making it worth the effort of keeping it safe.

In general, it can be a good idea to wait out the Tideripper’s attacks and unload damage only when it charges past you and is trying to reorient itself. Unlike other bipedal machines, the Tideripper’s imposing size and peculiar design make it less agile on land, an advantage that you can easily exploit once you get the hang of it.

The Tideripper should not give Aloy any more problems as long as you can avoid the worst of its attacks and systematically disable them one by one. With it out of the way, there are many other dangerous machines to fight in the Forbidden West. Our exclusive Horizon Forbidden West guides are sure to help you on your hunt!