How do you clear Blocked Paths in Horizon Forbidden West?
At an impasse
Some of the obstacles facing Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West are easier to overcome than others. From early on in your adventure, you’ll come across 'Blocked Path' icons on the map which can’t be cleared until much, much later on your journey.
Here’s what the Blocked Paths mean in Horizon Forbidden West and when you can clear them.
How do I clear Blocked Paths in Horizon Forbidden West?
In short, you can only clear Blocked Paths when Aloy crafts the right item during a story mission.
There are two kinds of Blocked Paths in Horizon Forbidden West: Firegleam and Metal Flowers.
Both can only be cleared after Aloy has cleared enough main story missions to unlock the specific item which deals with each kind of barrier.
Without going into spoilers, it is clearly explained when you gain the ability to push past these hurdles, so you will know when you can return and access each one.
How do I clear Firegleam Blocked Paths in Horizon Forbidden West?
Aloy gains the ability to destroy Firegleam Blocked Paths during the Death’s Door mission.
This is the first main story mission after you gain access to the main Forbidden West open world.
By this point you will probably have come across many places to use this ability, hiding supply caches and other goodies.
How do you clear Metal Flower Blocked Paths in Horizon Forbidden West?
To get past Metal Flower Blocked Paths, Aloy needs a vine cutting module for her spear.
Unlike in Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West’s Metal Flowers are not collectibles. Rather, they’re vine-covered barriers barring access to interesting areas of all kinds.
You can’t clear Metal Flower Blocked Paths until relatively late in the game.
Aloy unlocks the ability in the Seeds of the Past story mission, the last in a group of three missions you get about half way through the main quest, completed at around level 24.
This gives you access to a plethora of items all over the Forbidden West.
For more on what you can find, check out our full Horizon Forbidden West guide.