How to breathe underwater in Horizon Forbidden West: craft the Diving Mask

Horizon Forbidden West’s world is a massive one, built to be explored over long stretches of time. The vast, open wilderness is stunning and overwhelming, giving players the chance to roam freely around some of the west coast’s most famous natural sites and cities. You will find majestic, native sequoia forests in Northern California. You’ll climb mountaintops and iconic American landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge. You’ll also swim lakes, caves, and oceans, which comprise one of the unique highlights of Forbidden West.

These elements are interwoven in a way that makes it stand out. “One of the first things we said when we started development was that we wanted to focus more on variety and density,” Mathijs de Jonge, director of Horizon Forbidden WestPolygon, an interview with.

Swimming is a key part of this: It’s beautiful, and best of all, it’s absolutely seamless. Outside of games specifically dedicated to swimming, I’ve typically experienced bodies of water as gating mechanisms. If I had to choose, it was when I can swim, it’s often with a limited endurance bar — or it might be on the back of a creature, like in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. In Forbidden West, there’s no running around lakes to avoid falling in, or tiptoeing around waterfalls. The fucking in is what I do. You will find a wealth of ecosystems there. There are also crumbling American landmarks and tons collectibles.

Though Aloy is initially limited by holding her breath, there’s luckily a Diving Mask tool that allows her to breathe infinitely. Aloy can swim with a little bit of grace, but she will soon be able to glide through the labyrinthine underwater passageways. The Diving Mask will make swimming truly fun and liberating. The mask makes swimming a great game for exploration.

Once you have created your base and spoken with GAIA I recommend purchasing the Diving Mask ASAP. Here’s how you can.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment

[Ed. note: spoilers follow for certain Horizon Forbidden West story quests.]

Make the Diving Mask to allow for endless underwater breathing

The Diving Mask can only be made if you have completed The Daunt. Crafting the Diving Mask is an early part of The Poseidon subordinate function quest line called “Sea of Sands.” When GAIA tells you to choose which of the three subordinate functions you’d like to pursue — Aether, Poseidon, or Demeter — select Poseidon, and head to Las Vegas.

You will see a circular, large-sized yellow area on the map when you reach it. Look for the building with water running out that looks like a pagoda. You will know it’s correct as Aloy will call it a “Tower of Tears” when she sees it. It is easiest to find it by heading to high points and searching for it.

There is an entry point to the building that allows you to get in. It is located on the second floor at the same time as the water pours out. You’ll encounter three NPCs who have been attempting to dive into the recently flooded building. Talk to Morlund to learn how to make the Diving Mask.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Three items are required to make the Diving Mask.

• Air Compressor Capsule
• Machine knee cap
• Synthetic Membrane

You will find the Compressed Air Capsule in the elevator shaft where the NPCs were diving. The Compressed Air Capsule can be found in the flooded elevator shaft.

To obtain the other items, activate the hunting objective portion of the quest line, and follow the cues to activate Aloy’s focus. Aloy will find tracks leading to the Leaplasher and Bellowback sites when he activates his focus. Bellowbacks have synthetic membranes; Leaplashers have machine knee caps. It is possible to have to kill more than one person to get the item.

After that, return to the pagoda and speak with Morlund. There you can make the Diving Mask on the built-in workbench. You’ll now have it permanently, and it will activate instantly when you jump into the water — no need to equip it.

Why is swimming underwater so unique?

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Exploring underwater is just like real life. Forbidden West feels expansive and free — in larger bodies of water, like the lake (likely based on Lake Mead) which players can first run into in The Daunt. At that point, you won’t have infinite underwater breathing. But once you unlock the Diving Mask, the options expand beautifully — allowing players to free swim the entirety of the large lake, swimming past schools of fish, and exploring the many secrets that lie in its depths. The Diving Mask will unlock many other hidden corners.

The developers have made it possible to feel underwater free. Instead of making combat underwater an option for players, the developers gave them stealth options through tall kelp. “I guess it’s quite similar as on-ground movement; the mechanic itself needs to be responsive and you need to feel that you’re in control,” de Jonge said. “Next to that, the surroundings matter, and the player needs options to avoid underwater combat with machines. We didn’t even attempt to develop that as player movement is just too limited under water and machines are large, fast, and deadly.”

[Warning: the following contains spoilers for late-game locations and machine types in Horizon Forbidden West.]

Some of the game’s most cinematic moments happen when Aloy is underwater. You see some of Las Vegas’s most famous hotels, imagined in a post-post-apocalyptic future that involves light shows and holographics. This is where Aloy first encounters one of the game’s most lethal, intimidating enemies, the Tideripper, a Loch Ness Monster-inspired machine. It’s also where players get to see how charming Burrowers are when they swim. The entry-level enemies are frustratingly buoyant and become underwater otter-like, winding up, and chittering.

Image: Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

It’s a wonderful gift to explore underwater San Francisco during the last stretches of your main quest. It’s haunting, seeing parts of the familiar city submerged — especially as it’s a city I’ve lived in. It was hard to believe that the post-apocalypse had hit as I stood in front of Ferry Building’s oceanic grave. These are some of my most memorable memories from my time there. Forbidden West’s incredible underwater environments. My Diving mask and I will make more.