Horizon Forbidden West: Death’s Door mysterious attacker boss fight guide

During the Horizon Forbidden West main quest Death’s Door, after you’ve cracked the bunker door code and found an incomplete GAIA Backup, a group of mysterious intruders will come into the room, accompanied by another clone of Elisabet Sobeck. When they discover you hiding there, one of them, whose name turns out to be Erik, will be ordered to kill you. Initially, your objective will be to kill him instead, but it soon becomes clear that you can’t, and your objective shifts to finding a way out.

Don’t waste time, effort, or ammo attacking Erik — you can’t damage him at all. Instead, lure him away from the Holo Projector console on the east side of the platform (you can’t use it when he’s too close), then use it to activate the Holo Projector, ideally immediately after you’ve dodged one of his attacks.

Related: How long after Horizon Zero Dawn does Horizon Forbidden West take place?

Next you have to shoot the Recluse Spider arm couplings, which are the orange-red rings around the arms of the machine suspended over the platform. Depending on what bow you’re using, they should take one or two shots each.

Once all the arm couplings are destroyed, you can begin targeting the stem couplings, although it’s less clear what they actually are. The brief cutscene at this point tries to give you a clue, but it’s pretty easy to miss it. The stem couplings are on the column above the main body of the Recluse Spider, and they look a little like barber’s poles, only with black and orange stripes instead of red and white. When you destroy all of the stem couplings, the Recluse Spider will collapse through the platform and you’ll escape through the hole, which completes this particular boss fight.