How to defeat Scorchers in Horizon Forbidden West?

Scorchers can pose a serious threat to players in Horizon Forbidden West. These machines will deal devastating attacks on Aloy during battle. One way to get ahead in a Scorcher battle is to prioritize its weapon systems. The Scorcher's Mine Launcher, when taken out, will disable one of its more aggressive attacks where the machine will throw mines at the players that deal massive damage. Taking this out early in the fight is a good idea.

Scorcher's information

Strengths and Weaknesses

Players can attack machines with different kinds of elemental attacks. Elemental attacks in the game include Fire, Shock, Frost, Plasma, Purgewater, and Acid. The Scorcher will be weak to damage from Frost and Shock attacks. They are strong against damage from Fire attacks.

Related: How to defeat Tideripper in Horizon Forbidden West?

Body Parts

There are a few different body parts on a Scorcher but each one will drop different loot and deal different amounts of damage to the machine when attacked by players. The body parts on a Scorcher are:

• Body
• Scanning Ear
• Mine Launcher
• Purgewater Canister
• Power Generator

Loot

Machines in Horizon Forbidden West will drop different loot items, with many being specific to each kind of machine. Some can be looted from a fallen machine, while others will need to be removed (shot off with an arrow or removes with a hit from the spear) while the machine is still alive. The Scorcher will drop a long list of loot items:

• Blaze (Common) - Dropped from Body
• Piercing Spike (Rare) - Dropped from Body
• Crystal Braiding (Very Rare) - Dropped from Body and Power Generator
• Metal Shards (Common) - Dropped from Body
• Sparker (Common) - Dropped from Body and Power Generator
• Braided Wire (Common) - Dropped from Body
• Scorcher Circulator* (Uncommon) - Dropped from Body
• Medium Machine Core (Rare) - Dropped from Body
• Sturdy Hardplate (Common) - Dropped from Body
• Machine Muscle (Uncommon) - Dropped from Body
• Scorcher Primary Nerve* (Rare) - Dropped from Body
• Luminous Brainstem (very Rare) - Dropped from Body and Power Generator
• Metal Bone (Rare) - Dropped from Body
• Scorcher Scanning Ear* (Legendary) - Dropped from Scanning Ear
• Useable Weapon (Very Rare) - Dropped from Mine Launcher
• Purgewater (Uncommon) - Dropped from Purgewater Canister

*Loot items marked with an asterisk are exclusively dropped from the Scorcher machine.

Cauldron

In Horizon Forbidden West, Cauldrons allow players to override the machines within that Cauldron once they have completed it. Completing a Cauldron usually means traversing through its dungeon-like corridors and facing off against a boss at the end. The Scorcher is a part of the CHI Overrides Cauldron.

Interested in other machine guides in Horizon Forbidden West? Check out How to defeat the Slitherfang in Horizon Forbidden West on Pro Game Guides!