Complete guide to unlocking, finding, and applying all face paints in Horizon Forbidden West with expert tips
Understanding Face Paints: More Than Just Cosmetics
Face designs in Horizon Forbidden West represent one of the most immersive cosmetic systems available for personalizing protagonist Aloy’s appearance. These intricate patterns serve purely aesthetic purposes but carry significant cultural weight within the game’s narrative framework.
Unlike functional gear upgrades, facial artistry in Horizon Forbidden West provides visual customization that reflects the diverse tribal cultures encountered throughout your journey. These designs become available as rewards for completing narrative arcs, gathering War Totems, and achieving Valor Surge milestones.
Character customization in gaming allows players to express individuality, whether through protagonist appearance, vehicle modifications, or weapon skins. Horizon Forbidden West continues this tradition with its elaborate face painting system.
The open-world adventure presents numerous cosmetic options, but the facial artistry stands out for its cultural authenticity and visual impact on the main character.
These facial designs form an essential aspect of character identity, setting Aloy apart visually from other characters. With numerous patterns available for selection, understanding how to access and apply them enhances the overall gameplay experience.
Acquisition Methods: How to Unlock Face Paints
Securing new facial designs requires strategic gameplay progression through multiple content types. The primary acquisition methods involve narrative advancement and optional exploration activities.
Face patterns constitute one cosmetic category among many in Horizon Forbidden West that enable visual transformation of Aloy’s appearance. Similar to other cosmetics, they provide aesthetic alternatives without affecting gameplay mechanics or character capabilities.
During gameplay, you’ll meet various non-playable characters, each offering distinctive tribal patterns representing their cultural heritage. This system enables players to visually align with specific factions as they progress through the story.
Substantial portions of facial artistry become accessible through primary story missions and supplementary questlines. As you advance, these cosmetic rewards will appear as completion incentives for various gameplay segments.
Pro tip: Focus on main story progression until reaching Scalding Spear in the third major region, as this unlocks application capability. Many players accumulate numerous designs without access to application services by exploring extensively before story advancement.
Advanced strategy: Complete side quests systematically rather than randomly, as certain factions offer unique patterns only available through specific narrative branches. Track your progress using the quest journal to ensure you don’t miss limited-opportunity designs.
Painter Locations: Where to Apply Your Designs
Applying acquired facial designs requires locating specialized merchant NPCs known as Painters within key settlements. These artisans provide application services for reasonable material costs.
To apply facial artistry, locate a Painter merchant within settlement areas. Once identified, converse with the Painter who will happily apply your selected design for a fee of 10 Metal Shards.
Alternatively, if seeking to remove current facial patterns to apply new designs, speak again with the same NPC who will清除 existing artwork for only 1 Metal Shard.
As previously mentioned, Painters represent the non-playable characters responsible for applying facial designs to Aloy. Horizon Forbidden West features exactly three such specialists located within major Tenakth settlements: Scalding Spear, The Bulwark, and Thornmash.
Navigation tip: Painters are typically situated near central settlement areas or market districts. Look for characters with artistic tools or cultural attire that distinguishes them from regular merchants. Using focus scanning can help identify these specialists more efficiently.
Resource management: Metal Shards remain abundant throughout gameplay, but budget-conscious players should plan their design changes rather than frequently switching patterns. Consider testing designs in Photo Mode before permanent application to avoid unnecessary shard expenditure.
Advanced Face Paint Strategies
Beyond basic application, several advanced techniques enhance how you utilize facial designs within Horizon Forbidden West’s gameplay systems and visual customization options.
Important to remember: facial designs can also be applied temporarily during Photo Mode sessions, though these applications won’t persist once normal gameplay resumes.
Strategic application: Use Photo Mode to experiment with different tribal designs before committing shards to permanent applications. This allows visual testing against various environments and lighting conditions to ensure the design complements your preferred gameplay aesthetic.
Cultural alignment: Consider matching your facial design to the region you’re currently exploring. Wearing Tenakth patterns in Tenakth territories or Utaru designs in Plainsong can enhance roleplaying immersion and visual coherence within the game world.
Common mistake avoidance: Don’t waste shards constantly changing designs—settle on a pattern that suits your playstyle for extended periods. Also, ensure you’ve actually unlocked the application capability at Scalding Spear before attempting to use collected designs.
For additional Horizon Forbidden West guidance, explore our comprehensive resources below:
Horizon Forbidden West review | Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition PC requirements: Minimum & recommended specs | Will Horizon Forbidden West run on Steam Deck? | Horizon Forbidden West: How to destroy Firegleam (Red Crystals) | Horizon Forbidden West: How to apply face paint | How to fix Horizon Forbidden West bricking PS5 | Horizon Forbidden West Explorer vs Guided Mode: What’s the difference? | Is there a Horizon Forbidden West difficulty trophy? How to change difficulties
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Horizon Forbidden West: How to unlock & use face paint Complete guide to unlocking, finding, and applying all face paints in Horizon Forbidden West with expert tips