Horizon Forbidden West Cinnabar Sands Tallneck: How to restore power to the console and climb the Tallneck explained
That's one odd looking giraffe.
Overriding a Tallneck in Horizon: Forbidden West reveals points of interest on Aloy's map, along with granting you some useful XP and skill points. First, however, you need to climb the Tallneck.
The Cinnabar Sands Tallneck is the first of these impressive machines you'll encounter in Forbidden West and, to reach it, you need to scale a nearby satellite.
To do this, you need to find an energy cell so you can restore power to a console on the satellite itself.
On this page:
If you'd like to learn more about Horizon: Forbidden West, check out our pouch upgrades, door code for Death's Door mission and levelling and skill points pages.
Cinnabar Sands Tallneck location in Horizon: Forbidden West explained
The first Tallneck you'll encounter in Horizons: Forbidden West is located within the Cinnabar Sands. To reach this location, you need to head south-west from Barren Light until you reach a desert-like Cinnabar Sands.
The Tallneck itself can be found walking around a crumbling satellite in the northern part of Cinnabar Sands - just south-east of Plainsong. You'll most likely catch sight of the Tallneck as you enter the area - it's quite tall after all!
Aloy has returned in Horizon: Forbidden West! To help you get started in her new quest, visit our pages on how levelling and skill points work, along with how to upgrade your inventory pouches. We’ve also looked at how to climb the Tallneck in Cinnabar Sands, cauldron locations and the door code for Death’s Door mission.
How to restore power to the console and climb the Cinnabar Sands Tallneck in Horizon: Forbidden West
To climb the Tallneck in Cinnabar Sands, you need to restore power to the satellite console, but, first, make sure you defeat the machines at the structure's base. Leaving these machines undefeated will make reaching the Tallneck more difficult, because you'll have to deal with their constant attacks.
There are three machines to defeat in total - two Level 11 Scrappers and one Level 16 Skydrifter.
We recommend defeating the Skydrifter first, because you easily lure it away from the two Scrappers. Since this machine is weak to frost damage, use your Frost Bombs to give it the Brittle state before going in for the kill.
Both of the Scrappers are weak to shock damage, so setting up Shock Tripwires will help take them down.
With the machines defeated, it's time to start climbing by knocking down the ladder at the base of the satellite with an arrow.
Head up the stairs and climb the next ladder to reach a platform with a console, which, for now, you can ignore. Instead, jump across to the ladder to your right to reach the platform directly beneath the satellite dish.
Here - on the right-hand side of the platform, near the collectible - you'll find a ladder to lower.
Climb down this new ladder and, from its bottom rungs, jump across to the railings, so you can quickly reach the energy cell.
Next, pick up the energy cell and, carefully, drop down to the metal platform directly beneath you.
Once you're back on the ground, place the energy cell in the generator directly beneath the satellite. Doing so will restore power to the console you passed earlier and allow you to interact with it, which will make the satellite dish turn.
After this, jump to the platform to your left and, from there, use the handholds to reach a ladder that leads to the area beneath the satellite dish.
Here you'll discover that two wires are preventing the dish from turning fully - thankfully shooting them with Aloy's bow will solve the problem.
Now climb one final ladder to reach the satellite dish and, once there, go to the highest point of this structure. Next, wait until the Tallneck is almost perfectly aligned with your position and, when that time comes, glide across to the machine.
We recommend aiming for the yellow railings which line the sides of the Tallneck's head; these railings allow you to make your way around the head, until you can climb atop it. You can also jump and climb the spines lining the Tallneck's neck if you miss the head railings.
When you're finally on the Tallneck's head, override the machine to reveal a good section of your map, including interest points and the locations of four other Tallnecks. You'll also receive 7500 XP and 2 Skill Points for overriding the Cinnabar Sands Tallneck.
Have fun in Horizon: Forbidden West!