Guide on how to start and complete the side quest A Friend in the Dark. Both are part of The Burning Shores DLC of Horizon Forbidden West. Completing the quest will grant you the Legendary Spike Thrower The Last Argument.
How to unlock and start A Friend in the Dark
The side quest A Friend in the Dark is recommended for level 42 players. It is available only if you own the Burning Shores DLC. The quest starts while you are solving the Relic Ruins puzzle on the LA map.
You do not need to worry about level and equipment too much, though. This quest involves a little bit of fighting, but you will not rely on your own arsenal of arrows and bolts.
To start the quest, head to southeastern corner of the large central island on the map of LA in the Burning Shores DLC.
After you begin the Murmuring Hollow Relic Ruins puzzle and at one point you will hear a voice calling for help from behind the locked door in the tunnel where the train carts are. Use my walkthrough for the Relic Ruins if you need help.
A Friend in the Dark Walkthrough
This entire quest is a ton of fun to play through. It brings nostalgia for the Relic Ruins from the base game.
Aloy meets an old friend, who is an incredibly positive and bright character, just fun to be around. And the mission itself offers various types of gameplay mechanics on top of the puzzles.
The loot is awesome too!
Instructions
- Complete the Murmuring Hollow Relic Ruins quest.
- Bring the battery to the empty cell on the right of the door to unlock it. Pick up the key in the adjacent room. Exit and head to the locked door on the other side where the voice is coming from.
Watch the cutscene to learn that the locked stranger is actually Gildun. You first meet Gildun in the Frozen Wilds DLC of Horizon Zero Dawn.Optionally, exhaust his dialogue options to catch up with him. Accept his request for help and look for his friend and partner Olvar.
- Run down the tunnels. A few turns down the road, stop and look for a datapoin, on your left, just outside a broken lever. The datapoint will give you a password for the door further down the path. It's the same door Gildun mentions in the cutscene.
- Just before you reach the bottom, on your right there is a Brimshine Fragment deposit (2x Brimshine). One of several during this mission.
- On the left is the locked door. On the wall across from where you came in, there is a vent shaft, but it's blocked. You don't need to go inside.
Interact with the panel on the left side of the door and input the password to unlock the door: 117 for January 17th from the datapoint you read earlier.
- Pick up the Ancient Supply Chest in the next room and head down the stairs on your left to reach the bottom floor. To your left is an elevator. Across the hall on the upper floor is a door that is both locked with a passcode and a key.
Across the hall, below the locked door on the upper floor, you will find a Brimshine Silver deposit in the corner (1x Brimshine).
- Turn back and on the left side (right if looked from the entrance), is an old railcar. Grab the railcar and Gildun will join to help you push it. This will allow you to access an adjacent room where you will find a Crate.
- Pull the Crate out of the room and position it at the edge of the ramp, looking towards the locked door on the upper floor.
- Jump on the crate to reach the upper floor.
- Pull open the vent shaft in the small room in the southwest corner. There is an Ancient Supply Chest this room. Use the vent to get around to the next room from where you will be able to exit on the other side of the railcar.
- Grab the ledge and move all the way to the other side.
- When you jump down, go to the small room in the corner, there is another Brimshine Fragment there with 2x Brimshine.
Pull the vent to open up the controlling mechanism for the elevator on the other side. - Past the elevator controller, on your right, you will find another small room, At its doorstep, there is yet another 2x Brimshine. Inside the room, there is also an Ancient Supply Chest. The datapoint will give you the code for the locked door. Now you need the key.
- Interact with the wheel that controls the elevator. Gildun will move into the elevator and you can bring him up to where the railcar is.
Before you head back to the railcar, there is an Ancient Supply Chest sitting on the edge to the right of the wheel. You can also use the Pullcaster from the ground floor to pull down this chest to you. - Together with Gildun, push the railcar.
- Jump to the bottom floor and move the Crate into the elevator. Aloy will ask Gildun to pull up the Crate along with her up. Wait for him to go to the other side and use the wheel.
- Position the Crate next to the railcar and jump on top of it. Then jump off the other side to reach the room above the locked door.
- Ignite the Firegleam on the wall to gain access to the adjacent room where the key is. There is an Ancient Valuables Chest in the room and a Deathbringer Gun with 600+ ammo on the floor.
- Apex Burrowers will start spawning. Take them all out with the gun. Beware of the few that will appear right next to Aloy. Jump down. Loot everything and take the elevator up again.
- Unlock the door using the key and the password: 1247.
- Read the datapoint at the far corner of the room with your Focus.
- Use your Pullcaster to open the vent and reach the room behind the locked doors.
- Inspect the corpse of Olvar lying next to the remains of a burrower.
- Get back to Gildun and tell him what happened. You have a dialogue choice to make. It will not have an impact on the reward from the mission, but it is important on a personal level if you feel invested into the story.
Should you tell Gildun the truth about Olvar
There is no difference in the quest’s rewards you earn for completing A Friend in the Dark regardless if you decide to tell Gildun the truth or let him believe his own story.
It is up to you if you want to leave Gildun believing he has found a good friend in Olvar and remember him with good or tell him the truth of how his partner betrayed him.
I personally always go for the “heart” option. Gildun is one of the most positive and funny minor characters in the game and I could not break his heart by telling him the truth.
The Last Argument Legendary Spike Thrower
After completing the mission, regardless of what dialogue choice you make in the end, Gildun will gift you the Legendary Spike Thrower Last Argument.
The Last Argument offers three types of spikes you can throw:
- Drill Spikes
- Advanced Explosive Spikes
- Plasma Spikes
Drill Spikes are great for taking down giant monsters like Slitherfangs and when you get into the territory of upgrading Legendary weapons, you will find yourself in need of a million Slitherfang Earthgrinders.
How to exit the area
After you complete the quest, you can exit the same way you came in, through the long narrow tunnels. Take the recessed stairs hidden behind a wall next to the red elevator. Or you can quick travel back to any camp.
This completes the side quest A Friend in the Dark, a long optional journey for Aloy (and you) that started with the Relic Ruins and, went through meeting an old friend to reward you with a great legendary weapon in the end.
