You've probably seen it through the rusted bars of that bunker near Mother's Watch. The Shield-Weaver armor. It looks sleek, high-tech, and honestly, a bit out of place among the Nora's furs and wooden spears. It’s the best gear in the game, hands down, but getting your hands on it requires tracking down Horizon Zero Dawn Ancient Armory power cells scattered across a massive, machine-infested map.
It's a slog.
Most players stumble upon the quest "Ancient Armory" early on, usually by falling into the ruins as a child or returning later as an adult. You see the suit, you want the suit, and then you realize you need five specific batteries to unlock the two separate electromagnetic locks holding it captive. The problem? Guerilla Games tucked these cells into main quest locations that are easy to breeze past when you’re worried about a Corruptor jumping on your head. If you missed one, you’re looking at a long trek back through some of the most vertical, confusing interior levels in the game.
The First Power Cell: Underground Beginnings
The very first power cell is technically available the moment Aloy becomes an adult, but it’s actually located in the ruins she fell into as a kid. Remember that place? The one where you found your Focus? You need to head back to the Ruins in the Embrace.
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Once you’re inside, you’re looking for a specific area blocked by stalactites and stalagmites. In the years since Aloy was a child, she’s grown strong enough to just smash through them with her spear. It's tucked away in a room that looks like an old office or living quarters. Honestly, if you aren't looking at your compass or scanning every corner with your Focus, it’s remarkably easy to walk right past it. Grab it early. It saves you a massive headache later when you realize you're one short and can't remember which "cave" you forgot to pillage.
All-Mother Temple: The One Everyone Misses
This is the big one. During or immediately after the quest "The Womb of the Mountain"—which happens right after the Proving—you’ll find yourself inside the All-Mother Temple in Mother's Watch.
Here is the kicker: If you miss this cell during the quest, the gates to Mother's Watch will actually lock you out for a significant portion of the game. You won't be able to get back in until the main story brings you back toward the end of the narrative. To find it, look for a red vent next to a large, locked bunker door. You have to crouch and crawl through the duct. It’s a classic "video game secret" hiding in plain sight. Most people are so focused on the plot revelations happening in that scene that they just run toward the objective marker and leave the power cell rotting in the dark. Don't be that person.
Maker's End: Climbing to the Top of the World
The third of the Horizon Zero Dawn Ancient Armory power cells is located at the very peak of the Faro Automated Solutions skyscraper. This happens during the quest "Maker's End."
You’re going to climb. A lot.
Once you reach the top floor—the office where you watch the holographic recordings of Ted Faro and Elisabet Sobecky—the objective tells you to leave. Do not leave. Instead, look behind the elevator shaft. There's a series of yellow handholds that lead even higher, to the very tip-top of the skyscraper’s spire. It’s a dizzying climb, and if you have a fear of heights in games, it’s gonna be a rough thirty seconds. But the cell is sitting right there on the edge of the ruin. If you descend the rappelling point before grabbing it, you have to climb the entire building again. It takes about ten minutes to get back up there. I’ve done it. It’s miserable.
The Grave-Hoard: Keeping It Simple
Compared to the skyscraper climb, the cell in The Grave-Hoard is a gift. It's located during the quest of the same name.
As you descend into the ancient facility, you'll eventually solve a series of ring puzzles to restore power to a door. Once you pass through that door, the power cell is basically sitting on a desk in the hallway leading to the next combat arena. It’s almost impossible to miss unless you are sprinting through the level like a speedrunner. Just keep your Focus active and look for the green loot icon.
GAIA Prime: The Final Piece of the Puzzle
The final cell is in The Mountain That Fell. This is late-game territory. You're exploring the ruins of GAIA Prime, and the environment is a tangled mess of steel and ice.
After the cinematic where you talk to Sylens in his workshop, you’ll head outside to start your descent. The quest marker wants you to go one way, but you need to go the opposite. Look for a ledge near the rappelling point. Instead of going down the rope, look for a path that leads back into the ruins to a hidden room.
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It’s easy to get turned around here because everything is blue, grey, and dark. If you find yourself sliding down the mountain on a rope, you’ve gone too far. Stop, reload your save, or trek back up. Once you have this fifth cell, you are finally ready to head back to the bunker.
Unlocking the Shield-Weaver
With all five Horizon Zero Dawn Ancient Armory power cells in your inventory, return to the bunker. You have to solve two sets of dial puzzles.
The first set is based on time. Think of the dials as a clock face: 24-hour time, to be specific. The clues on the nearby monitor give you the times (12:00, 15:00, etc.), and you just point the red part of the dial to the corresponding "hour" position.
The second set is about angles. The display will show degrees ($90^\circ$, $270^\circ$, etc.). If you remember your basic geometry, this is a breeze. If not, just remember that "up" is $0^\circ$, "right" is $90^\circ$, "down" is $180^\circ$, and "left" is $270^\circ$.
Once the clamps release, you don't actually "wear" the armor yet. You pick up a box. Open the box in your treasure crates menu, and then you can equip the Shield-Weaver.
Why This Armor Changes Everything
The Shield-Weaver doesn't just reduce damage; it creates a rechargeable force field. When the armor is glowing blue, you are invincible. When you take a hit, the shield flashes red and depletes. If you stay out of trouble for a few seconds, it recharges.
This fundamentally changes how you fight Thunderjaws and Stormbirds. You can afford to be aggressive. However, on Ultra Hard difficulty, the shield is significantly weaker and can be depleted in a single hit from a heavy machine. It’s not a "god mode" button, but it's the closest thing the game offers.
One thing to note: you can’t modify the Shield-Weaver. There are no weave slots. You trade customization for pure survivability. For most players, that’s a trade worth making every single time.
Summary Checklist for Your Hunt
- Ruins (The Embrace): Go back to where Aloy fell as a child and smash the stalactites.
- All-Mother Temple: Grab it during "Womb of the Mountain" or wait until the end of the game.
- Maker's End: Climb to the very top of the spire, above Faro’s office.
- The Grave-Hoard: Found on a desk shortly after the first ring puzzle.
- GAIA Prime: Look for the hidden room near the rappelling point at the start of the descent.
To maximize your efficiency, don't go out of your way to find these until the story naturally takes you to these locations. The game world is huge, and trying to "sequence break" to get the armor early is mostly impossible because the locations are locked behind story progress anyway. Stick to the main path, keep your eyes peeled for that green glow, and you’ll have the most powerful technology of the Old Ones before you face the final battle at Meridian.
Check your inventory now to see which quest locations you've already cleared; if you've finished "Maker's End" but don't have the cell, fast travel back there immediately to save yourself a longer backtrack later. Look through your "Special Items" tab to confirm exactly how many you currently hold before making the trip to the bunker.