What does the Apex Clawstrider piece do in Horizon Forbidden West?

As you find various settlements in Horizon Forbidden West, you will occasionally run across people who enjoy playing a game called Machine Strike. This is a unique game that involves moving your pieces on the field into advantageous spots to take out the opponent’s pieces. If you bought the Digital Deluxe version of Horizon Forbidden West, you were given a Machine Strike piece called Apex Clawstrider. Here is what it does.

While the Apex Clawstrider piece in Horizon Forbidden West is exclusive to the game’s Digital Deluxe Edition, you won’t necessarily be using it for every match of Machine Strike after you get some better ones later on. That being said, it is a strong piece to have on your side in the beginning portions of the game.

The Apex Clawstrider piece is melee-focused. It only has a range of one square with two squares movement speed. When up and close to an opponent’s piece, it can deal three points of damage per attack with an additional special ability called Retaliate, which lets it rotate and attack nearby enemies at the beginning of every turn.

The Apex Clawstrider has eight hit points, so it can tank some damage, but beware, if the opponent defeats it, you will give them five out of the seven total Victory Points they need to win the game. Keep this in mind if it begins to get low on health and is surrounded by the opposition.