Horizon Zero Dawn power cell locations: every collectible in the base game
Power cells are the most easily missed collectible in Horizon Zero Dawn. There are only seven in the base game, and you can carry at most three at a time, which means that walking past even one can lock you out of the best early-game loot the merchants offer. This guide walks through every Horizon Zero Dawn power cell locations pickup in the order most players will find them, then covers the two DLC power cells, the merchant rewards for turning them in, and the symptoms players run into when a quest step refuses to update.
The layout below is built for first-time players who want to collect everything in a single playthrough. The route assumes you reach the Embrace at roughly level 7, ride through the Nora homeland into the Carja borderlands, and finish in the final area after the main story opens it. If you are playing in Ultra Hard, the same locations apply, but the pathing through bandit camps changes because enemies are denser and one-shot deadlier.
What power cells actually do in the game economy
Power cells are not crafting material, not ammo, and not ammunition for a hidden weapon. Each one is a quest item that, when delivered to a specific merchant, unlocks a unique item in that merchant’s stock. Five of the seven base-game power cells go to a single merchant outside Meridian, and two go to a merchant in the city itself. Once you sell a cell, it leaves your inventory permanently, so the order in which you collect them only matters for the carrying limit.
The carrying limit is the mechanic that frustrates new players. Aloy can only hold three Power Cells at one time, and the cap does not expand with pouches, outfits, or any other collectible. If you find a fourth cell while your inventory is full, the game does not warn you and does not auto-rotate. The cell sits in the world until you deposit one and return. This is why planning a path matters more than memorising every spawn point.
Why the three-cell cap exists as a design choice
The cap pushes the player to explore the world in arcs rather than loops. Guerrilla designed the open world so that a player who leaves the Embrace to chase collectibles will naturally pass a merchant before they find the next set. The cap also keeps power cells rare in the trade economy, which is why the rewards are mid-game weapons and a single high-value outfit rather than late-game legendaries. If the cap were removed, players would hit the merchant quest inside the first ten hours and the rewards would no longer feel like a milestone.
What you get for turning them in
The merchant outside Meridian trades power cells for a fixed bundle. The table below summarises what each completed delivery unlocks, based on the in-game merchant inventory. None of these items are missable once you turn in five power cells, because the merchant keeps the stock available indefinitely. The two city merchants have separate inventories and do not cross-trade.
| Power cells turned in | Unlocked at the outskirt merchant | Notes for build planning |
|---|---|---|
| 2 cells | Shadow Hunter Bow | Mid-tier stealth bow, useful before Carja territory opens up |
| 4 cells | Banuk Powershot Bow | High damage per arrow, slow draw, strong against medium machines |
| 6 cells | Outfit that resists cold | Replaces the Nora outfit for travel into the Cut and the frozen north |
| All base-game cells | Banuk Striker Bow (DLC only) | Only available through the Frozen Wilds merchant if the expansion is installed |
The rewards are tuned for the moment in the story when most players turn them in. A first-time player who finishes all seven base-game power cells around level 22 will find the Shadow Hunter Bow a downgrade, the Powershot Bow a clear upgrade, and the cold-resistant outfit essential for the next biome. A speedrunner who collects all seven before level 15 will use the Shadow Hunter Bow as a primary weapon for the entire Carja arc.
Region-by-region route for all seven base-game power cells
The walkthrough below groups pickups by region rather than by strict numeric order, because three power cells are clustered tightly in the Embrace and the Carja borderlands. If you want the most efficient path, start at the Embrace and work clockwise. The quests and side activities that gate each area are listed so you can decide whether to return later or to backtrack for a cell during the same trip.
Embrace and the Nora homeland (cells 1, 2, and 3)
Three of the seven base-game power cells sit inside the Embrace, the bowl-shaped valley that surrounds the Nora capital. The first is on a cliff above the first hunting ground, the second is inside a side passage of the first major cave, and the third is on a roof reachable only by a specific climbing route. For broader context on the setting, the Wikipedia article on the game provides a concise reference.
- Cell 1 – Mother’s Crown high ridge. Climb the scaffolding east of the first settlement gate, then follow the ridge path to a half-buried cache. The cell sits inside a metal crate that glows when you crouch.
- Cell 2 – The Cauldron entrance cave. Inside the first bandit camp you clear during the proving, look for a side passage blocked by a movable crate. Push the crate, drop down, and the cell rests on a metal shelf.
- Cell 3 – The sacred mountain spire. During the main story mission that climbs the mountain, look for an off-path ledge about two-thirds of the way up. The cell is wedged behind a rusted antenna.
All three of these cells are reachable before you leave the Nora homeland, which is why the carrying cap rarely bites during the early game. If you are aiming for the merchant reward at four cells, you can walk out of the Embrace with three in hand, sell two, and pick up a fourth as soon as you cross into Carja territory.
Carja borderlands (cells 4 and 5)
The two Carja borderland power cells sit on opposite sides of the first Carja settlement. The first is in a watchtower, and the second is inside an abandoned workshop that doubles as a side-activity location. The borderlands open up after the main story crosses the river into Carja territory, and bandit density is moderate, so the trip is short.
- Cell 4 – Daybringer tower. After clearing the small camp to the east, climb the central tower. The cell rests on a wooden platform near the top. Look for a notch in the railing that lets you vault onto the platform.
- Cell 5 – The abandoned workshop. West of the Daybringer camp, an unmarked workshop contains the cell on a high metal shelf. The shelf is reachable by climbing the broken forklift first, then jumping across to the shelf’s ladder.
The Daybringer camp is also where you unlock the second hunting ground, so most players clear this region as part of the main story. The cell inside the workshop is easy to miss because the entrance is partially hidden by a tarp, and there is no quest marker until you are within fifteen meters.
Meridian and the southern approach (cells 6 and 7)
Cells 6 and 7 are inside Meridian itself, which is the only city in the base game. One sits in the merchant quarter, and the other sits in the palace district. Both are reachable once Meridian opens as a hub, which happens after a specific main story quest. Until that quest, the city gates are locked, so you cannot backtrack from the borderlands.
- Cell 6 – Meridian merchant quarter rooftop. From the square where the outskirt merchant sits, climb the southeast roof via the stacked crates. Follow the rooftop to a chimney access, drop down, and the cell rests on a vent.
- Cell 7 – The palace district tower. Inside the palace walls, climb the watchtower on the north side. The cell is on the top platform, near a broken antenna. The path requires a mid-game climbing move that you only unlock after Meridian opens.
Once you have all seven, deposit them with the outskirt merchant. The merchant’s stock updates as soon as you sell two, four, and six, so the rewards stack visibly as you trade. If a reward does not appear, fast-travel away and back to refresh the merchant’s inventory. Readers who want more background on Horizon Zero Dawn can use the Wikipedia article while reviewing this point.
The Frozen Wilds DLC adds two more power cells
The Frozen Wilds expansion introduces two additional power cells in the Cut, the frozen region to the north. The cells use the same collectible model, the same carry cap of three still applies across the entire save, and the rewards are different. Both cells go to a single Banuk merchant in the central settlement, and turning them in unlocks the Banuk Striker Bow plus a Banuk-themed outfit.
The DLC cells are not required for the base-game merchant reward. You can complete the base-game quest, sell all seven cells, and then start Frozen Wilds without losing access to any reward. The two DLC cells also do not count toward the base-game threshold, so the merchant outside Meridian stops unlocking new items once you have handed over seven.
Where to find the Frozen Wilds power cells
The two DLC power cells sit in the central hunting ground and in the abandoned Banuk camp at the eastern edge of the map. Both are off the main story path, so first-time players who focus on the main quest will not see them until they explore. For an independent read on the game’s design, the hands-on preview from the pre-release press cycle adds a useful frame.
- DLC cell 1 – Central hunting ground cliffside. After clearing the hunting ground, look for a cliff ledge to the north. The cell is on a metal shelf, half-buried in snow. The path requires the upgraded climbing ability that unlocks about halfway through the DLC main quest line.
- DLC cell 2 – Eastern Banuk camp watchtower. Inside the largest Banuk camp, climb the central watchtower. The cell rests on a wooden platform. The tower has no quest marker, so you need to climb manually.
The Frozen Wilds merchant sits inside the main settlement, and the rewards are clearly flagged as DLC items. If you do not have the expansion installed, the merchant does not exist and the cells remain in your inventory. There is no penalty for holding them, but the carry cap means you may want to sell the base-game cells first if you are playing the DLC as part of a single run.
Common symptoms when a power cell will not register
Even when you are standing on top of a power cell, the pickup animation can fail to trigger. The most common cause is proximity: the cell’s interaction radius is roughly two meters, and you must be crouching or standing still. If you run into the radius, the cell will not register until you slow down. A second cause is overload state: if you are in a slow-motion override while picking the cell up, the quest counter does not update until the override ends. The third cause is map state: if you pick up a power cell while a different quest is active and the active quest is glitched, the cell registers in your inventory but not in the merchant’s quest log.
The fix for the first two is to walk into the cell, crouch, and wait for the prompt. The fix for the third is to abandon the broken quest, then check your inventory. If the cell is there, fast-travel to the merchant and trade it. If the cell is not there, reload from the last autosave and pick the cell up again. There is no way to soft-reset a single power cell, so a reload is the cleanest solution.
Why the merchant inventory does not update
If you have handed in the right number of power cells and the merchant’s stock has not changed, the most common cause is a quest-state mismatch. The merchant’s stock is gated on the quest “Deal With the Merchants” or its equivalent, and that quest only updates after you have physically visited the merchant and triggered the dialogue. Walking past the merchant on a mount does not trigger the quest. The fix is to dismount, walk to the merchant, and speak to them. The stock updates within a few seconds.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Verified fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cell does not appear in inventory after pickup | Interaction radius skipped, overload state active | Crouch inside the cell, wait for prompt, end override |
| Cell is in inventory but merchant stock has not changed | “Deal With the Merchants” quest not triggered | Dismount, walk to merchant, speak, then check stock |
| Cell is in inventory but quest counter is stuck | Conflicting active quest | Abandon the conflicting quest, fast-travel, recheck |
| Cell respawns in the world after pickup | Save file from before pickup | Reload the most recent autosave, pick up again |
The table above covers the four symptoms that account for the majority of community reports. If the symptom is not on the list, the most reliable next step is to verify that the cell is actually a power cell and not a metal flower, a vantage point, or a Banuk figure, all of which use different models and different pickup animations.
How power cells fit into a 100 percent completion run
For players chasing 100 percent completion, power cells are a small but mandatory slice. The base game has seven cells, the DLC adds two, and the merchant quest is the only collectible in the game that gates a specific reward behind a count rather than a location. The other 100 percent categories – vantage points, metal flowers, ancient vessels, Banuk figures, and cauldrons – are independent, so a player can finish power cells last without affecting any other category.
The recommended order for a 100 percent run is to clear all cauldrons first, because each one unlocks fast-travel points that make the power cell loop faster. After that, clear vantage points to keep the override network online, then run the power cell route. Save Banuk figures and ancient vessels for the post-game, because they have no reward and no time pressure. The Frozen Wilds power cells should be collected during the DLC main quest, not after, because the carry cap can lock them out if you are holding base-game cells.
Checklist for a single-pass power cell run
- Start the run inside the Embrace, with an empty carry slot for the first cell.
- Pick up cells 1, 2, and 3 in any order inside the Nora homeland.
- Cross into the Carja borderlands, pick up cells 4 and 5, then deposit at the outskirt merchant to free two slots.
- Enter Meridian after the main story opens it, pick up cells 6 and 7, then deposit again for the cold outfit.
- Begin the Frozen Wilds expansion with an empty carry, pick up both DLC cells, and trade them at the Banuk merchant.
- Verify the merchant stock has updated each time, then fast-travel away and back to refresh.
The checklist fits a typical 25 to 35 hour playthrough without any backtracking. A speedrunner can compress the same loop into two hours by using override networks and ignoring the merchant dialogue until the end, but the merchant quest will not update until you have spoken to them, so the loop still requires the dismount-and-walk step at the end. For an independent view of what we loved about our hands-on time with horizon zero dawn, the verified article adds source-specific context to this discussion.
Carrying capacity, inventory pressure, and the merchant loop
The three-cell cap is a soft pacing tool. It does not prevent the player from finding every cell, but it forces a specific rhythm: collect, deposit, return, collect again. Players who ignore that rhythm end up walking past cells they cannot pick up, then forgetting where they were. The cleanest way to avoid the problem is to treat the merchant as a waypoint rather than a destination. As soon as you cross into a new region with at least one cell slot free, sweep the region, deposit, and continue.
Inventory pressure is most acute in the Carja borderlands, because the transition from the Nora homeland to Meridian is roughly twenty minutes of riding, and the bandit camps along the way can chew through ammo. If you arrive at the borderlands already holding three cells, you will pass the Daybringer cell without picking it up, and you may not return for several hours. The fix is to sell the third cell at the first merchant you pass in the borderlands, even if the deposit count feels low, because the free slot is more valuable than the marginal progress toward a reward threshold.
The merchant loop has a hidden cost. Each deposit requires the dialogue to fire, which means dismounting, walking to the merchant, opening the trade interface, confirming the cell, and closing the interface again. The total time per deposit is roughly thirty seconds, and over a full playthrough the loop adds up to about ten minutes of unavoidable menu time. Players who optimise around this loop usually batch their deposits: they collect three cells, ride to the merchant, deposit all three in a row, and continue. The quest counter updates only after each individual deposit, but the walking time is amortised across all three.
Loadout, ammo economy, and combat around the cells
Most power cells are not guarded by machines. The Embrace cells sit in bandit and Nora territory, where the threats are human and the kill is quick. The Carja cells are inside camps, but the camp enemies do not path aggressively toward the cell, so a stealth bow with a silent draw is enough to clear the area before the climb. The Meridian cells are inside the city, where combat is restricted, and the Frozen Wilds cells are in machine-heavy territory, where a hard-hunter bow with high tear damage is the practical pick.
Ammo economy around the cells is largely a question of which bow you bring. A mid-game player chasing the Carja cells should carry the Hunter Bow, the Shadow Hunter Bow (unlocked at the two-cell threshold), and a hard-hitter like the War Bow for machines. The Shadow Hunter Bow is silent, which is useful in the bandit camps, and the War Bow handles the larger machines that sometimes wander into the cell area. Players who finish the powershot reward first will use the Powershot Bow for medium machines and the Shadow Hunter Bow for the human camps, with the Hunter Bow as a fallback.
For the DLC cells, the loadout shifts toward freeze-resistant outfits and high-damage precision bows. The Cut is dominated by machines that resist tear, and the climbing paths to the cell shelves are often exposed. A player who clears the DLC cells with a stealth bow and a precision bow will spend less time restarting from a dead checkpoint, and will get both cells in a single sweep. The merchant in the central settlement is a natural waypoint, because it sits between the two cell locations and serves as a deposit point between pickups.
Quest flow, save states, and how the game tracks progress
Horizon Zero Dawn tracks power cells through a combination of inventory state, quest state, and merchant state. The inventory state holds the cells physically; the quest state counts the cells turned in; the merchant state holds the unlocked reward stock. The three states update independently, and any mismatch between them produces one of the symptoms listed in the troubleshooting table. The game’s autosave fires frequently, but the autosave is not always the save that records the pickup – if you pick up a cell and then die before the autosave rolls, the cell reappears in the world and the counter stays where it was.
Saving manually before a difficult climb is the practical way to lock in a pickup. Players who rely on autosave alone will sometimes find that a cell they thought they had picked up is still on the ledge, because the autosave fired before the pickup animation completed. A manual save after the prompt closes, or after the cell appears in the inventory, is the reliable checkpoint. Once a cell is in the inventory, the next autosave will preserve it.
New game plus does not reset the power cell counter. If you start a new game plus after completing the merchant quest, the cells are already gone from the world, and the merchant’s stock stays unlocked. This is unusual for a collectible economy – most open-world games reset the collectibles and the rewards together – and it is one of the few cases where Horizon Zero Dawn treats power cells as quest progression rather than as a hidden pickup. Players who want a clean run on a second playthrough will need to start a fresh save, not a new game plus, to see the cells reappear.
Comparing base-game and DLC reward weight
The base-game rewards and the DLC rewards are tuned for different points in the story. The base-game rewards are mid-game items: the Shadow Hunter Bow is useful from the Carja borderlands through the first half of Meridian, the Powershot Bow is useful from the second half of Meridian through the endgame, and the cold outfit is required for any travel into the Cut. The DLC rewards, by contrast, are late-game items: the Banuk Striker Bow is one of the highest-damage bows in the game, and the Banuk outfit is a high-stat armor set that competes with the best base-game gear.
For a player who plays both the base game and the DLC in a single run, the reward order is: Shadow Hunter Bow at two cells, Powershot Bow at four cells, cold outfit at six cells, and Banuk Striker Bow plus Banuk outfit at the two DLC cells. The progression is smooth, and each reward is a clear upgrade at the moment it is unlocked. A player who plays only the base game will see the Shadow Hunter Bow, the Powershot Bow, and the cold outfit, and will not see the Banuk Striker Bow or the Banuk outfit at all, because those items are gated on DLC progress.
Players who want to compare the reward weight can use the table below as a quick reference. The numbers are drawn from the in-game item stats, and the build notes reflect how the items sit inside a typical mid-game loadout.
| Reward | Source | Approximate tier | Build role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Hunter Bow | Outskirt merchant, 2 cells | Mid-game | Stealth, human camps, low-noise clears |
| Banuk Powershot Bow | Outskirt merchant, 4 cells | Mid-game | High single-shot damage, medium machines |
| Cold-resistant outfit | Outskirt merchant, 6 cells | Mid-game | Biome access, travel into the Cut |
| Banuk Striker Bow | DLC merchant, 2 DLC cells | Late-game | Top-tier precision damage, machine killers |
| Banuk outfit | DLC merchant, 2 DLC cells | Late-game | High-stat armor, competitive with best base-game sets |
The table is a guide, not a strict ranking. Some players prefer the Shadow Hunter Bow for the entire run because the silent draw fits their playstyle, and some players skip the cold outfit because they never travel into the Cut. The rewards are useful, but they are not mandatory, and the quest is forgiving enough that late players can complete it without restarting the story.
Frequently asked questions
How many power cells are there in the base game?
There are seven power cells in the base game and two more in the Frozen Wilds expansion. The base-game cells are all in the main open world, while the DLC cells are in the Cut. Each cell is a single pickup, and the carry cap of three means you cannot hold all seven at once.
Where do I turn in power cells?
Five of the seven base-game cells go to the outskirt merchant outside Meridian’s eastern gate. The remaining two go to a separate merchant inside the city. The two DLC cells go to a Banuk merchant inside the central settlement of the Frozen Wilds. None of the merchants cross-trade, so you must visit the correct one for each cell.
What happens if I sell a power cell by mistake?
Power cells cannot be sold to a vendor by accident. They are quest items, and the game’s trade interface only allows the merchant’s quest to remove them. Once you hand a power cell to the correct merchant, the reward is added to that merchant’s stock, and the cell is gone from your inventory permanently.
Can I get all the rewards on a single playthrough?
Yes. The merchant quest is not missable on a single playthrough, and the rewards unlock as soon as you turn in the right number of cells. The only way to miss a reward is to sell the cell to a different merchant, which the game’s trade interface prevents, or to ignore the merchant entirely until after the main story ends. The merchant stays available in the post-game, so even late players can finish the quest.
Do power cells respawn in new game plus?
No. Power cells are one-time pickups, and new game plus does not reset them. If you start a new game plus after finishing the merchant quest, the cells are already gone from the world. New game plus does carry over the rewards, so the merchant’s stock stays unlocked.
Is the Banuk Striker Bow part of the base-game reward?
No. The Banuk Striker Bow is a Frozen Wilds reward, not a base-game reward. You can only unlock it by visiting the Banuk merchant in the Cut and trading in the two DLC power cells. The base-game merchant never sells the Banuk Striker Bow, even if you have the expansion installed.
Can I use a mount to collect power cells faster?
You can ride to a power cell’s general area, but the pickup itself requires you to be on foot and inside the two-meter interaction radius. Riding past the cell at full speed will not trigger the pickup. The fastest practical method is to dismount just outside the radius, crouch, and walk in.
Why does the merchant stock not update after I turn in cells?
The merchant stock is gated on a specific quest that only updates when you speak to the merchant face-to-face. Walking past them on a mount, or selling cells through the trade interface, does not trigger the quest. Dismount, walk to the merchant, speak, and the stock will refresh within a few seconds.
Are power cells affected by difficulty or new game plus modifiers?
No. The cells themselves, the carry cap, and the merchant rewards are the same on every difficulty and in new game plus. Difficulty only changes combat balance, and new game plus only changes enemy density. The collectible economy is unchanged.
Do power cells count toward the collectible percentage on the save file?
Power cells count as a separate category and do not roll up into the generic collectible percentage shown on the save summary. The save file tracks power cells, vantage points, metal flowers, ancient vessels, Banuk figures, and cauldrons as independent categories. A 100 percent run requires finishing all of them, not just the generic counter.
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