Best Ways To Farm Metal Shards

The world may be post-apocalyptic in Horizon Zero Dawn, but it still has an economy. Currency in the game is represented by Metal Shards, a resource you’ll want to collect in abundance.

Metal Shards serve a variety of purposes in Horizon Zero Dawn, from purchasing other resources to acquiring weapons and armor, repairing mounts, and much more. Spending time grinding for this resource can make your journey smoother and help you better prepare for the challenges ahead. The guide below mentions the best way to farm Metal Shards.

One of the best ways to farm metal shards in Horizon Zero Dawn is by hunting the robotic creatures known as Grazers, as they carry a valuable resource called Blaze on their backs. Hunting them normally yields only a small amount of Blaze, but follow the steps below, and you’ll be swimming in Blaze — and after a quick visit to a merchant — in metal shards in no time.

Before farming Blaze with this method, make sure you have a few essentials ready. First, equip a Striker Bow that can fire Fire Arrows and a Powershot Bow that can fire Harvest Arrows. You’ll also need a supply of both Fire and Harvest Arrows.

• Head to the Nora Hunting Grounds: Located in the starting region, this will be the first Hunting Grounds you unlock. From there, look northwest to spot a group of Grazers in the distance. Use the zipline to approach and hide in the nearby red grass.
• Create Explosions with Fire Arrows: Equip your Striker Bow and shoot a Fire Arrow at one of the Blaze canisters on a Grazer’s back to trigger a massive explosion, taking down multiple Grazers at once. To widen the explosion, target a second Grazer (as shown in the above video).
• Detach Blaze Canisters with Harvest Arrows: Approach the fallen Grazers and switch to your Powershot Bow. Use Harvest Arrows to detach the Blaze canisters from the Grazers’ corpses.

Important:
Do not loot Blaze directly from the corpses, as this only yields 1 Blaze per canister. By detaching them with Harvest Arrows, each canister will yield 6 Blaze, allowing you to collect up to 24 Blaze (6*4) from each Grazer.

• Repeat the Farming Process: After looting all the Grazers, fast travel to a distant location, then back to the Nora Hunting Grounds to respawn the Grazers. Repeat the above steps to gather Blaze quickly.
• Sell Blaze for Metal Shards: Once you’re satisfied with your Blaze collection, fast-travel to the nearest merchant and sell the excess Blaze. A bundle of 50 Blaze will earn you 200 metal shards, enabling you to amass thousands of shards within an hour using this efficient method.

Players should also remember to sell any junk items to merchants whenever possible, as this can provide a decent amount of metal shards. Additionally, feel free to sell any resources you have in abundance to free up inventory space and earn extra shards.

While this exploit may not be the most legitimate or honorable way to earn money, it still exists in the game. To trigger the exploit, you will first need traps or potions in your inventory. The larger your traps and potion pouch, the better, so consider upgrading them before attempting this method.

Step-by-Step Guide:

Prepare Your Inventory:

• Ensure you have a significant number of traps and potions in your inventory. Upgrading your pouch to hold more items will enhance the effectiveness of this exploit.

Drop Traps and Potions:

• Open the inventory tab and navigate to the traps and potions section.
• Select the option to drop all traps and potions on the ground.

Pick Up Dropped Items:

• Return to the game and pick up all the dropped traps and potions.

Repeat the Process:

• Drop all traps and potions again by following the same steps.
• Upon the second drop, you will notice that the traps and potions have been duplicated and all of them can no longer be picked up.

Sell and Collect:

• Pickup as many traps and potions as you can, head to a merchant, and sell all your traps and potions.
• Return to the area where you dropped the extra traps and potions and pick them up again.

Continue Farming:

• Repeat this process until you have accumulated the desired amount of metal shards.

Important Notes for Exploit Method:

• Location: Performing this exploit near a merchant is crucial to minimize downtime spent traveling.
• Risks: Since Horizon Zero Dawn is a single-player game, using this exploit is generally safe and shouldn’t result in any risk of a ban.
• Game Updates: Developers may patch exploits in future updates, so this method might not be available indefinitely.

By following these steps, you can efficiently farm metal shards in Horizon Zero Dawn. However, always consider playing the game as intended to fully enjoy its challenges and rewards.