Horizon Forbidden West All Black Box Locations

Horizon Forbidden West has 12 Black Box Locations. Black Boxes are a type of Collectable. You need at least one of them for the trophy “Recovered 5 Different Collectables”. They are the black boxes of crashed airplanes that you can find around the game world. After finding all of them talk to the Black Box collector at The Memorial Grove to unlock the Legendary Blastslings “Wings of the Ten”. This is one of the best weapons in the game, it deals a lot of explosive damage.

The Black Boxes are always inside the wreckage of airplanes. These are usually high up on mountains. If you’ve already finished the story you can simply fly up with your Sunwing flying mount. In the early game you will have to climb up yourself. Remember that you can press to highlight climbable walls and ledges, this makes navigation easier. For a few of them you must find a battery to insert in the airplane door to open it. These batteries are always nearby and can also be highlighted with .

None of the Black Boxes are missable. You can still find all of them after the story in free-roam. They can be found in any order.

This guide lists them in the same order as the in-game Collectables Menu so you can easily reference the ones you are missing.

Black Box #1: No Man’s Land

Simply walk up the south-side of the hill and pry open the airplane door.

Black Box #2: The Whitewatch Peaks

Climb up the mountain wall east of the Black Box icon on the map. You can scan for climbable ledges with which will highlight them in yellow. At the mountaintop you find the Black Box under some rubble. Use the pullcaster + > hold to pull the rubble away.

 

Black Box #3: Jagged Deep

Found in an underwater plane wreck. Must dive down, pry open the door, swim in the plane to pick up the black box. If your breath doesn’t hold long enough, you unlock the infinite breath ability in Main Quest 11: The Sea of Sands.

Black Box #4: The Promontory

This airplane requires you to insert a battery next to the door. The battery is found just a few steps east of the airplane (about 15 meters), next to a scrap pile. You can scan for it with . Insert it at the door, then you can open the door to enter the plane. Inside you find a metal flower, you need the Vine Cutter to destroy it (automatically unlocked in Main Quest 12: Seeds of the Past). Behind the vines is the black box. If you don’t have the vine cutter yet, you must advance the story and come back later.

Black Box #5: Bleeding Mark

This one is very simple – climb up to the plane wreck and pry open the door. To get up there you can either climb the mountain wall or press on the grapple point at the edge of the plane wreck.

Black Box #6: The Stillsands

This one requires the Vine Cutter (automatically unlocked in Main Quest 12: Seeds of the Past). Hit the metal flower at the entrance until it opens up and then use the vine cutter to destroy it. This will make the vines go away so that you can enter the wreckage. The black box is below a box, you can grab it with and move it away, then grab the collectable.

Black Box #7: The Memorial Grove

Climb up the hill the plane is on. You can climb the rocks where the front of the plane is. Head to the back of the plane and air-jump to the grapple point in the back of the plane. Now simply pry open the door to find the black box inside.

Black Box #8: Salt Bite

In the settlement called “Salt Bite”, there’s a building with a vent that you can use your pullcaster on ( + > hold ). Crawl through the vent to find the black box behind it.

Black Box #9: The Raintrace

This one requires the Vine Cutter (automatically unlocked in Main Quest 12: Seeds of the Past). Hit the metal flower between the two plane wrecks to remove the vines. In the plane part with the vines is a battery, you can scan for it with to highlight it in purple. Pick it up and insert it on the other plane wreck containing the black box. Then you can open the door and collect it.

Black Box #10: Bonewhite Tear

This black box is in a plane wreck high up the mountain. You can follow the patch of grass & trees uphill, to the east of the black box icon on the map. From there you can walk along the cliffs to the campfire (no actual climbing needed, can stand/walk over the cliffs). Alternatively, use the flying mount to get up there. Next to the campfire is an energy cell, it’s easier to see when pressing to scan for it. Take this battery cell to the plane door, insert it in the socket to open the door. Behind the door you find the black box.

Black Box #11: Stand of the Sentinels

This is in a plane wreck on a mountaintop. You can get there from the road to the east of the black box icon on the map. Then follow the slope around the mountain and jump over to the wreck. There’s a crate in front of the plane that’s blocking the path. Push it away and you can grab the collectable behind it.

Black Box #12: Isle of Spires

Found in the water at the bottom of a plane wreck. You can drop down to it from the plane wreck above.

Reward

Talk to the Black Box Collector “Untalla” at The Memorial Grove. You can trade in the black boxes for crafting materials. You get 1 crafting material per black box. After trading in all 12 Black Boxes, Untalla will give you the Legendary Blastslings “Wings of the Ten”. This is one of the best weapons in the game, it does a lot of explosive damage and can defeat even the toughest machines quickly. It will simply pop up on the screen and then appears in the inventory. If not, talk to Untalla again and select the Trade option again, then she should say you found all Black Boxes and gives you this reward.

 

For everything else needed to 100% completion, check out the full Horizon Forbidden West Wiki & Strategy Guide.