What is the Max Level Cap in Horizon Zero Dawn?

As a hardcore fan who has put over 200 hours into Horizon Zero Dawn, I can definitively say the max level you can reach is 60, which was increased from 50 to 60 with the release of the Frozen Wilds expansion. But what does reaching those upper levels actually get you? Well strap in as I break down everything you need to know about leveling up Aloy from levels 1 to 60+, ghost levels, skill unlocks, and more!

Gaining Levels 1-60: Health and Skill Points

Let‘s start from level 1. Upon beginning Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy starts at level 1 with a set amount of maximum health and stamina. As you gain XP and levels, you‘ll notice two key benefits:

• Increased Health Pool – Each new level slightly increases the max health bar, allowing Aloy to absorb more damage in combat. By level 60, her health pool is nearly double the starting value.
• Earned Skill Points – Every level gained awards 1 skill point, which can be spent across 3 skill trees: Prowler, Brave, and Forager. More on skill unlocks later!

To quantify the health boost per level, according to community resources, Aloy seems to gain about +20 health points per level. That means by level 60, her health tops out around 700-800 HP, compared to the 400-500 range at the start.

As for XP requirements, getting to level 60 takes hundreds of thousands of accumulated XP. Based on compiled data tables, here‘s a quick overview:

• Reach Level 10: 2,000 XP
• Reach Level 25: 35,000 XP
• Reach Level 40: 165,000 XP
• Reach Level 60: 605,000+ XP

So as you climb into the higher levels, it requires significantly more activities completing side content, cauldrons, bandit camps, and of course main story quests.

Ghost Levels – Infinite Progression Past 60

Upon hitting level 60, you may think you‘ve maxed out Aloy‘s progression. But that isn‘t quite true! Horizon Zero Dawn has an infinite progression system beyond 60 referred to as "ghost levels".

Ghost levels function quite differently from normal levels. Specifically:

• No health/skill bonuses – Ghost levels do NOT increase health or award skill points. Only levels 1-60 grant progression.
• Purely for prestige – Ghost levels mainly serve as boasting rights for players who wish to show off their mastery of the game!
• Requires vastly more XP – The XP requirements to gain these post-60 levels is massive, requiring hours of grinding.

Based on user reports compiled on forums like Reddit, the highest ghost level achieved is estimated to be around 130-150. Of course, there could be even more dedicated players out there with 200+ ghost levels!

The transition from Level 59 -> 60 requires ~600k XP. To highlight how demanding subsequent ghost levels are, here is an estimate XP requirement list:

• Level 60 -> 61: 650k XP
• Level 70: 1.3 million XP
• Level 100: 3.5 million XP
• Level 125: 7 million XP
• Level 150: 12+ million XP

As you can see, grinding to high ghost levels requires an immense amount of playtime and dedication. For context splitting the difference, getting to Level 100 is approximately the same amount of XP as reaching Level 60 from Level 1!

Skill Tree Overview – Where to Spend Points

So what should you be spending those precious skill points on that you earn from levels 1-60? Horizon has 3 main skill trees:

• Prowler – Focused on stealth abilities. Skills like increased loot finding, faster climbing, hiding, etc.
• Brave – Combat related skills. Increased damage, weapon handling, advantages in fighting certain creatures.
• Forager – Gathering and resource related skills. Better yields from harvesting plants/animals, crafting discounts, etc.

Without a doubt, I recommend prioritizing the Prowler tree first and foremost. Maxing out abilities like Increased Stealth Damage and Ultimate Stealth Outfit will completely change how you approach machine encounters, allowing for an invisible ninja-like playstyle one-shotting unsuspecting robots! It‘s incredibly fun and satisfying.

After maxing Prowler, I‘d suggest spending your remaining points across a mixture of Brave for the weapon handling bonuses and Forager for quality of life improvements like increased trap disarm XP and healer potency.

The key thing is to first focus on tackling the Prowler tree though, as those stealth skills are unmatched!

Leveling and Progression Comparison to Other Games

To put Horizon Zero Dawn‘s leveling system into context, let‘s compare it briefly to a few other major open world games:

• The Witcher 3: Max level cap of 50, no systems beyond cap. Slower progression overall.
• Skyrim: Level cap of 81, plus legendary skills for endless xp. Slower early, faster late.
• Assassin‘s Creed Odyssey: Max cap of 99, incremental health/damage gains. Much faster overall.

The rate of gaining levels early on Horizon Zero Dawn feels balanced and comparable to its peers. Late game leveling slows closer to something like The Witcher 3, encouraging exploring side content vs grinding XP endlessly.

And the inclusion of ghost levels provides that infinite progression for especially dedicated players to show off time investment, unlike a game like Skyrim or The Witcher stopping unceremoniously at the cap.

Closing Thoughts – Does Difficulty Scale With Levels?

To wrap up, while reaching Level 60 substantially boosts Aloy‘s core health and skill access, some players wonder whether they are actually getting stronger relative to the machines and threats around them. Does difficulty scale appropriately?

Based on my experience through 3 full playthroughs, Horizon does an excellent job maintaining challenge regardless of level. Enemy machines receive additional armor plating and more dangerous weapons on higher difficulties that counteract Aloy‘s health and damage gains.

Likewise, bandit and human enemies also seem to scale in damage output the deeper you get. They don‘t merely stay static entities that become a face roll with enough time investment. Horizon maintains tension in all its combat encounters.

So in summary – yes absolutely push to hit max level 60! Revel in those glorious skill point allocations that let you tailor Aloy‘s abilities to your favorite playstyle. Take pride in the bragging rights of accruing ghost levels beyond 60. But rest assured, the world scales its threats accordingly, delivering nail-biting combat from levels 1-150+.

Let me know if you have any other Horizon leveling questions! I‘m always happy to wax poetic about Guerrilla Games‘ PS4 masterpiece.