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Cauldron ZETA Override. The Stormbird is one of the top-tier machines in the game, up there in terms of difficulty with the Thunderjaw and Rockbreaker. You’ll encounter a few throughout the game, but if you’re looking for trouble, then you will find one not far outside of both Daytower and the Greatrun Hunting Grounds. As their name suggests, they have the ability to fly and will spend a lot of time in the air. One of the first things you should always do with a Stormbird is knock off its Lightning Gun, which is located on its chest.

The Lightning Gun has four attacks situated with it, one of which is the Stormbird launching small energy balls while in the air; it can also launch a bigger energy ball, which you know is coming from it charging up. While on the ground, it can use the Lightning Gun to erect an electric force-field and then chase after you; this hurts you if it hits you. One final attack is when it’s airborne, as it can fly across the screen, releasin energy balls, similar to the Glinthawk’s one attack. The easiest way to get rid of this is whenever the Stormbird happens to land or is hovering in the air; Tearblast Arrows are ideal here, since they can easily remove components.

With the Lightning Gun out of the way, the Stormbird is a little less of a threat, but still poses a challenge. Whenever you see it flying very high in the air, it is preparing a divebomb attack, but this is easily dodgeable by staying on the run. You can disable this attack by destroying the six Engines on its wings (three on each), but they can be hard to hit, although the Tearblaster weapon from finishing Hunters’ Blind does help. Of course, you know the Stormbird will land when doing the divebomb attack.

Other attacks of the Stormbird include a wind gust with its wings, which hurts you and can be done either on the ground or in the air. It also has a screech that doesn’t do damage, but it can disorient you. On the ground, it can use its tail for a sweeping attack and the Stormbird can also chase after you while stabbing its beak into the ground repeatedly. One last attack it can seem to do is a flurry of kicks with its legs, almost as if a person was swinging blindly with their arms.

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The Stormbird will chase after you with the force-field active (left). Tieing down the Stormbird with the Ropecaster is an effective strategy to keep it grounded (right).

So, how exactly do you take down this monstrosity? As already mentioned, take out the Lightning Gun first, then work on striking the weakpoints of the Stormbird. One good way of bringing the Stormbird to the ground is via using the Ropecaster, particularly the Shadow version. It should only take four or five shots with it to tie the Stormbird, where you can easily shoot the Blaze Canisters near its tail or Freeze Canisters on its neck, although they might require you to destroy the armor before they are accessible.