It’s hardly surprising that Astro Bot is being lauded as a love letter to PlayStation; Machine Learning is just one of the many levels that pay homage to classic games and evoke nostalgia. The developers cleverly integrate these callbacks without overshadowing the main gameplay.
This level is set in a Horizon-themed world featuring Aloy and her machine enemies. Like other levels in Astro Bot, it includes a hidden trophy for defeating seven enemies using the Tripcaster. This guide will help you successfully take down those seven enemies.
What Is a Tripcaster?
The Tripcaster is a versatile weapon used by Aloy in the Horizon series. She uses the Tripcaster to strategically place traps in her environment. She can shoot out tripwires that activate various effects like explosions, shocks, or fires when triggered by enemies. In Astro Bot, the Tripcaster is not a weapon but an environmental hazard.
It appears as electrified purple tripwires that damage Astro and enemies if they come into contact with them. Astro can use lasers to cut the tripwires to deactivate them and remove their damaging effect to deal with these hazards. Though they can be easily deactivated, they are necessary to obtain the What a Trip! Trophy.
How to Defeat 7 Enemies With the Tripcaster in Astro Bot
The Machine Learning level appears at the end of Astro Bot’s fifth galaxy, Feather Cluster. This will become accessible after rescuing Aloy from the enormous bird in the Feather Cluster nebula. Astro can fire arrows from afar and aim with L2 or R2 when you have the bow. Midway through the level, a cluster of traps consisting of two pylons with purple electric wires appears on the floor.
Avoid using your hover jump when crossing these wires. Hovering over the wires will destroy them, meaning you’ll have to restart the level, as the Tripcasters won’t respawn. When you arrive at the area where the seven enemies are located, you’ll see they are positioned behind a series of Tripcaster lines.
The trick here is that the enemies won’t simply walk into the traps on their own—you need to carefully lure them into the wires. Start by jumping over the Tripcaster lines to approach the enemies, but don’t hover, as this will spring the traps. Once you’re close enough, the enemies will notice you and begin chasing after you.
The goal is to lead them back toward the Tripcaster lines, ensuring they run directly into the purple wires. Jump back over the Tripcaster lines while the enemies are chasing you. The enemies will charge right into the traps and be electrocuted if done correctly.
This, in turn, demands flawless timing and positioning. If you’re not careful, the enemies could knock you into the Tripcaster line, which will either kill you or cut the line. It’s also essential to make sure that none of the enemies are accidentally killed by any means other than the Tripcaster. Avoid using other weapons, such as bows or fists, in this area.
Any enemy killed by something other than the Tripcaster will void the attempt, as there are seven enemies in this section, and no additional ones will spawn. If you make a mistake, you can restart from the nearest checkpoint.
Conveniently, there is a cliff nearby where you can jump off and reset the checkpoint without restarting the entire level. This will respawn the enemies and reset the Tripcaster lines, giving you another chance to complete the challenge. Once you lure all seven enemies into the Tripcaster traps, and they are electrocuted, the What a trip! Trophy will pop.