To get a Skydrifter Circulator, an uncommon gear upgrade resource in Horizon Forbidden West, you have to kill and loot a Skydrifter. It doesn’t have to be an Apex Skydrifter, and you don’t have to shoot any particular component off the Skydrifter. Skydrifter Circulators appear as regular loot in Skydrifter wreckages. They’re not guaranteed to appear, but the probability is high.
The hard part about getting Skydrifter Circulators is that there are only four Skydrifter Sites on the entire Horizon Forbidden West map (although you can encounter Skydrifters elsewhere). Three of these Skydrifter Sites are southeast of Plainsong, and the fourth Skydrifter Site is among the desert mountains south of The Shining Wastes, and northwest of Hidden Ember. Check the maps below for the exact location of every Skydrifter Site.
Unlike many other flying machines in Horizon Forbidden West, Skydrifters spend quite a lot of time on the ground (so while a Ropecaster is very useful, it’s not essential). This is perhaps because they have a dangerous close-range fire attack and, for that reason, engaging them in melee is a bad idea unless you have particularly high fire resistance. Traps can be effective though, even non-vertical ones — any element except fire. Other than that, their weak points are pretty easy to hit, particularly the Tracking Container on the breast, and the Boosters on their legs. They also quite often keep their heads still enough for you to be able to get a direct hit on the Scanning Units on the front of their heads.
