Horizon Forbidden West expands upon its skill tree with six different sets of skills to unlock, each focused on its own set of abilities for Aloy.These range from focusing on melee damage, enhancing ranged damage, boosting Aloy’s healing abilities and buffs, traps for pinning down machines, improving Aloy’s stealth abilities, and enhancing how Aloy can take over and override machines. Each tree has more than a dozen skills to unlock with some having more than 20 but what are the best skills in Horizon Forbidden West
There are over 100 skills in total, so you will want to prioritise and pick some key skills, rather than just buying the first one you see. So, after getting a glimpse at the Horizon Forbidden West skill tree, we have highlighted some key skills that you should purchase. Read on for our suggestions for the best skills in Horizon Forbidden West, which should complement some of the best weapons in Horizon Forbidden West too.
Horizon Forbidden West Best Skills
Here are some of our suggestions for the best skills in Horizon Forbidden West:
- Valor Surges
- Weapon Techniques
- Deep Concentration
- Medicine Capacity
- Silent Strike Gain
- Resonator Buildup
- Ammo Expert
- Block Breaker
- Silent Strike+
Valor Surges
Believe it or not but some of the best skills in the skill tree aren’t even skills, they are some of the best Valor Surges out of the 12 available. Some highlights include Toughened and Stealth Stalker.
These dramatically enhance your combat capabilities and can be earned by landing spear hits. Each one has its own style of play, so you just need to find the one that fits you.
Weapon Techniques
Given that the game’s skill tree is filled with more than just passive skills, Weapon Techniques are another great skill type to focus on.
They give Aloy new abilities for her weapons, like being able to notch more than one arrow for a Hunter Bow, or being able to use a weapon like a machine gun, firing bolts at rapid speed. There are a number in the game so you will need to find the one that fits the weapon you like to use most.
Deep Concentration
Found in the Hunter Skill tree, the Deep Concentration skill will slow how fast your Concentration bar depletes when using it, allowing you to prepare and land shots on human enemies or target machine parts more accurately.
With some of the best weapons in the game, this becomes key as it allows you to land hits on weak points, devastating machines using one of Horizon Forbidden West’s ammo types.
Medicine Capacity
The Medicine Capacity skill can be purchased quite early on in the game and it is essential, boosting the amount of Medicinal Berries you can carry in your Medicine Pouch.
Medicinal Berries are plentiful, but you can never have too many and if you are taking on some of the toughest quests on Horizon Forbidden West’s mission list you will need as much health as you can hold.
Silent Strike Gain
Silent Strike Gain is one of the better stealth skills in the tree as it will increase your Valor gain when you perform a stealth attack and recover your weapon stamina.
If you are looking for a playstyle where you can play while hopping in and out of stealth, you will want to work towards the Silent Strike Gain skill as quickly as possible.
Resonator Buildup
Resonator Buildup is one of the best skills in the Warrior skill tree. It allows you to energise your spear faster, which builds up a powerful attack than can strike enemy armour, ripping it off.
The key to winning melee fights is to use your energise ability to stun and leave your opponents quaking in their boots.
Ammo Expert
Ammo Expert is a useful skill no matter what point you are in the game or playstyle you opt for. It allows you to craft more ammunition from the same resources which will make you to be more efficient overall.
There really isn’t any reason not to invest in this skill, so you should try to get as far down the Hunter skill tree as you can to pick this one up as soon as possible.
Block Breaker
The Block Breaker skill is incredibly useful, allowing you to break a human enemy’s guard and gain a leg up in melee fights. Melee combat has been improved significantly in this sequel, but being able to break a guard will help you in tough situations.
It is also good against some of the stronger enemy types in the game, who like to block or guard more than your regular grunts.
Silent Strike+
This skill is useful for similar reasons, it allows you to boost your takedown damage when in stealth.
This is great against tougher human enemies and medium-sized machines that are a little stronger than your lower-level Reconnaissance machines.
For more tips with Horizon Forbidden West, check out our overview of the Horizon Forbidden West machines, the Tallneck locations, and the Cauldron locations.