Like most open-world action games, Horizon Forbidden West features a number of RPG mechanics such as leveling up and looting pieces of equipment that scale in rarity. Gaining experience and performing various side activities will award you with skill points used to purchase some potent upgrades.
There are six unique trees to consider, each one catering to an archetypal playstyle. Viewing every available skill before you spend many points will help you plan ahead based on your preferred method of mowing down machines.
In this article you will learn:
- About every Horizon Forbidden West Skill
- Whether or not you can max out every Horizon Forbidden West Skill in one playthrough
- What happens to your Horizon Forbidden West Skills when starting a New Game Plus
- How to use armor and weaves to further enhance Horizon Forbidden West Skills
Also read: Horizon Forbidden West: List of Characters
Warrior Skills
This tree is dedicated to brute strength and melee might. Unlocking these skills grants access to new close-combat combos and mechanics.
1. Resonator Blast
Striking enemies with R1 adds charge to the tip of your spear. With a full charge, press R2 to jolt your target with electricity. While the electricity does little damage of its own, shooting the ball of energy with an arrow will cause massive damage to the affected target.
2. Nora Warrior
The basic melee combo R1-R1-R1-R2 serves as one of the simplest ways to stagger large foes and knock lesser creatures to the ground.
3. Block Breaker
Use R1-R1-R2 as the perfect antidote for human enemies that block your attacks with shields and other equipment. This stuns the enemy, giving you an opportunity to transition into advanced melee combos or switch to a ranged weapon with a long windup such as the Boltblaster.
4. Melee Damage (Passive)
This passive buff ups your melee damage by 35 percent. The second level, which is unlocked further into the tree, boosts the damage bonus to 70 percent.
5. Resonator Blast+ (Passive)
Adding points into this ability increases how much pain your resonator blasts inflict upon blowing them up with an arrow. At Level 2, your blasts provide 70 percent more impact.
6. Energized Duration (Passive)
Having trouble shooting resonator blasts in time? This upgrade increases how long enemies remain electrocuted and primed for explosion. Level 2 yields a 7 percent wider window of opportunity for your finishing blow.
7. Critical Strike + (Passive)
Critical strikes are performed by following the R1 prompt that appears near downed enemies. Each node of critical strike plus increases the damage of this maneuver by 25 percent.
8. Resonator Damage (Passive)
This passive skill increases how much damage is done by simply electrocuting an enemy with R2. Level 2 improves the dame by 100 percent, but this skill does not stack with “Resonator Blast+.”
9. Power Attack + (Passive)
Holding R2 until your spear flashes allows you to perform a brutal power attack. Each node of this skill improves the damage of this ability by an extra 20 percent.
10. Aerial Slash & Jump-Off (Weapon Technique)
Pressing R1 and immediately holding R2 will cause Aloy to jump backwards off of an enemy. You can deal extra damage with this move by shooting the enemy with an arrow while still in the air. Luckily, time slows momentarily so you can line up the perfect angle whilst traveling backwards through the air.
11. Burst Fire (Weapon Technique)
Rapidly unleash three arrows of the currently equipped type in one powerful burst. While aiming with L2, tap R1 to unload this ability. Note that this move requires some weapon stamina, and enough ammo, to pull this off.
12. Critical Boost (Valor Surge)
This special valor surge move is acquired by purchasing the Resonator Blast, Critical Strike +, and Energized Duration Nodes directly connected to this ability. A level 3 Critical Boost improves critical hit chance by 55 percent, critical hit damage by 50 percent, critical strike damage by 50 percent, and weapon technique crit chance by 15 percent. Note that performing a Valor Surge move requires you to open the weapon wheel with L1 and pressing R1 when your valor meter is full.
13. Melee Detonator (Weapon Technique)
A weapon technique that fires two arrows of the currently selected type. Each arrow sticks to the enemy and explodes for huge damage when hit with your spear. With this technique equipped, aim with L2 and press R1 to fire.
14. Spreadshot (Weapon Technique)
Another weapon technique that drains stamina with L2 and R1. Spreadshot fires five arrows in a shotgun-esque spread. Holding R1 longer will narrow the spread for attacks focused on a single target.
15. Resonator Buildup (Passive)
This passive improves how quickly your Resonator Blast charges. Level 2 provides a 50 percent boost in efficiency.
16. Halfmoon Slash
Hold R1 to lunge at an enemy with an instantaneous strike. Not only is this perfect for closing the distance, but you can also cancel long melee combos with this move.
17. The Destroyer
A fanciful melee combo that deals an impressive amount of damage. Press R1-pause-R1-R1-R1-R1 to activate The Destroyer.
18. Spinning Scythe
This spinning attack is the ideal maneuver for crowd-control. Use R1-R1-pause-R1-R1 to unleash this wide-angled strike.
19. Energy Surge
Bypass that pesky Resonator Blast charging requirement with this hasty, but effective final attack combo. Press R1-R1-R1-pause-R1 to deal large amounts of damage and instantly power up your spear.
20. Melee Might (Valor Surge)
The final Warrior Valor Surge unlocks when you acquire Halfmoon Slash, The Destroyer, Spinning Scythe, and Energy Surge. Melee Might increase melee damage by 300 percent, grants unlimited spear energy, and power attacks will automatically knock down any targets impacted by the blow.
Trapper Skills
The trapper tree enhances your traps and increases your efficacy while crafting.
1. Quick Trapper (Passive)
This passive skill increases the rate at which Aloy can drop traps at her feet. At level 2, each trap is primed in just one second.
2. Skilled Salvager (Passive)
Deconstructing traps or tripwires yields more resources back with a higher chance of rare components being salvaged. Level 2 returns half of all resources back to your inventory. This is an exceptional way to salvage some metal shards when you are running low.
3. Nimble Crafter (Passive)
Hasten your ability to craft potions, tools, and traps with this passive skill. Level 2 reduces the crafting time by 40 percent, allowing you to restock your potions in the middle of combat. Note that stunning your enemy first will make it safe to craft potions while under duress.
4. Trap Limit (Passive)
Increases how many active traps can be placed at once. Level 2 allows for a maximum of four traps and tripwires simultaneously. Well-placed traps can be used to set up ambushes before a fight starts or make your pursuers navigate an obstacle course as you run to safety.
5. Resilient Trapper (Passive)
Reduces the penalty for triggering your own traps. At level 2, take 30 percent less damage from personal traps and tripwires. This will save you when frantically dodging around the battlefield while fighting large machines such as the Apex Rollerback.
6. Food Duration (Passive)
The benefits of meals prepared by settlement cooks last longer with this perk. Acquiring both upgrades increases the meal duration to 7.5 minutes. Use this before entering a Rebel Outpost or Hunting Ground to significantly improve your odds of success.
7. Elemental Fury (Valor Surge)
Once activated, this Valor Surge technique dramatically improves your affinity to the elements. Elemental Buildup is tripled, Elemental State Duration doubles, Elemental Damage Resistance improves by 40 percent, and an additional blast is triggered when you land a direct hit on an enemy weakened by an elemental state.
To unlock Elemental Fury, you must acquire the top six skills in the Trapper tree.
8. Quick Wire (Weapon Technique)
This weapon technique instantly launches a trip caster wire with a preset length, bypassing the need to manually draw a line. This is useful for charging enemies that are guaranteed to run right in front of you. Bypass the aiming and deal some heavy damage to your reckless foe.
9. Penetrating Rope (Weapon Technique)
Fire a rope that automatically attaches to armor, regardless of how long you drew the rope caster before shooting. You can also yank off the mounted heavy weapons enemies love to fire at you. Commandeer the heavy weapons dropped with this technique and use them to quickly level the battlefield.
10. Trap Specialist (Valor Surge)
Augment the overall effectiveness of your traps and tripwires for the duration of your Valor Surge. Trap damage is doubled, Elemental Buildup increases 75 percent, knockdown power increases 75 percent, and the effect radius of traps is doubled. At level 3, a set of hovering mines are deployed to shield Aloy from would-be attackers.
To unlock Trap Specialist, you must first upgrade all six of the skills at the bottom of the Trapper tree.
Hunter Skills
The Hunter tree provides more merit to your ranged attacks and increases the amount of ammo resources you can hold at one time.
1. Concentration + (Passive)
Prolongs how long you can slow your perception of time by clicking R3 while aiming. The level 2 bonus doubles your max concentration time.
2. Deep Concentration (Passive)
Your concentration drains at a slower rate, further prolonging the “bullet-time” effect while aiming. Getting both upgrades reduces depletion speed by 25 percent.
3. Concentration Regen (Passive)
Improves the rate at which concentration is restored. Level 2 doubles your recovery speed.
4. High Volley (Weapon Technique)
Launch a collection of arrows that rain down on your enemies. This costs weapon stamina and rapidly drains the currently equipped ammo type. However, this move is well worth the cost as you can quickly control crowds of enemies such as Leaplashers or Scroungers with relatively little effort.
5. Spread Blast (Weapon Technique)
Simultaneously shoot eight bolts of the selected type in a short spread. Uses a moderate amount of weapon stamina. This move is ideal for when a group of charging enemies is attempting to surround you.
6. Weapon Stamina + (Passive)
Breaks the limit of your max stamina threshold. Level 2 improves your stamina pool by 50 percent.
7. Valor Surge Master (Passive)
Valor accrues at a faster rate during battle. At level 2, enjoy 50 percent more of this valuable resource per action.
8. Stamina Regen (Passive)
Improves how quickly your physical energy recharges. At level 2, your stamina recovers twice as fast.
9. Ranged Master (Valor Surge)
Triggering this Valor Surge improves your ranged prowess for a short time. Ranged weapon damage increases by 60 percent, technique damage is improved 40 percent, and weapon stamina regens thrice as fast. Also, machines killed by ranged attacks explode and you recover ten percent of your health with each projectile that finds a target.
As always, this Valor Surge is unlocked by acquiring each of the nodes around it first.
10. Ammo Expert (Passive)
Crafting ammo yields even more material from the same number of components. Level 2 provides a moderate ammo stipend during each crafting transaction.
11. Heavy Weapon + (Passive)
Deal heightened damage with the weapons you pick up off the ground. Level 2 provides a 20 percent bonus to heavy weapon damage.
12. Sustained Burst (Weapon Technique)
Rapidly unload an entire clip of bolts while remaining stationary. This technique uses the currently selected bolt type, and all ammo is lost if the extended attack animation is interrupted. However, few attacks do more damage to a single target. Use this move to quickly eliminate Apex machines.
13. Triple Notch (Weapon Technique)
Shoot three Hunter Bow arrows simultaneously. This uses weapon stamina and the currently selected ammo type. Use these with elemental arrows to spike your enemy’s Elemental Buildup status and cause some fireworks.
14. Workbench Expert
Crafting ammo at the workbench in settlements expends fewer resources than if you make the same materials out in the wild.
15. Powershots (Valor Surge)
Turn your next few ranged attacks into power shots, which deal tremendously more damage and restore your concentration with each successful hit. At max level, you get five Powershots that deal triple damage and return 25 percent of your concentration. Another cool perk is that Powershots do not expend any of your traditional ammo reserves.
16. Knockdown Shot (Weapon Technique)
This special hunter bow shot deals no damage, but has an incredibly high probability of knocking down small enemies and staggering large ones. You can fire up to three of these arrows in rapid succession, which uses a lot more weapon stamina.
17. Ultra Shot (Weapon Technique)
Fires up to ten bolts of your current ammo type. Each bolt explodes and can travel a much further distance than a normal shot.
Survivor Skills
The Survivor tree provides a ton of practical bonuses that accompany any playstyle.
1. Potent Medicine (Passive)
Berries provide additional health and the feeding animation hastens with each level. Both healing power and speed increase by 50 percent at max rank.
2. Low Health Regen (Passive)
Health regeneration procs sooner once you fall below 25 percent health. Level 2 reduces the delay to four seconds.
3. Low Health Defense (Passive)
Damage resistance improves by 50 percent when you have less than a quarter of your total health remaining.
4. Medicine Capacity (Passive)
Increase the size of your berry pouch. Level 2 allows for the transport of 14 healing berries at once.
5. Potion Proficiency Passive)
Healing potions become 25 percent more effective and the drinking animation is shortened to one second.
6. Valor On Impact (Passive)
Your Valor gets a boost each time an enemy attack lands. At level 2, gain five valor per successful blow.
7. Bouncing Bomb (Weapon Technique)
Fires a bouncing Blastsling bomb that grows in strength with each hop up to a maximum of three bounces. This attack requires two bombs to use but is perfect for dealing massive damage to slow targets. Since you must wait for the bombs to bounce, avoid using this technique on nimble creatures who will dodge with ease.
8. Triple Shredder (Weapon Technique)
Use a moderate amount of weapon stamina to fire three shredders at once. Note that only one gauntlet from each volley can be caught and reabsorbed into your ammo pool.
9. Toughened (Valor Surge)
Drink a potion that grants unique effects. Regain 80 health every two seconds, resist 35 percent of melee damage, resist crushing by half, and become completely immune to blinding and deafening effects.
10. Low Health Melee (Passive)
Increase your damage by 30 percent when your health falls below the critical threshold of 35 percent.
11. Overshield (Valor Surge)
Deploy a special shield that absorbs damage independently from your health. At max rank, the shield has 400 health, deflects 20 percent of melee damage, and explodes with a shockwave when depleted.
12. Burst Dodge (Weapon Technique)
Jump backwards while launching a volley of the currently selected bomb type in front of you. Make charging enemies regret their decision by swiftly avoiding their strike and immediately launching your counteroffensive.
13. Shredder Mine (Weapon Technique)
Shoot a shredder that hovers in place. As enemies draw near, they become electrocuted and stunned in place. Immobilized enemies can easily have their components stripped for the sake of your equipment upgrades.
14. Sticky Bomb (Weapon Technique)
Fire a bomb that latches onto the target and explodes after a few seconds. Stack multiple explosives before detonation to increase the damage and blast radius.
15. Plant Forager
Allows you to gather more plant resources from the open world. Getting this skill as early as possible with maximize its effectiveness throughout the game.
16. Power Shredder (Weapon Technique)
Focus on a single target with a souped-up shredder that is destroyed upon impact. This move is practically guaranteed to remove the component it hits, so use it to farm the last few upgrade materials you need.
Infiltrator Skills
Enhance your sneakiness so enemies have no clue what hit them. If you prefer to dole out death from the shadows, then this tree will be your main focus.
1. Silent Strike + (Passive)
Silent strikes from stealth deal 50 percent more damage on unaware enemies.
2. Stealth Ranged + (Passive)
While hidden, your ranged attacks do 15 percent more damage at level 2. This makes headshots a viable stealth kill solution for human enemies.
3. Stealth Tear + (Passive)
Tearing off armor is 25 percent more effective when firing arrows from stealth.
4. Silent Strike Heal + (Passive)
Gain back up to 45 percent of your health when successfully silent striking a foe.
5. Smoke Bomb Capacity (Passive)
Increase your maximum smoke bomb capacity, up to a total of six throwables.
6. Low Profile (Passive)
Reduce your visibility while hiding in stealth spots like tall grass. Level 2 further reduces the likelihood of being caught and allows you to quickly drop the suspicion of nearby patrols.
7. Quiet Movement (Passive)
The noise of all your movements is muffled. Level 2 enhances the effect to a greater degree. When combined with armor and weave bonuses, you can run up to enemies from behind and stealth kill or override them before they even hear you.
8. Quiet Spear (Passive)
Melee attacks make less noise, reducing the likelihood of being detected by faraway enemies. Level 2 makes your spear even less audible. This allows you to clear whole encounters without arousing suspicion from nearby patrols.
9. Stealth Stalker (Valor Surge)
Enable a cloaking device that makes you invisible while enhancing your stealth combat capabilities. Silent strike damage is increased 200 percent, ranged damage is enhanced by 50 percent, and every kill while cloaked restores some valor.
10. Braced Shot (Weapon Technique)
Kneel down and fire three explosive Sharpshot arrows. This track depletes a lot of stamina, but yields a ton of damage.
11. Silent Strike Gain (Passive)
Recover weapons stamina and Valor upon successful silent strokes. At level 2, gain 25 percent weapon stamina and 200 percent more valor per attack.
12. Double Notch (Weapon Technique)
Ready two Sharpshot arrows of the same type simultaneously and launch them in tandem. This attack uses a moderate level of weapon stamina.
13. Focused Shot (Weapon Technique)
Zoom in like a sniper rifle while aiming and fire an extremely powerful single shot that drains a moderate amount of stamina. Use the cover of stealth to carefully line up each powerful blow without retaliation from your opponents.
14. Radial Blast (Valor Surge)
Unleash a powerful shockwave that targets every enemy around you. The blast damage is a flat 1,200 and the radius is increased by 60 percent at max level. There is also 600 shock buildup applied to each enemy, and shocked enemies take double damage for 15 seconds.
Machine Master Skills
If you love to commandeer enemies, this tree greatly enhances your power while mounted.
1. Mounted Defense (Passive)
Take up to 30 percent less damage when mounted at level 2 of this perk. This makes mounted combat viable as you are bound to take some hits from your exposed position.
2. Lasting Override (Passive)
Override a downed enemy by holding Triangle next to it when prompted. This perk asserts control over the creature for 100 seconds at level 2.
3. Machine Damage (Passive)
Overridden machines do more damage to other enemies, up to 50 percent with the second upgrade.
4. Spike Trap (Weapon Technique)
Launch a spike that turns into a trap and arms itself after a short delay. Uses one spike and a moderate amount of stamina upon activation. This is extremely useful for covering your back as you concentrate on other foes.
5. Propelled Spike (Weapon Technique)
Launch up to four spikes at an increased distance. Each spike explodes on impact or when an enemy walks close. Keep crowds of enemies at bay as you plan a strategy to take them out.
6. Heavy Lifter (Passive)
Move faster while holding a heavy weapon with each level of this skill.
7. Machine Health (Passive)
Machines you override have more health. At level 2, your allies receive double the endurance.
8. Efficient Repair (Passive)
Machines cost fewer metal shards to repair, up to 50 percent at level 2 of this perk. This is another key skill for making mounted combat feasible in all situations.
9. Part Breaker (Valor Surge)
Deal more damage to weak points, easily tearing off machine components. Tear and regular damage to components is improved by 85 percent, damage to weak points is heightened by 85 percent, there is a greater chance for rare scrap to drop, and a 30 percent chance to knock down enemies upon successfully removing a component.
10. Machine Elemental + (Passive)
Overridden machines deal up to 50 percent more elemental damage with both upgrades of this skill.
11. Splitting Spike (Weapon Technique)
Launch a single spike that splits into multiple projectiles while traveling. Uses moderate stamina and the currently selected spike type.
12. Override Subroutines
While overriding an enemy, you can choose whether the AI adopts a defensive or aggressive support style.
13. Mounted Archer (Passive)
While riding an overridden machine, your arrows deal 20 percent more damage with both levels of this skill.
14. Chain Burst (Valor Surge)
All damage directly done to enemies chains to other nearby creatures. At max rank, chain damage is doubled, the knockdown power is doubled, and there is a 50 percent chance that the damage chain forms an additional link before dissipating.
Frequently asked questions about Horizon Forbidden West Skills
Here is an FAQ outlining the main things to be aware of when planning your progression through each Horizon Forbidden West Skill tree.
Can you unlock every Horizon Forbidden West skill in one playthrough?
If you are going for the trophy for obtaining all skills, or just want to complete the game 100 percent, you will be happy to learn that every skill is obtainable in one playthrough. Keep in mind that you will not have enough skill points by simply leveling to the cap of 50. You will need to supplement your progression by completing the myriad side missions located around the map. Luckily, many of these quests offer great stories and thrilling combat encounters to sink your teeth into.
Do skills carry over into New Game Plus?
Your hard work will not go to waste as everything from your previous file carries over into New Game Plus. This includes weapons, armor, resources, and unspent skill points as well.
Tips on improving skills with armor and weaves
While you can only get two ranks in each passive bonus from the skill tree through natural leveling, each passive skill actually has four potential thresholds to achieve. Look for armor and weave bonuses that add to your favorite skills. In the picture shown above, you will see an example of the type of bonuses you can receive from a legendary-grade armor piece. Note that some traits give +2 to a specific skill, so you do not necessarily need both an armor and weave to achieve the maximum bonus.
Now that you have a good idea of every Horizon Forbidden West skill available, feel free to develop a play style at your own pace. No content is locked behind any one skill, so approaching the adventure in whichever way you see fit will yield the most satisfying results.
