The best skills in Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West's best skills continue the series' tradition of providing protagonist Aloy with a wide range of moves and abilities to learn from.

As the player progresses through the game, the player will earn skill points that can be used to unlock Active Skills, Passive Boost, Weapon Techniques, and Valor Surges. These skills fall into 6 categories: Warrior, Trapper, Hunter, Survivor, Infiltrator and Machine Master.

In this article, learn all of the different abilities players can unlock in Horizon Forbidden West and recommendations for the best skills.

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The best skills in Horizon Forbidden West

The best skills in Horizon Forbidden West are the ones that help gamers play the way they want. However, there are still some slightly more prominent skills that new players can use.

Concentration+, Deep Concentration, and Concentration Regen: The first three skills in the Hunter skill tree are all for Concentration, which allows time to be slowed while aiming his ranged weapon. Concentration is the most useful of all the skills of Horizon Forbidden West.

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Potent Medicine and Medicine Capacity: The first and third skills in the Survivor skill tree improve the effectiveness and number of medicinal berries it will use to heal. This skill is good because the player will need to heal a lot in the game.

Part Breaker: A Valor Surge skill, which means gamers need to buy 5 skills around to unlock it.

Being a Valor Surge skill means you'll need to build up your Valor through ranged and melee attacks. When Valor is charged, hold L1 and then press R1 to activate it.

This skill increases damage to machine components, helping to gather the most useful resources to upgrade his weapons and outfits.

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The Warrior skill tree in Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West's Warrior skill consists of 31 skill sets and techniques that increase Aloy's basic combat ability. Get skills from the Warrior skill tree to make yourself a stronger warrior.

Skill Name	Type	Description
Aerial Slash/Jump-off	Active skills	Jump away from enemies to quickly reposition yourself or create distance.
Block Breaker	Active skills	A combo that instantly breaks the enemy's weapon protection.
Energy Surge	Active skills	Energize the spear quickly with a powerful final hit.
Halfmoon Slash	Active skills	Close the enemy with a quick attack.
Nora Warrior	Active skills	A powerful melee combo to take down small enemies and wow larger ones.
Resonator Blast	Active skills	Hit enemies with a spear to accumulate energy. Then tap R2 to energize the target before using the bow to shoot them for increased damage.
Spinning Scythe	Active skills	Build a powerful spin to attack all surrounding enemies.
The Destroyer	Active skills	A series of attacks that deal massive damage.
Critical Strike+ 1	Passive Boost	Critical hits deal more damage.
Critical Strike+ 2	Passive Boost	Critical hits deal more damage.
Energized Duration 1	Passive Boost	Targets are powered for longer.
Energized Duration 2	Passive Boost	Targets are powered for longer.
Melee Damage 1	Passive Boost	Deal more damage with light and strong attacks.
Melee Damage 2	Passive Boost	Deal more damage with light and strong attacks.
Power Attack+	Passive Boost	Power attacks deal more damage.
Resonator Blast+ 1	Passive Boost	Deal more damage with Resonator Blasts.
Resonator Blast+ 2	Passive Boost	Deal more damage with Resonator Blasts.
Resonator Buildup 1	Passive Boost	Power the spear faster.
Resonator Buildup 2	Passive Boost	Power the spear faster.
Resonator Damage 1	Passive Boost	Deals more damage while energizing the target.
Resonator Damage 2	Passive Boost	Deals more damage while energizing the target.
Critical Boost	Valor Surge	Get a bigger change in Attack Count and Critical Damage (requires Resonator Blast Energized Duration and Critical Strike+).
Melee Might	Valor Surge	Attach the power module to the spear to deal more damage with short-duration melee attacks (requires Halfmoon Slash, Spinning Scythe, and The Destroyer).
Burst Fire	Weapon Technique	Shoot 3 arrows quickly in one go.
Melee Detonator	Weapon Technique	Fires a special arrow that explodes on melee attacks (requires Aerial Slash/Jump-off and Halfmoon Slash).
Spread Shot	Weapon Technique	Shoot 5 arrows horizontally.