Character Skills
Character Skills – Horizon Forbidden West
Overview
Only one character is playable: Aloy. Her skills are divided into six skill trees (Hunter, Brave, Infiltrator, Warrior, Survivor, Machine Master) plus a Trapper tree added in the Burning Shores DLC. Additionally, Weapon Techniques and Valor Surges act as special abilities. Each skill tree offers passive bonuses and active abilities that can be upgraded via skill points earned from leveling, quests, and exploration.
Skill Trees
1. Hunter Tree – Ranged Combat & Precision
Focuses on bow accuracy, concentration, and advanced arrow techniques.
- Hunter’s Reflex: Rank 1-3 – Time slows briefly after a dodge or slide while aiming. Useful for lining up shots under pressure.
- Concentration: Rank 1-3 – Extends time slow while aiming. Synergizes with Hunter’s Reflex for extended slow-motion.
- Concentration+: Rank 4 – Further extends duration and reduces stamina cost for Concentration.
- Part Breaker: Rank 1-3 – Increases damage to machine parts and components. Essential for harvesting. Combos with precision arrows.
- Double/Triple Notch: Rank 1-2 – Allows firing 2 or 3 arrows at once, consuming extra resources. Massive burst damage; best used with high-damage arrows (e.g., Precision Arrows).
- Spread Shot: Load multiple arrows into Hunter Bow for a fan shot. Great for groups; moderate damage per arrow.
- Coil Breaker: Destroy armor plates temporarily, leaving machines vulnerable. Effective on heavily armored enemies.
- Agile Archer: Faster movement while aiming. Improves survivability during ranged fights.
- Scout’s Instinct: Highlight enemies and resources through walls while Focus is active. Rank 1-2 increases range.
- Stealth Runner: Silent sprint without alerting enemies. Essential for infiltration.
- Low Profile: Reduce enemy detection range. Combine with stealth armor for near-invisibility.
- Concentration+ (Brave): Additional ranks for slowing time; shared with Hunter tree but cheaper here.
- Nora Survivor: Increase healing from berries and potions. Rank 1-3.
- Valor Surge Mastery: Reduce Valor Surge cooldown and increase duration. High priority.
- Rescuer: Automatically heal yourself when low health (once per combat). Lifesaver on harder difficulties.
- Silent Strike: Perform a one-hit kill from stealth on human enemies and small machines. Upgradable to larger machines.
- Silent Strike+: Extends range and damage. Combine with stealth gear.
- Critical Strike: Heavy damage attack on downed or stunned enemies. Use after acid/blaze state or knockdown.
- Critical Strike+: More damage and faster execution.
- Lure: Whistle to attract enemies into ambush position. Rank reduces cooldown.
- Smoke Bomb: Create smoke screen for escape or stealth kill setups. Duration can be extended.
- Master Trapper: Deploy traps faster and increase trap damage. Essential for trap builds.
- Trap Limit: Increase number of traps you can place simultaneously (up to 8 with max rank).
- Power Attack: Hold R2 for a heavy spear strike that can break guard and stagger machines. Upgrades increase damage and AOE.
- Melee Combo: Execute a multi-hit combo (e.g., light, light, heavy). Rank adds more hits and finishers.
- Block Breaker: A heavy swing that shatters enemy blocks. Effective against humans with shields.
- Northstar: A spear throw that damages and knocks back. Unlocks a ranged melee option.
- Resonator Blast: After a melee hit, a small energy orb appears; shooting it with an arrow causes an explosion. High skill ceiling.
- Warrior’s Valor: Increase melee damage and reduce stamina cost for melee skills.
- Endurance: Reduce damage taken while using melee skills.
- Potent Potions: Increase effectiveness of potions (health, stamina, elemental). Upgrades to 3 ranks.
- Potion Proficiency: Craft potions faster and with fewer ingredients.
- Health Boost: Add a flat health bonus. Stackable.
- Environmental Resistance: Reduce damage from fire, ice, shock, acid, and plasma. Very useful in endgame elemental zones.
- Shieldwing: Deploy a shield that blocks one hit. Cooldown-based. Saves from instant kills.
- Dodge Mastery: Increase invincibility frames and movement speed during dodges.
- Override: Temporarily take control of a machine to fight for you. Upgrades allow overriding higher-tier machines (e.g., Thunderjaw).
- Machine Repair: Heal your overridden machine. Important for keeping pets alive.
- Mount Combat: Increased damage and stamina while riding a machine.
- Ride Mastery: Reduce stamina drain when sprinting on mounts.
- Override+: Longer override duration and reduced cooldown.
- Machine Sync: Synchronize overridden machines to attack same target.
- Force Loader: Faster trap deployment with no movement penalty.
- Fling Trap: Throw traps to distant locations – ideal for ambushes.
- Ripcord Trap: A tripwire that activates twice. Great damage potential.
- Shock Trap: Upgraded shock trap that chains to nearby enemies.
- Acid Trap: Deploy acid puddle that eats armor. Synergizes with elemental weaknesses.
- Trap Disciple: Increase trap damage by a percentage based on how many traps are active.
- Hunter Bow: Triple Notch (burst), Spread Shot (fan), Braced Shot (sniper-style high damage with long cooldown).
- Sharpshot Bow: Precision Arrow (higher crit chance), Penetrating Arrow (pierces armor), Tearblast Arrow (deals tear damage).
- Warrior Bow: Quick Shot (rapid fire), Crossbow Pulse (stun), Grapple Shot (pull enemies).
- Spear: Power Attack, Charge Attack (gigantic damage), Block Breaker, Northstar.
- Ropecaster: Tie Down (immobilize), Rope Burst (AOE immobilize).
- Tripcaster: Triple Wire (multiple wires), Shield Wire (deflects projectiles).
- Blastslings: Bomb Volley (multiple bombs), Sticky Bomb (attaches to enemy).
- Shredder Gauntlet: Tear Blast (explosive tear), Return Damage (when caught).
- Stealth Surge: Become invisible for a short time. Rank increases duration and damage bonus on first attack. Great for opening a fight.
- Ranged Surge: All bow shots deal bonus damage and have chance to ricochet. Rank increases ricochet chance and duration.
- Melee Surge: Spear attacks become faster and stagger more. Rank adds lifesteal.
- Shatter Surge: Melee hits cause explosive bursts. Rank increases blast radius.
- Trapper Surge: All traps deal bonus damage and have increased radius. Rank adds fire/acid effect.
- Machine Override Surge: Immediately override a machine without cooldown, plus buff its stats. Rank allows overriding larger machines instantly.
- Elemental Surge: Apply a random elemental effect to your arrows for a period. Rank increases element chance and duration.
- Health Surge: Rapidly regenerate health over time. Rank adds damage reduction during surge.
- Stamina Surge: Unlimited stamina for a short time. Rank increases duration. Combos with weapon techniques that cost stamina.
- Trees: Prioritize Hunter (Concentration, Double/Triple Notch, Part Breaker) and Infiltrator (Silent Strike, Critical Strike, Lure).
- Valor Surge: Stealth Surge for open fights, then Ranged Surge for sustained damage.
- Weapon Techniques: Triple Notch, Braced Shot.
- Playstyle: Engage from afar, use stealth to one-shot humans, and break parts from distance.
- Synergies: Use stealth armor (e.g., Nora Shadow), weapon coils with stealth damage.
- Trees: Max Warrior (Power Attack, Melee Combo, Resonator Blast), Survivor (Health Boost, Dodge Mastery), Brave (Valor Surge Mastery).
- Valor Surge: Melee Surge or Shatter Surge.
- Weapon Techniques: Power Attack, Block Breaker, Northstar.
- Playstyle: Aggressive close-quarters, stagger machines with combos, use Resonator Blast for huge AOE.
- Synergies: Armor with melee damage and stagger resistance.
- Trees: Max Machine Master (Override, Machine Repair, Mount Combat), Trapper (Fling Trap, Ripcord Trap), Hunter (Part Breaker for damage).
- Valor Surge: Machine Override Surge for quick control.
- Weapon Techniques: Tie Down (Ropecaster) for immobilization, then override.
- Playstyle: Override a big machine to tank, heal it, and let it fight while you support from range.
- Concentration: Always use when aiming at weak spots or in mid-air. Essential for precision.
- Triple Notch: When you have a clear shot at a weak point (e.g., Thunderjaw heart) – immense burst.
- Power Attack: To break block or stagger a machine for a critical strike. Use after dodge.
- Silent Strike: Any stealth kill opportunity on unaware targets. Best with Lure.
- Traps: Place before engaging a patrol path or chokepoint. Use Ripcord Trap for double activation.
- Valor Surges: Activate before a big fight (e.g., Stormbird). Use Health Surge when low; Stealth Surge for arena encounters.
- Lure + Silent Strike: Lure an enemy into grass, then silent strike. Repeat.
- Resonator Blast + Ranged Damage: Melee an enemy to create orb, then shoot it for explosive damage that can trigger chain reactions.
- Trap + Override: Place traps around a machine you plan to override; after override, traps won't harm it but hurt enemies.
- Stamina Surge + Weapon Techniques: Spam Braced Shot or Triple Notch without stamina concerns.
- Elemental Surge + Death-Seeker Bow: Apply fire/acid to multiple arrows quickly.
- Invest in Valor Surge Mastery early for faster fill rate.
- Part Breaker is critical for farming rare components like Thunderjaw Tails.
- Low Profile + stealth armor = you can walk near machines without detection.
- Shieldwing can save you from one-hit kill attacks (e.g., Stormbird lightning).
- In Burning Shores, Fling Trap enables remote detonation combos with Trap Disciple for massive damage.
2. Brave Tree – Survival & Stealth
Enhances health, stealth, and resource gathering.
3. Infiltrator Tree – Stealth Kills & Traps
Focuses on silent takedowns, traps, and critical hits.
4. Warrior Tree – Melee Combat
Boosts spear combos, charged attacks, and melee damage.
5. Survivor Tree – Health & Potions
Enhances healing, potion capacity, and damage reduction.
6. Machine Master Tree – Overrides & Mounts
Allows control over machines and enhances mounted combat.
7. Trapper Tree (Burning Shores DLC)
Specializes in advanced traps and tools.
Weapon Techniques
Weapon Techniques are special moves unlocked by spending skill points in specific trees. Each weapon type has at least one technique. Cooldowns vary.
Valor Surges
Valor Surges are powerful activated abilities that fill a Valor meter (earned by dealing/taking damage, breaking parts). Each surge has 3 ranks. Activate with L1+R1.