Horizon Forbidden West builds upon its predecessor in many successful ways. One of the most evident is in the skill trees, where Horizon Forbidden West features a much more robust system than Zero Dawn. There are now more trees and more skills in each, allowing players to design a build that’s right for them. However, crafting the right build needs a solid foundation of early-game skills.
Player’s early skill points are valuable, as they don’t have many opportunities to earn XP in the first few hours of the game. Because of this, players will want to ensure they’re picking the absolute right skills no matter what build they’re going for. There are several skills that work for every build in Horizon Forbidden West and they give players a terrific foundation to build upon.
Those skills that you should unlock in the early game are viewable with their descriptions below.
Early-game skills to unlock in Horizon Forbidden West
There are six skill trees in the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. These trees are Warrior, Trapper, Hunter, Survivor, Infiltrator and Machine Master. The trees are fairly self-explanatory and each of them features a skill or two that provide Aloy with some major upgrades.
Here are 10 skills players should unlock with their first set of skill points:
- Potent Medicine: Medicinal berries heals more and heals faster
- Silent Strike+: Silent Strike deals extra damage
- Stealth Tear+: Tear damage is increased while in stealth mode
- Resonator Blast: Strike an enemy first with a melee attack to charge up the meter and then strike with a ranged attack for extra damage
- Concentration+: Increase player’s concentration meter
- Block Breaker: Break through an enemy’s blocking stance
- Quick Trapper: Place traps faster
- Nora Warrior: A melee combo that can knock down small targets and stagger larger ones
- Deep Concentration: Concentration meter goes down slower
- Concentration Regen: Recover concentration faster
These skills are found in all of the different skill trees. The combat skills utilize a mix of melee and ranged attacks, and the concentration meter for the bow is the most important skill to advance. There is also a skill to ensure Aloy can heal faster and more efficiently.
If players use these 10 skills, they’ll be set up well for the later stages of Horizon Forbidden West.
