Horizon Forbidden West skill tree: Where should you spend your skill points?
Some tips on navigating the six skill trees of Horizon Forbidden West.
Once you've spent an hour or two with Horizon Forbidden West, you'll be introduced to the Horizon Forbidden West skill tree, which is one of the more complicated skill trees that we've seen recently.
While some games would be content with one simple skill tree that gradually allows you unlock new abilities as you progress through the game, Horizon Forbidden West has a whopping six different skill trees for players to pick between.
Each of the six skill trees is themed around a different facet of Aloy's gameplay, and each of them has a number of different skills you can unlock. Thankfully, you can flit back and forth between these skill trees throughout the game. You don't have to pick just one.
But what do each of the Horizon Forbidden West skill trees do, and where should you spend your skill points if you're looking to build your Aloy in a particular way? Read on to find out.
Horizon Forbidden West skill tree explained
The six different skill trees in Horizon Forbidden West, and some handy information on what they all relate to, are listed below:
- Hunter - weapon stamina, concentration and improving Hunter Bows and Boltblasters
- Infiltrator - stealth, silent strikes and improving Sharpshot Bows
- Machine Master - hacking machines, controlling machines and improving Spike Thrower weapons
- Survivor - healing, crafting and improving Blastsling and Shredder Gauntlet weapons
- Trapper - improving traps, Ropecaster and Tripcaster
- Warrior - melee combat, improving spear and Warrior Bow
Certainly, there are plenty of options to choose from there, and it's easy to imagine every different player building Aloy out in their own unique way. There must be loads of different combinations we could try.
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Where should you spend your Horizon Forbidden West skill points?
If you're just starting your journey in Horizon Forbidden West, there are a few points on the skill tree(s) that we'd highly recommend to get you started.
In the Hunter skill tree, we'd recommend spending one skill point on Concentration+ as soon as you can. This skill with prolong the period of slowed-down time that kicks in when you aim your bow, which should make combat that little bit easier.
In the Survivor skill tree, we'd also recommend that you invest some skill points in Potent Medicine (berries heal you faster and to a greater degree) and Low Health Regen (speeds up the automatic healing when you're under 25 per cent health) sooner rather than later.
Beyond those basics, it really is up to you, and you should plot your path through the Horizon Forbidden West skill tree based on your preferred style of play. If you like taking out robot animals in a sneaky way, use the Infiltrator skill tree. Or if you prefer to run at them head on and bash them with a stick, you'll want to pour resources into the Warrior skill tree. However you choose to play, you've got plenty of options!
Read more on Horizon Forbidden West:
- Horizon Forbidden West review - our full verdict
- Horizon Forbidden West PS5 upgrade - get the cheapest version
- Horizon Forbidden West trophy list - full trophies guide
- Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck LEGO - when does the set come out?
- Horizon Forbidden West map
- Horizon Forbidden West hours - how long it takes to beat
- Will Horizon Forbidden West be on PC?
- Horizon Forbidden West romance - why Aloy doesn't have a love interest
- Horizon Forbidden West armour
- Horizon Call of the Mountain VR game - latest news
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
