Horizon Forbidden West Valor Surges Explained: How to Unlock, Equip, Use, Upgrade & What They All Do

Horizon Forbidden West has finally arrived, bringing the next chapter of Aloy’s story as she ventures west into the Tenakth tribe’s territory. With the blight spreading across the world, vicious storms threatening the last remnants of humanity, and new, formidable machines appearing, Aloy ventures out to get to the bottom of these mysteries. To help…

Horizon Forbidden West has finally arrived, bringing the next chapter of Aloy’s story as she ventures west into the Tenakth tribe’s territory. With the blight spreading across the world, vicious storms threatening the last remnants of humanity, and new, formidable machines appearing, Aloy ventures out to get to the bottom of these mysteries. To help her fend off enemies, Aloy now has Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West that can help turn the tide of battle in your favor, as well as Weapon Techniques which are focused on delivering special attacks with the different weapons in Aloy’s arsenal.

In this guide, we’ll be focusing on explaining the Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West, including unlocking and equipping them, using them in battle, and how you can upgrade them to make them even more effective.

Unlocking Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West

Valor Surges are purchased with skill points from each of the six different skill trees in Horizon Forbidden West. These are the largest ‘icons’ in the skill trees and are in the very middle of each one. We’ve included a screenshot showing a Valor Move below.

Select the Valor Move you’d like to unlock and press and hold X on your controller to unlock it, as you would any other node in the skill trees.

Each skill tree’s Valor Surges tend to give you a buff based on the focus of that skill tree.

For example, the Hunter skill tree’s Valor Surges are all focused on improving the efficacy of your ranged weapon attacks, while the Warrior Trees are focused on melee attacks with Aloy’s spear.

Equipping a Valor Move

  • To equip a Valor Move, press the touchpad on your controller and navigate to the ‘Skills’ tab.
  • Press X on the skill tree that contains the unlocked Valor Move you’d like to equip.
  • Highlight the Valor Move with your cursor and press and hold Square to equip it.

    • Using Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West

  • Fill your Valor Meter by earning Valor from skillful gameplay.

    Ways of earning Valor include hitting a Machine’s weak spot, tearing off components, and defeating enemies. The Valor Meter begins to fill purple in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

  • When your Valor Meter is full press and hold L1 to open your Weapon Wheel.

  • Press R1 while holding L1 to activate your currently equipped Valor Surge.

    A small animation will play out as the special ability is triggered. The duration of the Valor Surge depends on the one you’ve got equipped and the ‘level’ that you’ve upgraded it to.

    • All Valor Surges & What They Do

    • Critical Boost – Gain a greater chance to land Critical Hits and increase Critical Damage. – Warrior Skill Tree
    • Melee Might – Attach a power module to your spear to deal more damage with melee attacks for a limited time. – Warrior Skill Tree
    • Elemental Fury – Bolster your resolve and increase the buildup and effects of elemental attacks while gaining a greater resistance to elemental damage – Trapper Skill Tree
    • Trap Specialist – Increase the effects of traps and tripwires while this Valor Surge is active. – Trapper Skill Tree
    • Ranged Master – Bolster your resolve and deal more damage with ranged weapons for a limited time. – Hunter Skill Tree
    • Powershots – Deal more damage for a certain number of shots with Bows, Boltblasters, Ropecasters and Spike Throwers. Powershots do not use up ammo.
    • Toughened – Consume a special potion to restore health and gain resistance to status effects. Health regains ever two seconds, the amount of which dependent on the ‘level’ of the Valor Move. – Survivor Skill Tree
    • Overshield – Activate a special armguard based on ancient technology to gain a rechargable, damage-absorbing energy shield. Shield also recharges when depleted if Valor is still available. – Survivor Skill Tree
    • Stealth Stalker – Activate a cloaking device to decrease visibility to enemies. Aiming a weapon or using melee attacks temporarily deactivates the device. – Infiltrator Skill Tree
    • Radial Blast – Attach an overcharged module to your spear and immediately trigger a powerful shockwave, damaging all enemies in the vicinity. – Infiltrator Skill Tree
    • Part Breaker – Deal more damage to machine components and weak spots. – Machine Master Skill Tree
    • Chain Burst – Bolster your resolve against multiple enemies. Damage chains from one enemy to another within 15m and boosts knockdown power. – Machine Master Skill Tree

    Upgrading Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West

    Once you’ve purchased a Valor Move, you can upgrade it further to improve its efficacy and the duration for which its effects will last for.

    We’ve outlined the steps you’ll need to take to do this below:

  • Open the skill tree and select the Valor Move you want to upgrade.
  • In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you’ll see ‘Upgrade’ next to the Square button prompt, alongside the number of Skill Points it’ll cost you to upgrade it.
  • It’ll cost you three Skill Points to upgrade your Valor Surges to level 2, and five Skill Points to upgrade it to level 3.

    • There you have everything you need to know on Horizon Forbidden West Valor Surges. You’re now all set to use them to your advantage in combat to turn the tide of battle in your favor. For more tips, tricks and guides, head over to our wiki or see more of our coverage on the game below.

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