Skills

Unlock the full potential of Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn with our in-depth guide to the Prowler, Brave, and Forager skill trees. Learn essential abilities and strategies.

This guide breaks down the various skill trees in Horizon Zero Dawn, offering advice on which abilities to prioritize for combat, stealth, and resource gathering.

Prowler Skill Tree

The Silent Strike ability is highly recommended from the start. Strike From Above is useful as it unlocks Strong Strike and Strong Strike+, which are beneficial when frequently using Silent Strike. Skills like Hunter Reflexes and Balanced Aim are less critical unless aiming for the all-skills trophy. The final row of the Prowler tree significantly enhances stealth, making Aloy harder for machines to detect, especially when combined with stealth armor.

Brave Skill Tree

Concentration is an essential skill that allows players to slow down time, enabling precise targeting of enemy weak points. Heavy Lifter is less crucial as heavy weapons are not frequently used. Concentration+ extends the duration of Concentration, and Fast Reload speeds up weapon reloads while in Concentration, though neither are top priorities.

In the middle column, Critical Hit and its upgrade are good for players who frequently knock down enemies, but not essential. Double Shot and Triple Shot are highly recommended early skills. These allow Aloy to fire up to three arrows in quick succession while aiming with a bow by pressing R1 to nock additional arrows. This is particularly effective against elite humans and for targeting weak spots on large machines.

The last column focuses on enhancing spear attacks. Precision and Precision+ increase the chance of knocking off armor and components with light spear attacks, which is useful against smaller machines but less so against larger ones. Some skills also help reduce reloading time and allow pre-preparation of arrows for a single ammo type per bow.

Forager Skill Tree

Lure Call is a valuable skill throughout the game, enabling Aloy to lure single enemies away from groups for stealth takedowns. Combat Override and its upgrade are only useful if you enjoy overriding machines. Call Mount+ guarantees a mount (Strider, Charger, or Broadhead) upon use, and an unlimited fast travel pack can be purchased.

Healer and Herbalist are top priorities as they improve the medicine pouch, crucial for healing, especially in the early game. Disarm Traps allows players to retrieve placed traps, and Tinker enables the removal of mods from weapons and armor, which is useful for preserving rare mods.

The final column focuses on resource acquisition. Gatherer and Scavenger are high priorities, especially early on, as they provide essential resources for crafting ammo and upgrading carrying capacity.