Horizon Forbidden West gives players a new ability called Valor Surge. This is like a temporary boost in abilities and buffs that can swing the flow of combat to your favor when used correctly. In our Valor Surge guide, we will discuss some of the best Valor Surges that you can consider learning and leveling up.
Valor Surges are special activated skills that temporarily provide Aloy with special buffs, enhanced shields, or even powerful AoE attacks. You can activate a Valor Surge once the purple gauge in the bottom-right is completely filled up. However, once activated, there’s no way to cancel it prematurely to save up your gauge; you have no choice but to wait for the valor surge’s effect to run out. Normally, you’ll earn valor by attacking and defeating enemies but by learning certain skills, you can also earn valor by taking damage, further increasing the speed that your valor gauge fills up.
Each Valor Surge can be leveled up to three times, further increasing their effectiveness and even adding new effects. While Valor Surges are incredibly useful, it’s still up to the players to decide which ones to use often or upgrade first, depending on their needs and preferred playstyle. You can only equip one valor surge at a time. To change to a different equipped valor surge, you have to access the Skills screen and select the valor surge there.
Valor Surge | Skill Tree | Description | LV3 Values |
---|---|---|---|
Critical Boost | Warrior | Boosts critical hit chance and critical damage. | Crit Hit Chance +55%, Crit Hit Dmg +50%, Crit Strike Dmg +150%, Weapon Tech Extra Crit Chance +15% |
Melee Might | Warrior | Deal more melee damage with melee attacks. | Melee DMG +300%, Unlimited Spear Energy, Power Attacks knock down targets |
Elemental Fury | Trapper | Increase the buildup and effects of elemental attacks. Gain high resistance against elemental damage. | Elem Buildup +200%, Elem State Duration +100%, Elem DMG resist +40%, Triggering an elemental state with a direct hit causes an elemental blast. |
Trap Specialist | Trapper | Increases the effects of Traps and Tripwires while the Valor Surge is active. | Trap and Tripwire DMG +100%, Tr/Tw Ele Buildup +75%, Tr/Tw Knockdown power +75%, Trap Effect Radius +100%, Instantly launches a set of hovering mines around you. |
Ranged Master | Hunter | Deal more damage using ranged weapons for a limited time. | Ranged weapon dmg +60%, HP recovered per hit 10%, Weapon Technique dmg: +40%, Weapon Stamina regen +200%, Machines killed by a ranged attack trigger a shock explosion. |
Power Shots | Hunter | Deal more damage for a certain number of shots from bows, boltblasters, ropecasters, and spike throwers. | 5 powershots, +200% ranged dmg, 25% Concentration returned per hit, Powershots does not consume any ammo. |
Toughened | Survivor | Consume a potion that will restore health and gain resistance from status effects. | 80 HP restored every 2s, +50% Melee dmg resist, +50% crushed resist, +100% Blinded resist, +100% Deafened resist. |
Overshield | Survivor | Deploy a damage-absorbing shield that recharges as long as valor is still available. | 400 Shield Health, 20% melee dmg deflected back to the attacker, shield explodes when depleted, dealing shock damage. |
Stealth Stalker | Infiltrator | Activate a cloaking device that renders you invisible. Aiming a weapon or using melee attacks will temporarily deactivate the device. | Very high visibility reduction, +200% dmg vs unaware targets, +50% ranged dmg vs unaware targets, Stealth kills restore valor, prolonging the device’s use. |
Radial Blast | Infiltrator | Trigger a powerful shockwave that damages all enemies in the immediate vicinity. | 1200 Blast dmg, 600 Shock Buildup, +60% dmg radius, +100% damage vs shocked enemies for 15s |
Part Breaker | Machine Master | Deal more damage to machine components and weak spots. | +85% Tear dmg to components, +85% dmg vs components, +85% dmg vs weak spots, 50% chance for valuable scrap to drop per hit, 30% chance of triggering a knockdown upon component removal. |
Chain Burst | Machine Master | Damage chains from one enemy to another within 15m. Boosts knockdown power. | 100% Chain Damage, +100% Knockdown Power, 50% of damage chains a second time to enemies within 5m |
So, what valor surges are worth learning first and leveling up? Here are our top three choices and we’ll explain why, below.
* Ranged Master
* Part Breaker
* Critical Boost
Ranged Master is an outstanding starter valor surge pick thanks to its damage boost, Stamina regen, and health recovery per hit. Almost all of Aloy’s weapons are ranged so you’ll be able to take advantage of this valor surge in most situations.
Part Breaker is another great choice, primarily focused on farming scraps and parts by tearing them off from different machines. This valor surge increases Aloy’s Tear damage to machine components and increases the chance of getting valuable drops.
Critical Boost is a great all-around valor surge that increases your critical hit chance and critical damage. When activated, you can keep on the offensive and have the chance to kill an enemy quickly.
These are just our personal picks. At the end of the day, it’s your game so choose which valor surge works well with your preferred gameplay style and needs.
That concludes our Valor Surge Guide for Horizon Forbidden West. We hope that this information helps you in your exploration and adventure. For more content regarding Horizon Forbidden West, please refer to our online guide here at Supercheats.