Best starting skills to unlock first in Horizon Forbidden West

There are a lot of skills in Horizon Forbidden West. It can be hard to know where to start. With six different skill trees, each specializing in a different part of Aloy's abilities and weapons, here are the best starting skills for each tree.

Warrior

The Warrior tree specializes in close-quarters combat by buffing Aloy's melee damage and effectiveness and including weapon techniques for the Warrior Bows.

• Resonator Blast -  (Active Skill, 1 Skill Point) After building up energy with melee attacks, press R2 to energize the enemy. Then, pull out your bow and shoot the target to deal a huge blast of damage.
• Nora Warrior or Block Breaker (Active Skill, 1 Skill Point). Both of these skills are melee combos for Aloy to execute that will increase your chance of staggering enemies.
• Melee Damage - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Deal more damage with Light and Heavy Attacks.

Trapper

The Trapper tree specializes in food and your trap effectiveness. This includes Weapon techniques for Tripcasters and Ropecasters.

• Trap Limit - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Place more traps and tripwires on the field at the same time.
• Quick Trapper - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Place traps faster on the field.
• Quick Wire - (Tripcaster Weapon Technique, 2 Skill Points). Quickly launch a Tripwire of your currently selected type with a preset length. Wire explodes or deactivates after a limited time.

Hunter

The Hunter tree specializes in ranged combat by buffing Aloy's ranged damage and effectiveness while also including weapon techniques for the Hunter Bows and Boltblasters.

• Concentration+ - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Increase your Concentration limit, prolonging use.
• Ammo Expert - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Craft more ammunition from the same amount of resources.
• Triple Notch - (Hunter Bow Weapon Technique, 3 Skill Points). Load up to 3 arrows of your currently selected type. Fire normally to release all arrows simultaneously.

Survivor

The Survivor tree specializes in keeping Aloy alive but increasing your healing effectiveness and defenses while also including weapon techniques for the Blastslings and Shredder Gauntlets.

• Potent Medicine - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Medicinal Berries provide more healing and heal you faster.
• Valor on Impact - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Gain valor (Used to initiate a Valor Surge) when hit by enemies.
• Medicine Capacity - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Carry more Medicinal Berries in your Medicine Pouch.

Related: What is a Valor Surge in Horizon Forbidden West?

Infiltrator

The Infiltrator tree specializes in stealth effectiveness and increasing stealth damage. This includes weapon techniques for Sharpshot Bows.

• Silent Strike+ - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Silent Strike deals more damage.
• Low Profile - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Reduce your visibility to enemies.
• Quiet Movement - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Move more quietly, reducing the chance of detection by enemies.

Machine Master

The Machine Master tree focuses on your effectiveness with overridden machines. This includes Weapon Techniques for Spike Throwers.

• Lasting Override - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Increase the amount of time a machine remains overridden.
• Machine Damage - (Passive, 1 Skill Point). Overridden machines deal more damage.
• Spike Trap - (Spike Thrower Weapon Technique, 2 Skill Points). Launch a spike that becomes a trap on impact with the environment. This will arm after a short delay.

For more on Horizon Forbidden West guides, check out How to cook food in Horizon Forbidden West, and is it worth it? and All Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West