Home » Guides » 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.