How to Unlock and Use Valor Surges

Learn how to unlock and use Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West. Discover how to earn Valor, activate surges, and understand their different levels and effects.

Alright, let's talk about Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West! These are super powerful abilities you can unleash in combat, but you gotta know how to get 'em and when to use 'em. Think of them as your ultimate moves.

When you've got a Valor Surge unlocked and equipped, you'll notice a purple bar pop up in the lower right corner of your screen, right next to your ammo count. This bar starts empty, but don't worry, it fills up as you do awesome stuff in combat. Things like ripping off a machine's component or landing a hit on a weak spot will earn you Valor. You'll see purple text flash on your screen when you gain some, so you know it's working!

Once that purple bar is completely full, you're ready to activate your Valor Surge. Here's the trick: press and hold L1 to bring up your weapon wheel. Then, look to the top right of that wheel – you should see a prompt to press R1 to activate your Surge. Boom! It'll start doing its thing, and the bar will slowly drain. Once it's empty, the Surge is on cooldown.

The amount of time your Surge lasts depends on its level. A Level 3 Surge, for example, gives you three full purple bars, meaning it'll last much longer than a Level 1 Surge, which only has one bar. You only need one bar to be full to activate it, but having all three means you get the full duration. Just a heads-up, if you switch to a lower-level Surge, you'll lose any extra bars you had from the higher-level one.

All Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West

There are 12 different Valor Surges to discover in the game, each tied to a specific skill tree. Here's a quick rundown:

• Critical Boost (Warrior): Boosts your critical hit chance and damage. Perfect for those devastating blows!
• Melee Might (Warrior): Makes your melee attacks hit way harder. Get up close and personal!
• Elemental Fury (Trapper): Supercharges your elemental attacks and boosts your resistance to them. Go wild with fire and ice!
• Trap Specialist (Trapper): Makes your traps and tripwires way more effective. Set up some nasty surprises!
• Ranged Master (Hunter): Increases your ranged weapon damage and even heals you a bit with each hit. Keep your distance and stay healthy!
• Powershots (Hunter): Grants special shots for your Bows, Boltblasters, Ropecasters, and Spike Throwers, dealing massive damage. Aim true!
• Toughened (Survivor): Lets you chug a special potion to restore health and resist status effects. A real lifesaver!
• Overshield (Survivor): Gives you a protective shield that absorbs incoming damage. Stay safe behind your barrier!
• Stealth Stalker (Infiltrator): Activates a cloaking device, making you much harder for enemies to spot. Sneak around like a ghost!
• Radial Blast (Infiltrator): Unleashes a powerful shockwave that damages all nearby enemies. Clear the area!
• Part Breaker (Machine Master): Deal extra damage to machine components and weak spots. Aim for those vulnerable parts!
• Chain Burst (Machine Master): Your damage chains between enemies, and it also boosts your knockdown power. Take 'em down fast!