Horizon Forbidden West’s Best Trapper Skills

The trapper tree has some of the best skills for players who want to be prepared to go into Horizon Forbidden West. Unlike the other five skill trees, the trapper skill tree increases the duration and effectiveness of food and traps. The tree also contains weapon techniques that buff the trip and ropecasters essential in combating the more massive endgame enemy machines, to say nothing of the two valor surges that are more than capable of facing various combat challenges.

[Warning: Possible spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West below.]

In Horizon Zero Dawn, there was no trap-specific tree. Instead, the abilities were relegated to the support-focused forger skill tree. The trapper skill tree in Forbidden West carries that same support focus but expands upon it further. From increasing the effects of the newly added food feature to buffing every new and returning trap in Forbidden West to even the crafting speed and damage potential, the trapper skill is more than sole support skill tree.

The trapper tree highlights a game mechanic mostly glossed over in Horizon Zero Dawn: machine hunting. Before engaging, machines like the Thunderjaw or the Stormbird were relatively easy to outmaneuver or wear down, and it was doubly so for the lower-tier machines. However, Forbidden West expands on this by focusing on preparation before a battle, from specialized buffs in food and sky traps that target enemies in the sky to tripwires that provide an energy shield. The trapper tree has the best skills for players who love setting ambushes using traps like Horizon Forbidden West’s new vertical traps or enjoy passives that make the game more manageable. Among the vast array of trapper skills, here are the best trapper skills in Horizon Forbidden West to prioritize before the next hunt.

Resilient Trapper & Skilled Salvager Are A Low Priority In Forbidden West (For Now)

Accidents are bound to happen when hunting machines in Forbidden West, and that’s what the Resilient Trapper skill is made to fix. Essentially, the skill reduces damage to players who trigger their own traps. However, considering that the player has a limited amount of traps to place and that traps are relatively hard to trigger on accident, this skill is a lower priority.

The Resilient Trapper skill goes hand-in-hand with the Skilled Salvager, a skill that recovers more resources when deconstructing traps and has a chance to gather higher-quality resources. This skill is great when reallocating resources to purchase different weapons or mini-game pieces for Horizon Forbidden West’s machine strike board game. However, considering how niche the Skilled Salvager skill is, it’s on the lower side of priority skills. Between the two, Skilled Salvager is a step up from Resilient Trapper, considering that resources, especially rarer ones, are somewhat challenging to come by in the late game.

Take Advantage Of Forbidden West’s Food Buffs Over Quick Crafting

Before the player engages the machines scattered in the Forbidden West, there’s almost always a time to scan and scout the area, marking machine parts that may be useful in crafting or purchasing armor. This lull before the fighting gives players the chance to prepare, place traps, and eat food that offers various effects and buffs. Unfortunately, like other features, Horizon Forbidden West could’ve done better; the food buff feature is not as nuanced and doesn’t last very long. The Food Duration skill seeks to fix this by extending the time of the food past their expiration date, allowing players to benefit from the effects and buffs longer.

However, players are sometimes likely to burn through resources like traps, tools, or potions once engaged in a fight. During this make-or-break moment in the battle, the Nimble Crafter comes in, crafting those items faster. Among the two skills, the Food Duration would be a higher priority, but getting both would likely benefit in the long run.

Quick Trapper & Trap Limit Underline Forbidden West’s Best Features

Among the new gameplay additions to Forbidden West, from every mountable machine to the high-tech glider, traps seemed to have a more significant impact on each game than the first game. Quick Trapper and Trap Limit lean into this necessity, allowing players to set up an area with various traps quickly. As the name suggests, Quick Trapper enables the player to place traps faster, and Trap Limit expands the number of traps and tripwires the player can put.

Trap Limit can also be expanded if the player has a weave mod or an outfit that boosts the number of traps. If given the opportunity, the player should go for Trap Limit over Quick Trapper. More often than not, the player can either attack the machines of Horizon Forbidden West with Aloy’s improved spear head-on or pick off enemies from afar. However, when it comes to traps, it’s better to set more traps with Trap Limit and take longer than place fewer traps with Quick Trapper, faster.

Forbidden West’s Trapper Valor Surges Depend Heavily On The Player

The Valor Surges for the trapper skill tree are among the most devastating and underrated in Horizon Forbidden West. The Elemental Fury increases the buildup of the elemental status effect on all weapons and increases the elemental resistance of the player. As for Trap Specialist, it increases the effects of traps and tripwires. While that may not seem like a lot, the player can place traps of multiple status effects, applying all at once or staggered throughout the fight.

Like the Valor Surges in Horizon Forbidden West, choosing between Elemental Fury or Trap Specialist depends on the playstyle. Elemental Fury is the way to go if the player has weapons with status effects and goes in a fight with little or no preparation. However, if the player leans towards placing traps and luring machines, Trap Specialist is the choice. Whatever the skill, both are made to turn the tide of a battle or make it devastatingly quick.

Penetrating Rope Is The Best Skill For Trappers In Forbidden West

The Penetrating Rope skill buffs the ropecaster, allowing the player to target any machine part, including armor, saving valuable time when locking down machines. The other weapon technique, Quick Wire, will enable players to place tripwires faster in a preset length. This ability would be an excellent backup plan when fighting the more formidable versions of enemies like one of the most brutal machines in Horizon Forbidden West, the apex Slitherfang that can outlast most traps and tripwires. Both weapon techniques are vital in a fight, but Penetrating Rope is essential, especially when going against the more gigantic machines like the Thunderjaw, Stormbird, or the Slitherfang.

The trapper skill tree is likely the most overlooked among the six skill trees in Horizon Forbidden West. However, considering that it’s filled with passive boosts that will make the player’s life much easier in the game, along with abilities meant to meet even the most demanding machines, it’s one of the most vital skill trees. The enemies in Forbidden West are bigger and more challenging. If the player has a chance to beat anything from Horizon Forbidden West’s AI improved over Zero Dawn and to the vast ruins of the old world, it pays to be prepared, and the trapper skill tree will do just that.

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