5. Stealth Sniper Expert

This build revolves around stacking damage boost percentages – mainly the Stealth ranged attack, & Long range attack. The more of these damage modifiers you stack on, the easier it will be to hit huge damage numbers and kill any kind of machine in Horizon Forbidden West.

This build is best for farming – when you want to quickly finish off a machine and then move on to the next site, or if you enjoy stealth gameplay. 

Use this build if:

• You enjoy big numbers – because you’ll be seeing them a lot
• Sneaking around – This build only works if you are undetected
• Want to farm machines easily

Build Details:

• Pick a high-damage weapon like the Skykiller spear
• Level the Stealth Stalker Valor Surge to lv 3 in the Infiltrator tree – you will need it at max charge to get the 200% stealth damage boost, which stacks on top of stealth ranged attack and other modifiers (which is how you get the big numbers).
• Get the Long-Range Damage +25%, Stealth-Damage Mod 25%, and Long-Range Damage 15% mods and equip them to your favourite legendary weapon.
•  
• You have 2 armor options – you can use the Tenakth Tactician armor for the Mounted Archer +2 + Stealth Ranged +2 weave – these skills help boost the skills to 4 full stacks. If you prefer more concentration, you can choose the Nora Thunder Warrior, but you will lose the Mounted Archer option (but gain more Weapon stamina in exchange). 
• Once you have everything prepared when you find a machine – pop the Valor Surge, use any items that boost damage, and use your weapon technique Propelled spike (for Spears) while mounted

Essential Skills to make this build work:

• Stealth Ranged
• Mounted Ranged
• Stealth Stalker Valor Surge
• Braced Shot (Sharpshot bow version)
• Propelled Spike (Spear version)

Items:

• Fatty Meat Feast (Optional) – if you want to boost mounted damage without getting the weave or using the Tenakth Tactician armor set

4. Ultra Hard Mode Weapon Master

This build is built for Ultra Hard difficulty, giving you strong damage-dealing potential and crowd control. This is an end-game build and requires a lot of investment into upgrading and collecting coils and getting the best weapons in the game. While this is a strong build, it also necessitates multiple playthroughs of the game.

This build is best for when you want to maximize & optimize your damage build against enemies after multiple NG+ playthroughs.

Use this build if:

• You like playing with elemental attacks
• You enjoy playing on the hardest difficulty and want a fighting chance
• You want to take on the toughest enemies and enjoy a challenge

Build details:

• The armor to use will be the Nora Thunder Warrior – this is the best ranged armor set because it has everything you need 

You need the weapons: 

• Sun Scourge for frost elemental – Frost +15% Coils x5
• Blast Forge (or Brawlbreaker) – Long Range Damage 25% Coils x5
• Rain of Sparks – Critical Chance 15% Coils x5 
• Forgefall – Sharpshot Tear Damage +100% Coils x5
• Elite Ropecaster – Reload Speed + Draw Speed 15/25% Coils x3

Initiate fights with Brittle for extra damage, Forgefall to snipe off components. Blast Forge for your DPS, and if needed – Rain of Sparks for close-range or the Elite Ropecaster to tie down enemies so you can build some distance.

Skills:

• Ranged Master Valor Surge – For taking down large machines
• Chain Burst Valor Surge – when up against multiple targets
• Concentration (to boost DPS)
• Valor Surge (for faster Valor regeneration)

Items:

• Bring health potions if you are fighting enemies on Ultra Hard – it’s rough
• Use Stamina potions just in case you need to use any weapon techniques

3. Close Range Master

This build focuses on the valor surge Melee Might and a fast-firing Warrior bow. Essentially it revolves around knocking down enemies with a heavy attack with the valor surge active, then applying multiple resonator blasts so you can deal huge damage by triggering them with a fast-firing bow.

This build is for if you enjoy changing up how you want to play Horizon Forbidden West, playing in a way that’s different from the normal ranged combat focus

Use this build if:

• If you want to focus on a melee build
• If you enjoy a highly mobile playstyle
• If you like switching between play styles

Build Details:

• You need lv 3 Melee Might to unlock the Power attacks knockdown and Unlimited spear energy – this is the bulk of the damage for this build
• Get a Warrior bow that shoots fast - either Carja’s Bane or Rain of Sparks

You can use coils below to boost the Warrior bow damage when you shoot the resonator blasts:

• Melee-follow-up
• Close-Range Damage
• Knockdown damage

Skills:

• Melee Might Valor Surge
• Melee Damage
• Power Attack+
• Critical Strike+
• Valor Surge Melee Might
• Resonator Boost/Damage

Items:

• Health Potions because you’ll be getting up close and personal

2. Shredder Master

This is a build built around the Ancestor’s Return shredder gauntlet. Using agility, concentration and mastering the Ancestor Return mechanics. This is a straightforward build that is effective, has great ammo economy, and covers status ailments and tear options.

This build is for those that enjoy using a single weapon while still being able to completely overwhelm an enemy. Shock is a very strong element that disables enemies (because they’re machines) allowing you to completely dominate in a 1v1 scenario!

Use this build if:

• You want to have complete dominance over machines with Shock element discs
• You want to conserve ammo so you can farm and stock up on resources
• You enjoy mastering and using just one weapon because there’s no need to swap to anything else

Build Details:

• First you need to get Ancestor’s Return – this weapon features an Acid disc, Shock disc, and Tear disc. The most effective disk will be the Shock disc because it disables machines which makes 1-on-1 fights easy

You will need the coils:

• Agility 15% x 2
• Concentration Damage 10% x 1
• Damage over time 25% x 2

Then you need to master the Shredder. The Shredder does more damage the more you catch and return it, and at the 4th throw, it explodes, dealing a ton of damage.  This explosion is tear based and not considered an explosive so it doesn’t destroy components, making this one of the best weapons for damage and farming.

There is no fixed Valor surge or armor for this build, pick your favourite surge and armor. I personally enjoy the Nora Thunder Warrior because it has concentration perks and valor charge boost.

Skills:

• Agility – you will need to master quick draw (sliding then aiming) so you can quickly move around and jump before launching so you can get the damage bonus
• Concentration – you need to use concentration to gain the damage bonus
• Damage over time – Shredders are considered as weapons that deal damage over time due to multiple hits, so you need to use this coil to maximize the damage you deal

Items:

• Bring health potions as a safety net but this is a one-weapon do-all build so you don’t need anything else

1. All-Rounder

This build is similar to the Ultra Hard build mentioned earlier but does not require as much investment hence why it is better. The build is centered around the weapons and each is built for a specialization/focus

The aim of this build is to take on the Ultra hard difficulty utilizing NG+ equipment and coils.

Use this build if:

• You want to tackle NG+ Ultra Hard difficult
• You want to dominate the machines in HFW
• You like a well-rounded build with a weapon to handle each situation

Build Details:

Each weapon has a job and coils:

• Sun Scourge: Frost application, Acid application
• Frost or Overdraw coils to increase the damage of Frost application
• Tears of the Land-god: Tearing components
• Component Tear & Overdraw Coils to increase tear potential
• Concentration or Agility Coil are also usable
•  Blast Forge: Impact Damage – pure raw damage dealing
• Close Range or Long Range coil – depends on preference
• Elite Ropecaster or Spinthorn Spike – CC/Knockdown application

Weapon Roles:

• Spinthorn Spike has Drill spears which are great for KD, equip it with 2x Knockdown chance coils and you will knock down machines very often
• Elite Ropecaster is great for holding enemies down – equip with a draw speed or reload speed coil to speed up how fast you can shoot ropes to tie your targets down. Enemies held down by the Ropecaster stay down for quite some time allowing you to focus on other enemies.
• Iriv’s Downfall: High damage weak point precision damage
• Critical Hit 15% x 5 – playing on the higher critical multiplier of a sharpshot bow (which does 2.5x damage) and the bow’s base critical chance + damage stat gives you 80% chance for a crit shot at all times and incredible damage
• Ancestor’s Return or Deathseeker Bow: Shock application to stun enemies
• For Ancestor’s return: You can use agility or concentration coils, the idea is to stun machines with the Shock ailment so if Shock damage % works, that would work too
• Deathseeker’s Bow: since Tears of the Land-god will be responsible for the Tearing role, Deathseeker’s Bow can be repurposed into a shock bow with Shock coils x 5
• This build revolves around playing with elements and knowing when to disable and hold off other enemies as you pick them off one by one. Frost makes enemies brittle so they take more damage from attacks and move slower, so after you brittle them you can whip out your Blast Forge and use the weapon technique. Shock is for holding enemies down so you can aim their weak points, so after applying shock you can use Iriv’s Downfall to land a good hit on a weak point.
• The rope caster is helpful for isolating an enemy by holding down weaker ones so you focus on more dangerous targets.

Skills:

• Concentration
• Weapon Stamina
• Agility
• Ranged Master Valor Surge

Item:

• Health Potions because this is an Ultra Hard difficulty build so having more over health to cushion hits is recommended to avoid one shot

You may also be interested in:

• [Top 10] Horizon Forbidden West Best Legendary Weapons (And How To Get Them)
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• [Top 4] Horizon Forbidden West Best Mounts (And How To Get Them)