In Forspoken, Frey Holland starts out with a single skill tree, but that number soon grows as the main storyline progresses. By the end of the game, Frey will have access to over 100 magic spells. Some are given to you after major story beats, but most need to be either bought using Mana or found through exploration, out in the world of Athia. We’re here to provide some advice on which skills you should unlock first in Forspoken.
Forspoken Best Skills
Each skill tree in Forspoken is given a name but, in an attempt to avoid spoilers, we’ll be referring to them by their designated color. There’s Frey’s Purple Magic tree, the Red Magic tree, the Blue Magic tree, and the Green Magic tree. These are our recommendations for the best skills to pick first for each of the skill trees once you unlock them. Don’t go any further than the first skill tree if you want the others to be a surprise.
Frey’s Purple Magic Skill Tree
Frey’s Purple Magic skill tree is balanced between close-range, long-range, AoE, and defensive options. It’s the first tree, so you’ll be able to get a feel for the different styles of magic that’ll be improved upon later on. These are the spells that you should pay attention to when expanding beyond the base set:
- Tendril: This skill uses a vine to hit all enemies in a small radius around Frey, and it heals her for a small percentage of the damage it deals. Tendril will take care of the early-game enemies that like to surround you on all sides–they can be annoying to lock on to, so use Tendril instead.
- Screen: This passive spell surrounds Frey with boulders that protect her from enemy attacks. Screen is great for players who are having trouble adjusting to the dodge mechanics while also trying to attack at the same time.
- Scatter Shot Lv. 3: Scatter Shot fires a stream of rocks in a straight line, then shoots a high-impact shot after it’s charged. It’s easily one of the best long-range attack spells in the game, so we suggest you save up a bit to unlock the best version of it early on. It’ll make quick work of flying enemies and minor, distant foes even during late-game encounters.
- Burst Shot Lv. 3: This can be purchased after the previous three, but you’ll still want to get it as soon as you can. Burst Shot throws an explosive rock that deals high damage in a large AoE, so it’s essentially the opposite of Scatter Shot. The two spells will be your go-to options for close and long-range fights for a little while.
Red Magic Skill Tree
The Red Magic skill tree contains useful traversal skills alongside some decent, close-range Attack Magic. You likely won’t be using this tree for offensive purposes very often outside of exploiting enemy weaknesses, but its best skills give Frey much better movement options outside of combat. Here are the skills that you should grab first:
- Soar: Soar is a parkour skill that allows Frey to jump up the side of a wall twice to reach higher ledges, and it’s extremely helpful when you don’t want to find a way around an obstacle–just run straight up.
- Rush: This is another movement ability that gives Frey a burst of speed when she’s sprinting if you use well-timed button presses. The speed boost also restores stamina on each press, allowing her to sprint forever without running out of stamina.
- Drag and Drop: This skill pulls distant enemies toward Frey, bringing them into melee range in an instant while automatically switching to the red skill set. This move can be used no matter which color skill set you have equipped, and it combos into Arc Slice perfectly.
- Arc Slice Lv. 3: The Drag and Drop combo with Arc Slice will do serious damage to any enemy that gets pulled into range, and neither move has a cooldown. The third level of Arc Slice sends out a wide shockwave in a circle around Frey, like a much more powerful version of Tendril.
Blue Magic Skill Tree
The blue skill tree brings a bit more finesse to the gameplay, adding passive buffs and a useful status effect. The Attack Magic isn’t a priority here even though there are still solid options available. These are the blue skills you should unlock first:
- Up and Away: This spell launches Frey high into the air and instantly recharges her supply of water projectiles. This is another skill, like Drag and Drop, that can be used at any time and will automatically switch you back to the Blue Magic move set.
- Alb: This Support Magic covers Frey in icy armor that drastically reduces any damage taken from one unblockable or piercing attack. Alb should be used at the beginning of tough fights, then swapped out for a different support move until you need to reset the ice armor.
- Float: Float is a parkour-related ability that allows Frey to slow her fall from any height. Your stamina meter will break hard falls for you as long as it isn’t empty, but slamming into the ground and losing all your stamina can be dangerous with enemies nearby. Float is here to solve that problem. This is a tricky one to find, though, as it’s in a Fount of Blessing at the southern tip of Visoria.
- Eagre: Eagre is an AoE support spell that creates a water barrier around Frey to send enemies flying backward. If you’re ever surrounded by enemies on all sides and need to create some space, this is the right skill for the job.
Green Magic Skill Tree
The Green Magic skill tree has a great mix of Attack Magic and Support Magic, and it’s arguably the best skill tree overall. Green Magic is powerful at mid-to-long range, using lock-on projectiles to attack and mind-bending support moves to get Frey out of tough situations. These are the skills that you should consider unlocking first:
- Hide and Seek: Hide and Seek is another color swap ability like Drag and Drop or Up and Away. Frey fires projectiles while warping behind the enemy at the same time, avoiding all potential damage if timed correctly. The skill will also automatically switch to Green Magic whenever it’s used.
- Sublimation: This Support Magic heals Frey by absorbing life force from the surrounding area. Sublimation will heal her slowly over time and is a good alternative when you’re low on healing items out in the open world.
- Compulsion: Compulsion creates three floating mines that will explode in huge AoEs if they touch enemies. The blast radius is so large that groups of enemies huddled close together stand no chance of avoiding the damage. You can also trigger the mines manually by shooting them yourself.
- Pulse Dart Lv. 3: Nearly all of the Attack Magic in this tree is strong, but Pulse Dart is already unlocked from the start. The attack shoots beams of light that home in on any enemies who were hit by the signature Green Magic darts. The auto-targeting is what makes Pulse Dart so good, as you don’t even have to be looking directly at enemies to deal heavy damage.
Forspoken throws more Mana at you than you’ll know what to do with, so you’ll eventually be able to purchase all of the skills in each skill tree. Each tree will get fully unlocked even faster if you visit points of interest on the map to complete combat challenges, Locked Labyrinth dungeons, and Detour side quests. To read more about the game, check out our Forspoken review.
