Forspoken parkour abilities & how to use them

Getting to grips with the parkour abilities in Forspoken is key if you want to master combat and traversal in Athia.

Where other open-world games employ mounts or vehicles to travel, the game instead has Frey Holland infuse her own body with magic to soar through the air.

What are parkour abilities?

While you unlock parkour magic fairly early on, there are actually eight different abilities and upgrades that will enhance your movement to clear bigger gaps and evade more attacks.

Here is a full list of all eight parkour abilities:

• Flow
• Rush
• Shimmy
• Scale
• Soar
• Zip
• Float
• Glide

Each of the above abilities helps you achieve a different thing when using parkour, whether it be scaling a tall building or even soaring across the water. Carry on reading to see a short explanation of what each of the Forspoken parkour abilities does.

Flow

The Flow ability is the base of your parkour and will be the first one you get your hands on. You won't be able to use any of the other skills without first going through Flow, but that of course makes it the most 'general' of them all.

All you need to do to use the ability is hold Circle and move the left analog stick in any direction and the magic-infused running will commence. You will be able to move much faster than traditional running and scale smaller buildings, but your toolset is fairly limited from that point onwards.

Rush

If you want to go as fast as possible then the Rush ability is definitely for you. Executing a well-timed button press will engulf Frey in flames, letting her reach maximum speed for a short period of time.

This is great if you're wanting to close the gap on a speedy foe or quickly get behind cover in anticipation of an unblockable attack. Outside of combat, it is simply just the best way to quickly get across Athia, as the world will flash in front of your eyes as you speed past it.

Shimmy

If you've ever played Spider-Man and enjoyed the momentum-enhancing point launch ability, then you will be immediately familiar with Shimmy. Pressing X at the right time when landing will give you a big momentum boost, launching you forward onto the next building or enemy.

You can also chain these to build some serious speed and close a gap, but it does consume stamina so you will need to be careful not to run out at the last moment.

Scale

If it is a tall building that you want to reach the top of, then Scale will be the right ability for you. Acting almost as an enhanced double jump, Scale surges Frey directly up - even if she is currently mid-air.

This is obviously great if you need that little bit extra to reach the top of something, but it is also fantastic to avoid any quick incoming attacks as it will likely have you avoid any of the potential damage.

Soar

In a similar manner to Scale, Soar is specifically designed to get you to the top of anything, no matter how tall it is. Using Soar will see Frey do successive quick jumps until she reaches her destination, making it perfect to slowly work your way up a vertical wall.

It is definitely not the most exciting ability and is rather narrow in its use, but it does what it does so well that you will be so thankful any time you actually come around to using it - which, spoilers, will be a lot.

Zip

There's even a grappling hook of sorts in Forspoken, which brings that perfect blend of fun and practicality that makes it easily one of the best parkour abilities in the game. Pressing Square will dramatically slow down time and give you an aiming tool for the tether, letting you precisely select where you want to end up or grapple from.

You can attach Zip to any solid surface (even enemies!), giving you an incredible amount of flexibility as to how you move around. This is perfect in fights where you need to be more precise about your repositioning, but it is also a great last-ditch save mechanism if you miss a jump at a significant height.

Float

The Float ability is fairly self-explanatory, but it is still fun to use nonetheless. Using Float will surround Frey with a half-sphere of water, softening her fall and letting her gracefully drift toward the ground.

It is not only good for softening a fall though, as you can use it to move horizontally across a gap too large to clear otherwise. It also doubles as a great way to take in the scenery of Athia, as you can really appreciate the tremendous mountains and lush rivers when you're gliding at a glacial pace.

Glide

Catch some waves with the Glide ability, as it produces a handy surfboard underneath Frey's feet to make traversing large swathes of water a piece of cake. You could easily spend plenty of time just simply surfing with this ability, as you can reach some seriously high speeds and look great while doing so.

The best thing is that it activates automatically any time you use standard parkour over water, so you can seamlessly switch between standard movement and surfing to make getting from point A to B easier than ever.

Find out how to beat the Forspoken dragon boss here if you're struggling.