Important Notes
Important Notes
This guide highlights critical things every player should know before diving into God of War Ragnarök—from time‑sensitive choices and missable content to difficulty spikes, resource management, save best practices, and common regrets.
Warnings and Pitfalls
- Story‑Locked Areas: Several regions (especially in Vanaheim, Alfheim, and Midgard) change or become permanently inaccessible after certain main story quests. Always complete active side quests (Favors) before advancing the story.
- Favor Deadlines: Some Favors are time‑sensitive. Notable examples include:
- Treasure Maps & Artifacts: Some treasure maps (e.g., "The Dead Do Not Ride") break if you sell the related artifact before completing the associated side quest. Keep all unique items until you know they are safe to sell.
- No Manual Save After the Final Boss: The game autosaves after the last boss; you cannot go back to before the final fight. Complete all remaining Favors and collectibles before starting the mission The Realms at War.
- No Major Story Branching: Unlike the previous game, Ragnarök has no dialogue choices that lead to drastically different endings. The core narrative is linear.
- Gear & Upgrades: Once you upgrade a gear piece to level 9, you cannot “recycle” it for resources. Plan your upgrades carefully (see Grinding Traps below).
- Frozen Flame & Chaos Flame: These unique upgrade materials each appear only once per playthrough. Use them on the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos immediately; they can never be replaced.
- Odin’s Ravens & Lore Markers: These are NOT missable—they can be collected anytime, even after the credits roll. However, some are hidden in areas that are only accessible during certain story segments. Refer to a collectible guide to avoid backtracking frustration.
- The Legendary Chest in the Temple of Tyr: The chest containing the Rond of Disruption is only openable during the main quest The Path to Jotunheim. Miss it and you lose that shield attachment permanently.
- First Thor Fight (Fimbulwinter Flashback): The very first boss battle is deceptively hard. Use your shield to block his charged attacks and save Rage for the last phase.
- Nidhogg (The Reckoning): This dragon boss requires you to stay mobile, destroy the weak points on its back, and use the environment to stun it.
- Garm (The Sealed Confrontation): The wolf’s ice projectiles can stunlock you. Keep moving and use Atreus’s arrows to interrupt its howl.
- The Final Boss (Odin): He has multiple phases with powerful AoE attacks. Equip the Raven’s Cry armor set or anything that boosts defense against Bifrost damage. Save your Spartan Rage for healing.
- Muspelheim Trials (Endgame): The champion challenges (especially the “Complete 15 trials without being hit”) require perfect reflexes. Use the Boar Root enchantment to boost your stun damage and keep enemies staggered.
- Resource Scarcity: Hacksilver, Dust of Realms, and Luminous Alloys are finite during the first playthrough. Do not waste them on low‑level gear or cosmetic upgrades that do not stat bonuses.
- Upgrade Strategy: Focus on one or two armor sets per run. The best early‑game sets are Lunda’s Lost Armor (high defense with poison immunity) and Surtr’s Scorched Set (for fire‑based builds). Avoid upgrading common or rare gear past level 4.
- Crafting Materials: Do not sell Epic or Legendary resources (e.g., Glint of Bifrost, Platinum Ingot). They are needed for the highest upgrades. Selling them for Hacksilver is never worth it.
- Soul Coins: These are used to buy rare enchantments from the dwarf shop in Niflheim. Spend them wisely; the best enchantments appear only after you complete certain Favors.
- Experience (XP): XP is abundant; you will max out all skills by the end of first playthrough. No need to grind combat encounters just for XP.
- Single‑Player Only: God of War Ragnarök is purely offline. There are no multiplayer or online features that require etiquette beyond normal play.
- PC Mods & Cheats (Steam/Epic Games): Using mods or third‑party tools (e.g., cheat engine) may disable Steam achievements or EOS achievements. No official anti‑cheat is present, but save corruption is a risk if you tamper with game files. Back up saves before modding.
- No Leaderboards: The game does not track speedrun times or kill counts online, so no competitive etiquette applies.
- Always Manual Save: The autosave system is reliable, but it only keeps one active autosave slot. Before any long exploration session or major story decision, manually create a new save.
- Multiple Slots: Use at least three separate manual save slots—rotate through them. This lets you return to a point before a missable favor or area lock if you realize something was missed.
- Cloud Saves (PS5): Enable auto‑sync with PlayStation Plus cloud storage. On PC, ensure Steam Cloud is on, but also perform local backups to a different folder every few hours.
- Endgame Save: After completing the story, the game reloads into the world just before the final quest. Your autosave will be at that point, but you cannot re‑fight the final boss without starting a New Game+ (if available). Make a manual save right before The Realms at War if you want to revisit the final sequence.
- Not Upgrading Leviathan Axe Fully Early: The Axe’s Sigil and Frost Awaken abilities are immensely powerful. Prioritize upgrading the Axe to unlock the Runic and Heavy Runic slots.
- Ignoring Shield Skills: Your shield is not just for blocking; the Guardian Shield (default) can parry, and the Stone Wall Shield offers a heavy block. Invest skill points in the shield tree early to parry incoming red‑ring attacks.
- Not Using Atreus’s Skills: Atreus’s enhanced arrows (e.g., Sonic Arrows for weak points, Hex Arrows for chain explosions) are essential for solving puzzles and breaking enemy stances. Unlock Sonic Arrow as soon as possible.
- Skipping Side Content in the Lake of Nine: The Lake of Nine in Midgard hides several legendary chests, Mystic Gateways, and the first upgrade for the Blades of Chaos. Fully explore the lake before heading to the next realm.
- Not Crafting the Boar Root Enchantment: This enchantment, found in the The Crater of Vanaheim, drastically increases stun damage on enemies. It makes many difficult encounters (especially trolls and bosses) much easier.
- Waiting Too Long to Upgrade Runic Attacks: Runic attacks are your highest damage cooldowns. Buy them from the shop and upgrade them at the workbench; having two strong runic attacks on each weapon drastically improves your damage output.
- Selling Ancient Ruins Artifacts: The Ancient Ruins set (found in the Vanaheim Crater) is required for the Favor of the Ancients side quest. Do not sell any of the four artifacts until you complete the quest—the reward is a unique enchantment.
- Not Killing Odin’s Ravens for the Reward: Destroying all 48 Ravens unlocks a final chest in Niflheim containing the Rond of Purification and a large Hacksilver sum. It’s tedious but worth it for completionists.
- Underestimating the Importance of Food Buffs: Eating Jotnar Pockets or other cooked meals provides temporary buffs (e.g., faster healing, increased damage). Always grab them before entering a boss arena.
- Ignoring the Remnants of Asgard (Berserkers): These optional boss fights drop the best late‑game armor pieces (Berserker’s Set) and are the strongest gear in the base game. Start hunting them as soon as you have access to the Lake of Nine in Midgard.
- The Weight of Chains – becomes unavailable after completing Forging Destiny (the quest to get the second Chaos Flame).
- The Lost Treasure – must be started before leaving the Vanaheim Crater the first time.
- The Reversal of Fate – only available before triggering the endgame sequence.
- A Stroll in the Park – can be missed if you do not talk to Lunda after completing the main story of Alfheim.