by In our God of War Ragnarök Skills Guide , you’ll learn:
- How the skill trees are built for Atreus and Kratos
- The best skills for the Leviathan Ax and Blades of Chaos
- The best skills for Atreus
In order to survive in the brutal world of Norse mythology, you must constantly improve your skills and learn new attack combos . In this guide, we show you which skills you should invest in early.
What skill trees are there in God of War Ragnarok?
The skill system in God of War Ragnarök has been turned inside out and now consists of three categories for both Kratos and Atreus. For Kratos, it ‘s Technique, Ranged, and Melee for the Leviathan Ax and Blades of Chaos.
Atreus has three categories: instinct, archer and aggression. Instinct represents abilities that give Atreus more opportunities to actively help Kratos in battle. Aggression skills, on the other hand, cover direct attacks on opponents.
Many skills can only be unlocked with experience points at a certain weapon level. You can also improve each ability with a mod – for example, you can increase the damage of the ability or improve resistance to enemy attacks while casting the ability.
Modifications are unlocked by completing the quests for each ability in the Skill menu .
Leviathan Axe: The best skills
For the Leviathan axe, the following skills have proven to be particularly useful in our playthrough .
The best technique skills for the Leviathan Axe
Permafrost and icy permafrost
Perform melee attacks without taking damage to charge the ax with Frost. Once charged, the ax deals additional Frost damage . You also get bonuses to luck and rune power.
If you unlock icy permafrost, once the ax is charged, you can press L1 and Triangle to unleash the frost energy and launch long-range waves of frost for a short time . The frost waves trigger high frost damage to enemies. This ability is especially useful against bosses and mini-bosses, as it has a high chance of staggering the opponent or interrupting enemy attacks.
Frosty Rise
Press R2 while Frostwake is active to perform an upward slam, knocking enemies up and dealing high Frost damage.
The best ranged skills for the Leviathan Axe
Vengeful Sickle 1 & 2
The best ranged ability in God of War Ragnarök is Vengeful Sickle. Hold R1 while aiming to charge the axe. After throwing, the ax spins in the air, dealing further damage to the enemy. Standard opponents are briefly paralyzed with this attack because they are interrupted by the constant blows .
Vengeful Sickle is also useful when you want to briefly slow down an enemy to turn your attention to other enemies. For example, you can throw the ax and hold one enemy while you use the Blades of Chaos to attack another enemy.
The best melee skills for the Leviathan Axe
Wrath of Leviathan
Press R2 while sprinting to perform a leap attack that applies Frost to enemies. Not only is this attack powerful, but it will knock most enemies into the air or at least stagger them. The downside: it takes at least a second for the animation to finish and the attack to be performed. During this time you are vulnerable.
dodge storm
Dodge backwards and press R1 for a quick boomerang throw . So you can deal out a little damage even when dodging.
vortex throw
Pause briefly after an attack for Kratos to go into battle stance. With R2 you throw the ax forward , which briefly stuns or even knocks down most enemies. Press R2 a second time to perform a ranged combo.
Chaos Blades: The best skills
Below we show you the best skills in the three skill categories for the classic Blades of Chaos.
The best technique skills for the Blades of Chaos
Scorched Earth 1 through 3
Press R2 during the Flame Whiplash to throw the blade down and trigger an incendiary explosion. The higher the level, the harder the explosions become.
While it takes a moment for the blades to charge up, you can use it to interrupt even late-game boss attacks.
Combustion & Angry Combustion
The ability “Incineration” and its enhanced version “Raging Incineration” will be of great help to you, especially in boss fights. This skill requires you to perform melee attacks without taking damage . The blades become saturated with fire. When they’re fully charged, press L1 and the Triangle button to unleash the flames.
This gives your melee attacks an explosive touch for a short period of time, dealing Burn damage . You can even stagger bosses and mini-bosses or interrupt their attacks.
The best ranged skills for the Blades of Chaos
Hyperion’s Grip 1 & 2
After piercing an enemy with the Chaos Blade, hold R1 to pull Kratos towards the enemy : The impact causes a stun. If you do this to enemies in the air , Kratos will slam them down with the blade instead. You can also grab enemies on higher platforms.
Blazing Blast 1 & 2
Impales an enemy with the Chaos Blade, then hold R2 to throw the second blade at them and send out two bursts of fire . The fire pulses explode dealing burning damage as soon as they hit the enemy.
Using Blazing Blast can be risky when surrounded by multiple enemies, as it takes a moment for the animation to finish – however, it’s one of the most powerful attacks in the game.
The best melee skills for the Blades of Chaos
vortex chaos
Dodge forward and press R1 to perform a leap spin attack . This attack is useful when fighting weaker opponents such as Draugr or Grimm. You can also use the attack to get to enemies faster.
Chaos Cloud (Combo Attack) Press
R1 five times, then press R2 once to end the combo with a powerful leap attack. Deals high burning damage and knocks enemies into the air or staggers them.
The best skills for Atreus
Atreus also has a whole range of useful skills that you can unlock as the game progresses. However, you can only access all three Atreus skill trees after leaving Svartalfheim .
The best instinct skills
Vigilant protector
Atreus attracts the enemy’s attention . Useful when you are being harassed by multiple enemies at once. On top of that, you can either flank enemies who are distracted by Atreus from the side or surprise them with a powerful melee attack from behind.
The best archery skills for Atreus
Sonic Effectiveness
When you want to stun enemies for a finisher, the sonic darts are particularly useful. With this ability, the sonic arrows get a higher area of effect .
Sonic Echo Attacking
Sonic- affected enemies unleashes a sonic wave, stunning nearby enemies .
The best aggression skill
beatings
Atreus can stagger opponents and stun with further hits.
