by In our God of War Ragnarök tips guide you will learn:
- Which is the best shield for beginners
- Tips for exploring the game world
- How to combine Kratos’ abilities together
- The best settings for a smoother gaming experience
The most important setting for a better gaming experience
Before you embark on the new adventure with Kratos and Atreus, open Settings>Accessibility>Playstyle from the main menu and turn on “Auto Cancel” . You can find resources around almost every corner in God of War Ragnarok , and nothing is more annoying than having to press an extra button every time to get Kratos to bend down and pick up the item.
You can customize whether you want everything to be picked up automatically or only certain items. We recommend that you set the setting to “Full” . This option already existed in Horizon Forbidden West and it greatly improved the gaming experience there. We wouldn’t want to miss them in any action-adventure again.
Which shield should I choose?
At the beginning of the game you can choose one of two different shields :
- Stone Wall Shield : Blocking absorbs enemy attacks. Tap L1 twice in a row to perform a Shield Bash that knocks enemies into the air when fully charged.
- Fearless Shield : Shield Slam deals stun damage. Parrying just before being hit stuns enemies and boosts the next shield slam.
To slowly warm up to the combat system of God of War Ragnarök, we recommend the Stone Wall Shield. You can simply hide behind this shield in tricky situations and even block defense-penetrating attacks (yellow ring) . The latter does not work with the fearless shield. You only have to dodge red attacks with the stone wall shield.
Tip : Your initial decision doesn’t bind you to the shield forever. You will find many more shields in the course of the game and you can later buy the shield that you did not select from Brok.
The two best skills for fighting in God of War Ragnarok
Fighting in God of War Ragnarök will earn you XP, which you can use to unlock new abilities for Kratos and Atreus . You should unlock the following two skills as soon as possible, as they will make the fights much easier for you:
- Ax Ability: Douse Flames
- Blade Ability: Frost Evaporator
These two skills are perfect for performing powerful combo attacks . Doze Flames causes your ax to deal additional damage to burning enemies, while Frost Evaporator makes frozen enemies more vulnerable to Blade damage.
How do I freeze opponents and how do I burn them?
Hold Triangle with the ax to frost them – your next attack will deal Frost damage. Once the frost gauge above the enemy’s head is filled, they will glow blue and be frozen.
With the blades, you can also hold down Triangle to imbue them with fire. If you then attack, enemies hit take burn damage. The longer you hold down Triangle, the greater the burn damage. Enemies start to burn when the fire gauge is full – the perfect time to switch to the axe.
Tips for exploring the Norse worlds
Away from the main paths in God of War Ragnarök you can find numerous collectibles, armor and of course hacksilver . So always look around carefully and use your ax and chaos blades to get to seemingly inaccessible places.
With the ax throw you can freeze switches and water , divert cranes and ring the bells for the Norn chests.
The Chaos Blades’ ranged heavy attack, on the other hand, burns thorns that block their path. Don’t be surprised: You can only destroy the pink thorns and the gold-colored glowing stones later in the game. You still lack the right skills or tools at the beginning.
Secret control tricks for Kratos
In the fights of God of War Ragnarök you often have to deal with several opponents at the same time . It often happens that an enemy stabs you in the back. With a control trick that the game doesn’t tell you, you can turn around in no time at all.
Hold down L1 and press down on the directional pad at the same time. Then Kratos turns 180 degrees on the spot so that you can block an attack from behind.
A handy setting that is unfortunately disabled by default is called “ Neutral Dodge ”. If you enable this option under Controller Remapping > Controller Settings , Kratos will automatically dodge backwards with a press of the dodge button if you steer in no direction with the left stick.
In the hectic fights , this can sometimes save your life. Without a neutral dodge, nothing happens if you press the dodge button without a directional input at the same time.
Bonus Tip : Kratos is running too slow for you and you keep pressing L3 to run anyway? Then set the auto sprint , which automatically causes the Spartan to always run. You can find the option in Settings under Controller Remapping>Controls at the bottom of the list.
