God of War Ragnarok Beginner's Guide - Tips & Tricks

Getting Started

God of War Ragnarok drops players directly into the middle of a brewing apocalypse. Unlike traditional RPGs, there is no character creation screen or class selection menu to worry about. You play as Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, accompanied by his son, Atreus. If you are coming from the 2018 God of War reboot, the game will immediately detect your save file and import your equipped gear and skill trees. If you are a complete newcomer, the game provides a highly optimized default loadout that is more than capable of carrying you through the early stages of the game.

Before you dive into the main story, take a moment to adjust to the pacing. Ragnarok is a slower, more deliberate action game compared to character action games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. Kratos is heavy, and his attacks have weight. Your first steps should involve familiarizing yourself with the feel of the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos in the game's opening sequences. Pay attention to the cinematic flashbacks that occur at the very beginning; they set up the emotional stakes and the core motivation for the characters throughout the nine realms.

When you first gain access to the Lake of Nine and Sindri's house, treat this as your base of operations. Do not rush immediately to the next golden marker on your map. Instead, walk around Sindri’s house, speak to both Sindri and Brok, and interact with the various workbenches. This is your introduction to the game's crafting loop, and understanding the layout of this central hub will save you countless hours of confusion later in your playthrough.

Core Mechanics

The Combat Triangle

Ragnarok’s combat is built around a trinity of systems: Light Attacks, Heavy Attacks, and Runic Attacks. Light attacks (R1 on PlayStation, Left Click on PC) are fast and build up your combo meter. Heavy attacks (R2, Right Click) are slower but deal massive stagger damage to enemy shields and health pools. Runic attacks are your special abilities mapped to the L1+R1/L1+R2 face buttons. Mastering the flow between these three inputs is the key to success. You should never be mindlessly mashing light attacks. Instead, weave in heavy attacks to break enemy guards, and use Runic attacks to create breathing room when surrounded.

Stagger and Weapon Switching

Every enemy in God of War Ragnarok has a Stagger bar (visible above their health bar when attacked). When this bar depletes, the enemy is stunned, opening them up to a massive, damaging Stagger grab (press Circle/B). Different enemies are weak to different weapons. Standard Draugr are easily staggered by the blunt force of the Blades of Chaos, while lighter, faster enemies might be more susceptible to the wide, sweeping arcs of the Leviathan Axe. Get into the habit of switching weapons mid-combo. Hitting an enemy with the Axe, switching to the Blades for a heavy attack, and then switching back maximizes your stagger potential and keeps your combo meter climbing.

Defensive Maneuvers: Shield Gameplay

Your shield is not just a passive wall; it is an active offensive tool. You have access to different shield types throughout the game, but they generally fall into two categories: Permeable (like the Dauntless shield) and Indestructible (like the Stonewall shield).

• Permeable Shields: Allow a portion of an enemy's attack to pass through, which charges up your shield. Once fully charged, a parry (L1) will result in a massive, damaging shockwave that blasts enemies backward. This is highly recommended for aggressive players.
• Indestructible Shields: Absorb 100% of the damage but do not generate a shockwave. Perfect parries with these shields still stagger enemies, but they offer a safer, more forgiving playstyle for beginners.

Regardless of your shield type, master the Perfect Parry. If you press L1 the exact fraction of a second before an enemy's melee attack hits you, you will parry the attack, staggering the enemy and leaving them vulnerable. Do not rely solely on dodging; a strong defensive game anchored by parrying makes Kratos nearly untouchable.

Atreus and Companion Synergy

Atreus (and later, other companions) is controlled via the Square/X button. He shoots arrows that deal minimal damage but serve two vital functions: interrupting enemy attacks and triggering status effects. Furthermore, you have Companion Commands (Up, Down, Left, Right on the D-pad). These commands allow Atreus to summon spectral wolves, fire a flurry of arrows, or heal Kratos. Use these abilities constantly. They have short cooldowns, and using them increases the fidelity of Atreus's AI, making him more proactive in combat.

Early Game Tips

The first 5 to 10 hours of Ragnarok serve as an extended tutorial disguised as a narrative journey. To get the best possible start, you need to prioritize specific actions.

• Complete the "Groa's Secret" Favors immediately: Early in the game, you will be tasked with finding hidden Lore scrolls across the Lake of Nine and beyond. Drop everything to do these favors as soon as they appear. The reward for completing them is the Amulet of Yggdrasil. This amulet provides nine empty slots that you can fill with powerful passive perks (like increased Runic damage, health regeneration, or luck). Getting this amulet early fundamentally changes how powerful Kratos feels for the rest of the game.
• Invest in Runic Attacks before basic combos: When you first get XP, it is tempting to fill out the bottom of the skill tree to get new light and heavy attack strings. Ignore this impulse. Runic attacks (the middle branches of the skill tree) provide the highest damage-to-XP ratio in the game. Unlocking a few low-tier Runic attacks gives you access to powerful area-of-effect clears that will save your life against early-game hordes.
• Do not ignore the Hugs: Throughout the realms, you will find your companions standing near edges or in quiet corners with a prompt to press Circle/B. This initiates a "hug" or a moment of connection. Do these every single time you see them. They permanently increase Kratos's stats (like Strength, Runic, and Defense) in small increments that add up significantly over a 40-hour playthrough.
• Explore the Strond area and The Barrens: As soon as you unlock the boat in the new open area, sail around every edge of the map. Look for glowing gold markers on your compass; these are "Legendary Chests." Early legendary chests contain high-tier Runic attacks and massive chunks of hacksilver. Exploring for two hours here will gear you up for the next ten hours of story.
• Test your weapons on the training dummies: In Sindri's house, there is an open area where you can hit practice dummies. Use this to practice switching between the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, and the new Draupnir Spear. Learn what a full light combo looks like, and practice canceling a heavy attack into a dodge. Muscle memory built here prevents panic button-mashing later.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Hoarding Hacksilver and Resources

This is the most common trap for new players. Because upgrade costs scale exponentially, beginners often save up thousands of Hacksilver "for later." This is a mistake. The armor you find in the early game is designed to be upgraded to bridge the gap to the mid-game. Upgrade your armor and weapons as soon as you have the materials. If you hoard, you will be under-geared, making combat unnecessarily difficult, which in turn makes it harder to farm the resources you are saving.

2. Ignoring the Runic Summon Menu

Many players bind their Runic Summons (L1 + Triangle/Y) and then completely forget they exist. These summons—like the Wrath of Artemis or Mists of Helheim—are essentially "get out of jail free" cards. If you are surrounded, stunned, or about to take a massive hit from a boss, popping a Runic Summon grants Kratos brief moments of invincibility while dealing massive damage. Use them liberally; their cooldowns are short.

3. Equipping Mismatched Armor Sets

Early on, you might find a chest piece that gives you a +15 Strength bonus and decide to equip it, ignoring your boots and bracers. This severely gimps your potential. God of War Ragnarok features Armor Set Bonuses. If you wear three pieces of the same armor set (e.g., three pieces of the "Muspelheim" set), you unlock a powerful passive bonus that often eclipses the raw stats of mismatched gear. Always prioritize completing a set over equipping statistically superior individual pieces.

4. Leaving the HUD Cluttered

By default, the game displays damage numbers, a minimap, and a compass. While helpful initially, these elements draw your eyes away from the beautifully choreographed combat. As soon as you feel comfortable with the controls, go into the settings and turn off damage numbers and the minimap. The enemy health and stagger bars are directly above their heads; you do not need a minimap in linear or arena-style encounters. This dramatically improves your immersion and reaction times.

5. Skipping the Vanaheim Crater Favors

When you reach the Vanaheim Crater, the game opens up into a massive, semi-open-world biome. Many players do the main story quest here and leave, never to return. This is a massive error. The Crater contains the Drakkar contracts, which are the best source of high-tier crafting materials, XP, and armor sets in the mid-game. Clearing the Crater fully will make the latter half of the game's "Give Me God of War" difficulty feel like a walk in the park.

6. Trying to Button Mash Through Boss Fights

During cinematic boss sequences, the game will prompt you to press R1 or L1 rapidly to "pummel" the boss. Beginners often mash as fast as humanly possible. Do not do this. The game registers inputs rhythmically. If you mash frantically, the game will "drop" inputs, and the pummel animation will stutter, potentially causing you to fail the sequence and take massive damage. Find a steady, rapid rhythm—like beating a drum—and stick to it.

Essential Controls & Settings

Recommended Controller/Keyboard Layout

On both PC and PlayStation, the default layout is exceptionally well-tuned, but you should be aware of a few nuances.

• Interact/Pick up (Circle/B): This button is heavily used. By default, holding it down causes Kratos to do a slow scoop animation to pick up health runes. Tapping it causes him to do a quick, aggressive stomp that instantly picks up the item and can damage nearby enemies. Always tap, never hold.
• Alt Attack (Alt on PC, Angle button on console): This button modifies your heavy attack. With the Leviathan Axe, it throws a piercing projectile. With the Blades, it does a wide AoE slam. With the Spear, it detonates planted explosives. Bind this to an easily accessible mouse side-button on PC if possible.

The "Must-Change" Settings

Before you start your journey in earnest, pause the game and navigate to the Settings menu. Make the following adjustments for a vastly superior experience:

• Aim Assist: High. Even if you consider yourself a hardcore shooter player, set this to High. Kratos throws his axe and arrows in the heat of chaotic melee combat. High aim assist ensures your projectiles snap to the enemy you are looking at, preventing frustrating misses.
• Camera Speed: 5 to 7. The default camera speed (around 3 or 4) is sluggish. Increasing it to a 5, 6, or 7 allows you to track fast-moving enemies like Dark Elves or Wretches much more efficiently without having to rely entirely on the "snap-to-enemy" lock-on feature.
• Turn Off Waypoint Markers on the Compass. If you leave the massive golden pillars on your compass, you will find yourself staring at the edges of your screen rather than the lush environments. Turn off the compass markers and rely on the discrete white waypoint markers that appear in the 3D game world itself.
• Subtitles: Always On. The audio mixing in Ragnarok, while phenomenal, can occasionally bury quiet dialogue under sweeping orchestral music, especially during environmental exploration. Keep subtitles on to avoid missing crucial lore tidbits.

Progression System

Understanding how Kratos gets stronger is vital for managing your time effectively. Ragnarok features a dual-layered progression system: Stat-based Gear Progression and Permanent Skill Progression.

Gear Progression (Temporary but Immediate)

Your raw damage output and defense are almost entirely dictated by your gear. Weapons and armor have a Power Level (from 1 to 9). As you progress through the story, you will find gear with higher power levels. A Level 6 piece of common armor will always have higher base stats than a Level 4 piece of epic armor.

To upgrade gear, you need Hacksilver (the universal currency) and specific crafting materials (like Slag Cement, Yggdrasil Wood, or Soft Ingots). When you transition to a new realm and find gear with a +1 or +2 power level increase over your current gear, swap to it immediately. Do not get emotionally attached to a specific armor set if its power level is falling behind. Once you reach the endgame and the power level of gear stops increasing (capping at Level 9), you can finally pick your favorite set, max it out, and stick with it.

Skill Progression (Permanent and Foundation)

XP is spent on the Skill Tree. Unlike gear, skills never become obsolete. A skill you unlock at hour two will still be your primary damage tool at hour forty. Therefore, XP is the most valuable resource in the game.

When allocating XP, follow this hierarchy:

1. Runic Attacks (Mid-tree): Unlocks active abilities that deal massive damage and provide invincibility frames.
2. Weapon Mastery (Top of tree): Unlocks new combo strings that change how the weapon handles, increasing your versatility.
3. Relic Mastery (Separate tab): Upgrading your equipped relic provides massive passive buffs and a highly damaging active ability.
4. Basic Combos (Bottom of tree): Only fill these out if you have excess XP. The default light/heavy combos are perfectly fine for 90% of the game.

The Amulet of Yggdrasil

This deserves its own mention because it is your ultimate progression tool. As you explore, you will find Amulet Enchantments. These fit into the nine slots of the Amulet. You can swap these at any time, even mid-combat, without penalty. If you are fighting a boss that uses a lot of fire damage, open your menu, swap in your fire-resistance enchantments, and equip a shield that mitigates fire. The Amulet allows you to dynamically tailor your build to any situation on the fly.

Resources & Where to Find Help

God of War Ragnarok is a massive game filled with hidden pathways, obscure puzzle solutions, and notoriously difficult optional boss encounters. When you inevitably get stuck, knowing where to look is crucial.

Interactive Maps

If you are a completionist, do not try to find every single Nornir Chest or Lore scroll by memory. Use the God of War Ragnarok Interactive Map hosted by MapGenie. This browser-based tool allows you to filter the map to only show collectibles you are missing. You can cross them off as you find them, ensuring you never miss a crucial armor upgrade or a piece of a legendary weapon.

Video Guides and Boss Strategies

For boss fights, text guides often fall short because combat in Ragnarok is highly kinetic. If you are struggling with a boss like The King of the Hafgufa or any of the Valkyrie Queen encounters, YouTube is your best resource. Channels like RockedSolid, SWAGKYB, and Gamer's Little Playground provide no-nonsense, difficulty-specific video guides. Watching a 3-minute video of someone else executing a flawless combo on a boss will teach you more about dodge timings and openings than dying fifty times in a row.

Community Wikis

For raw data mining—such as finding out exactly how much Strength you need to reach a specific damage breakpoint, or which enchantments stack with each other—the God of War Wiki on Fandom is indispensable. The wiki features extremely detailed pages on the math behind the game's mechanics, including hidden cooldown reductions and exact stun multipliers for different weapon types. If you want to theorycraft a specific build (like a pure Runic build or a Shield-parry build), the wiki's database of armor sets and enchantment perk descriptions is required reading.

Community Discords

If you want real-time help or just want to discuss the game's phenomenal story and Norse mythology, look for the official Santa Monica Studio Discord or large community-run servers like Ragnarok Hub