Runic attacks are amazing as Kratos goes into a frenzy and unleashes a short burst of high-damage attacks that deal massive damage to foes. I have listed some of the best Leviathan Axe, Chaos Blades, and Draupnir Spear runic attacks in God of War Ragnarok that not only pack a punch but are the best skills & useful in dynamic combat situations.
Best Leviathan Axe Runic Attacks:
- Breath Of Thamur runic attack creates a massive area of effect, dealing high damage to enemies in a circular radius, and is found in Niflheim, requiring the defeat of 28 Odin’s Ravens.
- Fog Of Fimbulwinter attack sends a freezing wave forward, pushing enemies back and freezing them.
- Njord’s Tempest attack lets Kratos spin with the axe, clearing enemies and dealing damage.
- Wrath Of The Frost Ancient attack fires a powerful frost beam at ranged targets, with the option to extend its duration.
- Leviathan’s Roar attack creates a shockwave that stuns enemies, available in a legendary chest located in Freyr’s Camp.
Best Chaos Blades Runic Attacks:
- Tame The Beast attack slams the blades forward, dealing high damage and applying a burn status effect to enemies.
- Atlas Eruption attack creates explosions in a small area, dealing burn damage to enemies caught within it.
- Rampage Of The Furies attack initiates a flurry of quick slashes, ending with a powerful cross-slash, dealing high physical damage.
- Cyclone Of Chaos attack triggers a spinning attack, hitting enemies around Kratos, and dealing moderate physical and stun damage.
- Meteoric Slam attack slams the blades into the ground, summoning burning meteors to fall and deal high physical and burn damage.
Best Draupnir Spear Runic Attacks
- Artillery Of The Ancients is a power spear attack where Kratos throws the spear into the sky, raining down spears onto enemies that can be detonated for damage.
- Vindsvalr’s Windstorm attack creates cyclones, dealing stun and physical damage to enemies caught within.
- Thrust Of A Thousand Soldiers attack involves thrusting and impaling enemies repeatedly, causing high physical damage.
- Honor The Fallen attack deals Force and stun damage, particularly effective against armored enemies. Unleashes a powerful leaping attack.
- Mountain Splitter attack sends long-ranged wind slices to stagger enemies and deal physical and Force damage.
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Best Leviathan Axe Runic Attacks
Here’s a quick comparison of Leviathan Axe Runic Attacks:
| Name | Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breath Of Thamur | 4/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 305 sec | Chest located under Raven Tree in Niflheim |
| Fog Of Fimbulwinter | 1/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 208 sec | Chest located in Svartalfheim realm |
| Njord’s Tempest | 2/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 99 sec | Chest located in Althjof’s Rig |
| Wrath Of The Frost Ancient | 3/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 132 sec | Chest located in The Southern Wilds |
| Leviathan’s Roar | 1/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 108 sec | Chest located in The Freyr’s Camp |
While Leviathan Axe is an excellent close-combat melee weapon of Kratos, certain runic attacks like Njord’s Tempest give it a ranged weapon utility.
Breath Of Thamur
| Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown |
| 4/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 305 sec |
Breath of Thamur is back from God of War 2018, and it’s still really powerful in the sequel. When Kratos uses it, he lifts his axe, and a big icy wind goes in a circle around him. It hits a lot of enemies nearby.
The utility of Breath of Thamur is very high, especially in the last few story chapters of God of War Ragnarok. That is because you get stormed by all kinds of enemies at once: ranged, melee, brutes, and creatures. This makes Breath of Thamur the best heavy runic attack pick that will get you out of tight spots.
How To Get
To get the Breath of Thamur attack, go to a chest under the Raven Tree in Niflheim. But, before you can open it, you have to beat 28 Odin’s Ravens. If you don’t, the chest stays locked, and you can’t receive the runic attack.
Fog Of Fimbulwinter
| Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown |
| 1/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 208 sec |
When you trigger the Fog of Fimbulwinter, Kratos basically slams the Leviathan Axe into the ground and sends a frost wave in the direction he is facing. Besides being frozen by the ice wave, enemies are also pushed back, giving you decent time to execute your next move.
Our go-to moveset or combo was to initiate an encounter with Fog of Fimbulwinter and then switch to Chaos Blades or Draupnir Spear to attack the enemies frozen by Leviathan Axe’s permafrost.
How To Get
To get Fog of Fimbulwinter, go to Svartalfheim. There’s a chest with this attack, but vines block it. To reach it, take the train to Myrkyr Tunnels or use the Mystic Gateway if you’ve unlocked it. Find a chamber where sunlight shines from below. The chest is on the other side, covered in vines. Just set the vines on fire to open it by igniting a nearby barrel.
Njord’s Tempest
| Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown |
| 2/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 99 sec |
This runic attack is especially useful in a combat situation where Kratos is surrounded by at least 2-4 enemies. If you feel overwhelmed in combat, as you will in the game’s later chapters, just rely on Njord’s Tempest runic attack to clear away enemies, depleting at least 20-30% of their health.
How To Get
To get Njord’s Tempest, you’ll need to do a bit of searching. It’s in a special chest in Althjof’s Rig. Start at the beginning, where you see the mining rig. You’ll find two barrels you can break using Atreus or Freya’s Sonic arrows there. This will open a path. Go through it and kick down a chain to reach the next area. In the next area, break through a wall after swinging on a crane, and you’ll find the legendary chest with Njord’s Tempest.
Wrath Of The Frost Ancient
| Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown |
| 3/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 132 sec |
The cool thing about this attack is that if you hold down R1, you can make the icy beam last longer for a few extra seconds. Not many Runic attacks can do that.
Wrath of the Frost Ancient deals more regular damage and a bit less frosty damage. Even when you level it up all the way, the stats stay the same (more regular damage, slightly less frost damage). This attack is really useful against big bosses with lots of health. The only downside is it doesn’t stun the target.
How To Get
You can find this attack in a special chest in The Southern Wilds. Go forward from the gateway to the area until you reach a root tunnel. At a crossroads, go left and keep going until you find a small passage.
Go through it and follow the winding path until you reach some remains. Beat a few attacking creatures and then go left. There’s a hidden crawl space next to the roots, and you’ll see the legendary chest on the other side. Open it to get the Wrath of the Frost Ancient attack.
Leviathan’s Roar
| Damage | Frost | Stun | Cooldown |
| 1/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 108 sec |
When you trigger the Leviathan’s Roar heavy runic attack, Kratos throws the axe towards enemies and shields up. The axe returns furiously and strikes the shield, creating a shockwave that instantly stuns most enemies standing near Kratos.
The best part of using Leviathan’s Roar is that this heavy runic attack has by far the lowest cooldown from the get-go. If you use some of the best Kratos Armor sets in God of War Ragnarok that reduce the cooldown of runic attacks, you can potentially spam Leviathan’s Roar without waiting much.
How To Get
You can get this attack from a special chest in Freyr’s Camp. Start by going to the right when you’re on a rock overlooking a place with a big blue ring hanging from vines.
First, go down on your left, then climb the barrier on your right to return to where you started. Swing across a hanging anchor point on your right to get into a hole and follow the path.
Once you’re on the other side, enter the building across from where the hole comes out. Go down and keep going left. Climb higher in the ruins until you reach a zipline, but don’t use it. Instead, turn left and cross a gap to reach a wooden building. The legendary chest is there after you climb up on your right.
Best Chaos Blades Runic Attacks
Let’s first compare the Chaos Blades Runic Attacks:
| Name | Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tame The Beast | 3/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 125 sec | Chest found in Helheim |
| Atlas Eruption | 2/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 271 sec | Chest found in The Forge |
| Rampage Of The Furies | 3/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 88 sec | Chest found in Vanir Shrine |
| Cyclone Of Chaos | 1/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 125 sec | Chest found in Raider Stronghold, Midgard realm |
| Meteoric Slam | 2/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 185 sec | Chest located under Raven Tree in Niflheim |
Chaos Blades is best utilized at close to medium-range distances, and you can pretty much control a crowd using this weapon without breaking a sweat.
Tame The Beast
| Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown |
| 3/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 125 sec |
Just use this heavy attack, and Kratos will slam the Chaos Blades ahead, causing damage and setting targets on fire. Most of the damage happens in front of Kratos. I used this attack from the start to the end of the game, and it always worked well against bosses and strong enemies like Einherjar. If you haven’t tried it, give Tame The Beast a shot.
How To Get
You can get the Tame The Beast attack from a special chest in Helheim. After facing Garm, fight off more creatures. Then, go right and look at the nearby wall. Throw the Draupnir Spear at it, turn around, and use the spear to make a bridge. After you jump across, you’ll find the legendary chest with Tame The Beast inside.
Atlas Eruption
| Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown |
| 2/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 271 sec |
Triggering Atlas Eruption makes Kratos slam the Chaos Blades into the ground, causing fiery explosions that hurt nearby enemies with burn damage. If you press R2 a few more times, Kratos slams the blades longer.
Atlas Eruption is really useful, and I often like it more than other heavy attacks. But here’s the thing: it does the most damage to frost enemies, dealing big burn damage. But the damage isn’t as good if you use it on enemies that already have fire. No matter what, watching Kratos slam the blades and set enemies on fire is always fun. Use Atlas Eruption if you want to blast enemies away.
How To Get
You can find the Atlas Eruption attack in a legendary chest in The Forge. After opening the big gates to The Forge, go to the right. Keep going right, pass under a bridge, and turn right again under a structure. Climb up, use ice to stop a geyser, and find an elevator hidden in the structure.
Ride the elevator up, turn left, cross the next bridge, and go up another ledge to the right to find the legendary chest with Atlas Eruption.
Rampage Of The Furies
| Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown |
| 3/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 88 sec |
When you trigger Rampage of the Furies light runic attack, Kratos slashes foes in front of him with robust flurry attacks. The ultimate combo ends with a powerful cross-slash that stretches at the far end and throws the enemy away.
- The best part of using this light runic attack is that it comes with an 88-second cooldown, which can potentially be further reduced if you equip armor sets that lower cooldown times.
How To Get
To get the Rampage of the Furies attack, find a legendary chest in the Vanir Shrine. After lowering the bridge, go through the passage full of enemies. Kill them and use Blazing Surge to break the vines blocking your way. You can find the target by hanging on the right wall.
Go through, continue until you reach a new chamber, and unlock the gate there. Before entering it, use Blazing Surge to clear the bush on your right and look through the space it leaves. You’ll see a crack in the wall with a target. Destroy it, then return to the chamber where you fought the enemies. The chest with Rampage of the Furies is on your left, guarded by a single foe.
Cyclone Of Chaos
| Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown |
| 1/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 125 sec |
This light attack is great for stunning enemies who’ve surrounded you or come from all sides. It won’t do high physical or burn damage, but that’s not its main purpose. Cyclone of Chaos, the light attack for Chaos Blades, is really good for controlling crowds of small enemies. If you hit them right, it often stuns them, allowing you to finish them off and clear the area.
- The downside is it has a long cooldown of 125 seconds. Usually, light attacks have shorter downtime in God of War Ragnarok, but if you have gear that reduces cooldown, this attack can be the best for Chaos Blades.
How To Get
This Cyclone of Chaos runic attack may be found in the legendary chest located in the Raider Stronghold of the Midgard realm. Once you are there with Atreus of Freya, you must clear the enemies and then make your way to the south exit of the chamber. You will find this location as the exit is blocked by snow, and besides the collapsed snow, you will find the Legendary Chest containing the Cyclone of Chaos’s runic attack.
Meteoric Slam
| Damage | Burn | Stun | Cooldown |
| 2/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 185 sec |
This heavy attack looks awesome and deals massive physical damage, slightly less burn damage, and no stun damage initially. But when fully upgraded, it adds stun damage and crazy high physical damage. For all these reasons, I believe Meteoric Slam is the best Chaos Blades runic attack in God of War Ragnarok. It brings massive damage, applies burn, and stuns enemies.
- The only downside is its long 185-second cooldown. Besides that, it’s a solid attack for taking out groups of enemies and handling tough situations.
How To Get
The Meteoric Slam is found in the same location where you can also get Breath of Thamur. This runic attack is locked in a Legendary Chest that can only be opened if you kill at least 38 Odin’s Ravens. If you have already done that, go to The Raven Tree in the Niflheim Realm, and you will find the Legendary Chest waiting to open and containing the Meteoric Slam runic attack.
Best Draupnir Spear Runic Attacks
Let’s first check out the stats comparison of Draupnir Spear Runic Attacks:
| Name | Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artillery Of The Ancients | 3/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 97 sec | Kill two Dreki bosses appeared during, Creatures of Prophecy main story |
| Vindsvalr’s Windstorm | 4/5 | 2/5 | 5/5 | 162 sec | Defeat Flame Phantom boss |
| Thrust Of A Thousand Soldiers | 5/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 65 sec | Chest found in Helheim |
| Honour The Fallen | 4/5 | 5/5 | 2/5 | 97 sec | Located in Plains region, Vanaheim Realm |
| Mountain Splitter | 4/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 97 sec | Complete 'Spirit of Rebellion' favor |
Draupnir Spear has massive utility and damage output, but the baseline is that this is an excellent ranged weapon. The spear throw is fast and excellent for pinning a target in one-versus-one scenarios.
Artillery Of The Ancients
| Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown |
| 3/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 97 sec |
This heavy attack works best when fully upgraded to level 3. At that point, it deals massive physical and moderate Force damage and stuns enemies when the spears rain down on them.
- Artillery of the Ancients is one of the best runic attacks because of its short 97-second cooldown. That’s rare for a heavy runic attack in God of War Ragnarok, as most have longer cooldown times.
- We used this heavy attack throughout the game, and it was especially helpful during boss fights against Heimdall and Thor.
How To Get
The Artillery Of The Ancients’ runic attack is not missable, as you can obtain this after killing two Dreki bosses that appear during the main story mission called Creatures of Prophecy. After you have defeated both bosses, you can collect the dropped loot, one of which will be the Artillery of The Ancients runic attack.
Vindsvalr’s Windstorm
| Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown |
| 4/5 | 2/5 | 5/5 | 162 sec |
When you upgrade this heavy runic attack to its level 3 or max out, it creates an additional cyclone in the field, and the overall duration of the runic attack is also increased. All enemies that come in contact with these cyclones will get hit.
When you use the Vindsvalr’s Windstorm after maxing out the upgrades, you get devastating impacts, and most of the small-sized enemies you will have on the field will be completely stunned.
- The only downside or tradeoff right now that I can think of is the higher cooldown time. While 162 seconds is not the highest cooldown time for a runic attack in God of War Ragnarok, it is still higher than most.
How To Get
Vindsvalr’s Windstorm is another Draupnir Spear’s runic attack that is not missable. Players can obtain this while defeating the Flame Phantom boss that appears during the main story mission called The Summoning.
After defeating the boss, do not forget to collect the loot you see on the ground. Vindsvalr’s Windstorm will be one of the dropped loot items you can see after killing the boss in Muspelheim.
Thrust Of A Thousand Soldiers
| Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown |
| 5/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 65 sec |
- Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers is best at level 3. It becomes a strong light attack with the highest physical damage and a 65-second cooldown. You can make it even faster by wearing certain armor that resets or reduces cooldowns.
- When you use it, Kratos dashes at an enemy and stabs with a spear.
- Pressing R1 more makes him stab more. Each stab leaves a spear, and you can explode them all with Triangle.
How To Get
You can get Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers in two ways:
- The first is during the story, but it’s easy to miss. If you miss it, you can buy it later at the Blacksmith’s Shop after finishing the story.
- To find it later in the story, go to Helheim.
- After fighting the Hel-Traveller, reach an area where you need to use a wheel or freeze it to open a gate.
- Once open, go on and fight some enemies.
- Then, follow the path to the right. You’ll see a golden crack in the wall.
- Use the Draupnir Spear to break it, then turn left to find a hiding spot.
- Inside the Legendary Chest is Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers.
Honour The Fallen
| Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown |
| 4/5 | 5/5 | 2/5 | 97 sec |
If you’ve unlocked it, use this attack when enemies are near a cliff; Kratos will leap and crash down, throwing them all away. Kratos can perform a massive charged leap attack when upgraded to the max by holding R2. This charged attack is available only after fully upgrading Honour The Fallen heavy runic attack. It’s especially effective against tough, armored Einherjar or Aesir soldiers who are hard to stagger or stun.
How To Get
You can find the Honour The Fallen attack in a legendary chest in the Plains region of the Vanaheim realm. Look near the Mystic Gateway for the first golden crack in a wall and throw a spear into it. Then, go down near the red chest and throw two more spears at the glowing golden rocks before you.
Now, explode all three cracks at once to open up a new area. Look behind it, and you’ll find two collectibles, one with the Honour The Fallen runic attack.
Mountain Splitter
| Damage | Force | Stun | Cooldown |
| 4/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 97 sec |
Mountain Splitter is great for pushing enemies away. When you use it, Kratos throws long-range wind slices that stagger enemies. You can launch an extra wave of slashes for more damage when fully upgraded.
It works best when enemies are before you because it’s not an area attack. Kratos throws the slashes in the direction he’s facing. So, to use it effectively in God of War Ragnarok, line up as many enemies as you can in front of you and then use Mountain Splitter.
How To Get
- Acquiring Mountain Splitter is not difficult, as you are only required to complete a Favor called Spirit of Rebellion. Once you have done this side quest, you will get 3000 Kratos XP, 750 Freya XP, 30 Whispering Slab, Rebel Leader, and Mountain Splitter runic attack for the Draupnir Spear.
- This runic attack is not missable, and you can collect it even after completing the main story of God Of War Ragnarok.
What I Think Are The Best Runic Attacks
In my honest opinion, after obtaining the Platinum Trophy in over 70+ hours, Breath of Thamur is great for the Axe since later on in GOWR, you’ll be dealing against several enemies at a given time, especially if you’re doing the Muspelheim Trials.
For the Blades, my favorite weapons in the game, both Atlas Eruption and Tame The Beast are strong choices depending on the playstyle, and for the Draupnir Spear, Artillery of the Ancients will make short of work of trash fodder enemies with the multiple spear rain from above.
Having top-tier runic attacks in God of War Ragnarok is important, besides unlocking the best armor sets, Freya, Atreus, and Kratos skills. While you can pretty much unlock all runic attacks as you progress the main and side quests, the deciding factor for the best runic attacks boils down to the usability of RNC attacks in combat.
I believe my list contains easy-to-get, remember, and execute RNC attacks in GOW Ragnarok, and you will also find them pretty useful in your playthrough.
Next:
- God of War Ragnarok Walkthrough
- God Of War Ragnarok Raven Locations
- GOW Ragnarok BEST Amulet Enchantments
- How To Unlock All Realms
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