God Of War Ragnarok [Our Recommended Tips]

God of War Ragnarok is finally out after 4 years of waiting, and for newer players or returning players, our God of War Ragnarok Combat Tips guide will help players brush off some combat tips that might help you get started! 

Aiming The Axe 

First things first, when you are using your Leviathan Axe, you will notice a few similarities to the combat from the previous games before the God of War Ragnarok, and it will be the mechanic of aiming your axe toward enemies. 

While being at a distance, aiming your leviathan axe at enemies can help you with combat. For enemies that are on the weaker end, you can deal a heavy throw by aiming your axe at enemies and then pressing down on R2, which will help keep them frozen for a short period. 

While the enemies stay frozen, it gives you some time to focus on another enemy at hand that you can take out either with your bare-handed attacks or your blades of chaos. 

Aiming For Weak Points 

Another basic thing players might miss out on is that weak points are the key to success in certain fights. Typically, enemies will have weak spots that are centered at their legs, so the best way to combat and take advantage of that will be to aim the axe at their legs to weaken them simply. 

Once the axe has been aimed at their weak point, it makes them stumble or fall, which gives the player the perfect chance to swoop in and deal with lighter or heavier attacks with R1 or R2. 

Hyperion Pull Skill 

Use the Hyperion Pull by pressing R1 to impale the Blades of Chaos into enemies, pulling them toward you, launching them into the air, and then thrusting them to the ground for damage. It’s effective against weaker and normal-level enemies and allows for air combos. Consider the Hyperion Grapple I skill to hold R1 after the Hyperion Pull to pull yourself toward enemies, stunning them.

Ring Indicators 

• Another thing that players will need to focus on is ring indicators.
• Essentially, whenever an enemy is ready to launch an attack against you, Atreus will often shout whether there is an incoming attack from behind you or on the left or right of you.
• Rings that are green mean attacks that can be easily parried, while rings that are colored red will indicate attacks that cannot be blocked or shielded, but rather, you will need to dodge away from the enemy not to take damage. 

Parries 

While we are on the topic of dodging and indicators, parries will also be crucial in the game. While you are shielding from the enemy and they can launch an attack against you, you can perfectly time your parry, which will stagger and push them back. 

• Similarly, if a fire projectile has been shot at you and you perfectly parry it, it is launched back toward the enemy instead. 

Shielding 

This might seem extremely obvious, but shielding will also be one of the most useful features and will save you in situations where you might feel like you’ve hit a dead end. When all else fails, you can dodge and shield yourself from incoming enemy attacks to help you survive a little longer. 

Whether those are projectiles or head-on attacks from enemies, shielding can help you gather your thoughts before deciding your next strategy against your opponents. 

Bare-Handed Attacks 

• For players that are especially starting afresh, while you can take advantage of the axe, don’t underestimate the power of a good Bare-Handed attack.
• If you only have the axe equipped and haven’t managed to get the Blades of Chaos, then you can switch to your bare hands, and it is extremely useful for dealing that final blow to enemies who are at low HP.
• Bare-handed attacks can not deal much damage compared to the leviathan axe or the blade of chaos, but it is always an option. 

Calling Atreus 

Atreus is your valuable ally in battles. Don’t forget to utilize his support during fights. Press square once to command Atreus to fire arrows, displayed in the bottom right corner. His “Nista” shout damages opponents. Atreus can distract or attack enemies, making battles easier.

Positioning 

• Positioning is vital in battles, and Head-on works for weaker enemies, using R1 and R2 attacks.
• Stay far from enemies launching projectiles, and throw your axe at them.
• Dodge roll to evade enemies approaching from behind.
• Press R3 to reset the camera position for better enemy awareness.
• Know where enemies are located: behind, side-step, right or left, and use environmental advantages like rivers or cliffs when available.

Skills 

Skills will be one of the most important things that will help players’ enemies. Both Leviathan axe skills, blades of chaos, and Atreus’ skills are important; therefore, they should not be left out at all. There will also be technique, ranged, as melee skills for both the leviathan axe and the blades of chaos. 

Leviathan Axe 

The Leviathan Axe will have three main types of skills: technique, range, and melee. Technique skills will simply aid the player with overpowering the axe as much as possible to take advantage of its frost effects, and the skills include: 

• Frost Awaken I
• Frozen Breach
• Frozen Spike 
• Extinguish Flames
• Frozen Ascent 
• Frozen Lance
• Permafrost 
• Glacial Permafrost 
• Frost Awaken III
• Frost Awaken II
• Frost Awaken IV

As for ranged skills, they are self-explanatory since they simply cater to maxing out the damage potential when using your axe as a ranged weapon, while melee skills will focus more on hands-on combat with enemies. 

Managing Resources 

Pay attention to your resources: monitor Atreus’s arrow count, your weapons, skills, and HP bar. Your runic attacks, skills, and abilities all play a part in helping you win the battle. Look for resources to regenerate HP and use environmental objects like boulders and trees as defensive tools or projectiles.

Frosting Up Your Axe

• Use Frost Awaken: Press the triangle button to imbue your axe with ice, applying frost to your next attacks. Frost Awaken I inflicts high frost damage, while Frozen Spike creates a frost explosion on impact.

Pressing R1 while Frost Awaken is active will swing the axe widely and apply frost, and R2 launches enemies upwards with a frost wave. Frozen Lance is useful when you aim and press R2 to throw the axe forcefully. Unlock Frost Awaken II, III, and IV for enhanced abilities.

Breaking Shields 

One more thing that you might have missed out on is that you can break an opponent’s shields with a little bit of force. Whenever you see the two blue circles, you can press down on the L1 button two times to break the pattern of the blue circle attacks and interrupt them. 

This can come in handy to buy you some extra time and get a few extra hits in between since most blue circle attacks would otherwise be unavoidable. 

Two Dodges

Master the two dodge types: sidestep with a single press of O or X for quick lateral movement, or perform a dodge roll by double-pressing O or X, depending on your console’s region. These dodges are essential for evading unblockable enemy attacks.

Status Effects 

Understanding status effects is quite as important as the various ones that are offered in the game are the following:

Frost 

The frost effect will be carried out by the leviathan axe, which will be able to cause frost damage to enemies consistently, and it will also make weaker enemies that are lower in HP freeze in their place. 

• If it cannot freeze them, it will inevitably slow down the movement of enemies. 

Burning 

When it comes to burning, it will simply continue to deal damage over time, and enemies will continue to burn until they lose HP. 

Shock 

The shock status effect will cause enemies to be stuck in one place, and they will not be able to gain any sort of movement for a while while the status effect remains active. 

Poison 

As for the poison status effect, it simply decreases the power level of enemies by one, making them even weaker than they already are. 

Daze 

With Daze, it will cause momentary dizziness, which can hinder the thought process as well as make battling difficult. 

Blind

Blind will be an important status effect to inflict on enemies, and once you can get your hands on it and it is used on opponents, it will simply decrease their overall visibility. 

Sonic 

Sonic is another important effect that you should not miss out on. With it in hand, it will cause sonic concussions anytime the enemy is inflicted with it, and then you further launch an attack against them. 

Hex 

As for hex, it will simply increase or decrease certain elemental effects and can directly affect status effects like frost, burning, shock, and poison. 

Bifröst

Last but not least, Bifrost will heal over time, and the purple damage will appear over the health bar. 

Permafrost Skill 

As a beginner, the permafrost skill will seem like one of the most important ones in the game since it allows you to carry out melee attacks one after the other without being able to take in ample damage. When you consistently carry out these attacks, you will continue to power up your leviathan axe and launch out frost damage on every hit. 

Immolation

As for your blades of Chaos, you can unlock immolation pretty early on after unlocking the second upgrade for your blades. It will allow you to consistently launch out melee attacks without taking in damage. As you do so, you can also power up your blade of chaos and consistently inflict burn damage on opponents with each hit. 

Weapon Synergies 

Another thing that you might want to remember is that weapon synergy is extremely important, and using your axe and your blades hand in hand will almost always result in an easier battle.

Once you’ve managed to freeze an enemy with your axe, go ahead and switch to your blade to deal burning damage or vice versa. While it can be difficult to time, it becomes quite easy once you’ve managed to carry it out on a few enemies. 

Absolute Beginner Tips 

For players who somehow managed to miss the tutorial lessons at the start of the game or have forgotten basic attack and combat patterns, follow these beginner tips:

Melee Combat 

• Pressing down on R1 will allow players to launch a light attack. 
• R2 will allow players to launch a heavy attack. 
• After pressing on L3 to sprint and sprinting off a cliff or ledge, you can press down on R1 to carry out death from the above attack, evidently attacking from the sky to the ground on enemies. 
• Stun can be applied with the help of certain attacks. 

Camera 

• Your camera can automatically track certain groups of opponents while moving sideways after facing an opponent. 
• You can press down on R3 to activate Lock-On, and you can then use R to switch from opponent to opponent. 

Targeting 

• For enemies close to Kratos, he will be able to target them automatically, and you can move the Left Analog button to help configure the target. 

Runic Attacks 

• Hold down on L1 and then press down on R1 in order to carry out a lighter runic attack.
• Hold L1 and then press on R2 in order to carry out a heaver runic attack on opponents in the battle. 

And there we have it! Combat tips should help all beginners who have welcomed themselves into the world of Kratos and Atreus, and with that, we will wrap up our God of War Ragnarok Combat Tips guide! 

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