10 things “God of War Ragnarok” doesn’t tell you

[Falcon] “God of War Ragnarok” is one of the biggest games of the year,and as a sequel to a reboot,you’d think you’d know everything about it.

But going in, you actually don’t.

On Gameranx,10 things “God of War Ragnarok” doesn’t tell you.

Starting off at number 10,
how to access Muspelheim.

In the first game, you
eventually gain access

to a series of difficult arena challenges

in the Realm of Fire, Muspelheim.

These challenges return
in “God of War Ragnarok”,

and completing them actually earns you

some pretty good rewards.

To reach this realm though,

you have to collect two Muspelheim seeds.

You get one early in the game
in the realm of the dwarves,

found in a chest near Modvitnir’s Rig,

which is part of the first
real favor of the game.

So that first seed’s not too hard to find.

The game makes you wait
for a really long time

before you can find
the second seed though.

So the second seed is also found

in the realm of the
dwarves, but the game, well,

it’s almost over before
you can finally get it.

If you want to know where it is exactly,

the second seed’s found
in Alberich Hollow,

which you can reach from the Dragon Beach

after getting Durlin’s hammer

for the Spirit of Rebellion favor.

You just go in the cave

to the left of the big dwarven statue

and you’ll soon find the Legendary Chest

containing the second seed
required to reach Muspelheim.

You won’t be able to get up to the area

until after starting the
Spirit of Rebellion favor,

which gets added automatically

at a certain point in the story,

so don’t worry about trying
to do it before then.

It’s a totally optional area,

so unless you’re absolutely doing

every favor you come
across, it is easy to miss.

If you’re itching to find Muspelheim

after getting the first seed
at the start of the game,

here it is, so don’t worry about searching

every single chest you find.

It’s gonna be a long time
before you get that second seed.

At number nine,

Berserker Souls are this game’s
version of the Valkyries.

Probably one of the most satisfying parts

of “God of War” from 2018

was taking down the
optional Valkyrie bosses.

These fights were very tough,

much tougher than anything
in the main story,

and if you’re wondering
if these fights returned

for “Ragnarok,” well, yes, they do.

Instead of eight Valkyries
in various locations,

there’s 12 Berserker Souls which are found

by interacting with gravestones
dotted around the world.

You’ll start seeing ’em relatively early,

but you can’t open ’em
up to fight the boss

without first getting
the Hilt of Skofnung.

You do get it as part of the main story,

but fights against the Berserkers
are completely optional.

And while you can fight
these guys right away,

probably best to wait a little while

’cause you’re gonna need
to build up your strength.

They’re gonna mess you up otherwise.

Unlike the Valkyries, who all
had a few different attacks

but were otherwise mostly the same,

the Berserkers can be wildly different

in both appearance and fighting style,

so you never really know exactly
what you’re dealing with.

Perfecting your parry,

pretty much the most essential
thing to beating them,

because it only takes a few
good hits to kill Kratos

and these guys are really aggressive.

Thankfully, the combat
feels a lot more responsive

in “Ragnarok” compared
to “God of War” 2018,

so while in many ways these fights

are tougher than the Valkyrie battles,

you won’t struggle with
the controls as much,

so it evens out a little bit.

But if you’re looking for
the ultimate challenge

in the game, seek these guys out.

At number eight, Hel’s Touch
is an amazing Runic Attack.

Runic Attacks, generally
pretty good anyways,

but many of them lose their effectiveness

when taking on the tougher opponents

you’ll find later in the game.

Some of the best Runic abilities
are the least flashy ones.

That was true in the first “God of War”

and it’s true in “Ragnarok.”

If you’re thorough,
you’re gonna be swimming

in Light Runic Attacks.

My personal favorite,
for the Leviathan Axe,

is probably one of the most basic.

It’s called Hel’s Touch,

and while it doesn’t look like much,

it’s really fast, recharges
relatively quickly,

and has some of the highest stun potential

of any Light Runic Attack.

Its ability to stun is
actually what makes it so good.

You can interrupt almost any attack

once this ability is fully upgraded,

and it becomes essential against some

of the toughest enemies
you’re gonna be facing.

Whether you need an opening to get a combo

or some space to heal yourself,

Hel’s Touch is a major lifesaver.

To get it, you’ll need
to find a Legendary Chest

in the burrows where the area

of the Song of Sands favor is found,

which is the Forbidden
Sands area of Alfheim.

It’s not the main reward
for completing this area.

Instead it’s down a side path

found after clearing out some
hive material on the wall.

It’s an ability that’s easy to miss,

but it’s very worth hunting down

because it can make
certain enemy encounters

just way, way easier.

At number seven, the
Cuirass of Ravens’ Tears.

One issue a lot of
people are gonna run into

in “God of War Ragnarok”
is, at a certain point,

enemies just start doing a lot of damage.

Unless you dedicate all your equipment

to improving defense and vitality,

tougher enemies are gonna start taking out

gigantic chunks of your life
with pretty much every hit.

What you need in situations like this

is a good source of healing,

and probably one of the best
pieces of equipment for that

is the Raven Tear chest piece.

What makes it so good
is its chance ability,

which every time you hit an enemy,

there’s a low chance that
you’re gonna activate

a Healing Mist which slowly
regenerates your health.

Now, the effect doesn’t
seem that powerful at first,

but with a decent luck stat,
you’re gonna be triggering

the Healing Mist pretty constantly.

And with any enhancements or equipment

that increases the healing
effect, it becomes even better.

The only way to get this
armor is from killing ravens,

which aren’t usually too hard to find

because of the glowing green effect

that makes ’em stand out
from the environment.

To get the cuirass,

you need to kill 18 of
the 48 total ravens,

which isn’t too bad and can be done

relatively early into the game
as long as you’re thorough.

The ravens might seem like another

pointless collectible to you at first,

but the rewards you get for
killing ’em are pretty good

and it’s in your best interest
to take these things out

whenever you see ’em,

even if only to get this
fantastic piece of armor.

At number six, how to reach the best

but easiest-to-miss optional area.

“Ragnarok”‘s got a ton
of optional locations,

and a lot of them are
pretty easy to bypass

if you’re just following the main story.

There’s one very large and
very easy-to-miss location

near the end of the game.

The area in question specifically
is called The Crater.

It’s found in Vanaheim,

and the only way to even reach this place

is to complete a short side
quest you might not even notice.

It’s called Scent of Survival,

which begins by leaving
the camp in Vanaheim

from the western exit after
a certain major story event.

No spoilers here, but it’s specific.

There you’ll find the dog
which triggers the favor.

It seems minor, but this favor is required

to access this entirely new area,

which is easily the most
elaborate in the entire game

and in my opinion the best.

It’s unique for a lot of
reasons, but to explain it,

I’d ruin the surprise.

Just remember that if you start

the Scent of Survival favor, finish it.

At number five, look for Ormr.

What is Ormr?

It’s basically the game’s version

of Crystal Lizards from “Dark Souls.”

They’re glowing little creatures

that drop a ton of useful
crafting materials,

but only if you manage to catch them.

They’re also easy to miss

because you might not even
realize that they’re a thing.

The game never really draws
your attention to them.

They just look like
any of the other dozens

of other random creatures
found as part of the scenery,

and they’re not considered
a collectible either.

You can go though the entire
game actually fairly easy

without noticing these things,

but they’re worth hunting
down when you see them.

They are identifiable by their glow

and the annoying chipmunk
sounds they make,

but if you try to approach
them or attack them up front,

they will pretty much always get away.

The trick with these guys is
to attack ’em from behind,

which is easier said than done.

Most of the time you’ll
have to solve a small puzzle

to get to the proper
angle on these things,

but it’s usually nothing too strenuous.

Honestly, the hardest
part about these guys

is just recognizing
that they’re a creature

that you can kill in the first place.

Many environments are
dotted with random things

you can break or kill to get resources

that are pretty easy to miss,

but the Ormr, trickiest you got.

That said, gives you some
of the best rewards as well.

At number four, use the
Spartan Rage ability Wrath

to get out of a stun really quickly.

You can get a few Spartan
Rage abilities in “Ragnarok”

that you can swap between freely

as you progress though the game.

They all have their uses,

but my favorite is the Wrath ability,

and for one simple reason:

it’ll break you out of a stun.

Now, technically, all three
Spartan Rage moves break stun,

but the only one that’s actually useful

specifically for that purpose is Wrath.

Fury takes too long to recharge

and Valor leaves you vulnerable

too long after triggering it.

With Wrath, you immediately
break out of getting stunned

and you counterattack.

The reason why that’s so good is simple.

For certain encounters,

it’s one of the only ways
to avoid taking damage.

It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card

when you mess up a yellow block

or get hit with a lightning
attack that leaves you weakened.

Instead of mashing
buttons to try to escape

and still taking a huge
amount of damage anyway,

just active Wrath and
instantly get out of stun

as well as do a little
damage to the enemy as well.

For certain bosses, it
only takes one opening

to tear you down to
nothing in terms of health,

even on normal, so having some way

to get back control instantly
is extremely useful.

At number three,

luck is actually an
amazing stat in “Ragnarok.”

Most games, luck is kind of a junk stat

that doesn’t do a lot of good,

but in “Ragnarok” it’s
secretly the best stat.

Well, maybe not the best,

but really, really good,
like up there good.

What makes it so powerful

is that it earns additional
rewards like you’d expect,

but it also makes so chance
abilities trigger more often.

Almost every perk attached to a weapon

or a piece of armor has a chance ability,

so depending on what
perks you have equipped,

having them trigger more
often is a huge deal.

I already mentioned the
Cuirass of Ravens’ Tears,

which has a chance to
heal when you hit enemies,

but that’s not the only thing

that benefits from higher luck.

Another fantastic perk is
found on the Giptumadr set,

which has a chance to drop Healthstones

and Ragestones after Runic Attacks,

and just that little bit of
extra health can save your life.

And if you’ve got a high enough luck stat

on the battlefield,

you’re just gonna be
swimming in Healthstones,

and that’s not gonna really be a concern.

So while luck might not
sound like a good stat,

especially when you consider
luck in so many other games,

it’s actually one of the best

as long as you’ve got some
good perks to use with it.

At number two, there is a
relic that can slow down time

and it is fantastic.

Along with Runic Attacks,

Kratos has some relic
abilities he can use.

The first one you can get
increases your melee damage

for a short period of time,
and while that’s very good,

my favorite relic is
definitely the Hilt of Hofud.

You get it as part of the main story, too.

I’m not gonna spoil where, but
it’s fairly late in the game,

and at this point you might be pretty set

with your equipment, but
don’t sleep on this relic.

It’s super useful.

The best use is against some

of the optional end-game fights.

These guys get extremely aggressive

near the end of their battles

and your best option is to
just wait for an opportunity,

trigger this relic, and finish ’em off.

Of course it’s a useful relic any time,

but there’s nothing more annoying
than nearly killing a boss

for it to just go crazy
on you at the last second

and give you no opening for an attack.

For most of these guys,

my death comes at the
very end of the fight

and that always, I mean always, sucks.

You feel like you put in all this effort,

and then you sorta poop
out at the end, it sucks.

This relic will absolutely help
you avoid that frustration.

And finally at number one,

use High Contrast Mode to
find hard-to-get collectibles.

There’s a lotta collectibles in this game,

and some of ’em stand
out more than others,

like the ravens, Nornir,
and the Legendary Chests,

but there’s a lot of
other stuff lying around

that can be super easy to miss.

If you want to collect everything

but can’t seem to find that
last remaining Lore Scroll,

get into the Accessibility options

and scroll down to High Contrast Mode.

There you can make it so that
certain objects in the game

appear as high-contrast color,

which makes them stand out more.

If you’re looking for collectibles,

the options you’ll want to change

are Target Color and and Interact Color.

Change those to something like red

and change the Background Color

to something they’ll
contrast against, like white.

So the entire world’s gonna appear white

while anything you can
interact with is gonna be red,

which is gonna make it very easy

to find any loose collectibles.

It almost feels like cheating,

but when the environments
are this packed with detail,

sometimes it’s easy to miss things.

And these High Contrast Modes
are fantastic for anyone

looking to collect every
little last collectible

there is to find in the game.

Also, those things
actually do have a purpose.

High Contrast Mode helps people with,

you know, actual vision problems,

and it’s not like they
put it there thinking

you’re not going to use it
for stuff like this too.

And that’s all for today.

Leave us a comment, let
us know what you think.

If you liked this video, click like.

If you’re not subscribed,
now’s a great time to do so.

We upload brand-new videos
every day of the week.

Best way to see them first
is of course a subscription,

so click subscribe, don’t
forget to enable notifications.

And as always, we thank you very much

for watching this video.

I’m Falcon, you can follow me
on Twitter, @FalconTheHero.

We’ll see you next time
right here on Gameranx.