Being able to repeatedly farm enemies for experience and other resources is very important for quickly acquiring skills and stronger stats. However, for an XP farm to exist the game must have respawnable enemies after each rest/save that you take. This is a common feature in games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls but it doesn’t exist in God of War.
There’s no way to bring back a mob of enemies once you’ve beaten them in God of War Ragnarok, except in the Muspelheim Trials. So, “farming” XP and other resources can only be done by completing quests and favors. Completing main story quests is a great, and the most obvious, way to earn XP so here’s a list of favors(side quests) that will reward you with the most XP.
10. Favor - For Vanaheim!
Every player rightfully assumed Birgir died after sacrificing himself to take down a dragon that was thousands of miles up in the sky. Well, the man is one tough cookie because he survived and is currently trapped in a tower from another dragon. You’ll see his rescue fireworks as you explore The Crater in Vanaheim, so go return the favor by freeing him.
Why For Vanaheim! is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 3,000 Kratos and 750 Atreus/Freya XP
- The route to complete For Vanaheim! is shared with other favors that can quickly be completed for additional XP, such as In Plain Sight and Stags of the Seasons.
- There are also a few minibosses that you can face if you take the side routes for more XP and resources.
9. Favor - Defend Your Valor
It was only a matter of time that you’d get the chance to fight the new Valkyrie Queen Gna after seeing her in action during the battle of Ragnarok. Just like Sigrun in the previous God of War, Gna is an optional boss fight and arguably the hardest enemy in the game. She uses some of Sigrun’s old moves along with her own unique attacks that use Hex and Sonic magic. She can be found on a cliff in Muspelheim after completing the main story.
Why Defend Your Valor is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 4,000 Kratos XP and 4,000 Freya XP
- This favor is conveniently located right next to the Muspelheim Trials, which would be considered the only “true” XP farm in the game. If she’s too tough then you can quickly complete some trials to gain more XP to be better prepared for Gna.
- Upon defeat, Gna drops unique Valkyrie abilities to aid in combat for Kratos and Freya.
8. Favor - Quaking Hollow
Vanaheim is the largest realm that you can explore in God of War Ragnarok. Consequently, it’s home to some of the largest creatures that you’ll fight in the entire game. Upon entering The Sinkholes you’ll hear loud tremors and eventually find the footsteps of the beast that’s making the noise. Follow the giant footsteps until you’re in an underground cave and the giant drake will appear.
Why Quaking Hollow is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards - 4,500 Kratos XP and 1,125 Atreus/Freya XP
- Crag Jaw drops a Greater Essence of Regeneration enchantment that constantly regenerates health at all times.
- Traveling to Quaking Hollows final location, you will encounter a surprise miniboss and various difficult enemies that award a sum of XP and Vanaheim enchantments.
7. Favor - Born from Fire
Draugrs are the least common enemies you’ll encounter in GoW Ragnarok. So much so that the dual axe-wielding Draugr has been turned into a miniboss called The Hateful. Throughout the realms are lava pit where this miniboss rests until you start the fight by approaching it. Defeat all 6 of The Hateful and close the lava pits for good.
Why Born from Fire is a Great Way to Farm XP:
- Rewards: 4,500 Kratos XP and 1,125 Atreus/Freya XP
- Each Hateful defeat drops a Chaos Spark. Defeating all Hateful minibosses and collecting all 6 Chaos Spark becomes a Chaos Flame to upgrade Blades of Chaos.
- Each Hateful miniboss drops their own set of resources and enchantments.
6. Favor - Hel to Pay
After Atreus releases Gram, he returns with Kratos to stop the massive wolf from literally ripping the nine realms apart. They manage to subdue Gram but the damage is already done. There’s various Realm Tears connecting to Helheim throughout the realms and the Guardian of Helheim demands that they close them.
Why Hel to Pay is a Great Way to Farm XP:
- Rewards: 4,500 Kratos XP and 1,125 Atreus/Freya XP
- Each Realm Tear drops a Frozen Spark upon each encounter’s completion. Close every Realm Tear and collect all 6 Frozen Sparks to create a Frozen Flame to upgrade Leviathan Axe.
- Closing each Realm Tear will drop additional rare resources and enchantments. Completing Hel to Pay will also unlock new blacksmith items to purchase.
5. Favor - A Stag for All Reasons
This favor automatically starts when entering The Crater area of Vanaheim or speaking to Ratatoskr at Sindri’s house. These four mystical stags govern the seasons of nature and wandered too far from their home realm. All four of these stags are located throughout Vanaheim.
Why Stags of Four Seasons is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 4,500 Kratos XP and 1,125k Atreus/Freya XP
- Finding the Stags and interacting with them to lead them back to their realm is the only requirement making this one of the easier favors.
- The path of where a Stag is found usually leads to the final location of other side quests.
4. Favor - The Last Lindwyrms
When visiting Sindri’s house for the first time, Atreus notices multiple creatures living on the World Tree of Yggdrasil. Well, these creatures are the children of Nidhogg, the Protector of the World Tree, who Kratos and Freya killed in Vanaheim. Without their mother, Nidhogg’s children are lost all over the realms and Ratatoskr asks that you capture and return the Lindwyrms to him.
Why The Last Lindwyms is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 4,500 Kratos and 1,125 Freya XP
- One of the easiest favors to complete. There’s no fighting required; simply a matter of getting to the Lindwyms’ Realm Tears.
- Realm Tears with Lindwyms are usually located near fights or puzzles containing high level loot.
3. Favor - Last Remnants of Asgard
The final battle of Ragnarok may be over but Asgard’s remaining forces refuse to give up the fight. Ragnarok was so intense that it fractured space-time to randomly teleport pieces of Asgard and Odin's remaining army throughout the nine realms. You’ll know where these last remnants are because of the large aura of Bifrost surrounding their position. Make sure you tackle these encounters with high level gear as these are some of the toughest fights in the game.
Why The Last Remnants of Asgard is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 10,000 Kratos XP and 2,500 Freya XP
- One of the highest XP rewarding favors in the game.
- Powerful Einherjar are waiting at each encounter, so plenty of high level resources and enchantments are dropped after successfully beating each camp.
2. Favor - Fit for a King
After completing the main quest The Word of Fate, you acquire the Inert Hilt of Skofnung from the first Berserker Gravestone. This special relic allows you to resurrect the violent Berserker spirit of the grave. Berserkers are powerful foes with their own personality and special abilities. Defeat the 12 Berserker boss fights then return to face King Hrolt the Berserker King. This is possibly the hardest favor to complete but also offers the highest XP rewards.
Why Fit for a King is Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: 15,000 Kratos XP and 3,750 Freya XP
- The highest XP completion reward of any favor and main quest.
- On top of the completion rewards, each Berserker rewards their own amount of XP, resources, enhancements, and pieces of the Berserker Armor set.
1. Favor - Muspelheim Trials (The Crucible and The Final Challenges)
After acquiring the two Muspelheim Seed Pieces, you can begin the trials in Muspelheim with The Crucible. There are three Crucible arenas that can be initiated in different orders to play different trials. The same mechanic happens for The Final Challenges where you must play the trials in different orders for unlock new final challenges. There are 15 Muspelheim Trials in total to beat and replay at any time.
Why the Muspelheim Trials are Great for Farming XP:
- Rewards: Each Crucible and Final Challenge awards a different assortment of XP, Hacksilver, and crafting resources such as Divine Ashes, Glowing Embers, Asgardian Ingots, etc.
- The Muspelheim Trials is the only true “farm” in the game, allowing you to repeatedly replay challenges for XP and crafting resources.
- Different challenges reward different amounts of XP depending on the difficulty of each challenge.
