God of War Walkthrough Guide (Secrets, Bosses, Start To Finish)

Updated:

16 Jan 2019

God of War Walkthrough Guide (Secrets, Bosses, Start To Finish)

Overview

God of War is a huge Game. The following is a general run through of the very long main quest. From title screen to end credits is a single continuous shot. This is a basic guide of how you get there.

Controls

First, though God of War might look like a standard 3^rd person action adventure game, it does not control like one.

The Controls are a bit different from other action-adventure games

Attacking is not done with any of the face buttons, but with the R1 and R2 triggers.

Note: The Leviathan Ax does not do equal damage to all enemies. As an ice-imbued item, it does more damage against fire enemies. Be aware that ice enemies are more difficult because of this. This dynamic changes later in the game with the introduction of another weapon. That weapon and the new dynamic is discussed in the guide when it is acquired.

You do have some direct control over your companion character, Atreus. Using Square will fire arrows. As a consequence, Atreus feels like he is another part of your arsenal.

R1 is Block. R2 is Aim. If you throw the Leviathan Ax, Triangle will call it back into your hands. You can move around to alter the trajectory of the incoming ax, and it can do damage to enemies if it hits them on its return.

X is Evade. Hitting X once acts as a sidestep. Hitting X twice acts as a dodge roll. To make any progress in the game, it is important to get familiar with sidestepping and dodge rolling, as enemies hit harder than you might expect.

RPG Elements

For the first time in a God of War game, there are added RPG elements. Kratos does level up, but his armor and weapons can also be upgraded and modified with gems. Do not ignore the upgrades and the gems, they help you customize the way you want to play and open up a number of different ways to play the game. You can focus on defensive fighting, with ranged attacks. Midrange fighting. Up close bare-knuckle fighting with a shield, which can make you more vulnerable, and might do less damage than your ax, but raises the enemy stun meter much more quickly to activate vicious take downs. (or make your style a combination of the three). It is up to you.

Everything you complete in the game grants experience and by midgame, the exp gains become very generous. By game’s end, you will have more than enough experience to unlock every single skill in the game. This is intentional. Do not feel like you are locked into one certain way of playing. You can switch it up and be successful playing in any way you choose to play.

There is no wrong way to play, so play the way you like.

A Note on Side Quests

There are quite a few major side quests in God of War. The most notable are the Valkyrie Fights and the Dwarf Brother quests. The quests are well worth doing and filled with lots of fantastic additions to the lore and small character beats. This guide is focused on the main story. Just know if you just do the main story, there is still a lot more game to tackle, including two completely optional realms to open and explore.

God of War encourages exploration. For example, while doing one of the dwarf brother's quests you will come across a chained dragon. If you free the dragon, you get a notification that “1 of 3 dragons freed.” It is up to you if you want to explore and free the other two dragons.

The Valkyrie fights are completely optional, and they are consistently the most difficult fights in the game. Each Valkyrie has her own pattern and her own elemental preferences. If you defeat all the Valkyries, you unlock the hardest boss in the game, the Valkyrie Queen.

The spirits of the dead often also have “final tasks” you can do and there are treasure maps littered around the world. All this content is designed to encourage exploration and gain more experience.

The realms of Musphelheim (Fire) and Nifelheim (Mist) are completely optional. First, you must find the runes Atreus can read to unlock these Realms, which is a quest in itself, then the realms open and they themselves pose unique challenges.

Musphelheim is God of War’s version of combat room challenges and Nifelheim is a rearranging maze. Both realms are completely optional, and you won’t even set foot in them over the course of the main quest.

While these challenges can be found prior to beating the game, many are incredibly challenging and serve well as post-game content, once Kratos is high level enough. Doing these challenges does lead to the best and most powerful gear in the game.

God of War also has a New Game Plus mode for an added challenge on a second playthrough.

Note: There is one very sly Easter Egg side quest in the game worth mentioning, which is an Avengers: Infinity War reference. It is never even called a quest in the game. As you play you will acquire a legendary item, “The Shattered Gauntlet of Ages.” This is, in fact, a reference to the Infinity Gauntlet. There are six specific gems that can be slotted into it, which are all analogs to the Infinity Stones. It is a long quest to get them all, but once you do, the gauntlet becomes one of the most powerful items in the game.

Walk Through Video by Jessie Cox.

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljjj9dzwMJ0&index=2&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DnH1LaxCqE&index=3&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=4s

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWdrKUVLiX0&index=4&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=4342s

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc3kpU4GyLw&index=5&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=3s

Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAkVL7QXSrw&index=6&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N18-B1_JYAQ&index=7&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o3KksAuaSM&index=8&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIlrPuEJGfI&index=9&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii99mKswh6s&index=10&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjP UswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX-KjsDPL-g&index=11&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 11:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ang0fAic_-k&index=12&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=1s

Part 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1tEEBvCp-w&index=13&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j78cLnBhaC8&index=14&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB8-uNFNq1I&index=15&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_Yagh47Bs&index=16&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9pmy89E_o&index=17&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ItLHjxjfu8&index=18&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=1945s

Part 18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud6oV8x21Ag&index=19&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 19: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cz_j0tMFqA&index=20&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd27TLI9yiE&index=21&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OChQPbXwSN4&index=22&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8fe46Ujy7E&index=23&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=0s

Part 23: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0OefDh4-M&index=24&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFjPUswZcuofr2swDCNr6sF&t=4296s

Note: This video series was the initial playthrough of God of War by Jiard “The Completionist,” which culminated in his Completionist video of God of War and is well worth checking out:

God of War Main Quest Guide

God of War’s Main Quest is broken up by 16 Chapters. This guide is broken down by each of the game’s chapters. The hyperlinks throughout the guide all connect to time-stamped pieces of the YouTube playthrough with the relevant parts of the quest for greater clarity.

Chapter 1: The Marked Trees

Chapter Overview: The Games Prologue

Surprise! The game literally starts from its initial title screen which tasks Kratos with felling a tree. This section serves as an introduction/reintroduction into the world of God of War, and sets up the relationship Kratos has with his son, Atreus.
Next up! It is time to go on a hunt with Atreus.
But things are never so simple! Basic combat and puzzle solving are introduced here.
Hunt finally completed, we get out first boss fight with a troll.
TIP: Using the dodge roll is important for overcoming all bosses and this troll makes that apparent. Also, be aware of the green health crystals littered around the battlefield. They are important for every boss fight.
Heads up: This is the first time in the game you use Spartan Rage. Spartan Rage is a meter that will slowly fill up as you battle and with red crystals. Spartan Rage makes your attacks much more powerful, and it also slowly refills your health. It is good to remember that if you are low on health and there are no green crystals around, activating Spartan Rage at the right moment can change the tide of a fight.
Now it is time to make your way home. Soon there is an unexpected knock on the door.
The fight with The Stranger is longer and more complicated than one might at first think. Stay patient, pick up his pattern tells, and remember: DODGE ROLL! This fight is a bit more difficult if you decided to be a distance fighter due to not having Atreus.
Heads up: Though it does not happen often, there are parts of the game, like this, in which Atreus and his arrows are unavailable. To overcome this, it is good to be comfortable using Kratos in different ways.
It is time to go.

Chapter 2: Path to the Mountain

Chapter Overview: It might take 3-5 hours to get to the end of this quest, but this is all basically game Introduction.

This next section is fairly linear. Kratos and Atreus have left their home and begin making their way to the highest peak in the realm. Where Chapter 1 was truly just the prologue, this chapter is truly game introduction, continuing to show a little bit more of the world and some more of the games basics mechanics. Atreus also discovers that the world is perhaps a darker place than he knew.
In this chapter, we get introduced to Brok, one of two Dwarf brothers who will serve as your shopkeepers in the game. Take advantage of him and his brother to upgrade all your gear.
The mountain seems so close! Could the game be over so soon? No. No it will not be.
Kratos encourages Atreus to go on another hunt. …which invariably leads to another troll, this time a fire troll.
Tip: Trolls are the most common boss in the game. Get a good rhythm of how to beat them. Some like this one have an elemental effect. Take that into account, but with patience and waiting for the openings, you got this.
But there is still a hunt on, and Atreus Gets the Boar! …but perhaps… it would have been better if he had not…
Now we meet the Witch of the Woods, and things are going to get a lot more fantastical!
…that’s a big turtle… And suddenly more PLOT! Make your way through the witch’s basement and get to the boat.
Heads Up: Paddling is the primary way of exploring the hub world of God of War. Here we are going to see some of it, but it is not quite open to you yet.
Now it is time to have a short conversation with a very very large snake.
The water level has gone down exposing a lot more land and opens up a way towards the mountain. After some more trekking, you meet Brok’s brother Sindri.
Continue making your way up the mountain. Watch for Ogres.
Tip: You can block ogre attacks with your shield, but it leaves you briefly stunned.
As you make progress you run into a black mist. That needs to be dealt with before Kratos can move forward. Follow the witch back down.

Chapter 3: A Realm Beyond

Chapter Overview: A short, focused story chapter

This chapter is quite linear. Follow the witch, to find your way into Alfheim.

Chapter 4: The Light of Alfheim

Chapter Overview: This section is basically is a huge game dungeon. The rest of the game world is sealed off until you finish this chapter.

The witch can’t help you in this section, which quickly becomes clear. Kratos and Atreus find themselves in the middle of a war between the light elves and the dark elves. The main adversary here are the dark elves. Watch out, they can fly!
Tip: Kratos is starting to gain a solid amount of experience at this point. Don’t forget to spend it on upgrades.
You will also encounter here your first Ancient. These guys are impervious to damage until they open their week spot. Be patient, wait until they expose their chest to attack.
Kratos and Atreus manage to open the Light of Alfheim, which will help them disperse the black mist…but not before Kratos goes on a little trip. Atreus does not take this very well.
Now it is time to make your way out, which is going to involve a number of puzzles. By returning the Light of Alfheim, Kratos and Atreus have unwittingly sided themselves with the Light elves. This has made the Dark Elves your enemy, and a Dark Elf commander serves as the boss of this section. He is like the other Dark Elves you have faced so far but hits harder and has more health.
Note: You will now be attacked by Dark Elves as you adventure through the game.
Now it is time to leave Alfheim and go climb that damn mountain and dispel that mist!

Chapter 5: Inside the Mountain

Chapter Overview: The quest is back on track! This is the point the world really opens fully up to the player. Feel free to start doing side quests here! This chapter culminates is the type of boss fight that made the original God of War games so memorable.

It is time to climb, climb, climb!
Watch for trolls.
Screw this. Use the elevator!
Watch for dragons…WAIT WHAT!?!? The dragon is a huge old school God of War boss battle.
Tip: The dragon has many stages. If you die and you did enough damage, the respawn point is mid-battle, with the dragon already injured.
This is a huge and long battle. Use the Shatter Crystal to stun the dragon and attack it when it hit the ground. Use your shield to counter the electric shockwaves and make your way to him and attack the claws.
When he starts to fly get another Shatter Crystal. With some patience, you will be victorious.
After some more climbing, you have now reached the top of the mountain. You will meet Mimir, who informs you that, basically the princess is in another castle. This mountain is the tallest in this realm, but not the tallest in all the realms; that mountain is in Jotunheim. Which you don’t have access to.

Chapter 6: A New Destination

Chapter Overview: What a fake out! You are not at the end of your journey but just the beginning! But first…you need to make your newest companion more chatty.

Make your way back to the witch. Perhaps use a newly available shortcut. The changing of the water levels has also made the Witches’ basement bigger. Work your way through it back to her.
Tip: Once done in the basement, climb out of the well to get to the witch’s front door.
Soon enough you are back in the witch’s hut. Time for some plot and some reveals!
The world map is now available in its entirety. Feel free to keep on the main quest or just explore.
Note: While the world map is now fully open, easy fast travel has not been opened yet.

Chapter 7: The Magic Chisel

Chapter Overview: Talk about a talking head! And some plot revelations have started to trickle in. The world also opens up more side questing opportunities in this chapter.

Make your way to the dead body of the giant. And now werewolves! They’re quick, but at this point in the game manageable.
Continue your climb, you will come across an Ice Ancient. Watch out, your ax does less damage against it, as they share an element.
You will work your way forward until you find a magic floor which Atreus will help enchant. As the floor rises you will be attacked. This is one of the only times in the game when you fight with a time limit. Kill everything as quickly as possible!
Continue your way up the body of the dead giant doing what Kratos does best, desecrating a corpse.
You stumble upon two people you would rather not have, the sons of Thor: Magni and Modi.
Focus on Magni first but keep an eye out for Modi. They fight like very powerful standard enemies. Situational awareness and dodge rolling will get you far in this fight. After enough damage, one brother will be stunned, go work on the other. After this point in the fight, the brothers will blanket the area in darkness. Keep your shield up and use audio cues as well as the danger arrows to keep them at bay. This pattern will repeat a couple of times.
And Magni is satisfyingly down…Modi…runs away.
Note: You get the chisel and now the mirror doors, the final in-passable doors in the game, can be opened. Now all side quests in the game can be completed and this is not a bad place to do some side questing. (Some will be frustratingly difficult until you level up more, but they can now all be attempted.)

Chapter 8: Behind the Lock

Chapter Overview: Kratos does here what he did best in his previous games…

Now it is time to go an open the vault of Tyr…and just before you can do that, Modi sneaks up on you for revenge…He fails to realize who he is messing with. Atreus tries to go into a Spartan Rage, but he can’t handle it and falls unconscious. This makes Kratos angry…
And Modi runs away… Now we have to get Atreus back to Freya (Formally the Witch of the Woods).

Chapter 9: The Sickness

Chapter Overview: So much important plot happens here. Things slow down a bit, enjoy the ride and say hello to an old friend.

Atreus has fallen sick, Freya says the ingredient she needs to help him is in Helheim…and your ax won’t do any damage there. That means you need a different weapon.
You make your way back to your home and gain a new weapon…or perhaps a very old one, The Blades of Chaos!
Tip: The Blades have their own experience tree. Use built up experience points to unlock skills from the outset.
Note: The Blades of Chaos are a fire imbued item. This compliments the Leviathan Ax as an ice imbued item. When fighting fire enemies, the ax will do more damage. When fighting ice enemies, the Blades of Chaos will do more damage.
Now you must make your way to hell…which is primarily filled with the dead and a bunch of puzzles. The Bridgekeeper, whose heart you need, is a troll. But unlike other trolls, this one can teleport. At first, keep your distance, watch his pattern and you will take him down.
Make your way out of Helheim.
Brok has now made it so the quick travel points are connected on both sides. Finally, the game world is both fully open and fully accessible. Get over to Freya, and heal your son!

Chapter 10: The Black Rune

Chapter Overview: A puzzle dungeon. Fantastic universe expanding plot here. The God of War explores the vault of the God of War.

You leave Freya making your way bake to Tyr’s Vault. Just as it seems Kratos won’t reveal Atreus’s heritage, He does! Finally!
Tyr’s Vault is a puzzle-heavy dungeon, with some awesome world storytelling. Slow and steady, you got this.
The final boss of the dungeon is a Fire Troll and an Ice Troll, both called Grendel, so that’s fun.
Share a drink to celebrate your victory.

Chapter 11: Return to the Summit

Chapter Overview: That angsty teenage phase is very annoying. Well, everything goes to Hel in a handbasket…

You have the climb the mountain again….And something seems up with Atreus…he is not acting himself…
The journey back up the mountain is treading familiar ground, but the enemies are much more difficult. Take your time.
Modi reappears, beaten and bloody, and Atreus stabs him. What is going on with this kid!
Unfortunately, you have already used the elevator to go up the mountain, and you have to find another way. A way filled with puzzles and enemies.
Note: Atreus’s attitude carries into combat here. He may choose not to fire arrows even if you command him to.
You finally make it to the top of the mountain, only to be attacked by Baulder (Formally the Stranger).
After an extensive cutscene, combat resumes on the back of a dragon.
This battle is epic, but it is one you barely control. Sit back and enjoy the ride, following the instructions on the screen as everything literally goes to hell.

Chapter 12: Escape from Helheim

Chapter Overview: Now, you just have to get out of Helheim using…flying ships…

Back in Hellheim, far past the bridge, you were told not to go beyond. Kratos does some damn parenting here. Work your way out of Hell, using the flying Ships. Once you get through all the obstacles you are back at the realm gate. Here you get one of the coolest lore reveals so far, followed by a nice moment between the Dwarf brothers.
Note: Once back on the bridge, having Atreus does open previously closed off sections of the bridge if you want to explore it.

Chapter 13: A Pathway to Jotunheim

Chapter Overview: There is always another way.

There is another way to get into Jotunheim, we just have to find it. We just have to go deeper into Tyr’s Vault. Take your time through this mini puzzle dungeon. Keep an eye out for things that need to be frozen that are impeding progress. When completed you will be able to flip the whole complex upside down. Now you have to go to the “Realm Between Realms.”

Chapter 14: Between the Realms

Just a small step off a tall tree…

It’s as simple as traveling to the world tree, and jumping off the edge.
As you attempt to return the Jotenheim tower, wave after wave of enemies will attack. When there are large numbers of enemies, The Blades of Chaos, used for maximum crowd control is recommended. This culminates in a fight against an ogre and a troll at the same time.

Chapter 15: Jotunheim in Reach

Chapter Overview: It is time to see the inside of a very very large serpent, and then confront the game’s final epic boss.

So close to the end game! ...but the final gate is not quite open yet, you need Mimir’s other eye and it seems that the world serpent sort of ate it…It’s time to ask very nicely to go inside of him.
Once you have found his eye in the serpent’s belly and as you prepare to leave the world serpent, someone strikes him hard enough to knock him out. Kratos and Atreus are ejected out of the serpent and now it is end game.
Revelations come to light about how Freya and Baulder are connected, and that leads to the final confrontation with Baulder. The fight is a bit of a replay of that first fight with “The Stranger.”
With all your experience and skill, Baulder should be no match for you. Except Freya does interfere in the fight. Atreus accidentally stumbles on Baulder’s weakness. The fight resumes faster than before and with more outside interference. The fight itself ends with an awesome father son combo. The final blow is done cinematically, but the whole thing is incredibly intense emotionally.

Chapter 16: Mother's Ashes & Journey Home

Chapter Overview: The game has a lengthy epilogue where much is revealed including a couple of plot twists!

You may have just beaten the game…but you have not seen the game’s true ending. Go back to your home. It is worth it.

There is very little to say here, follow the path, that has been set before you the entire game.
Explore for extra lore. In the end, one final plot twist awaits!
Congratulations on beating the game!
There is a lot of side content you can still do.
Heads Up! Once deposited back in the world go to your house, to trigger the secret ending.