God of War: Ragnarök is about to hit shelves and digital stores for players to get, and it's a legitimate question which skills they should grab first. Combat is always a key draw for action-adventure games, and while trying to survive Fimbulwinter players are going to want strong, satisfying fights. Gear, runes, and sheer mechanical skill can help with this, but there's nothing quite as satisfying as unleashing an explosion of ice with a single axe strike.
There are three skill trees in God of War: Ragnarök, one for the Leviathan Axe, one for the Blades of Chaos, and one for Atreus. While Kratos may not call Atreus 'Boy' anymore, he certainly won't be relying on him at first, as the boy's skill tree starts off quite small compared to both the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos. Those two weapons should be the player's first focus, spending the XP they earn playing the game to beef up the God of War's war-making potential.
Choosing and Unlocking Skills to Get
The first skill player should get is Glacial Rake, a Leviathan Axe melee skill that inflicts a large amount of frost damage to enemies in an area in front of Kratos. This is an amazing skill to have and will get the Frost status applied to a lot of enemies early on in combat, which the player can then capitalize on. Next up on the list is the Blades of Chaos. While the player got the Blades of Chaos well into God of War, they arrive early in God of War: Ragnarök. The first skill they should go for is Hyperion Grapple, a skill that lets Kratos leap toward an enemy hit by a thrown blade, closing the gap and applying a stun on use. The only downside is that both of these skills cost 750xp a piece, which is pretty expensive and will leave the player saving up for a couple of hours of gameplay.
The other two major skills the player should grab are Permafrost for the axe and Immolation for the blades, each for 500xp. These skills reward players for consistently landing hits without getting hit in turn, building up a passive charge meter that then explodes in a powerful attack once complete. As passive skills, they work with every hit of the weapon, including God of War: Ragnarok's runic attacks. Both skills are locked behind their weapon's tier-two upgrade, but both of those should come early in the story, and it's not like the player is going to have a lot of spare xp until then.
Atreus has been left out of this because again his skill tree starts out small and not that useful. But he does have one skill, Watchful Protector, that can be big. This skill lets Atreus distract a few enemies and peel them off from Kratos, giving the player an easier time in fights as they manage their opponents. It's not the best, but progress through God of War: Ragnarök will unlock plenty of new skills and abilities for Atreus and his skill tree.
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God of War Ragnarok
- Released:
- 2022-11-09
- Developer:
- Santa Monica Studio
- Franchise:
- God of War
- Genre:
- Adventure, Action
- Platform:
- PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Publisher:
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- ESRB:
- M
- Summary:
- Ragnarok has arrived in God of War Ragnarok, the sequel to the 2018 game of the year released on PlayStation 4. Three years have passed since Kratos and his son, Atreus, completed their quest across the realms while facing a small handful of Norse gods. However, their actions come with consequences. The Allfather, Odin, is ready for vengeance, and his son, Thor, leads the charge. Atreus, looking to find more answers about his lineage on his mother's side, embarks on another quest with his father to discover the truth while contending with the wrath of Odin's realm in this conclusion to the Norse God of War Saga.
- Prequel:
- God of War
- How Long To Beat:
- 26 Hours
