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God of War Ragnarok: Essential Early Skills and Upgrades Guide

Choosing the right skills to prioritize early in God of War Ragnarok can significantly impact your gameplay experience, making those initial hours smoother and more rewarding. In short, focusing on a balanced approach that enhances both Kratos’ combat prowess and Atreus’ support capabilities is key. Prioritize skills like Serpent’s Snare, Permafrost, and Hyperion Grapple for Kratos, and focus on Watchful Protector and upgrades that boost Atreus’ arrow damage. This combination will give you a strong foundation for tackling the challenges ahead. Let’s dive deeper into why these choices are optimal and explore further upgrade strategies.

Kratos’ Essential Early Skills

Enhancing Your Combat Arsenal

Serpent’s Snare: This skill, which is part of the Leviathan Axe skill tree, is crucial for crowd control. Serpent’s Snare allows you to pull enemies towards you, disrupting their attacks and making them vulnerable to follow-up strikes. This becomes especially useful when dealing with multiple enemies or shielded opponents. It’s a fantastic move to initiate combat and allows you to manage groups more effectively.
Permafrost: Another valuable Leviathan Axe skill, Permafrost greatly enhances your axe’s damage output by adding a bonus when you hit enemies at maximum Frost. This skill dramatically boosts your combat effectiveness, especially against enemies weak to ice. This damage increase makes it an ideal early upgrade because it directly enhances your core offensive power.
Hyperion Grapple: This shield skill is an early game essential. It lets you quickly close the distance with an enemy, enabling you to stagger them and unleash follow-up attacks. This offers increased mobility during fights, allowing you to easily reposition and control the flow of battles, and is particularly useful for dealing with ranged enemies.
Blazing Explosion: This Blades of Chaos skill unleashes a powerful area-of-effect attack that is particularly useful against groups of enemies. Upgrading it early provides a much needed boost to your crowd control options in the early stages of the game, letting you clear out mobs more easily.
Chaotic Rampage: This skill allows Kratos to inflict more damage when the Blades of Chaos are at maximum burn. This synergizes well with Blazing Explosion and makes your Blades extremely potent when fully charged.
Glacial Rake: Another Leviathan Axe skill, Glacial Rake adds range and makes a follow-up attack after using certain special moves. It increases the versatility of the axe and encourages the use of different attacks in your combos.
Rushing Chaos: A very useful Blades of Chaos skill that allows you to close the gap between you and the enemy quickly with a powerful attack. This makes a great alternative to the Hyperion Grapple when using Blades instead of the Leviathan Axe.
Vengeful Sickle: This skill gives you an attack that allows Kratos to rapidly swing his Blades of Chaos in a wide arc. Again, another skill useful for dealing with multiple opponents at once.

Atreus’ Vital Early Upgrades

Maximizing Your Companion’s Impact

Watchful Protector: This is perhaps the most important early upgrade for Atreus. The Watchful Protector skill allows Atreus to divert enemy aggression away from Kratos, making him a crucial tactical tool. By drawing enemy fire, Atreus gives you more breathing room to maneuver and attack. It significantly improves his survivability and utility, making him an essential partner in combat.
Arrow Damage Upgrades: Focusing on upgrades that boost Atreus’s arrow damage makes his contributions more impactful. As you progress and unlock new arrow types, this investment becomes even more rewarding. Enhanced arrow damage lets him quickly stun and damage enemies, creating openings for you to take down enemies more quickly.
Stun Damage Upgrades: Upgrades that allow Atreus to inflict more stun damage on enemies are crucial. This allows Atreus to keep enemies locked down in place, making it easier for Kratos to land his powerful attacks, thereby enhancing your overall teamwork.

General Upgrade Strategies

Balancing Your Stats and Gear

Prioritize Strength, Luck, and Runic: While you’ll want to eventually max out all of Kratos’ stats, focusing on Strength (to increase damage), Luck (to boost activation chance for various abilities), and Runic (for Runic attack damage) early on is very beneficial.
Armor Upgrades: The Nidavellir set is excellent for early game armor due to its ability to drastically reduce stun build-up time on enemies. Upgrading armor should be a focus early on, but focus on the upgrades that you find yourself wearing most. Do not waste resources upgrading armor that you are not wearing.
Weapon Upgrades: The Leviathan Axe is usually your bread and butter and will be the first weapon you use. Upgrading this will be the most beneficial early. Later, be sure to get upgrades for the Blades of Chaos, as well.
Don’t Neglect Your Pommels: The Forbidden Grip of the Ages is an exceptional early axe pommel that’s worth pursuing as it boosts your stats and special abilities.
Skill Tiers: Remember that skill tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold) increase the number of connections needed to level up, but also unlock enhancements, so aim to max out and enhance your key skills as soon as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expanding Your Knowledge of God of War Ragnarok Upgrades

Should I upgrade armor early in God of War Ragnarok? Yes, if you are struggling with the game’s difficulty. Focus on armor that complements your playstyle and offers bonuses to your key stats or skills. It’s recommended to wait until you get to more advanced armor to spend valuable resources.
Is it worth it to fully upgrade Kratos’ initial armor? Yes, with enough upgrading, your starting armor can significantly boost your stats across the board. It can be viable for late-game content if fully upgraded.
What is the best early game armor in God of War Ragnarok? The Nidavellir set is a great early choice due to its ability to reduce enemy stun times.
What is the most important stat in Ragnarok? While all stats are valuable, Strength for damage and Health for survivability are crucial. Luck and Runic should be given priority as well.
Is Vitality or Defense better in God of War Ragnarok? Defense is typically more impactful for survivability than Vitality, but stacking both can lead to an extremely tanky build.
Should I sell old armor in God of War Ragnarok? Yes, you should always sell old armor, as it serves no other purpose once it has been replaced.
What should I level up first in God of War (2018)? In the original God of War, focus on the Blades of Chaos and Poseidon’s Rage early, saving orbs for the Army of Hades upgrade.
What is the best weapon in God of War Ragnarok? The Leviathan Axe is the iconic and best weapon in the game for many players, due to its versatility and ice abilities. However, the Blades of Chaos are also extremely powerful when fully upgraded.
What is the best armor to fully upgrade in God of War Ragnarok? The Steinbjorn set is considered by many players to be the best due to its incredibly high defense points when fully upgraded.
Do skill tiers matter in God of War Ragnarok? Yes, reaching Gold tier for a skill unlocks enhancements, making it essential to max out your favorite skills for maximum combat effectiveness.
How do you get Zeus Armor in God of War Ragnarok? The three pieces of Zeus armor are unlocked by clearing Remnants of Asgard and defeating the Valkyrie Queen Gna.
Is it worth upgrading gear in God of War Ragnarok? Yes, upgrading your gear is very important. It improves your damage, defenses, and stats, making combat significantly easier.
At what level should I fight GNA in God of War Ragnarok? Gna is a challenging fight. You should aim for a Power Level of 9 for a fair fight.
What is the best skill for Atreus in Ragnarok? The Watchful Protector skill is considered one of the most useful due to Atreus’s ability to draw enemy aggression.
Do you play more as Kratos or Atreus in Ragnarok? Kratos is the primary playable character, though there are parts of the game where you play as Atreus exploring various realms.

By strategically investing in these skills and upgrades early, you’ll establish a strong foundation in God of War Ragnarok, enabling you to tackle the challenges ahead with greater ease and efficiency. Remember to adjust your approach based on your playstyle, and always stay adaptable as you progress through the game’s rich and immersive world.

What skills should I upgrade first in God of War Ragnarok?