The God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla DLC is a Roguelite addition to the game that launched on December 12 as a free update for all owners of the game. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla will take place as an epilogue that is accessed outside of the story from the main menu, and contains explicit story spoilers, but can be accessed at any time. As it will contain story elements from after the campaign, consider completing the main God of War Ragnarok Missions before starting Valhalla.
Looking for something in particular? Click the links below to jump to:
- How Valhalla Works
- Mission Walkthrough
- Symbols Overview Guide
- Important Questions Answered
- Essential Tips and Tricks
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How Valhalla Works
See the above trailer for 5 Important Things to Know About Valhalla
As it is a separate mode from the main story, when you begin God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla you will not have any armor and equipment and need to earn equipment by playing Valhalla. You will however have access to all weapons and a fully upgraded skill tree at all times.
Valhalla blends a slowly expanding story of Kratos' personal journey into both his past and future, while also having you fight through a series of randomized encounters that become increasingly difficult. Each room you complete will earn you rewards like Runic Attacks for your weapons and other enhancements, as well as currencies that may or may not disappear when your current attempt is over.
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has 5 difficulty settings, with the hardest being Show Me Mastery. The PlayStation blog detailed that you can swap between these difficulties in between attempts. And you will not be locked into the Show Me Mastery difficulty should you want to drop it down for your next run. The rewards do increase depending on the difficulty you've selected though.
God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla
Valhalla's main "loop" usually follows a certain theme: After your introduction to Valhalla, you'll be able to choose one type of Shield and one type of Spartan Rage to bring with you. You'll need to clear rooms of enemies and gain the upgrades from the chests before moving to an intermediary "Sanctuary" room.
Sanctuaries are a type of rest area to prepare for the next challenge, and may offer only some pots or chests of currency at first, but you'll soon start to unlock new features, including:
- The ability to choose between rooms offering different types of rewards
- A Tablet of Endeavor to spend temporary currency at to gain bonuses or heals for the current attempt
- Unlockable doors leading to extra loot and chests using a special type of currency
- A golden glowing spiral of sand called the Ascending Sands to progress the story and send you further up against a boss before you can reach Valhalla's more difficult areas
You'll soon find that to ascend further into Valhalla's labyrinth, you must keep fighting through challenge rooms until you find and defeat one of Valhalla's Chosen - often an exceedingly strong miniboss. Defeating them will let you enter the Ascending Sands to a Proving Grounds where you must defeat a random Boss enemy to proceed.
Should you die on your attempt, it won't be the end! Kratos will awaken at the entrance to Valhalla, and while all of your temporary enhancements will be gone, certain currency, like Mastery Seals, will remain, and can be spent on permanent boosts at the Tablet of Influence to increase your health, rage, and stats - as well as even more permanent bonuses once you progress further.
Despite being a "Roguelite", Valhalla also has certain story Goals that dictate the main "loops" you'll attempt, and as you complete these story beats, you'll be sent back to the Shores of Valhalla (despite not dying) to unlock new parameters and features before you begin the next attempt to reach even further. Each story beat you reach will progress the core loop a bit further, prompting new attempts to uncover the mysteries of Valhalla and why Kratos is here.
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Valhalla Story Goal Walkthrough
Even as a Roguelite, Valhalla's core loop of challenge rooms, sanctuaries, and bosses are slowly expanded by the story as Kratos pushes through each attempt. Completing these goals will expand the scope of your attempts by a little each time, and even though they end with Kratos back at the Shore, you'll unlock new permanent features, and be able to progress deeper into Valhalla than you could on the last successful run. See the Goals below to get tips and help on how to complete each section:
- Invitation
- Homecoming
- The Host
- The Work, Part 1: Acceptance
- The Work, Part 2: Vigilance
- The Work, Part 3: Benevolence
- Valhalla Continues
Symbols Overview - Types of Room and Chest Rewards
There are several reoccurring symbols you'll encounter in Valhalla, both when opening treasure chests, and when deciding on which challenge room to enter next. Many times, a chest you open will contain Glyphs, which are bonuses to your current attempt that can influence your weapons, attributes, attack power, or other abilities - similar to how weapon handles and the Yggdrassil Amulet's Enchantments worked. In Valhalla, you'll find random Glyphs each time you attempt a run, but only 10 can be held per attempt.
You can view these symbols at any time in your Info Menu by pressing L3, or see the chart below:
| These Glyphs influence your combat abilities and other gameplay aspects |
---|---|
| Glyphs that increase different Core Stats including Strength and Defense, or other Stats like Vitality and Luck |
| Weapon Glyphs provide bonuses to one of Kratos' three weapons, or improve some of your Weapon Skills |
| Glyphs that grant you a specific Light or Heavy Runic Attack Ability to one of your weapons that recharges over time |
| This Glyph offers a random reward that can include any of the other Glyph types |
| Opening this chest will allow you to choose between restoring a portion of your Health or Rage |
| Fleeting Echoes are a temporary resources used as a currency for your current attempt, and can be used at a Tablet of Endeavor for temporary bonuses |
| One of the permanent currencies, Mastery Seals can be used in between attempts to permanently bolster Kratos' stats and abilities |
| One of the permanent currencies, Spirit Seals can be used in between attempts at the Tablet of Reflection to permanently influence Valhalla and help Kratos |
| The most valuable permanent resource in Valhalla used in between attempts for the strongest of upgrades for Kratos |
Valhalla's Important Questions Answered
If you're stuck wondering what something does or how to progress in Valhalla, check out these frequently asked questions you may be having:
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How Do I Beat Valhalla?
Valhalla is a roguelite mode for God of War Ragnarok that still has an expanding story, meaning it can be beaten, but it will take several attempts. Each time you enter Valhalla, you'll be given a major Goal, starting with progressing through challenge rooms, and leading to new scenarios that introduce new sections of Valhalla and major story beats. Complete each new Goal as you expand the scope of Valhalla and what you can do, and you'll eventually reach the final boss.
How Do I Complete Story Missions?
Story Missions, or "Goals" are shown in your menu, and will become active once you start an attempt and enter Valhalla. Initially, you'll be tasked with exploring, which essentially means progressing through Valhalla's core "loop" of challenge rooms and Sanctuaries. Do this enough times, and you'll be put up against minibosses called "Valhalla's Chosen" that unlock the spiral of Ascending Sands back at any Sanctuary to progress further into Valhalla - but be ready to tackle fierce bosses each time you do! Once you've completed all tasks for the current story Goal, Kratos will be sent back to the Shores, and a new Goal will be given on your next attempt to explore further within Valhalla.
How Do I Open Locked Doors and Chests?
In early attempts to explore Valhalla, you'll likely come across sections that are locked to you with no way to open them. These can include things like swirling black barriers blocking chests, doors, spirals of sand, and more. You won't be able to unlock these things until you've progressed far enough into the story and new Goals where new features are unlocked:
- Ascending Sands in Lower Valhalla can be unlocked by defeating a Valhalla's Chosen after going through enough Challenge Rooms, which becomes available during the Homecoming Goal.
- Ascending Sands in Upper Valhalla can be unlocked by defeating 3 of Valhalla's Chosen within the Labyrinth, by activating Realm Tears to draw out enemies.
- Black Sanctuary Barriers can only be unlocked after defeating the boss at the top of Valhalla during the third Story Goal, and completing the full cycle, and can afterwards be unlocked by keys at the Tablet of Influence to permanently unlock the barriers. More Keys are sold in Upper Valhalla at the Tablet of Endeavor near the Ascending Sands.
What Should I Spend Mastery Seals and Spirit Seals On?
As you unlock treasure chests and explore Sanctuaries, as well as completing Goals and Challenge Labors, you'll earn permanent currency called Seals to spend in-between attempts to increase Kratos' power at two large markers called the Tablet of Influence and the Tablet of Reflection. Since Kratos's power will be set at a base level, you'll generally want to spread out your upgrades to prioritize what you feel you're lacking in. Health and Rage are must haves, as well as Strength and Defense, while other Stats should be invested in sporadically to increase your combat capabilities.
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Later on, as more options are unlocked, you'll want to also devote currency to your longevity by getting Resurrection Stones, and gaining more health back from chests and encounters.
Spirit Seals can also be spent on upgrades that change how Valhalla works, with things like starting an attempt with temporary currency on hand, which can be very helpful for getting bonuses early. As you start to become more familiar with Runic Attacks, you can start investing in upgrades to find the Runic Attacks already upgraded.
As more options are unlocked, and you seek to get more out of each attempt, you can invest Spirit Seals into getting more Fleeting Echoes, Glyphs, and Barrier Keys to gain more bonuses with each attempt you make.
How Do I Get New Armor?
Kratos' armor will disappear upon arriving at the Shores of Valhalla, but this is only temporary - unfortunately, the solution is purely cosmetic. After you've completed the first main story loop and finished the "The Invitation", you'll awaken back at the Shore, and can spot the Valkyrie Eir over on the left by a pedestal with an Armor symbol.
Interacting with this pedestal allows you to choose the appearance of Kratos' armor during your attempts, but this will not influence his stats or abilities in any way, as all bonuses are found as Glyphs during an attempt. However, there are many armors you can choose from, both new and from the base game. Many of these will unlock as you complete Mastery Challenges, find them in random chests, or progress your Story Goals.
Valhalla Essential Tips and Tricks
Whether you're on your first attempt or your 50th, be sure to read up on these essential tips and tricks for surviving Valhalla's roguelite challenges:
- Many challenge rooms often contain a random dead body holding a Health Stone, use it in a pinch during a heated battle, or save it for after the fight, just don't forget to grab it!
- Sanctuaries always have random pots and jars scattered around the area, which contain Fleeting Echoes, so be sure to do a quick lap around the safe zone to grab some extra currency. You may even spot a small chest with Mastery Seals inside, which are even more valuable, as they persist between runs!
- If you're having trouble getting further into Valhalla, and need help surviving, complete easy Labors like using a Weapon Skill 10 times to gain some extra Mastery Seals, and exchange them for extra health between runs!
- Once you can start spending Fleeting Echoes at the Tablet of Endeavor in Sanctuaries, you'll find that you can also Suspend Your Game here, letting you stop mid-attempt and quit out without losing your progress.
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- The first Weapon Glyph you choose usually has a decent impact on the other types of Glyphs you'll find in the run, so you'll usually want to pick one that boosts a weapon you're most comfortable with (but remember you can and should switch weapons often as you get more upgrades!).
- It's not a bad idea to look for glyphs that compliment the current upgrades you've already found. For example, if you get a glyph that improves your Leviathan Axe's precision throws, you may want to opt for another glyph later on that increases all ranged damage.
- Divine triumphs are super valuable, so Save your first one to spend on the resurrection stone upgrade.
- When encounter rifts in the upper realms, start with the more challenging yellow ones while the difficulty timer is low, and attempt the blue ones later.
- When preparing for your next attempt, be sure to select the glowing and shimmering shield and rage ability for extra rewards. This will also apply to Relics once they are unlocked.
Up Next: Valhalla Tips and Tricks
Top Guide Sections
- Beginner's Guide - Tips for Getting Started
- Walkthrough
- Valhalla DLC - Overview and Guide
- The Best Skills and Armor to Get First
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