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Introduction
Building the best loadout in God of War Ragnarök isn’t just about raw power—it’s about synergy between weapons, armor, skills, and relics. Whether you prefer brutal melee combat, devastating Runic magic, or a more defensive, tanky style, this guide will help you craft the perfect build for your playstyle. We’ll break down the key elements that go into a successful loadout and explain how to combine them for maximum effectiveness against the hardest enemies in the Nine Realms.
1. Choose Your Preferred Playstyle First
Before you dive into gear and upgrades, it’s crucial to identify your ideal combat approach.
Common Playstyles
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Runic Build: Focused on using powerful cooldown-based attacks.
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Strength Build: Emphasizes raw melee power and stagger.
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Tank Build: Prioritizes defense, healing, and survivability.
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Status Effect Build: Uses poison, burn, or frost to weaken enemies.
Why This Matters
Your chosen playstyle influences every other choice—armor, weapons, relics, enchantments, and skill upgrades. Pick one early and commit to it.
2. Optimize Your Weapon Loadout
Each of Kratos' weapons serves a different purpose. The best loadout uses them in complementary ways.
Weapon Overview
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Leviathan Axe: Best for single-target damage and frost effects.
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Blades of Chaos: Great for crowd control and burning.
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Draupnir Spear: Versatile, excels at range and applying multiple debuffs.
Weapon Loadout Tip
Equip Runic attacks and handles that boost your chosen style. For a Runic build, prioritize cooldown boosts and magic effects on each weapon.
3. Select the Right Armor Set
Armor is the foundation of any build. Each set enhances specific stats and offers unique passive bonuses.
Best Armor Sets by Style
Runic Build:
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Raven Tears Set – Boosts healing and Runic damage.
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Spellcaster’s Garb – Increases cooldown and reduces damage during Runic attacks.
Strength Build:
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Dragon Scaled Armor – Improves melee damage after parries and blocks.
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Vidar’s Might – Grants bonus strength after using Runic attacks.
Tank Build:
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Steinbjörn Set – Massive defense and healing when taking damage.
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Guardian Set – Strong shield synergy and passive protection.
4. Choose Relics and Hilts That Match Your Strategy
Relics and hilts are special items that provide burst effects or unique abilities when activated.
Must-Have Relics
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Hilt of Hofud: Temporarily slows time—ideal for both offense and defense.
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Hilt of Tyrfing: Deals heavy damage but costs health—great for aggressive builds.
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Glaive of Dodher: Applies poison and stagger—perfect for status builds.
Relic Strategy
Use relics in sync with Runic attacks or when an enemy is staggered. Their cooldowns are long, so timing is everything.
5. Equip Powerful Enchantments
Enchantments provide passive stat bonuses and effects and are slotted into your amulet.
Amulet of Yggdrasil
You’ll find enchantment slots as you explore. Each realm has themed sets (e.g., “Svartalfheim Set”).
Best Enchantments:
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Niflheim Set – Increases damage to status-affected enemies.
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Vanaheim Set – Boosts elemental damage.
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Midgard Set – Increases cooldown and Runic build-up.
Tips:
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Mix realm sets to unlock passive bonuses.
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Replace low-tier enchantments often—new ones drop in endgame.
6. Upgrade Skills That Support Your Loadout
Each weapon has its own skill tree. Your build should determine what skills to invest in.
Weapon Skill Synergy
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Axe: Choose frost explosion and ranged throw enhancements.
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Blades: Prioritize flame whips and grapple abilities.
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Spear: Focus on multiple spear throw and detonation options.
Mod Tokens
After mastering a skill, you can customize it further with bonuses:
Example:
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Damage Mod: Great for heavy attacks.
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Element Mod: Boosts status effects.
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Stagger Mod: Perfect for crowd control builds.
7. Customize Shield and Rage Type
Many players overlook shields, but they play a major role in your survival.
Shield Types
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Stone Wall Shield – Absorbs damage, ideal for tank builds.
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Dauntless Shield – Perfect for parry-focused, aggressive play.
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Onslaught Shield – Grants charging attacks, good for stagger builds.
Spartan Rage Variants
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Fury – Default; best for healing and simple melee.
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Valor – Converts rage into healing bursts—great for tanks.
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Wrath – Short, high-damage attacks—ideal for burst damage builds.
8. Adjust Companion Gear and Strategy
Atreus and Freya can be customized to support your build more effectively.
Atreus Loadouts
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Upgrade his bow and armor based on whether you want ranged support, status arrows, or melee assistance.
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His Runic Summons are crucial for controlling tough fights.
Freya Loadouts
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Unlock elemental arrows and Valkyrie skills to match your combat flow.
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Her binding abilities work well with crowd control builds.
9. Focus on Status Effects for Long Fights
Status effects are game-changing in prolonged boss battles.
Common Effects
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Frost – Slows enemy actions and movement.
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Burn – Applies ongoing fire damage.
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Poison – Reduces enemy power.
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Shock – Applies rapid damage pulses.
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Bifrost – Delays massive damage.
How to Build Around Status:
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Use relics, skills, and enchantments that stack one or two effects.
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Apply via both Kratos and companions.
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Use gear that boosts damage to status-affected enemies.
10. Test and Tweak Your Loadout Regularly
The best loadout isn’t static—it evolves as you unlock new gear and face different enemies.
Combat Trials and Side Quests
Test your build in Muspelheim trials or Berserker fights. If you’re struggling, adjust armor, relics, or skills.
Endgame Adjustments
Later in the game, you’ll get access to elite armor and enchantments. Don’t hesitate to respec skills or swap gear to stay optimized.
Conclusion
The best loadout in God of War Ragnarök is one that matches your style and adapts to the game’s increasing challenges. From crafting the perfect armor and weapon setup to selecting synergy-based skills, relics, and enchantments, every piece matters. With the right loadout, Kratos becomes unstoppable—and no Berserker, Valkyrie, or god will stand in your way. Now, it’s your turn to forge your legend.
