God of War

Unlock Details

The Valkyries are the toughest enemies in the game, and the Queen Valkyrie sits comfortably at the top of that nightmare list. For this trophy, you must defeat all eight Valkyries scattered across Midgard, Alfheim, Helheim, Muspelheim, and Niflheim. After finishing the story, their locations are marked on the map, so the hunt becomes more about survival than searching. Once all eight are defeated, bring their crowns to the Council of Valkyries on the north side of the Lake of Nine near the Mason’s Channel to summon the Queen. The Queen Valkyrie is the hardest fight in the entire game, and she will absolutely test everything you’ve learned. Dodging is far more important than blocking, as several of her attacks ignore shields entirely. Turning the difficulty down to Easy is strongly recommended unless you enjoy suffering for personal growth. Make sure your Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos are fully upgraded, and bring your best armor, Ivaldi’s set from Niflheim is one of the strongest choices and makes a noticeable difference here. During the fight, Runic attacks are your best friend. The Queen will often block herself with her wings, and when she does, that’s your cue to back off and prepare. Save at least one Runic attack for the moment she opens up, as this is your safest window to deal heavy damage. You can still hit her while her wings are up, but it’s risky and usually ends with Kratos eating the floor. Fully upgraded Runic attacks slow time during their animations, which is incredibly useful when things start getting chaotic. Make sure all your armor sockets are filled with strong enchantments, your gear is fully upgraded, and your Runic attacks are level three. Use Atreus constantly, weaving his bow attacks between Kratos’ strikes to briefly stun her and chip away at her health. Electricity arrows are the way to go here, as they’re far more effective than light arrows. Bringing a Berserker Resurrection Stone is also a smart move, since reviving with full rage can turn a near-loss into a comeback. This fight is less about brute force and more about patience, timing, and not panicking when the Queen decides to combo you into next week. Learn her patterns, abuse your Runic attacks, and don’t rush the fight. Beat her, and the trophy unlocks, along with the satisfaction of knowing you’ve conquered the toughest challenge God of War has to offer.

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There are three chained dragons hidden around Midgard, and for this trophy you’ll need to free all of them. Each time you encounter a dragon, a favor tied to freeing it will unlock. The dragons themselves aren’t overly dangerous, aside from some spicy area-of-effect attacks if you stand too close and admire them for too long. The real task is destroying the three blue-rune totems in each area that are powering the shrine keeping the dragon chained. You can track each dragon’s favor to easily locate the totems, as they’re all spread around the immediate area and aren’t hard to find once you know what you’re looking for. Not all dragons are accessible right away, but all three can be freed by the time you reach the main story quest A Path to Jotunheim. Fafnir is tied to the favor The Flight of Fafnir and is located to the right of the Mason’s Channel, beneath the Council of Valkyries. Otr is part of the favor Otr’s Imprisonment and can be found along the beaches of Veithurgard. Reginn is freed during The Fire of Reginn favor and is located in Konunsgard, which becomes accessible after starting the Hail to the King favor for Brok and Sindri. Free them all, enjoy the chaos, and take pride in being surprisingly compassionate for a god known mostly for violence.

Unlock Details

After finding your first Language Cipher, you’ll unlock the journey The Realm of Fire, which tasks you with collecting four ciphers to access Muspelheim. This fiery realm is packed with lava, ash, and six combat trials standing between you and this trophy. The first five trials each have three difficulties, Normal, Hard, and Impossible, with the final trial unlocking later. While you can tackle these earlier, it’s strongly recommended to finish the main story first and complete Niflheim so you’re properly geared and not voluntarily suffering. Dropping the difficulty to Easy is also fair game here; Muspelheim does not care about your pride. When you arrive in Muspelheim, you’ll start by completing Trials 1 through 5 on Normal and Hard. After finishing those, a Valkyrie appears and must be defeated to move forward. Once she’s down, the sixth and final trial becomes available, but it’s locked behind three keys. To earn those keys, you need to complete any three of the first five trials on Impossible difficulty. Impossible lives up to its name, but with endgame gear it’s very manageable. Trials two, three, and five are generally the most forgiving, so focus on those if the others feel like punishment. Each trial has a different gimmick, ranging from time limits and survival to killing enemies in specific zones or without taking damage. Trial six is simpler than it sounds, you only need to complete the first stage by killing 50 enemies within the time limit. Once that’s done, the trophy unlocks. Muspelheim is tough, flashy, and loud, but with preparation it becomes more of a victory lap than a nightmare. Bring strong gear, plenty of runics, and patience, the fire realm rewards persistence, not recklessness.

Unlock Details

Runic Attack Gems are one of the main ways you power up your weapons, giving you new abilities and combat buffs that make fights much more satisfying. For this trophy, all you need to do is find and equip your very first Runic Attack Gem, which will happen naturally as you play since they’re scattered generously throughout the game. Once you pick one up, the game will walk you through how to equip it in the menu. Follow the tutorial, slot the gem, and the trophy will unlock immediately. Think of this one as the game’s way of saying “congrats, you’ve discovered buttons that make enemies disappear faster.”

Unlock Details

To earn this trophy, you need to fully upgrade any Runic Attack Gem to level three. You’ll find plenty of Runic Attacks just by playing normally, and if you already unlocked the trophy for equipping your first one, you’re well on your way without even trying. Upgrading a Runic Attack costs EXP, and stronger runics are much more expensive than weaker ones. To save yourself some grinding, you can upgrade an early, weaker runic instead, since it requires far less EXP. If you’re feeling extra careful, you can even save your game, fully upgrade the runic to pop the trophy, then reload your save like nothing ever happened. Kratos won’t judge you. To upgrade, open the pause menu, select a weapon, choose either the light or heavy runic slot, and hold Square to upgrade it. Do this a few times until it hits level three and the trophy unlocks. Think of this one as a reward for investing in your magic buttons and making enemies explode more efficiently.

Unlock Details

The Blades of Chaos are unlocked naturally through the main story, and for this trophy you’ll need to fully upgrade them to level five at any shop. Upgrades require Chaos Flames, which drop from main story bosses and can’t be permanently missed. If you ever forget to grab one, the Lost Items section at Brok or Sindri’s shop will quietly fix that mistake for you. After finishing the story, you’ll only be able to upgrade the Blades to level four using the Chaos Flames you’ve collected. To reach level five, you need a rare item called the Raging Inferno of Muspelheim, which drops after defeating the Valkyrie in Muspelheim. Once you have it, return to Brok or Sindri, open the Buy menu, head to Resources, and trade it in for one final Chaos Flame. Use that last flame to max out the Blades of Chaos and the trophy will unlock. It’s a fitting reward for upgrading the most iconic weapons in the series back to their full, chain-spinning glory.

Unlock Details

The Leviathan Axe is Kratos’ starting weapon, and for this trophy you need to upgrade it all the way to level six at any shop. Upgrades require Frozen Flames, which drop from main story bosses and can’t be permanently missed. If you ever forget to pick one up, check the Lost Items section at a shop and the game will politely hand it back to you. By the end of the main story, you’ll only have enough Frozen Flames to reach level five. To hit level six, you need a rare item called the Chilling Mist of Niflheim, which is earned by opening chests in the Workshop’s central chamber in Niflheim. Once you have it, head back to Brok or Sindri, open the Buy menu, go to Resources, and trade it in for one final Frozen Flame. Use that last upgrade on the Leviathan Axe and the trophy will unlock. It’s a bit of extra work, but fully powering up Kratos’ favorite axe feels exactly as satisfying as it sounds, especially knowing you squeezed every last drop of frost out of it.