God of War Ragnarok Valhalla DLC tips for beginners

The Valhalla DLC serves as an epilogue to God of War Ragnarok, so it’s strongly recommended that you finish the base game’s story before you even touch the free expansion. This will not only save you from story spoilers, but will also allow you to gain the skills required to take on the challenges that await you in Valhalla.

If you already finished the base game around its launch in November 2022, you may need a refresher on what happened to Kratos and Atreus during Ragnarok, as well as some practice time with the game’s elaborate combat system. So, it’s not a terrible idea to replay the main story or just clean up some missing collectibles, finish up the epilogues or do optional endgame fights to help your muscle memory before Valhalla.

God of War Ragnarok Valhalla is not meant to be a walk in the park, as it assumes you’ve played through the entire story of the main game and have learned the ropes of combat there. Luckily, the DLC offers the same five difficulty levels found in the base game, and you can switch between them before starting your run. Changing difficulty during attempts will restart progress on your current run, though.

Show Me Resolve is the recommended starting difficulty, but if you crave a more challenging experience, you can always up the setting a notch or two (or three), as this also comes with an up to 40% increase in the rewards you get from each run. 

Conversely, whenever you feel overwhelmed, you can reduce the difficulty for your next attempt. The lowest setting is Show Me Will, which lightens the challenge but comes with no reward bonus. There’s no shame in lowering the difficulty when you feel you can’t progress anymore, and remember that even the developers at Santa Monica Studio who made the game couldn’t beat the final boss at the highest Show Me Mastery difficulty.

Fleeting Echoes are a temporary resource that you lose after each attempt, so be sure to spend it often at Tablets of Endeavor found at sanctuaries between fights, to unlock temporary upgrades that will also disappear when your current run ends.

Mastery Seals are the permanent currency in Valhalla. They accumulate across runs and don’t disappear when you die. You can spend them before each attempt, and they unlock permanent stat improvements. Make sure you visit the Tablet of Reflection near Valhalla’s gates before each attempt, to obtain much-needed permanent boosts to your Health, Rage and Stats.

In God of War Ragnarok Valhalla, you get reward chests after each fight you complete, and there’s at least one obvious chest in every sanctuary area between fights, but just like in the base game, going out of your way to explore these levels will net you even more rewards, including more Fleeting Echoes, Mastery Seals, Healthstones, cosmetics, and more.

Never rush to the next area, and always take your time to check every corner in combat arenas and sanctuaries before you move on to the next area. You will surely find additional hidden chests and Healthstones you didn’t use during combat. All of these will be much needed before your next encounter, so you don’t want to miss them.

Also, make sure you smash all vases, boxes, and other breakable objects lying around levels for some extra Fleeting Echoes and Mastery Seals.

Before each attempt in Valhalla, you can pick a Shield and Rage at the Pedestals of Selection. It may be tempting to stick to those you prefer the most, but the game encourages you to try different options at every playthrough.

Interact with the Pedestals of Selection before each run, and pay attention to the selection menu to spot and pick the Shield and Rage options that are presented on a shimmering background. These will give you bonus rewards during your next run, while the other options won't.

After the first fight of each attempt, you will have to pick a weapon path that will determine the weapon upgrades you’ll be getting as you progress through Valhalla in your current run. There’s one path for each of the three weapons in the game - the Leviathan Axe, the Blades of Chaos and the Draupnir Spear. You will still be able to switch between all three weapons freely, but make sure you pick the path of the weapon you feel more comfortable with.

Take your time to read the upgrade choices you’re presented with after each fight, and choose those that adapt better to your playstyle instead of very situational upgrades that you will never use.

Check the Goals tab in the main menu regularly and complete Mastery objectives and Labours that will earn you nice rewards, including Mastery Seals and others. Be aware of your progress towards specific objectives to ensure you’re done with them as quickly as possible and improve your chances of survival in your next run.

Visit the Labour Marker often to check for new Labours, and to redeem your completed ones for rewards.

This tip won’t help you get better at God of War Ragnarok's free DLC, but at least you’ll be looking good as you battle with enemies and your own demons in Valhalla. After completing a couple of attempts, a pedestal close to the shore where you arrived will let you equip and change into the full variety of armor and weapon cosmetics the game has to offer. 

At first, only a few items of each category will be unlocked, but as you progress through the game, looting reward chests and competing objectives, you will get more and more cosmetics to choose from. The appearance pedestal is also a good place to check the unlock requirements for each cosmetic item.