Walkthrough God of War First Playthrough Video Highlights

[Frag Maniac]

I can't in all honesty call this a walkthrough, as I'm still a bit too green at playing it, but with improved tactics and key bindings, I could see eventually making one. This game kind of took me by surprise, and is currently one of my favorites to play. A couple of mistakes I kept making were not blocking and dodging enough, and accidentally switching arrow types in the middle of battle. I have since rebound Block/Parry to one of my mouse thumb buttons to keep my WASD fingers free for movement, and the Arrow Type key to V.

So far I'm only playing Give Me A Balanced Experience, which serves as Normal mode. I hope to progress at the very least to Give Me A Challenge mode. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle Give Me God of War mode though. Yesterday I finally managed to defeat my first Valkerie, after getting and equipping the Deadly Mist version of Ivaldi's epic level armor. I also had a lot of epic enhancements to plug into them. I don't have the resources yet to upgrade this armor, so I'll be going back to Niflheim to farm some more.

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[Metal Messiah.]

Hey, this GOW is really addictive, and excellent ! I'm still playing it slowly. So you already beat the full game ?

Some of the boss/mini-boss fights are too tough though. I find the beginning hours to be frustrating with limited capabilities and resources to deal with the sponge enemies. Other than that, it's a lot of fun and I like managing everything. I imagine as I level up more and unlock new skills, it'll begin to balance out for me.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Hey, this GOW is really addictive, and excellent ! I'm still playing it slowly. So you already beat the full game ?

Some of the boss/mini-boss fights are too tough though. I find the beginning hours to be frustrating with limited capabilities and resources to deal with the sponge enemies. Other than that, it's a lot of fun and I like managing everything. I imagine as I level up more and unlock new skills, it'll begin to balance out for me.

Well, like I said, I beat the campaign, but not anywhere near the full game. I had only about 50% completion when the story ended, and I've still only defeated 1 of the 9 Valkyries, and the hardest one, the Valkyrie Queen, is very tough.

As far as some enemies being sponges, are you attacking their weak spots? For instance the Soul Eaters only take damage when their chest opens to shoot fire or frost at you, the open chest being the weak spot. I found even the one in the forest near the cave where you look for Sindri's whetstone is not too hard if you just stand behind a big tree and step to the side of it and do a heavy axe toss, then step back behind it. You can either keep doing that, or grab the parts that fall off it and throw them at it to take it down much quicker.

Another thing that can make some enemies feel like sponges is if you use a weapon that is useless against them. For instance hell type enemies like Hel Walkers, the green ones that are basically zombified Reavers, are best dealt with hand to hand vs the axe. You need to block, or better yet, parry their attacks, then get in some good punches and shield strikes. My video above called The Sickness - Battle at Home, is a prime example of how long it can take if you only use the axe. That was before I knew best how to fight them.

There's a simple core theme here, Hel creatures in this game are from a frozen world, so are very resistant to the frost axe, but they are easily damaged with the fiery chaos blades, and less so, punches, kicks, and shield strikes. However enemies that are fire based, including ones that actually shoot fire, are easily damaged and frozen by the axe.

There's a narrated video guide I'm watching lately by All The Shinies on how to beat it on Give Me God of War, the hardest mode. I learned a ton from him, mainly which weapon attacks and armor enchantments work best, and how to knock enemies off ledges or into water.

Where you position yourself can also make some tough battles a LOT easier. The 2nd dragon I freed had a tough fight with witches and heavy draugrs, but I found if I ran to the far left from where you enter, just to the left of the dragon, they would mostly avoid me while I had Atreus sling arrows at them. Once he had them stunned and weaken pretty good, I finished them off with axe throws, then up close runic attacks. So buy all Atreus' skills, it helps a lot.

There's one thing I really hate about the game though, and I suspect it's due to it originally being made for consoles, and the gamepads they use. That would be their insistence on using ONE single binding that has to be used for both block and in conjunction with 2 other bindings for light and heavy attacks. On keyboard, that binding is Q. I thought I could easily solve the problem and free up my move left finger if I bound it to one of my mouse thumb buttons, but as it turns out, holding that thumb button and L or R mouse button at the same time for light and heavy attacks feels really awkward. It's a shame too, because the mouse button by itself feels fine for blocking or parrying, especially when moving intermittently in between as you often have to, but it's causing me to miss a lot of light and heavy attacks and get hit. It's so annoying in fact that it may very well be a deal breaker for making a walkthrough unless I can find a better solution.

 

[Frag Maniac]

OK, I have a slew of more highlight videos to show. These include 2 of the 3 Niflheim Realm Tears (a glitch with ShadowPlay caused the 2nd to not capture), all 6 Muspelheim Trials at Impossible level, and 7 more Valkyries.

Farming more Mist Echoes and other loot at Niflheim allowed me to finally fully upgrade my Ivaldi's Armor, and the last Chaos and Frozen Flames, which are available for purchase in shops, did the same for my weapons.

The Muspelheim Trials reset to Impossible mode once you beat all 6 on Normal and Hard, but you need collect 3 keys on any of the first 5 to play the 6th on Impossible mode. The 6th on Impossible mode is graded Bronze, Silver, and Gold, for how many kills in 8 min.

I'm getting better at fighting Valkyries, but am still learning their attack patterns, how to dodge them, and what attacks work best on them. I beat Gunnr and Eir without using a resurrection stone or rage, and probably had done the same with Rota, had she not instantly stomped on me unexpectedly with an attempted neck snap when I had her down to a sliver of health.

I have placed 7 of the 8 Valkyrie helms at the Valkyrie Council thrones, and am saving the last until I finish mopping up the collectibles. This is because I'm not sure if placing the last one will lock me into the Valkyrie Queen boss fight. I have all 4 non Midgard Realms at 100%, and Midgard at 96%, needing mainly to just find the last 8 of Odin's Ravens.

There are also a lot of Labors to achieve if you wish, which are rated bronze, silver and gold. These include things like using certain skills a given number of times, or killing a certain number enemies a specific way and such, but I'm pretty sure they don't count toward 100% completion.

After watching the trailer for God of War Ragnarok, it looks like it's going to be pretty epic as well. It will no doubt take some time before it ever comes to PC though.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

As far as some enemies being sponges, are you attacking their weak spots? For instance the Soul Eaters only take damage when their chest opens to shoot fire or frost at you, the open chest being the weak spot. I found even the one in the forest near the cave where you look for Sindri's whetstone is not too hard if you just stand behind a big tree and step to the side of it and do a heavy axe toss, then step back behind it. You can either keep doing that, or grab the parts that fall off it and throw them at it to take it down much quicker.

Yeah, I think I attacked the weak spots though, but let me check and read the game's CODEX entries as well under the ''Bestiary'' section to find out some description on how to defeat special enemies. It mostly contains basic info and few tips on how to defeat each enemy category, but not much info on the weak spots IMO.

Actually, some of the enemies can very challenging though, at least for my skills, and taste of gameplay. The DARK ELVES for example are highly mobile class of enemy type. Not only can they evade trip attempts and melee attacks but they are also capable of blocking axe throws. I had to dodge any projectiles which cannot be easily blocked. Using Atreus’ arrows to distract or even stun them helps though, while Kratos can deal some damage.

I guess dark elves are vulnerable to bare fists, and the Rage Meter attack can come in handy here. The dash attack and charge move attack of dark elves can thankfully be blocked though. I haven't yet encountered the Dark Elf boss Svartaljofurr yet. I heard this is a tough battle. BTW, I think having the anti-Dark Elf enchantment might help as well, not just for this boss but other dark elves as well.

Good to see more gameplay videos from you. I will watch them later.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah, I think I attacked the weak spots though, but let me check and read the game's CODEX entries as well under the ''Bestiary'' section to find out some description on how to defeat special enemies. It mostly contains basic info and few tips on how to defeat each enemy category, but not much info on the weak spots IMO.

Actually, some of the enemies can very challenging though, at least for my skills, and taste of gameplay. The DARK ELVES for example are highly mobile class of enemy type. Not only can they evade trip attempts and melee attacks but they are also capable of blocking axe throws. I had to dodge any projectiles which cannot be easily blocked. Using Atreus’ arrows to distract or even stun them helps though, while Kratos can deal some damage.

I guess dark elves are vulnerable to bare fists, and the Rage Meter attack can come in handy here. The dash attack and charge move attack of dark elves can thankfully be blocked though. I haven't yet encountered the Dark Elf boss Svartaljofurr yet. I heard this is a tough battle. BTW, I think having the anti-Dark Elf enchantment might help as well, not just for this boss but other dark elves as well.

Good to see more gameplay videos from you. I will watch them later.

The Dark Elves aren't the only ones that block Axe swings and throws. There are various shield enemies that do, and some block with their weapons. Pretty much any Hel type enemy (green ones) from Helheim are not damaged by the frost axe anyway. So yeah, it's clearly a game where you have to use certain weapons and tactics on some enemies. What bothers me most about Dark Elves actually is the more advanced ones can shoot a volley of 3 mines at you, which blind you if you so much as get caught in 1 of them.

Last night I discovered something I feared would be very tough for me, and that is the Valkyrie Queen. This is the only thing left in the game for me to get 100% completion, but she is way harder to beat than I anticipated. Between her attacks and her resilience, it feels like she's at least 4 times as hard to beat as the toughest of the lower level Valkyries. She's got literally every attack all the other Valkyries do, but her unblockable attacks are also very fast, and some hard to see in time.

After numerous tries, at best I can only get her down to about 1/3 of her health left, and that's with two full Spartan Rage attacks and as many Runic attacks as I can fit in. That said, it could very well be I'm trying to do it too quickly. Most videos I've seen of the fight show it taking 8-9 minutes. None the less, I'm burned out on the game for now because of this, and am not sure if I'll try doing a walkthrough. I could just do a main story walkthrough that doesn't include the optional stuff like this though.

Thanks for your appreciation of the videos though, it means a lot.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Thanks for your appreciation of the videos though, it means a lot.

You are most welcome !

 

[Metal Messiah.]

The Dark Elves aren't the only ones that block Axe swings and throws. There are various shield enemies that do, and some block with their weapons. Pretty much any Hel type enemy (green ones) from Helheim are not damaged by the frost axe anyway. So yeah, it's clearly a game where you have to use certain weapons and tactics on some enemies. What bothers me most about Dark Elves actually is the more advanced ones can shoot a volley of 3 mines at you, which blind you if you so much as get caught in 1 of them.

Yeah of course, there are few other enemies that also block kratos's attack. I still haven't met other enemy types since I'm playing in a slow and methodical pace. This game is actually tough to beat, at least for my skills. Almost got my a** kicked in some of the enemy encounters, lol.

BTW, can Atreus as well as Kratos die in this game, and get killed, or they are always immortal ?

 

[Frag Maniac]

BTW, can Atreus as well as Kratos die in this game, and get killed, or they are always immortal ?

The most that can happen to Atreus is he'll get captured and held by one of them. He can't die, but just being captured means he can't sling his arrows, so it's best to free him ASAP if you can. He can also get knocked down, but once he's well upgraded he gets back up pretty quickly.

Atreus is a badass really, and I'd feel lost without him, especially in the tougher parts of the game.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Yeah I know Atreus can revive himself in battle or with the help of Kratos, when he is knocked down, but what about KRATOS himself ? I think the player does not die in any enemy encounter or battle, in this God Of War PC title.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I think the player does not die in any enemy encounter or battle, in this God Of War PC title.

LOL, well, not exactly. You have resurrection stones you can use, but you can only carry one, and after using it, if you go down again, technically, you die.

I mean, I realize Kratos is a God, and there's the "immortal" nature to the myth, but whenever I go down, can't get back up, and have to go back to a checkpoint, in the gaming world, that is dying. It's all the more disconcerting when after you die poor Atreus screams, "Father, don't leave me here!"

Spoiler

There's also a scene where after you step into the Light of Alfheim, Atreus pulls you out, as you've been gone a long time, and he had to kill a ton of Dark Elves by himself while you were gone for what seemed like minutes to you. Yep, the kid's a badass.

There wouldn't be much sense to a game with lots of combat unless there were risk of dying.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Oh yeah, I remember about those resurrection stones in this game. Too bad we can carry only one ? I remember that scene as well when Atreus pulls Kratos out. This kid is indeed a badass, and most of the time he can easily take care of himself. Helps a lot in combat as well.

This game actually has a lot of puzzle solving as well. Occasionally I'm getting stuck in some of the areas, but thankfully we have video walkthroughs.

 

[Frag Maniac]

This game actually has a lot of puzzle solving as well. Occasionally I'm getting stuck in some of the areas, but thankfully we have video walkthroughs.

Yeah there's a shuffle the pieces type puzzle in The Hall of Tyr that took me several tries to get.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

What's up ? I was just kind of stuck in this level, in which we need to fight 2 enemies, Magni and Modi. I watched your video and it really helped me. Actually, this fight is rather unique because you fight against two brothers/enemies - Magni and Modi. There are 3 stages in this whole fight.

Both sons of Thor have unique attacks and separate health bars. Magni wields a giant sword - he uses slow and powerful attacks. These strikes are easy to dodge and counter. But Modi has a shield and a one-handed axe - he is the opposite of his brother. He moves swiftly but his attacks aren't as powerful.

The best tactic is to focus on one brother at a time IMO, I focused on attacking Magni because he was aggressive and charged at me a lot which made him vulnerable to attacks. It appears that knocking both brothers in a short interval of time is very very essential, because they can revive each other as well.

This was a tough fight at least for me. 😓 But I know there are even tougher boss battles later in the game.

EDIT: Off Topic.

Btw FragManiac, have you played FAR CRY 6 as well, assuming you bought this title ? The game is good, but it has this awful performance drop and stutters which happen randomly in all areas of the game. Accessing the main menu and the Map drops the FPS in single digital range, lol.

It's horribly un-optimized. There is a Memory Leak issue as well. I can max out all other previous Far Cry games on my PC, including FC5, but this one straggles to run. Official UBI forums are flooded by this issue, but there is still no fix yet from the dev team.

 

[Frag Maniac]

To be honest, I was a bit caught off guard by some of Modi and Magni's attacks. This guy knows the game a lot better than me, and offers a pretty good explanation of what he's doing. He made it look easier on Give Me God of War than my playthrough on Give Me a Balanced Experience.

(Skip to 14:23 for the fight)

And no, I still haven't bothered with Far Cry 6, and if I ever do, it will likely only be at a bargain bin price.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Thanks for the video. Let me watch it now.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

This is slight off topic, but obviously related to 'God Of War' game. This passed under my radar. I'm still playing this game in a slow-paced manner.

Actually, during some of missions, and enemy fights I was experiencing stutters and some occasional Fps drops. But recently there has been an update to God Of War, and the dev team have released the Update 1.0.9 patch which improved performance in CPU-heavy areas/levels.

I have an i7 4790 CPU (non-K) and RX 480 GPU though, but now I will try to replay some of my previous saved game areas, to check how much of a performance boost this new patch provides. I don't mind completing the same objectives again and again though. This is is solid PC port, and this game is kind of addictive as well (despite me being a hardcore FPS gamer).

Anyway. Santa Monica Studio and Jetpack Interactive have released a new patch for the PC version of God of War. According to the release notes, Update 1.0.9 implements small object culling to help reduce the number of objects that the CPU can process. As such, it can improve performance by up to 20% in CPU-heavy areas.

This patch also resolves some AMD performance issues that players have reported. The dev team claims that this change should improve minimum framerates in scenes where there are many objects on-screen. Additionally, gameplay systems will no longer cause intermittent crashes. Not only that, but silent crashes will no longer occur if a GPU reports invalid memory values.

God of War Patch 1.0.9 Release Notes

New Features

• You can now configure Aiming and Blocking as a toggle instead of a hold
• Triple Buffering can now be enabled to reduce micro-stutters at the cost of a minor latency increase
• GPU memory usage is now included in the video settings to aid performance troubleshooting

Fixes

• Memory values will now be detected properly when using integrated graphics
• Silent crashes will no longer occur if a GPU reports invalid memory values
• Some gameplay systems will no longer cause intermittent crashes
• Implemented small object culling to help reduce the number of objects that the CPU can process
  Developed in response to recurring AMD performance issues, this change should improve minimum framerates in scenes where there are many objects on-screen. During our testing, we saw an average 20% improvement in frametimes above the 95th percentile.
  To those not experiencing instances of major framerate drops, please note that this change will not result in a significant improvement to graphical performance.

 

[Frag Maniac]

It ran well for me for the most part, though I do have an 8700K CPU.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

It ran well for me for the most part, though I do have an 8700K CPU.

Yeah, your CPU is indeed faster than my Haswell chip, in both single and multi-threaded applications/games etc. You can even Overclock/OC your processor as well for some added perf gains.