The Reckoning questline in God of War Ragnarok is drawing to a dramatic conclusion, and it’s going out with a bang. Not only does the section of the game known as The Abandoned Village include a healthy supply of puzzles, treasures, and battles, but it also includes two boss fights!
This guide will help you navigate the crane puzzles, traverse the sections of the woods that are flooded with poisonous mist, fight the Einherjar, claim all of the hidden treasures, and defeat a gigantic dimension-hopping creature. There is a lot of ground to cover!
###The Abandoned Village
You are about to leave this part of The Abandoned Village after putting yourself through the harrowing experience of clearing out another Draugr Hole, and you will be moving on to the next section. Find the massive, ornate wall in this area. In the far left-hand corner, there is a space that is big enough to fit a person through it. You should make your way to this location!
Following this will bring you to a massive arena that is populated with Einherjar. The fact that this playing field is circular should be the first thing that comes to mind about it. Therefore, your best bet is to engage the opposing units, eliminate one or two of them, and then reposition yourself along the loop to assist in preserving your advantageous position. When jumping down, throw in a few slam attacks, and when you are in an advantageous position above enemies, engage in some ledge guarding. You won’t waste much time driving them away.
When all of the Einherjar have been eliminated, there will be no loot left in the arena for you to retrieve. Raise the barrier, and then head to your right. Set fire to the brambles, then scale the wall and grab the chest.
Next, you will need to hop down and continue heading straight until you reach a wall of poison. If you want to stop the flow of poison, there is a flower on the right side of the screen that you need to hit with your axe. Once it is frozen, you should clear out the chest that is nearby. Now, look up and set fire to the brambles that are above you, and while you’re doing that, swing your axe at the bulbous poison plants that are nearby. After that, climb the chain, and proceed into the next area.
As soon as you reach the peak, there will be a region to your right that is completely covered in poisonous gas. Stop the flower on the right from blooming, then hop down to the chest to claim the legendary item. Proceed now to return to the primary path. First, you need to pull the chain to make the rope taut, and then you can descend the rope.
You will now have to climb, swing between a number of grappling points, and eventually climb up to a structure that resembles a gazebo. During this portion of the game, there are no treats or hidden treasures to be found. To get around this obstacle, turn left when you reach the ruins. Following this path will lead you to a chest.
You are about to reach a massive crane at this point. Although this puzzle may present some challenges, we will walk you through solving it step by step. First, head to the left ledge and light the brambles that are across the path; doing so will make the bucket accessible. Now, strike the target on the right side while rotating the crane in the opposite direction. While maintaining your position on the left ledge, reach out with your Blades of Chaos and grab the bucket, then pull it toward you (lighting a brazier underneath you that will come into play a little later).
You will now use the grapple point that is located on the back end of the crane to swing across to the island that is located to your left. Now, while you are on the island, turn the crane so that the bucket is between you and the brambles on the other side. You can do this by hitting the targets on top of the crane with your axe. Grab the bucket with your blades, bring it closer to you, and then let go of it. That is all there is to it at this point. It will swing directly into the brambles, setting fire to them in the process. After you have climbed back up to the ledge, rotate the crane so that the grapple point is in the middle of you and the dock on the other side of the gap, and then grapple across. However, we are not quite finished with the crane just yet. As soon as you reach the other side of the bridge, immediately turn to your right to find a Nornir Chest.
You should look to your left to find the first rune you need for the Nornir chest. You simply need to use your Blades of Chaos to light the brazier. You have already obtained the second rune by pulling the bucket toward you when you were standing on the ledge on the left. If you did not do this earlier, you will need to hop back across the gap and then pull the bucket toward you while you are standing on the ledge. The third rune can be found tucked away in the trunk of the tree to the right of the bridge that you freed yourself from the brambles on. To light the brazier, you need only to move the crane so that the bucket is dangling in front of the tree, and then pull it in the direction of the tree. That should take care of it; now go get your Idunn Apple from the chest!
Proceed forward now along the main path. Because there is nothing of value to be found in the way of treasure, you will need to squeeze through the gap in the wall and get ready to do battle with a boss.
###Boss Fight: Fiske
We’re going to be honest with you, so get ready. Once you have a clear idea of what you’re supposed to find, Fiske is a fairly manageable boss. To begin, the majority of his attacks are designed to be blocked or parried. You have time to parry his slow, rhythmic horizontal slashes because they come at you at a steady pace and give you plenty of opportunity to get ready. Consequently, you should prepare to parry those attacks.
Fisk will occasionally finish off his combos with a horizontal swing that cannot be blocked. The important thing for you to understand about this move is that if you roll away from it, you will be tagged, but if you step to the side, you won’t get in trouble. You will only want to roll away from him when he is using his unblockable Bifrost explosion attack, which is the only time you should do so. You are blessed with an abundance of time to prepare a response because this process is excruciatingly slow. It is time to roll away when you see Fiske raising his sword and getting ready to thrust it into the ground. A side roll is the preferred method of defence against any attack that cannot be blocked.
When Fiske employs his stabbing spear attacks, he poses the greatest threat to his opponents. These tend to come pretty quickly. You have the ability to block them, but doing so will cause Bifrost damage to you. The best course of action would be to parry these attacks. The one and only other attack that Fiske possesses is a powerful swing that is surrounded by those stunning blue rings. Therefore, strike him with your shield to deal a significant amount of stun damage.
Now that we have everything laid out, let’s put together a plan that makes sense for you. Throw your axe at Fiske as he slowly approaches you so that you can kill him. After that, when he begins swinging at you, time the attacks and parry them when they come. You will have an opportunity to land a combo after each time that you parry. While this is going on, you should keep an eye out for the distinctive red ring; as soon as you spot it, you should roll to the side. Unless, of course, he raises his sword and looks like he’s going to thrust it into the ground, in which case you should roll away from him. When he assumes his stabbing stance, which involves raising his spear above his head and pointing the tip in your direction, you should get ready to parry the jabbing strikes as effectively as you can. We have no doubt that you will bring Fiske to his knees in a short amount of time.
##Back To The Abandoned Village
When you have finished fighting Fiske in the boss arena, go to the left and enter the hut. There is a chest in this area that is red. You are going to come to a section where there is going to be a Legendary Chest across the way, and all you have to do in order to get to it is pull the crane over so that you can grapple across. Sadly, a column is preventing it from being accessed. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that for you. You need to descend, then enter the nearby building that contains the treasure chest.
Look for a large hole or crack in the wall while you are in that building. From this vantage point, you will be able to use your Blades of Chaos to bring the column to its knees. After that, you should get back on your feet, grapple your way across the gap, and then open the Legendary Chest. Next, scale the stone wall and shimmy your way across into the following area. You can choose to destroy the boxes that are located here if you so desire; however, there is nothing of significant value to be found within them. When you are ready, pull the massive metal doors back and open them. There will be a tangle of roots visible to you. Get ready for the fight, because Fiske was just the appetiser!
###Boss Battle: Nidhogg
Nidhogg’s first form is equipped with three different attacks, including a fireball that cannot be blocked, a claw slam, and a bite attack. When you keep attacking like that, people start to take notice of you. The fireball is Nidhogg’s preferred method of attack the vast majority of the time. You merely have to roll to the side to solve the problem. Simply continue to hurl your axe at Nidhogg’s head in the pauses between your attacks. You will be rewarded for successfully parrying an attack by him that has a yellow indicator if it is either a slam or a bite. At some point, you will have to grab a bar of health and pull him through the portal to safety.
This is the Second Phase of Nidhogg.
Nidhogg’s attacks during this phase are very similar to those used previously, but they are executed much more quickly. Additionally, he will join them together at this time. Even when he is in his second form, Nidhogg will occasionally try to scratch you with his claw. His new tail plunge is his most impressive new move. He will plant it in the ground, and after a certain amount of time has passed, it will erupt. However, since this is a blue indicator attack, you can block it with your shield and cause him to be stunned. You should get as familiar as possible with this phase before moving forward. Aside from that, it is essentially the same thing as before. You shouldn’t have too much trouble competing with him in this regard.
The Third and Final Phase of Nidhogg
This is the point in the boss fight where things start to get serious. You will now have the assistance of Freya, but Nidhogg will be significantly more dangerous than he was before. It is possible that Nidhogg will appear in any one of these three locations on the screen. His moveset will be determined by where he is positioned, whether he is coiled around a stone pillar or perched on the edge of the arena. When it has him wrapped around one of the stone pillars, it will use the energy stored in its tail to fire a beam of Bifrost energy at the pillar. It will move back and forth across the screen while doing so with its beam-firing tail. You will need to push through it without stopping. After that, it will create rips in space and time, which it will use to stab you with its tail as it travels through them. Simply keep your mobility and roll out of the way of the tail attack. When Nidhogg raises its tail and a yellow indicator ring appears around it, it means that it is about to shoot a projectile in your direction. You can either block it or sidestep it because these projectiles move at a glacial pace.
When Nidhogg is in its perched position on the ledge, it will open its mouth and consume any debris in the area. After completing this step, it will either proceed to step two or step three. When the red indicator appears, it means that it is going to fire a powerful projectile at you; at that point, you need to roll away as quickly as possible. In the event that this does not occur, it will eject all of the debris in a massive and unavoidable scattershot. However, despite the fact that it cannot be avoided, it can be blocked. If you see a red ring, you should avoid that area. Block the attempt if there is no indicator ring. That is the simplest way to put it! In addition, Nidhogg will employ the tail plunge attack that it used in the second phase. When it does this, you should make sure to shield bash it.
Nidhogg will frequently pause for extended periods of time in between attacks. That will be your opportunity to score some points. After a while, Freya will come to your aid and provide you with objectives to complete using your axe or blades as a guide (it depends on which column Nidhogg is clinging to). When she does, you will be able to knock the massive creature to the ground and deal significant damage to it. Once you begin bringing those columns to the ground, the mighty Nidhogg won’t be able to stand for much longer.
###The Western Barri Woods
The purpose of this section is almost entirely to instruct you on how to make use of Freya’s tools. The first thing you have to do is clear a path through some vines by striking one of her hexes with your axe. The same thing will need to be done on the following screen in order for you to open a chest. After that, you will engage in combat with a few Einherjar, at which point the game will instruct you on how to use Freya’s hexes to deal damage to your foes. After you have defeated the Einherjar, you will finally be able to enter the main part of the Western Barri Woods. Take the first right, cut through the vines, and then grab the chest when it becomes available. After that, make your way back to the main path. You will be presented with another puzzle involving a poison plant. There are actually two plants this time! The only thing left to do is put a hex on it, and then freeze it. Now, take your axe away, and then put the other one in the freezer. The hex is responsible for the chilling effect.
After you have eliminated all of the poison, proceed to the next left, cut down the vines, and then open the next chest. Return to the main path, engage in combat with a few Wisps (Freya’s arrows are the only way to inflict damage on them), and then proceed into the subsequent area. A short cutscene will play for you to watch. Proceed to engage the Lore Tablet in conversation, and then move on to the next location. You will find a chest in this area, but it is guarded by a plant so be careful. If you light the bulbous portion of the plant on fire, you will be able to access the treasure chest that is hidden within the plant.
After that, you will engage in combat with a second, smaller group of Einherjar. The next thing you know, you’ll be standing on a makeshift bridge constructed out of branches of trees. You’ll see another one of those living plants guarding a chest on your left as you make your way through the room. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get to it in this way. What you need to do is lay down a line of hexes from Freya that leads from where you can reach all the way to the bulb. This line should start from where you can reach and end where you can reach it. If you set these ablaze, they will cause a chain reaction when they explode. You are now free to swing to the other side and collect your reward.
After this, you will find yourself back at Freyr’s camp. You will exit the camp from here, retrieve one more treasure that is entangled in vines (it will be on your left), and clear a path to a canoe. The puzzle that we just finished solving is very similar to the one that comes before it in the next section of the game. Build a route out of hexes that leads to the vines that are covering the obstacle, then set fire to them. Once the vines are gone, the only thing that will be in the way is a log, which can be taken out with sonic arrows. The arrow type that Freya uses can be changed by pressing the up button on the d-pad. Now fire at it to break the log, and then enjoy a relaxing ride in the boat all the way to its destination. One more chest will be waiting for you at the finish line.