Ragnarok, the End of God of War As soon as you enter the Eastern Barri Woods, the Reckoning quest chain will pick up where it left off. After having just vanquished the powerful Forest Ancient, you might feel as though you deserve a short break. Well, Ragnarok disagrees. Be ready to fight a variety of foes, including a few fights against mid-bosses, as you progress through the game. Along the way, you will even clean out another hole that was created by Draugr.
In addition to the many fights that take place in this region, which is without a doubt the primary focus of this part of the chapter, there are also a number of treasures that are dispersed throughout. We will make sure that you are pointed in the right direction to find them.
###Eastern Barri Woods
You have just finished off the Forest Ancient, and it is in your best interest to make sure that you have collected all of the valuable items that it dropped before moving on. After you have finished clearing out the area and have gathered any healthstones that may have been lying around, it is time to move on to the next location. Navigate your way through the collapsed structure. You will find yourself on some deteriorating docks when you first arrive. Burn the brambles that are preventing you from crossing, and then hop over them.
As soon as you reach the other side, you will engage in combat with a group of Golons. There are a lot of them, but you can also make use of some helpful interactable objects that are strewn about the stage in various locations. Once all of the Gulons have been eliminated, you will find a treasure chest leaning against the stone structure. Proceed through the cave at this point. As you make your way back to the main path, you will notice that additional poisonous plants have been grown there. You will not only have to deal with the increasingly poisonous plants that are expanding, but some of them will now spit acid at you as well. However, the manner in which you interact with them has not undergone any changes. Just give them the point of your axe and see what happens.
You are about to go through a door that leads to a new area where you will engage in combat with two Einherjar. These warriors are comparable to the ones you faced in the Jarnsmida Pitmines in the sense that their attacks have the potential to cause the Bifrost effect. The majority of their attacks consist of harmless swipes with their axes. They have the ability to erect a temporary shield. But if they do, you can always give them a good old-fashioned shield bash. In general, you should look for opportunities to parry attacks, raise your opponent’s stun, and then finish them off with an execution attack. They also have an attack that has the blue indicator, which, of course, means that if you disrupt them with a shield bash, it will cause an additional amount of stun damage.
On the other hand, the archers present a significant difficulty. Their assaults are capable of inflicting a significant amount of damage. You should make every effort to fight the standard troops on the opposite side of that enormous tree if at all possible. You’ll be better protected from their lethal arrows if you do that. Obviously, once you eliminate their close combat allies, they become a lot less dangerous for you to deal with. After you have dealt with everyone on the ground, you will be faced with just one archer as your final challenge. In point of fact, you won’t even have to do that because you’ll be confronted by a kind of mini-boss in the middle of the fight.
###Mid-Boss Fight: Flame Gradungr
The Gradungr isn’t quite as powerful as a boss, but because they are significantly more formidable than the average adversary, we’re going to give them that distinction anyway. There are three primary assaults that you should be concerned about. The imminent launch of the unstoppable projectile by the Gradungr is signalled by the appearance of the red indicator when it is activated. You won’t sustain any injuries if you roll to the side. Despite the fact that there is a tree in between you and the Gradungr, the flaming wave does not appear to be stopped by the presence of the tree; therefore, you will have to sidestep it in the traditional manner.
The upward thrust is the other primary attack that it has. It will perform both of these in quick succession. Both attacks have a yellow border, which indicates that you can parry them, but if you attempt to block them, you will be stunned instead. At last, it will shake itself, which will cause fire to appear all around it and spread outward. Simply sidestep away from it as soon as you notice it beginning to breathe fire, and you should be able to avoid this attack every time. In general, you should try to maintain your distance from it, make sure your axe throw connects, and avoid getting hit by its projectiles.
Returning To The Woods Of The Eastern Barri
After you have vanquished the Gradungr, a cave will appear in the area. Climb through the opening in the wall and continue along the path until you reach the river. Because there are brambles on the other side, it will be impossible for you to jump across. Therefore, instruct Freya to use her arrows to fashion a line of hexes that begins at the point where your blades can reach it and extends all the way to the brambles. Then, using your Blades of Chaos, set fire to them. Continue forward along the main path by jumping across this gap.
There will be a section that requires you to climb. You will first have to grapple your way across a few gaps before entering a cavern after descending a rock wall. There are many poisonous plants in this area, so you need to be very careful around them. You will come across a treasure chest on the main path, and there will be a poisonous plant waiting to ambush you on the right side of the path. You will now proceed into a cavern that contains Draugrs as well as a Nokken. Before you can deal damage to the Draugr, you must first eliminate the Nokken. It goes without saying that you are going to want to hurry up and grab the Nokken. After you have killed it, all that is left to do is eliminate two Draugr. No biggie. You have reached the point where you will enter The Abandoned Village.
###The Abandoned Village
A crane will be visible to your left as soon as you enter The Abandoned Village after you have done so. When you hit the targets, it will rotate the grappling point so that it is in front of you. Make your way across the gap utilising your Blades of Chaos, but before you continue forward, you need to hit the target on the crane once more in order to gain access to the core of the Abandoned Village (the left exit in the house you jumped to). Now, wrestle your way across. Take a few deep breaths before proceeding to cross the bridge on your left. We are going to go clean a Draugr Hole that has been messed up.
###Boss Fight: The Hateful
It’s been a while, but it’s your old chum, The Hateful. He is still equipped with all of his old moves, including the unblockable double uppercut attack, the swift and hard-hitting lunging attacks, and an abundance of speed in general. However, this particular iteration of The Hateful has a peculiar quirk that, until you figure out how to work around it, is going to be your undoing. The next attack that causes it to stop, start screeching, and begin to pulse red will cause a massive explosion. This will happen as soon as it stops. If it is glowing, this indicates that you are unable to strike it with a melee attack under any circumstances. Because it causes so much damage, this is almost always going to be the thing that ends your life. It is imperative that you execute a successful ranged attack if you observe The Hateful writhing around and beginning to glow.
In addition to everything else, he is going to have two friends accompany him. Our research led us to conclude that the most effective tactic would be to withdraw our forces and then ambush our foes as they crossed the bridge in groups. Taking care of the two lesser Draugrs will make things much simpler for you, as The Hateful can be difficult to deal with even when he isn’t accompanied by his friends. We can only hope that you were able to hold on to your Spartan Rage because it will come in very handy.
Your objective is to finish off The Hateful’s allies, block its attacks, stun it, deal damage to it, and then when it charges its fire attack, throw your axe at it from a safe distance. This may appear to be a lot simpler task than it actually is, but The Hateful deals a significant amount of damage, moves very quickly, and can be quite unpredictable. If you keep attacking him, you will eventually be able to put an end to him.
When you have completed The Hateful, you should then proceed to the Draugr Hole to retrieve all of the rewards there. After you have done so, proceed through the cave that is located behind it. The entrance to the cave will lead you to a house that contains a legendary chest inside. Turn it over and take hold of the gleaming new Shield Rond.
Proceed to descend into the Abandoned Village at this time. It is inevitable that you will engage in combat with some Nokkens and Gulons. After you have eliminated the Nokkens, you will be able to employ the bridge against the Gulons in the same manner that you did when you were fighting the Draugr (to bunch them up). If you want to get back to the main path, there is a house nearby that has a rope that you can use to slide down. After you have done so, proceed to the right and enter the nearby building to read the Lore Text there. To the left of the Lore Text, tucked away in the farthest back corner of the room, is a treasure chest.
There is a great deal more to discover in the Abandoned Village, all of which will be detailed in the following guide! Prepare yourself, because it’s going to be a tough one!