God of War (PS4)- Final Valkyrie Battle on Hardest Difficulty
The new God of War for the PS4 reinvigorates the franchise with a new lore, characters, and combat. After the credits roll after about the 30-hour journey there is still more to explore that can easily double the number of hours you can invest into this game. If you are investing in the series growing up like I did, and want to get the most out of the game by challenging yourself with the hardest difficulty, Give Me God of War mode, you'll get another dozen or two hours just from the fact you will be dying so frequently.
You can watch the video or read the transcript below.
Today I will be giving you my tips for taking on Sigrun the Valkyrie, the hardest boss in God of War, and I'll be doing it on the hardest difficulty, Give me God of War. This is the first game, ever, where I got the platinum trophy for completing all the achievements and without looking at any guides or online help (I swear). This can also be done on any difficulty without needing to replay the game or feeling like a waste of time, which is another great thing about this game. I was planning on doing a walkthrough of the whole game on this setting because it is brutal, but after the first few hours and getting to the Lake of Nine things become manageable. Just make sure to take your time and complete each side quest available so that you can upgrade your weapons, armor, and skills. This includes completing favors, labors and collecting artifacts. I did skip some enemies like realm tear encounters or travelers if they were two or more levels above you.
Back to the topic of this video, The toughest boss in God of War is the Valkyrie Queen Sigrun, who is accessible after you kill the previous eight Valkyries that are scattered in the hidden chambers of Odin across the game. These bosses are optional during the main quest but are a fun diversion if you want to challenge yourself with sub-optimal gear. The great thing I love about this game is that ultimately the battles are based on your skill, and once you figure out the attack patterns you would be able to take out these Valkyries at any point. By the end of the game, you will have more health, abilities, damage, and utilities that make them easier to defeat, so I would advise to beat the game, kill the other eight Valkyries, complete Ivaldi's workshop, complete the trials in Muspelheim, before going into the fight with the final Valkyrie.
In the video, I will it down into three parts. The first will be the weapons, armor, and stats going into the battle. Then I will give some general tips to prepare for battle, followed by a description of Sigrun's attack pattern and how to avoid any damage. I will also include the full clip on my successful attempt, with timestamps in the description below if you want to skip to a just to a specific part. So let's get started.
Part 1: Equipment/Stats/Skills-
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I used Ivaldi's set because it had the highest base stats. The fight will be long (took me about 10 minutes) so the small health regeneration can make a difference. As long as you are blocking or dodging the attacks, health doesn't really matter but helps when you make a mistake. After unlocking Niflheim, your going need to grind Mist Echos and resources to upgrade your armor. I also completed the trials of Muspelheium for resources to upgrade my equipment. The skills I used was leviathan's Wake and Ivaldi's anvil which I use in most situations, I didn't give this too much thought, but anything with a fast startup and interrupts attacks will work. I noticed after my experience that even stacking strength or runic, I saw little change in damage dealt to Sigrun, that it was ultimately inconsequential. After playing around with a few builds the one that helped me beat it was stacking cooldown, even if it brought down every other stat. The reasoning for this was for using my talisman, Talisman of the realms, which when activated slows time. This allows me to get a lot of attacks off, build permafrost, execute runic attacks safely and pick up health stones. I used this every time it was off cooldown, so I would definitely take the time to upgrade this to the max. The one significant rune that I would recommend is the Eye of the winged chosen, which makes you evade quicker and over a longer distance. Most times a simple evade is better than dodge rolling. I also purchased the legendary runic vestment for Atreis for the healthstone enhancement to increase the healthstone potency. I found that other summons didn't do any significant damage and was actually distracting when analyzing the enemies attack patterns. For my axe pommel, I used Mistbourne that helped recover some health, because it has a low chance of activating on hit, and you will be hitting a lot.
Part 2: General tips
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The main thing to do is to practice avoiding all her attacks. I would suggest going into battle and don't even worry about attacking. Just dodge or block all the attacks until you can successfully dodge/block each and every one of her attacks. Even if there is only one you are struggling with, that one will always kill you. So practice seeing if you can survive 5-10 minutes of just avoiding attacks. If you can avoid them all consistently then getting in damage between is the easy part.
Know when it is safe to pick up health stones. So many times going for a health stone will cause you to die compared to just ignoring them and focusing on dodging. Good times to pick up health stones are after initiating an attack and moving away to pick up the stones when the enemy is recovering from being staggered, or if you choose to skip an opportunity for an attack after your opponent strikes. If you have the Runic summon Bitter Squirrel, it will dig up multiple health stones, just make sure it is safe to pick them up or use your talisman to enter realm shift.
Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware when dodging if you have enough room on the side you are evading. It is best to keep her in the center of the ring. Always moving to the right to avoid a specific attack will lead to getting trapped into a corner and result in getting hit. Some attacks are easier avoided when dodging to the right, so make sure you have enough space. Also, make sure you aren't walking on the fire when the meteor attacks come down.
Use the auto-targeting. I found that using the auto-targeting by clicking R3 was helpful keeping the camera on Sigrun and also in surviving the unblockable attack where you have to hit her out of the air. If you are auto-targeting, when you go to throw your ax, it automatically focuses on her in the air saving crucial time as this will kill you in one hit if you mess up. However, whenever she jumps upward off screen, or sometimes evading after a combo, the auto-targeting will disappear and you will have to frequently click in the right thumbstick to focus on Sigrun again. You'll need to train your eye to always make sure the auto-targeting is on.
Atreus arrows: I used the light arrow to inflict weakness on the boss, but overall not sure if that was too effective. I wouldn't even bother if it is just another thing to worry about, the damage is probably minimal to insignificant.
Part 3: Breakdown of attacks
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The first I will cover is easy to avoid attacks.
The first isn't an attack but when Sigrun blocks. Just make sure to break the block by double tapping the block button L1, and afterward, you can pull off a full combo. It is a skill you need to purchase so make sure you have it before the battle. I also have the upgrade so hitting L1 again results in a follow-up attack, but isn't required. Just make sure you aren't too far away when going to break the block if you miss or wait she will attack after a couple of seconds. If you are to far away or wait too long, it is better to back away to avoid the attack.
The next is when Sigrun spins throwing a lob of feathers in your direction. You can block these or dodge out of the way, but the easiest thing to do is just walk to the right or left to avoid them. Even if you are close you'll be able to avoid them with your normal walking speed.
Similar to the previous one, she will also throw feathers toward you after doing a short strafe, without spinning. Same as before just walking to the right/left will avoid these projectiles.
When she gets into the air one move she will use is throwing yellow flowery projectiles toward you. Make sure to always block these things, as you can tell they are thrown in a zigzag pattern so dodging can result in being hit.
The next one looks similar to the last one when she is in the air. You will see the yellow stuff from the previous attack but this one must be dodged, and a red indicator will appear. This is still easily avoided as she takes a second to raise the yellow object above her head before throwing. It goes in a straight line, so the timing doesn't have to be perfect to still avoid it.
The next is another unblockable attack, but from the ground at a range. In the startup animation, you will see her flash red and raise her scythe above her head. An evade or dodge will easily get you out of the way.
When you see her trying to summon some type of ice storm, block right away as a flurry of ice projectiles are on the way. At the end of this attack, she will also send a large unblock-able chunk of ice toward you that you need to dodge. The timing is easy to avoid. Once the small projectiles stop, roll right away. I like to walk to the left while this is happening to position myself for the next attack.
The next is another unblock-able attack. She will lunge toward you and flash red. She will take a little time to swing around the weapon before slamming it onto the ground. For this one, you need to make sure that you dodge roll backward to get away from the shock-wave it will create around the impact. This attack is always followed up by a second attack where she moves toward you and makes a big swing. Since she sweeps the scythe toward the left, always dodge toward the right to avoid any damage. After this, you are free to go in for a combo.
One of the easiest to avoid is another unblock-able where she is in the sky and flies toward you, and if she touches you will slam your face into the ground. She will glow red and you can avoid by dodging to the right or left, just make sure there is enough room on either side of you. Also, she will do this unto three times, so make sure you run up for an attack after she lands.
The next is another unblock-able but also unavoidable attack. This one she will be in the sky and slam her weapon on the ground, creating a shock wave that covers the entire arena. You'll see her red indicator and notice how she sweeps her weapon around like a pendulum before stopping briefly before slamming the weapon on the ground. Make sure to hit her out of the sky before finishing the full animation, this is where I found auto-targeting to be very helpful, so make sure it is on all the time, just for this move, because if you mess up one hit will kill you. If you know that you won't have enough time to throw your weapon you can also use spartan rage at the right time to avoid any damage. I used the leviathan ax the whole battle, so I wouldn't have to worry about switching in anticipation for this attack.
This next one is more annoying than anything. She will call down a series of 3 meteors that will hit the ground. You need to avoid the impact and the lingering crater to prevent burn damage. If you are fighting near one of the craters, be safe and back off. Beware of your surroundings and make sure it is safe to dodge or move around these craters.
The next few is where things start to get more tricky and timing is very important.
In this next attack, you will see Sigrun flash will a yellow indicator and rush toward you. You need to make sure to time this first block so you get the knockback and counter. If you hold down the block or miss time the block, she will break your block and follow up with a second attack before you can recover. It might take a bit of practice, but you'll be glad to see this one after a while because it will leave you an opening for a full combo afterward.
The next one is very similar to the previous one only she initials the attack from the air. Again make sure to block at the last moment to get the counter-attack.
The next one is the most annoying one. Its another unblockable attack from the air. She spreads her wings and creates a shock wave that inflicts blindness if you get hit. It seems like I've tried everything, and the only thing that worked for me was engaging the spartan rage just before the attack goes off. Even if you are hit with it you can use spartan rage to get rid of the blindness effect, since its impossible to predict attacks you can't see coming. If you are close enough to Sigrun when you engage spartan rage it will also stun her and bring her back to the ground, where you can go in for an attack. Just make sure to turn off spartan rage asap also to save it for more of these attacks.
The next is what seems to be a basic melee attack with her wings, but there are multiple types. She always opens up with two attacks which you need to block. Don't immediately attack, dodge, or keep blocking. 1)She may continue to attack with another two strikes similar to the first, in which you just block those also. 2) She can wind up for a spin attack which you just need to block through. 3)However, she may immediately dash backward or to the side and you have to watch for her next move. 4)Another common thing to watch for after the two initial attacks are if she jumps directly into the air. 5) She can also immediately show a yellow indicator and set up for an attack with her scythe, like in #1 above. This is why you shouldn't just hold down the block button during this attack sequence. You need to make sure to let go of the block and block again to get the counter or she will break your guard. 6) another thing she can do is also an unblockable scythe attack which you need to avoid by dodging to the right, which she can follow up with a jump right after. (7) Lastly, she can also show a red indicator for a wing thrust move, which you simply need to evade or move to the right.
Speaking of the jumping. This is tricky because there are two types. If you see her jump dodge roll immediately, because she will come back down in a split second. If you see her jump and a meteor comes down leave a fiery crater, she will take longer to come back down. In this case you should still dodge roll away like you would for the 1st situation, but immediately after recovering do a second dodge roll. Doing two dodge rolls consecutively, gives you enough time avoid her attack when she comes down. For me I would just spam the dodge roll until I saw that she was back on the ground, because she can leap into the air up to three times in succession, and getting hit once with this can kill you even on a full bar of life. Also make sure your not rolling into the fire if you are looking at the longer version.
This next one killed me most out of any other attack. It another unblock-able attack is really quick, catching me off guard. She will lunge toward you and at the last spit second glow red and thrust her wing toward you. If you are constantly moving, simply walking to the right will help you avoid this attack. I found myself always walking to the right or circling Sigrun counterclockwise to avoid this attack. You shouldn't be standing still or continuously blocking during this entire fight just to anticipate this attack. Dodging should also be ok, but recall there are already many attacks that she can move toward you so practice avoiding this one.
The reason why the previous one is so tricky is that sometime she will lunge toward you and do normal blockable attack. In this case, you will want to block, as dodging the first attack will usually leave you open for the second hit. That's why is really important to keep moving and if you see that she is just swinging normally you should block, but if you see the red indicator keep moving or dodge. Fortunately, this won't kill you in one hit but this is one of the hardest things to master.
If you succeed in killing Sigrun you will be treated to a few extra lines of dialogue revealing some details of the Valkyries that is going to be important for the sequel. Next is the full clip of my successful fight without any commentary, with the extra dialogue scenes at the end. End it before then if you don't want any spoilers!
I hope you guys enjoy, let me know what game you've got a platinum trophy for in the comments below and I'll see you all again next time.