In this guide by God of War we will reveal what the stronger armor of the game for Kratos and how to get them.
God of War marks a new starting point for the Santa Monica series, presenting a playful formula significantly changed from previous chapters. One of the most important changes is undoubtedly the introduction of a marked role-playing component, with the possibility, among other things, to equip Kratos with different armor, which they affect stats and grant bonuses which can prove decisive during clashes. Below we will take an overview of the stats related to armor and how to get the best in the game.
Kratos armor, stats and bonuses
First of all it is good to point out that you will be able to get the strongest armor for Kratos only in the final stages of the adventure, in the post-game and in the New Game +, or by restarting the adventure after having seen the credits. That said, during the course of the adventure you will find yourself frequently changing equipment and options to this effect in abundance.
In fact, Kratos can get new pieces of armor from chests scattered around the game world, defeating enemies and buying them from Brok and Sindri. Each piece has a certain degree of rarity, from common to epic during the first game, up to the "perfect" level in the New Game +. It goes without saying that the strongest equipment is usually the rarest and therefore difficult to obtain.
Each armor increases the Spartan's defense, but so does the others features. Here is an overview of God of War stats:
- Force: it is the parameter that determines the damage inflicted by Kratos with standard attacks.
- Runic: affects the amount of runic and elemental damage.
- Defense: the higher this value, the less damage will be suffered.
- Vitality: Increases Kratos' maximum life.
- Fortuna- Affects the amount of silver found, experience points earned, and the likelihood of activating certain skills.
- recharge: Reduces the time it takes to re-use Runic, Magic, and Talisman attacks.
Armor for Kratos falls into three slots, namely bust, shoulders and hips. On the contrary, Atreus can only equip one garment that we will have to craft using materials and resources. Each piece of armor also has a certain number of settings, or slots where you can assign the runes to further enhance the statistics and guarantee various bonuses. The Spartan's armor can also be upgraded using various materials and resources found by defeating enemies and opening chests, thus further increasing the stats and number of settings.
We are therefore talking about a rather versatile progression system, which allows the player to focus on particular statistics and bonuses for Kratos by sacrificing others, thus defining a very specific style of play. In this sense, the advice is to experiment with various configurations until you find the one that best suits your style of play. That said, once you get to the final stages of the adventure, Kratos will be able to access the strongest armor of God of War, which will be useful for facing the toughest challenges of the endgame and the New Game +.
Ivaldi's sets of the Fog and the Valkyries
The two strongest sets of God of War, excluding those of the New Game +, are those of the Mist of Ivaldi and the Valkyries, which however you can only get by exploring the length and breadth of the game world and in a very advanced stage of the adventure.
Fog Set
Il Ivaldi's fog set comes in three different versions, namely "eternal mist", "cursed mist" and "deadly mist". Each variant offers a different statistic distribution. There isn't an objectively better one, so go ahead and aim for the one you prefer.
All nine pieces of Ivaldi's three sets start at level 7 and have the same side effect: they constantly regenerate Kratos' health, a very useful bonus, especially considering that its effectiveness increases according to the number of pieces of the set equipped by the Spartan. They also limit the effects of the cursed fog of Niflheim, which we'll talk about shortly.
To get the Ivaldi Mist set in God of War you will first need to unlock theaccess to the kingdom of Niflheim. To do this you will need to get four code fragments hidden in as many special chests, which you will find by following the directions in our guide on how to unlock the kingdoms of Muspelheim and Inflheim.
Once done, go to Niflheim and talk to Sindri who will give you the task of obtaining 500 misty echoes in the labyrinth of Ivaldi. It is a dungeon that changes appearance and shape every time and in which you will have to face rather powerful enemies. Not only that, there is a cursed deadly fog in the area. When Kratos' stamina, indicated by a special bar at the top of the screen, runs out it will be game over and you will have to start the exploration all over again.
To get the 500 foggy echoes easily, we recommend making short forays into the labyrinth, picking up some and going back immediately, in order to "save" them. A somewhat long and tedious method, but not very risky. Once Sindri's request is fulfilled, you will receive the key to enter Ivaldi's laboratory, located inside the labyrinth. Here you will find 9 pieces of rusty Ivaldi armor.
Go back to Sindri and at this point you will have the opportunity to transform the rusted pieces into Ivaldi's armor of the mist. To do this, you will need additional mist echoes, silver and other materials that you will find in Niflheim. In short, you will have to explore the maze over and over to get a complete set, but given the qualities of the armor it is absolutely worth it.
Valkyrie set
Il set of the Valkyries it is an excellent alternative to that of fog. Each piece starts at level 6 and offers good stats for runic attacks, as well as a particularly interesting add-on effect. To get all the pieces, however, you will have to face three of the nine Valkyries, extremely powerful opponents. If you need some advice, check out our guide on how to defeat the God of War Valkyries.
Below, we've listed the various pieces of the Valkyrie armor set, where to find them, and what additional effects they offer:
- Scarsella of Valkyrie (hips): High chance to trigger a perk that grants a Runic Blessing when you unleash a runic attack. (increases magic attack). Obtained from Olrun, located in Odin's dungeon in the kingdom of Alfheim.
- Valkyrie Gloves (Arms): Small chance to reload all Runic Attacks after a kill with one hit of this. This piece is obtained by defeating the Valkyrie Gondul, located in the kingdom of Muspelheim. To access it you will need to find four ciphers, also in this case we refer to our guide on how to unlock the kingdoms of Muspelheim and Niflheim.
- Cuirass of the Valkyrie (bust): Small chance to activate an aura that prevents enemy attacks from being interrupted. It is obtained from the Valkyrie Hildr, which is found in the labyrinth of the kingdom of Niflheim.
In terms of statistics, the Valkyries set is the one that offers more advantages from the offensive point of view than Ivaldi's, however the continuous regeneration of the latter's health is really very useful. In any case, they are both valid options and the strongest sets of God of War, at least in the first game. In the New Game +, in fact, you will be able to access even stronger options.
New Game +, the sets of Zeus and Ares
In a post-launch update Santa Monica has added the feature New Game + to the PS4 version of God of War and is already integrated into the PC port. Thanks to it you can start a new game with all the progress of the character, armor, skills and much more. However, the enemies will be stronger, they will have new attacks and their level will be higher, thus increasing the challenge rate.
As for the equipment for Kratos you will find from Sindri and Brok enhanced versions of armor. You can also further upgrade your equipment with Skap Slag, a new material that can be found by opening the red chests scattered throughout the game world.
In particular, in the New Game + you can get two new particularly strong sets, namely those of Zeus and Ares, by far the strongest in the game.
Il set by Ares, the Greek god of war, greatly increases strength, defense, luck, and skill cooldown. In addition, the passive ability increases the power of the Fury of Sparta, however shortening its duration. This effect is cumulative, so the more pieces of armor you wear, the greater the effectiveness.
You will find the blueprints to forge Ares' armor you will have to defeat the mountain dragon Hræzlyr.
To get your hands on set in Zeusinstead, you will have to work a lot. You can get the pieces for arms and hips by defeating the Valkyries Gondul in Muspelheim and Hildr in Niflheim respectively. The chest armor instead you will have to beat Sigrun and therefore complete the secondary quest related to the Valkyries of God of War.
A tough challenge, no doubt, but in return you will receive the strongest set of God of War, which increases the strength and power of unique attacks, but which requires some skill to exploit their potential. The passive bonus in fact increases the power of Kratos' standard attacks (depending on the number of pieces equipped) but also the damage received from enemies.
Finally, we cannot fail to mention the set Code of War, inspired by the bonus carp costume from God of War 2. You can create this armor in New Game + once you meet Brok for the first time. This set greatly increases defense and luck, but also moderately vitality and strength. The peculiarity of the armor, however, concerns the passive bonuses of each single piece, which could be particularly useful for facing the enemies enhanced in this mode.
With chest armor, Kratos generates a blast that inflicts frostbite and burns on nearby enemies whenever he uses a stone that restores health or increases Sparta's Fury gauge. The armor armor effect, on the other hand, allows you to increase the Spartan's anger by using healing stones when health is at maximum. Finally, the hip armor creates a protective barrier when using a healing or anger stone.
