'God of War' Beginner's Guide: Stats, Battling, Skill Trees and More

The God of War franchise has been around for more than a decade but this latest installment ramps up the exploration and battle aspects of the series. There's a ton of features that newcomers and some veterans may not be familiar with like the inclusion of your son, Atreus, who helps in battles with his own ways to fight..

We've come up with a handy beginner's guide to help players navigate and fight through the world of God of War.

BASICS

The controls for God of War are simple enough. You move around using the left analog and turn the camera using the right. You can press L3 to have Kratos sprint, which opens up options during battle (we'll get into that in a bit).

You have a green health bar in the bottom left corner and a red bar underneath that. The red bar is Kratos' Spartan Rage mode, which when filled will allow the god to enter a berserker mode that increases his strength and attack speed for a short amount of time. It refills a small amount of health and Kratos takes virtually no damage while pummeling enemies while it's active (press R3 + L3 when the meter is full).

Climbing obstacles requires the circle button, a prompt usually appears so keep an eye out for it. There are also times when the square button is a prompt that causes Kratos to instruct Atreus to do something like transcribe or translate a set of Viking runes or throw down a chain for Kratos to climb.

God of war controls
The basic controls in 'God of War' PlayStation

Pressing the options button will give players a look at Kratos and Atreus' weapons, armor and skills. You'll be upgrading them frequently throughout the game so make sure to see if you've unlocked anything new anytime you encounter one of the dwarven blacksmiths. The Map section is just that, it'll show you the areas of the realm you've traveled to with pins to important landmarks. It will also show you where you are supposed to go next on your journey.

The Goals section is where your main journey and side quests are stored. If you need a refresher as to what you are doing, see this section. It's also a place where players can pin a certain quest so your compass can guide you to those objectives.

The Codex section acts like an encyclopedia that gives descriptions on the types of enemies you've encountered as well as the various lore and stories you learn on your journey.

The Resources section shows you what items you've collected.

BATTLING

As for battling, Kratos can sheathe and unsheathe his Leviathan Axe by simply pressing the right directional pad. The triangle button will also cause Kratos to take out his axe.

R1 will unleash weak strikes from Kratos' hands or axe while R2 is for stronger, and slower, attacks. Holding L1 will allow Kratos to bring out his shield to take attacks. You can also double tap L1 to parry attacks and take down the enemy's guard, but it also has another function. While holding L1, Runic Attacks will be made available. These special skills will be covered more in a later section but holding L1 and pressing either the R1, R2 or circle button will unleash a special attack.

Holding L2 will allow Kratos to throw his axe. Aim for your target and tap the triangle button to launch it. When you need it back, simply press triangle again and it'll return to you from anywhere. A good habit to have is to use the axe throw to hit a target, which deals damage and lodges itself into the enemy. Bringing it back to Kratos will deal more damage when it's dislodged. You can also trip enemies by aiming for their legs.

Pressing the down directional button will cause Kratos to make a quick 180 degree turn. HUD indicators during battle will warn you of incoming danger so quick turns become essential for good defense. This input can be remapped in the options menu. Kratos can also roll and strife away from attacks by using the x button.

Atreus is one of the best partners in gaming and because he's invincible and can help at a moment's notice. Pressing square will have Atreus shoot an arrow at wherever or whoever you're looking at it. Kratos' son starts with three shots from his quiver and each shot has a cooldown. You can upgrade to four shots and shorter cooldowns at blacksmiths and in the skills section. He also eventually unlocks his own runic attacks, also detailed in the skills menu. If Atreus is struck by an enemy, he will be incapacitated for a few seconds so be sure to keep him safe.

In the Codex section of your options menu, you can read up on various enemies you've come across and it will tell you what their weaknesses are.

STATS

There are various stats and information that players should be aware of during their playthrough of God of War . Like any good RPG, God of War gives players various ways to play and customize their experience and that includes how they allocate points and skills.

We will get into skills and how to learn new ones a bit later but Kratos has certain stats that players should get familiar with. Kratos has six different stats and players can adjust how many points go into each by the types of armors Kratos wears as well as the enchantments he places into the armor sockets.

STRENGTH: Determines how much damage Kratos deals with standard attacks. This includes fighting barehanded or with his Leviathan Axe.

RUNIC: Determines how much damage Kratos' Runic and Elemental damage deals.

DEFENSE: Determines how much damage is reduced in battle.

VITALITY: Increases maximum Health and decreases the severity of hit reactions from enemy attacks. This includes burns, poisons etc…

LUCK: Increases Perk activation chance, increases XP and Hacksilver gains.

COOLDOWN: Reduces recharge time of Runic Attacks, Runic Summons and Talisman.

god of war what does luck do enchantments stat how to use upgrade kratos armor combat tips best
The various stats for Kratos in 'God of War' PlayStation/PlayerOne

CRAFTING

Throughout God of War, you'll run into two dwarf blacksmiths: Brok and Sindri. They appear in various parts of the world and for the cost of some currency, called Hacksilver, and special materials you can craft or upgrade armor and purchase various Talismans.

Players will collect items by defeating enemies and looting treasure chests located all over the realm. Use these along with your Hacksilver to craft new armor for Kratos and Atreus. If you want to compare the armor you have equipped to the new ones, press R3.

Some treasure chests hold various pieces of armor so be sure to look for as many as possible because who doesn't want free gear? Also most armor upgrades requires rare resources and chests often contain those as well.

God of War_crafting
There is a crafting feature that 'God of War' players should get used to using. PlayStation

SKILLS/RUNIC ATTACKS

Each battle nets experience points for Kratos and Atreus, which can be used to learn and upgrade skills. Head over to the Skill section in the options page to access both Kratos and Atreus' skill trees. The game will inform you when you have enough experience points to learn a skill. Hold the square button to learn it.

Like most skill trees in games, you need to learn base (level 1) skills before moving up to higher level abilities. Kratos has four skill trees: one for his Leviathan Axe, one for his shield moves, one for barehanded fighting and one for his Spartan Rage mode.

While Kratos needs experience points to learn new skills, his Leviathan Axe skills are unlocked by upgrading it. After certain quests in the main story, the blacksmiths will upgrade your axe to another level, which unlocks skills in that tier. Be sure to frequent the Skills section to see what you've unlocked.

god of war skill tree
Some of the skills you can learn in 'God of War' PlayStation/PlayerOne

Atreus has two skill trees. One is for his arrows, which affects how fast he fires, the damage dealt and the cooldown time. His other skill tree is for when he gains magic arrows and determines their effectiveness in battle.

Runic Attacks are activated when Kratos is guarding with his shield and has his axe out. There are two slots for Runic Attacks, light and heavy, and they perform various actions. These special skills can be found within various treasure chests throughout the realm and are described by a small tutorial video in the skills menu.

The final slot on the axe is for Talismans. These special items can give various battle properties to Kratos. Some examples of this are the healing talisman and the revival talisman that can give Kratos one revive when he falls in battle.

God of War releases for PS4 on April 20.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Phillip Martinez is a game and culture reporter for Newsweek. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2018, he was a reporter ... Read more

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