Best Runic Attacks in God of War Ragnarok

As you progress through God of War Ragnarok’s story, you’ll pick up an arsenal of light and heavy runic attacks to supplement your combat encounters. These differ greatly from one another with a host of different attacks and status effects, which can make choosing the right one a little tricky. Spoiled for choice as it goes. In this guide, we’ll share what we consider to be the best runic attacks for all weapons in God of War Ragnarok.

Spoiler Warning: this guide covers a weapon that’s only available once you completed the Forging Destiny main path mission about halfway through the game. If you’ve yet to reach that point, be warned there are spoilers below.

Leviathan Axe

Light Runic Attack – Wrath of the Frost Ancient

• Location – Legendary Chest, Southern Wilds, Vanaheim
• Cooldown – 111 seconds

Kratos’ axe emits a sustained beam of frost that absolutely tears through enemies. It produces the highest DPS of any axe runic attack in God of War Ragnarok, along with massive frost status and by holding R1 you can extend the beam duration further. Wrath of the Frost Ancient does have one of the longest light runic attack cooldowns – 111 seconds.

Light Runic Attack – Njord’s Tempest

• Location – Legendary Chest, Althjof’s Rig, Svartalfheim
• Cooldown – 89 seconds

Njord’s Tempest unleashes a spinning melee attack that chews through groups of enemies while dishing out some serious damage. Better yet, you can extend the length of the attack by holding R1. Any enemies hit by the attack are stunned for a short period of time, offering you what is more or less a few seconds of invinsibility. The charge up is also relativility short so you’re aren’t left defenceless for too long before Kratos starts the move.

Heavy Runic Attack – Breath of Thamur

• Location – Legendary Chest, The Raven Tree, Niflheim (kill 28 Odin’s Ravens to unlock)
• Cooldown – 241 seconds

An AOE attack that whips up a massive spiral of darting ice particles, Breath of Thamur is another high DPS runic attack. Maxed out, it offers the highest damage of any heavy runic attacks alongside respectable frost status. The attack’s range all provides much-needed breathing space if you’re overwhelmed by several enemies or a boss by preventing them from attacking for the duration of the attack. However, it does have a pretty hefty cooldown of 241 seconds.

Heavy Runic Attack – Ivaldi’s Anvil

• Location – Legendary Chest, The Derelict Outpost, Midgard
• Cooldown – 133 seconds

Arguably one of the best looking runic attacks in the game, Ivaldi’s Anvil sees Kratos leap into the air and slam down his axe for substantial AoE damage and frost damage to any enemies hit by the slam, stunning them in place for a short period. It’s especially effective against large groups of mobs and can be further upgraded to be even more devastating. The cooldown is also quite short compared to other Heavy Runic Attacks, meaning you’ll have it available far more frequently.

✓ Alternatives

• Hel’s Touch – unleashes a quick burst of enemy that interrupts and knocks back all enemies nearby.
• Fog of Fimbulwinter – dishes out a massive ice wave that inflicts Frost damage and freeze stuns enemies in its path.

Blades of Chaos

Light Runic Attack – Rampage of the Furies

• Location – Legendary Chest, Vanir Shrine, Vanaheim
• Cooldown – 74 seconds

Rampage of the Furies unleashes a flurry of cross-slash attacks that damages all enemies in its vicinity. The damage output is the highest of any light runic attack for the Blades and comes sided by solid burn damage. With a relatively short 74 second cooldown, Rampage of the Furies is available fairly regularly, and holding R1 during the attack extends the barrage of cross-slash attacks.

Heavy Runic Attack – Meteoric Slam

• Location – Legendary Chest, The Ravven Tree, Niflheim (kill 38 of Odin’s Ravens to unlock)
• Cooldown – 186 seconds

Meteoric Slam is a powerful slam attack that rains down fire in a wide arc. It also inflicts burn damage and even stun when fully upgrade, making it a versatile heavy runic attack for most situations. Meteoric Slam also has the added benefit of rendering enemies momentarily harmless when hit by its arc. A steep 186 second cooldown is the only downside.

✓ Alternatives

• Cyclone of Chaos – unleashes a circling sweep attack that hits all nearby enemies.
• Nemean Crush – massive fiery shockwave attacks that knocks enemies back.

Draupnir Spear

Light Runic Attack – Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers

• Location – Legendary Chest, Shipyard of the Fallen, Helheim
• Cooldown – 74

Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers dishes out a series of high damage stabs that lodge spears into enemies. When the attack is over, you can tap Triangle to detonate the embedded spears to cause even more damage. After upgrading the Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers, you can also perform further stabs by tapping R1, increasing damage even further. It also has a minor force and stun status effect. With the shortest cooldown – 74 seconds – of any Draupnir Spear light runic attack, it’s one you can rely on regularly in any fight.

Heavy Runic Attack – The Finger of Ruin

• Location – Legendary Chest, The Raven Tree, Niflheim (kill 48 of Odin’s Ravens to unlock)
• Cooldown – 241

The Finger of Ruin summons a swirling tornado that sweeps up enemies in its path, causing the most DPS of any heavy runic attack for the spear along with excellent force and stun status effect. Upgrading the attack boosts the damage and duration of the tornado, while also expanding its radius to affect a wider area. With a 241 second cooldown, The Finger of Ruin is one to use sparingly, but is sure pivot the odds in your favor in most fights.

✓ Alternatives

• Huldra Charge – long-range spear lunge that siphons an enemy’s element.
• Honour The Fallen – long-range, leaping dive that slams into enemies with great force.

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