Released at the end of last year, God of War Ragnarök concluded the Nordic saga of Kratos in a very beautiful way, while paving the way for more adventures in this mythological universe on the side ofAtreus. Waiting to find out what Santa Monica Studio reserves for us, he had promised us a way New Game+ for spring, just before Christmas. oh well, it is out this Wednesday and should appeal to lovers of challenges.
As in God of War (2018) with the Blades of Chaosso it allows way Drops from the start and retains all unlocked skills, but not our ally’s special arrows. On the other hand, the areas accessible with the spear cannot be unlocked prematurely. Several sets of armor and a shield will be at crafter or get. Too bad the set of Zeus act as a bit of an ultimate reward, because it’s clearly not the most visually appealing (luckily there’s the transmog). New skins have also been added to pre-existing sets, as well as Enchantmentsincluding a type called Burdensand the level increased beyond 9. As for the arena Niflheimit will offer various new features, including the choice of playable character and companion. Yes, it will bleed!
You can consult the changelog of the 4.00 update in English on the studio’s website and the details of all the new features introduced via the PlayStation Blog below.
Change the way you play
New equipment, higher level cap, new enchantments… Discover all this and much more in the New Game + mode of God of War Ragnarök! As soon as you finish the game, you can launch New Game+ to rediscover the story and start with more gameplay options.
Your gear, weapons (including the Draupnir Spear), and skills will carry over from your previous save. You will be able to use your entire arsenal from the start of your epic.
Beware, you won’t have access to Sonic and Sigillary Arrows at the start of the game. Areas that require these arrows or the Draupnir Spear won’t be unlocked until you reach the main quest time and the story that unlocks these items.
New equipment
Don’t worry, we’ve taken note of the requests to add Kratos’ fur coat from the opening scene of God of War Ragnarök!
With the black bear armor, Kratos will be bundled up and protected from the frost of the Fimbulvetr even after the sled chase. Its stats are mainly oriented towards power and defense and it has an advantage that rewards your dodges in extremis with a volley of bifröst shards.
You will start your New Game+ with the black bear armor equipped.
If you want to really put your skills to the test and take on the biggest challenge God of War Ragnarök has to offer, then Spartan armor is for you. With no perks, no stats and stuck at power level 1, Spartan armor offers you… Spartan protection.
This armor is perfect for those of you who want to keep your powers to a minimum and leave no room for error. If you have enough courage to face Ragnarök with your pectorals, then try this armor!
If you like the spartan look but not the hassle, you can always transmogrify this armor onto another to look the part without sacrificing protection.
You can acquire the Spartan Armor with silver from the Huldra Brothers Workshop.
Favorite armors from God of War 2018, namely those of Ares and Zeus, are back in New Game +, with new graphics and assets.
Ares’ armor rewards lucky ones and gives them a chance to create a healing stone when impacted. By crushing the healing stone, you will get rage gains in addition to a bigger explosion.
You can acquire the Armor of Ares with silver from the Huldra Brothers Workshop.
Zeus’ armor rewards risk-taking. It significantly increases your runic and melee damage, but also the damage suffered.
A single hit could be enough to knock down Kratos equipped with Zeus’ armor. You will need to monitor the position of your enemies, while preparing to inflict punishment on them with the power of this armor.
You will get the Zeus Armor after defeating Gná, Queen of the Valkyries and completing certain Asgard Remnants in a New Game+ save.
- Spartan Aspis – New Shield
The Spartan Aspis returns in God of War Ragnarök and honors Kratos’ legacy.
The Spartan Aspis is similar to the Guardian’s Trusty Shield, but has a smaller parry window. More complicated to perform at the right time, successful parries inflict greater damage.
You can acquire the Spartan Aspis with silver from the Huldra Brothers Workshop.
Armor Skins
If you want to always be on top of style, we’ve remixed 13 of our existing armors with new color combinations and new styles!
These skins can be purchased from the Huldra Brothers Workshop and applied to any of your level 9+ armors in the transfiguration menu. You will get the new berserker armor skin after defeating the Berserker King in New Game+.
New level cap
In New Game+, Kratos and your enemies will be more powerful and the level cap will be higher. You will be able to convert all your level 9 and higher equipment (armor, weapons, weapon parts, and shields) to a “Plus” version which will offer more levels of progression.
By converting your equipment, you will also get a golden coin that you can use to buy new enchantments in the shop!
Additionally, we have made a quality of life change to the shop. You will be able to buy and sell resources gradually. You can now easily buy and sell materials to keep your New Game+ gear shining like Kratos’ skull!
New Enchantments
- Golden Coins – Engraving and Badge Enchantments
If you’ve ever been unable to choose armor because you couldn’t decide what your favorite asset was, the new enchantments in the shop are for you! They consist of powerful and versatile armor (engravings) and round shield (badges) perks and can be equipped on your amulets as enchantments.
For example, you can buy the dragon engraving, consisting of the “dragon scale breastplate” perk, the dragon’s ire (successful parries and blocks grant a power/defense bonus). You can equip it on your amulet and wear another chest protector, like the new Ares Breastplate, to get both chest protector perks at the same time!
The most powerful golden coin enchantments will require certain stat tiers to encourage and reward ingenious combinations. You have so many new options at your disposal and we can’t wait to see your future combinations!
- Berserker Soul Loot – Stat Bonus Enchantments
After defeating berserker souls in New Game+, you will get new enchantments to equip. While they aren’t as flashy as perk enchantments, they’ll give you big bonuses to certain stats and you can create whatever combination suits you!
Burdens are a new group of enchantments that will allow you to equip boons to create your bespoke challenges.
For example, with the dodge burden, Kratos will automatically enter the frost state when performing a roll.
If you want to increase the difficulty and face an experience of extreme brutality, you can combine the burdens with the Spartan armor.
We’ve also added a new UI option, Show Difficulty (HUD Difficulty Visualization), which displays the selected difficulty setting on the HUD, along with the number of burdens equipped. Feel free to show off in front of your friends!
You can acquire Burdens with Silver from the Huldra Brothers Workshop.
New progression paths
- New skill modifier plus
Upgrade your Skill Modification Marks with XP to enhance the effects of your modifications.
Transfer your progress from Jobs to Retasks and continue to unlock a new Tier of Platinum Rewards!
- Additional stat gains
Chests of the Norns now drop Yggdrasil Dew to allow players to boost their stats beyond their old limits.
Arena de Niflheim enlarged
The Niflheim Training Arena in New Game+ will give you a plethora of options to have fun! In addition to a new selection of enemies to face, you can now play as Kratos or Atreus and choose one of the following characters as your combat companion: Atreus (with Kratos), Freya, Brok, Sindri, Angrboda, Thor and Thrúd!
With all these possible companion combinations, we can’t wait to see your creativity in-game and in Photo Mode!
End game boss
Fighting the souls of berserkers and the queen of the Valkyries, Gná was too simple? We’ve made some changes to the more difficult optional battles in New Game+, so you’ll encounter decent opponents, even if you’ve defeated them before.
Other Enemy Adjustments
- Available for all difficulties in New Game+
The Malevole and Ormstunga, two of your optional mini-bosses, now have a few new tricks at their disposal. Visit them when you can in your New Game+ section!
- Available in Challenge First and Give Me Some God of War in New Game+
If you choose Challenge First and Give Me Some God of War difficulties, all bosses and mini-bosses will be equipped with Runic Protection. Strategic use of runes in these battles can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
In New Game+, enemies can become elite in Challenge Above All, as well as Give Me Some God of War. Elite enemies will get a power level bonus, so keep an eye out for them when you see one transform into combat.
Black and white rendering mode
Want to relive history with an extra cinematic twist? After completing the game once, you will have access to the Black and White rendering mode to discover in your future New Game + or standard games!
You can find this new mode under the Graphics and camera settings menu.
With all this, it’s a safe bet that God of War Ragnarök will continue to sell and appear regularly in the best sales of the week in France, he who had more than 11 million copies sold at the beginning of February. If you don’t own it (but have therefore read and seen all the spoilers of this article), be aware that it is sold €55.15 on Amazon.
Read also: TEST God of War Ragnarök: tears in the eyes, the heart aches…