Best Skills to unlock early in God of War Ragnarok

Brad Norton
God of War Ragnarok gameplay

While every Skill is valuable in its own right in God of War Ragnarok, some are more crucial than others early on. Here are the essential picks we recommend you unlock as early as possible.

Much like the 2018 reboot, Ragnarok gives Kratos a vast assortment of Skills to unlock as the god of war progresses through his latest journey. From damage boosts to entirely new attack patterns, there’s plenty on offer once again that can drastically change how you approach any given fight.

Although every Skill can be acquired by the time credits roll, the order in which you grab them is extremely important. Given Ragnarok’s new Skill modifier feature, allowing you to buff certain Skills after using them for a set amount of time, unlocking and equipping the right ones early is vital.

So if you’re struggling with what to pick and want the absolute best options right away, here are the Skills we recommend you lock in as early as possible.

Contents

God of War Ragnarok gameplay
The sooner you unlock Ragnarok’s best Skills, the more powerful they’ll become.

Best Leviathan Axe Skills to unlock early in Ragnarok

Extinguish Flames

Starting off the list is a simple yet essential Skill in Extinguish Flames. This perk grants bonus damage against targets engulfed in flames. Many early Draugrs will leap into battle with fire on their side, making this a handy pick for the opening hours.

Extinguish Flames also proves vital later on in Ragnarok as shielded foes join the mix. Enemies can appear with fire-type shields, resistant to damage of the same element. With your Leviathan Axe equipped and Frost damage at the ready, you can deplete these shields in just a few hits.

Permafrost

Next up comes Permafrost, an absolute must-have in Ragnarok. While it can’t be unlocked right away, it’s well worth saving up some XP and ensuring you can grab this Skill the moment it becomes available.

With Permafrost, each attack from the Leviathan Axe charges up your Frost Damage. Given you’re often spamming lengthy combos as Kratos, this just makes every subsequent hit all the more devastating.

Glacial Rake

Finally for the Leviathan Axe, we suggest you pick up the Glacial Rake attack as soon as you can in Ragnarok. While it’s not quite as devastating as some other options, holding R1 and driving ice shards out of the ground provides an enormous stagger.

With the right timing and positioning, you can use this single attack to crack the defenses of multiple enemies all at once, opening them up for deadly finishing blows. It’s also an excellent means of charging your Frost damage as well.

God of War Ragnarok Skill treeGlacial Rake comes in handy regardless of which enemy type you’re up against.

Best Blade of Chaos Skills to unlock early in Ragnarok

Vaporize Frost

No different from the Leviathan Axe Skill tree, we highly recommend Vaporize Frost from the Blades of Chaos list. It functions exactly the same as you would expect, boosting Fire damage against Frost-afflicted enemies.

While it may seem simple, once both of these Skills are unlocked, synergy between the two weapons reaches another level. If you get the timing down pat, you can unleash a chilling combo with the Leviathan Axe, freezing your target in the process, before swapping and melting them away with a follow-up from the Blades of Chaos. Before long, this will be a natural tactic in the heat of battle.

Immolation

Following the same pattern, Immolation comes next for the Blades of Chaos. Providing a boost to Burn damage with each successive hit is just as effective here as it is with the Leviathan Axe. Given how rapid certain combos are, you’ll be dealing far more damage with this Skill equipped in no time at all.

It also provides great synergy with other abilities too. Be it your light or heavy Runic attack, doling out punishment only helps increase the damage of your next attack.

God of War Ragnarok gameplay
Swapping between your weapons after a few attacks is crucial in Ragnarok.

Chaotic Rampage

Last but not least, there’s no looking past Chaotic Rampage for a devastating combo to help improve your odds early on in Ragnarok. This Skill unlocks a quick yet deadly attack capable of blitzing a single target.

While it won’t provide the area-of-effect damage quite like the Leviathan Axe alternative, it’s a great way of depleting enemy health for a single, bulky monster.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com