Beginner’s Guide#
This chapter is for players picking up God of War (2018) for the first time, covering difficulty selection, basic combat and how to pace the opening hours. There is no class system and no stat allocation screen: growth comes from weapon levels, gear levels and the XP-bought skill tree — every build idea rests on that framework.
Difficulty Selection#
The game offers four difficulties, each with an official positioning statement published before launch:
| Difficulty (official name) | Positioning |
|---|---|
| Give Me a Story | Most forgiving, built for players who want a smooth story ride |
| Give Me a Balanced Experience | Officially recommended as the starting point for most players |
| Give Me a Challenge | Stronger enemies, less tolerance — for action veterans |
| Give Me God of War | The hardest setting: harsher numbers plus changed enemy behavior and encounter setups |
Three notes:
- Difficulty can be changed at any time from the pause menu and does not affect trophies — the one exception was “Give Me God of War”, which locked at the start of a file near launch; a later update removed that restriction;
- There is no custom difficulty tuning (per-item enemy damage sliders came with God of War Ragnarök);
- The game shows no percentage stat panels — the “difficulty damage percentage tables” circulating online have no official basis and should not be trusted.
Combat Essentials#
| Action | Key point |
|---|---|
| Light and heavy combos | Axe light attacks into heavies is the base combo; same for the blades |
| Block and perfect block | Hold L1 to block; raise it at the instant of attack for a perfect parry that opens a counter window |
| Red-circle attacks | Red circles cannot be blocked — dodge only. This is the most important survival read in the game |
| Stun and executions | Combos and Atreus’s arrows fill the stun ring; press R3 to execute when full |
| Axe throw and recall | Throws interrupt ranged enemies; press Triangle to recall, damaging anything in its path |
| Spartan Rage | L3 + Circle — heals and briefly empowers unarmed attacks; save it as a life-saver |
Atreus’s arrows are your third hand in combat: normal arrows build stun, and light arrows interrupt spell-casting enemies. The habit of “open every fight with an arrow” makes a huge share of encounters trivial.
Opening Progression Advice#
- Practice controls during the prologue deer hunt, especially perfect parry and axe recall — both carry through the entire game;
- Upgrade gear at every Brok or Sindri shop — Hacksilver is plentiful, don’t hoard it;
- Nornir Chests grant max health or Rage, and their puzzles come in only three types (rune bells, braziers, sealed runes) — solve them on sight;
- There are 51 Odin’s Ravens in the game — shoot every one you see; none are missable;
- Legendary Chests hold runic attacks — open them first;
- Buy a Resurrection Stone before every trip — one in-place revive during a boss fight is priceless;
- If an encounter beats you, lowering the difficulty carries no penalty whatsoever, and you can always switch back.
Stats and Gear#
| Stat | Effect |
|---|---|
| Strength | Raises physical damage |
| Runics | Raises runic attack damage |
| Defense | Reduces damage taken |
| Vitality | Raises max health |
| Luck | Boosts drops and buff procs |
| Cooldown | Shortens runic attack and summon cooldowns |
Gear determines your character level (up to 9), and shops unlock new crafting recipes as the story advances. Don’t chase full high-tier sets in the early and mid game: pushing Defense and Vitality to the current chapter’s baseline is steadier than chasing one high-stat piece.
Useful Early Items#
| Item | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Resurrection Stone | In-place revive during boss fights | Bought at shops, tiered by rarity — buy the best you can afford |
| Rage stone | Refills Spartan Rage | A drop item — use freely, don’t hoard |
| Idunn Apple | Raises max health | Nornir Chest reward |
| Horn of Blood Mead | Raises max Rage | Nornir Chest reward |
Interface and Settings#
The game offers an Immersion Mode that removes nearly all HUD elements, plus per-element HUD toggles. For a first playthrough keep the default HUD: enemy health bars and the stun ring carry vital combat information — streamline only once you’re comfortable.
Recommended Early Pacing#
- Prologue through Chapter 4: follow the main story and clear Nornir Chests and Ravens in passing;
- Once the Lake of Nine rises: activate the realms’ Mystical Gateways and spread your fast-travel network;
- After Chapter 7: open Odin’s Hidden Chambers and attempt your first Valkyrie (fine to leave for later if you’re under-leveled);
- No need to farm ciphers early: the 13 cipher chests sit along normal routes, and the story alone gets you the 8 you need.
Common Misconceptions#
| Misconception | Reality |
|---|---|
| “Pick a class first” | There is no class system — only weapon and gear growth |
| “How do I allocate skill points” | Skills are bought directly with XP, anytime, with no respec risk |
| “Is my level blocking progress” | Character level equals gear level — change gear, change level, up to 9 |
| “Platinum requires the hardest difficulty” | No — trophies are not difficulty-bound |
| “Missed materials force a restart” | Story drops go to the shop’s lost-and-found, and all collectibles remain obtainable after the credits |
| “Missed side quests disappear” | Every side quest stays available after the story — no time limits |
Saves and Difficulty#
The game autosaves constantly and manual slots exist separately. Lowering difficulty mid-game never affects progress already earned; “Give Me God of War” locked at file creation in the launch version but can now be lowered — however raising it back is not possible, so think hard before a hardcore start.
Information Boundaries#
The traps that most often mislead new players are “percentage difficulty tables” and “hidden stat mechanics”. This page only records officially stated information and in-game verifiable mechanics — unverifiable numbers are left out entirely.