God of War Ragnarök Valkyries and Berserkers Guide — Gná, King Berserkers, Locations and Strategies#

God of War Ragnarök does not carry over the previous game’s “eight Valkyries plus a Valkyrie King” challenge system. The true equivalent this time comes in two separate challenge lines: Valkyrie Queen Gná, who appears in Vanaheim after the main story is cleared, and the thirteen Berserker gravestones scattered across the realms — strung together by the “Fit for a King” favor — culminating in King Hrolf Kraki.

One overarching rule first: the developer has never published any enemy HP or damage values, and the game has no numeric health bars, so this page describes every strategy with qualitative phases and behavioral cues. Any guide that asks you to “memorize percentages” simply does not hold in this game.

1. System rules: unlock criteria for the two challenge lines#

Three hard rules to settle first:

1. Previous-game experience is void: the previous game’s eight-Valkyrie system, Valkyrie alcoves, and the Sigrun fight do not exist here — don’t comb the world for winged Valkyries like last time.
2. Gravestone strength does not follow geography: there is no evidence that gravestones found later are necessarily stronger. Clear the ones you cross paths with first, use the accumulated Berserker Souls to forge the set, then circle back for the tough ones.
3. Only four difficulty settings exist: difficulty has four tiers (Give Me Story, Give Me Balanced Experience, Give Me Challenge, Give Me God of War), from story-focused to the highest; the developer gives no numeric scores, and there is no “minimum difficulty gate”.

2. Valkyrie Queen Gná: unlock, phases, and strategy#

Unlock and pre-fight preparation#

• Unlock criterion: return to Vanaheim after clearing the main story to trigger the challenge. She is the game’s only Valkyrie Queen — the counterpart of the previous game’s Valkyrie King — but her moveset is entirely new.
• Gear ceiling: build a maxed loadout at the level 9 cap. Weapon upgrades use dedicated collectibles — the Leviathan Axe uses Frozen Flames, the Blades of Chaos use Chaos Flames, and the Draupnir Spear uses Gale Flames.
• Armor forging: forge armor and attachments step by step with Forged Iron, Dwarven Steel, and Asgardian Ingots; the top tier also needs higher-end crystal materials (Purified Crystalline, Sparkling Crystal, Gleaming Crystal).
• Companion: pick Freya. Her spell support keeps supplying damage and control during ranged phases, fitting this duel better than a melee-oriented companion.
• Amulet: equip the Amulet of Yggdrasil and fill its slots with Jewels of Yggdrasil; prioritize enchantments with cooldown and melee affixes.
• Emergency items: always bring a Resurrection Stone. This fight allows very little error — one mistake can cost half your health bar.

Behavioral cues for the three phase types#

Gná’s fight is built from three alternating phase types. Stages are divided qualitatively by fight progress, without HP percentages:

Qualitative stage breakdown:

• Opening stage: alternates polearm melee and wing gusts at a controllable rhythm — your window to learn her attack habits. Don’t rush to spend runic attacks here; first make sure you don’t lose health.
• Later half: she relocates and speeds up more often, the pillar barrage phase appears markedly more often, and her moves mix frost and burn status effects. Enchantments cannot cover both resistance types at once, so positional evasion takes priority over stacking resistances.
• Endgame acceleration: gaps between combos shrink further. Hold mid-range, land two or three hits, then withdraw. Save runic attacks for when she is knocked down or blasted off a pillar; keep Spartan Rage as an emergency recovery tool, not a damage skill.

Rune loadout reference#

Each weapon has two rune slots (one light, one heavy), and each rune can be upgraded three times for more damage and effect. New runes come mainly from Legendary Chests and boss loot — for example, the axe heavy rune Breath of Thamur is hidden in Niflheim’s Raven Tree area and unlocks after clearing all twenty-eight Odin’s Ravens.

3. Berserker gravestone duels: universal cues and handling brawls#

Universal behavioral cues#

Berserkers use the game’s generic humanoid boss framework; the cues below take priority over any memorized patterns:

Three universal principles:

1. Punish recovery windows: Berserker combos generally end in recoverable frames; attacking after you block or dodge the final hit is far safer than jumping in mid-combo.
2. Pick area runes: area runes pay double in multi-enemy gravestones; in one-on-one graves, prefer instant-cast runes to seize windows.
3. A self-sustaining set loop: Berserker Souls from gravestone fights forge the Berserker set; the sooner the set is complete, the easier the remaining gravestones get.

Handling multi-enemy gravestones#

• Some gravestones raise several souls at once: the duo brawl and the three-sisters brawl are the representative hurdles, with multiple enemies attacking in the same arena and aggro swapping constantly.
• Split the axes first: at the start of the fight, move laterally to separate the enemies’ attack angles — never stand between two of them trading blows in place.
• Kill one before switching: focus the same target until it falls before moving to the next; fighting on two fronts has far less room for error than picking them apart one by one.
• Save your big skills to clear crowds: hold area runes and Spartan Rage for the moment you get surrounded, not for the opening.

King Hrolf Kraki: qualitative stage strategy#

• Unlock criterion: after all thirteen gravestones are cleared, his gravestone appears at the King’s Grave in Midgard. This fight is a final exam built from thirteen duels’ worth of experience — skipping the gravestones and going straight for him is impossible: his gravestone simply will not appear.
• Opening stage: mainly melee combos and dashes, with blue break-guard moves appearing often; shield-strike interrupts are the main counter entry.
• Mid-fight: ranged throws and area shockwave moves join the rotation; vacate the landing red ring early after he leaps — don’t wait for him to come down before dodging.
• Later half: overall speed-up, longer combos that often end in unblockable moves. In this stage evasion comes first; punish his get-up and recovery windows, use healing items freely — this is exactly where Resurrection Stones pay off.
• Rewards: the King fight is the ultimate reward of the whole favor line; after the battle, the hilt acquired in the story truly awakens into a relic you can activate at will.

4. Preparation checklist: gear and materials#

Gear route comparison#

Weapon and armor upgrade materials#

• The gear cap is level 9; New Game+ adds levels 9.1 through 9.3 (materials such as Skap Slag) and level 10 (Mountain Root). If you want to challenge Gná and the King with a top-tier loadout, you can max it out in NG+ first.
• Yggdrasil Rifts are an important supplementary source of high-end materials; clear them in passing during your first playthrough to save a great deal of farming time.

5. Other endgame challenges at the same tier#

This game’s optional endgame challenges go beyond two lines — don’t mistake them for the Valkyrie system:

6. Common misconceptions#

• Misconception 1: hunting previous-game-style Valkyrie alcoves all over the map. The game has one Queen only — Gná; all other “Valkyrie-tier” pressure comes from the Berserker gravestones.
• Misconception 2: rushing the King at the start. The King’s gravestone does not appear before all thirteen stones are cleared — there is no skip entrance.
• Misconception 3: memorizing HP percentage patterns. The game has no numeric health bars; any claim of “this move at this HP” is unreliable — rely on move behavior and ring-color cues.
• Misconception 4: stacking a single resistance to tank Gná. Her moves mix frost and burn, so single-type enchantments cannot cover both; positional evasion is the real answer.

Revision note#

The old version of this page mixed in data the developer never published and fabricated settings; all of it has been removed, corrected item by item as follows: