God of War Ragnarok: BEST Builds [Top 8]

You can progress Kratos’s stats in multiple ways in God of War Ragnarok. Your preference for an aggressive or defensive construction depends on your goals. Players can construct whatever they want, but a decent build requires understanding the different weaponry. Don’t forget that some builds are more potent than others. However, how you can play around with your build allows it to stand out the most.

This guide will highlight all unique character builds that use the stats and benefits provided by armor and accessories in the God of War Ragnarok. The finest builds in God of War Ragnarok are described here, along with more details on how the equipment functions in the game.

1. Stun-tacular / Stun Build
2. Venom Fist / Barehanded-Poison Build
3. Runic Overload / Rune Attacks Build
4. Parry Master / Parrying Build
5. Rage of Sparta / Maximum Rage build
6. The All Rounder / Balanced Build
7. Unkillable / Maximum Defence and Health Build
8. Timekeeper / Realm Shift Build

GOW Ragnarok Best Builds Comparison

Here is a collection of Kratos builds that are efficient and focused. Some are created to maximize a specific stat, giving Kratos’s powers a uniform boost throughout, while others use essential perks. Some use significant bonuses and skills to optimize particular playing styles, while others are made to increase specific stats, giving Kratos’s powers a continuous boost.

No	Build Name	Strength	Defence	Vitality	Luck	Runic
1	Stun-tacular / Stun Build	+54	+95	0	0	0
		+68	+95	+54	0	0
		-	+94	+34	0	0
2	Venom Fist / Barehanded-Poison Build	68	54	-	54	27
		77	0	0	34	17
		0	77	0	34	17
3	Runic Overload / Rune Attacks Build	54	68	0	0	68
		77	0	0	0	43
		0	77	0	0	43
4	Parry Master / Parrying Build	95	95	0	0	0
		93	26	0	0	0
		26	93	0	0	0
5	Rage of Sparta / Maximum Rage build	54	68	68	0	0
		64	34	0	30	0
		0	38	0	30	0
6	The All Rounder / Balanced Build	68	27	41	41	41
		77	0	21	21	21
		0	77	21	21	21
7	Unkillable / Maximum Defence and Health Build	64	34	0	34	0
		17	76	30	0	0
		82	68	48	0	0
8	Timekeeper / Realm Shift Build	82	68	48	0	0
		68	0	0	0	0
		0	68	0	0	0

Best Builds in God of War Ragnarok

Stun-tacular / Stun Build

Because of the efficiency it delivers in the early stages of the game, this particular build comes in handy. Completing the In Service Of Asgard favor in Svartalfheim nets you the Nidavellir’s Finest Set. The early-game armor set is relatively easy to craft and restores a portion of your health upon Stun-Grabbing Enemies. For the Nidavellir’s Finest Set, you’ll need the following armor: Nidavellir’s Finest Plackart, Nidavellir’s Finest Arm Guards, and Nidavellir’s Finest Waist Guard. A combination of these armor sets will help you deliver maximum stun damage while also giving a nice amount of defense and vitality to Kratos.

Armor	Stats	Perk
Nidavellir’s Finest Plackart	·         Strength: +54 ·         Defense: +95 ·         Vitality: +54	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a health burst.
Nidavellir’s Finest Arm Guards	·         Strength: +68 ·         Defense: +26 ·         Vitality: +34	Reduces how quickly enemy Stun bars drain by 50% (100% if you combine with Waist Guard)
Nidavellir’s Finest Waist Guard	·         Defense: +94 ·         Vitality: +34	Reduces how quickly enemy Stun bars drain by 50% (100% if you combine with Arm Guards)

This armor set truly shines because of its perks. Due to the possibility of stun-grabbing enemies to regain a burst of health, the Plackart is valuable on its own. This is particularly helpful in boss battles if there are several waves of weaker foes because they effectively become free sources of health.

The arm and waist guards provide the same perk, but together they reduce how quickly enemy stun bars drain by +100%. The ideal way to play with this build would be stunning enemies and stun-grabbing them repeatedly for health. Once you have the Draupnir Spear and a particular attachment for it, you will also be able to stun-grab foes to receive rage bursts and cooldown bursts from the Leviathan axe.

Best Attachments For Your Weapons and Shields

Now, there are a lot of attachments for Kratos’s weapons and shields that fit nicely for a Stun build. For this specific build, we’ll focus solely on the attachments that provide stun damage. The more the stun damage, the more you can finish off enemies with stun grabs and get health bursts.

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
Grip of Weighted Recovery	Stun Grabbing an enemy provides a Blessing of Cooldown

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of Brutal Might	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a Gift of Strength

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Battle-Scarred Sauroter	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a Rage Burst

Switching between weapons is a personal preference as each gives you different effects on grabs. For example, you can generate Rage alongside Health if you execute the stun grab with the Draupnir Spear equipped. Moreover, you can also get a temporary boost of Strength if you have the Blades of Chaos equipped or a Blessing of Cooldown if you have the Leviathan Axe equipped.

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Fortification	Holding L1 for several seconds will trigger a high stun explosion on the next successful Block or Double Tap L1 attack.

Upgrading the Rond of Fortification gives you +63 Defence, allowing you to take extra punishment. That’s always useful. If you want to dish out additional stun damage, you can use this shield attachment by holding L1 while in a blocking posture for a short period of time. Normally, you can deal more stun damage to enemies by repeatedly using Runic Attacks or melee combinations. The subsequent block will deal stun damage to nearby foes, or you may double-tap L1 to launch a shield strike attack that targets a particular adversary or group of enemies.

Venom Fist / Barehanded-Poison Build

This build emphasizes using poison and utilizing stun techniques. To create this build, use the Lunda’s Lost set and gear that increases stun damage.

Usually, barehanded builds are used for building up stun damages, but if you combine Lunda’s Lost Armor Set, you can add poison to that mix for deadly results. Poison is the key component of this build because it makes the battles easy and simple. When Lunda’s Lost Cuirass is worn, there is a significant Luck-based chance that bare-handed assaults, blocks, and parries will poison an opponent. For the duration they are poisoned, foes lose a whole block of power.

As mentioned above, you must use Lúnda’s Lost set for this build. It is composed of Lúnda’s Lost Cuirass (chest piece), Lúnda’s Lost Bracers (arm piece), and Lúnda’s Lost Belt (waist piece).

Armor	Stats	Perks
Lúnda’s Lost Cuirass	·         Strength: 68 ·         Defense: 54 ·         Runic: 27 ·         Luck: 54	Barehanded attacks, Parrying, and Blocking have high luck chance of dealing bonus damage and poisoning enemies.
Lúnda’s Lost Bracers	·         Strength: 77 ·         Runic: 17 ·         Luck: 34	Melee attacks against poisoned enemies do extra damage
Lúnda’s Lost Belt	·         Defense: 77 ·         Runic: 17 ·         Luck: 34	Melee attacks against poisoned enemies do extra damage.

When you equip the arm and waist pieces from the Lunda’s Lost set, your melee damage against enemies with poison on them increases by 40%. This is a significant boost on its own, but by using one of the game’s quickest combos—the R1 bare-handed combo—you may maximize the damage modifier. Moreover, this combo lets you reapply poison quickly after it wears off. This results in you being able to poison a target continuously and keeping the damage modifier active. Just mash R1, and you’re set.

Best Attachments for Your Weapons and Shields

Since there aren’t any attachments that focus on poison, we’ll suggest the ones we thought were best. Although adding the Rond of Affliction is a must since this attachment detonates poison-afflicted opponents when you hit them with a shield smash, finishing enemies off with an explosion.

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of Brutal Might	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a Gift of Strength

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
The Furious Maul	High Luck chance to grant a gift of Strength on any axe kill

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Mighty Olympic Sauroter	Detonating thrown Spears has a moderate Luck chance to increase Strength and Stagger Resistance.

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Fortification	Holding L1 for several seconds will trigger a high stun explosion on the next successful Block or Double Tap L1 attack.

Runic Overload / Rune Attacks Build

This build is tricky since it makes you vulnerable, so you should always stay mobile and perfect your dodging skills.

To burst out the gates with high amounts of damage and enhanced elemental options, this build is for those players that seek a challenge. This build pushes your Runic stat to its max and will power up your Elemental damage and Runic attacks. The Enlightenment Armor Set is the crucial piece of this build and is super easy to get in the game.

Armor	Stats	Perks
Spaulders of Enlightenment	·         Strength: 54 ·         Defense: 68 ·         Runic: 68	Frost Awaken and Whiplash hits have a moderate Luck chance to grant a blessing of Runic
Bracers of Enlightenment	·         Strength: 77 ·         Runic: 43	Runic attacks do increased damage against status-afflicted enemies.
Belt of Enlightenment	·         Defense: 77 ·         Runic: 43	Runic attacks do increased damage against status-afflicted enemies.

All of the perks in this armor set improve Runic Attacks in one way or another. The ideal way to play with this build would be to conserve Runic Attacks and use them when enemies are vulnerable for maximum effect.

Best Attachments for Your Weapons and Shields

The Grip of Weighted Recovery will shorten your Runic abilities’ cooldowns so you can utilize them more quickly. The best choice for pure elemental damage is Pommels of the Undying Spark since it will make your Burn status hit harder. After obtaining the Draupnir, you ought to get Hind of Attuned Elements. When you switch weapons in God of War Ragnarok, you’ll receive this attachment as payment.

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
Grip of Weighted Recovery	Stun Grabbing an enemy provides a Blessing of Cooldown.

 

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of Undying Spark	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a Gift of Strength

 

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Hind of Attuned Elements	Spear attacks against Burning or Frosted enemies deal bonus damage

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Disruption	Low Luck chance to create an Elemental Storm when interrupting double Blue ring attacks or Parrying.

That’s it for this build; let’s move on to the next God of War Ragnarok Best Build.

Parry Master / Parrying Build

The fourth God of War Ragnarok Best build focuses on parrying and defense. It consists of the Dragon Scaled Breastplate (chest armor), Dragon Scaled Bracers (wrist armor), and Dragon Scaled Girdle (waist armor).

Armor	Stats	Perks
Dragon Scaled Breastplate	·         Strength: 95 ·         Defense: 95	Blocks and Parries grant a buff of increasing strength and defense with each attack
Dragon Scaled Bracers	·         Strength: 93 ·         Defense: 26	Increases all shield damage, and successful blocks or parries now deal shield damage to nearby enemies.
Dragon Scaled Girdle	·         Strength: 26 ·         Defense: 93	Increases all shield damage, and successful blocks or parries now deal shield damage to nearby enemies.

Strength and defense are improved with the Dragon Scaled gear. To activate the Dragon’s Fury perk, equip the Dragon Scaled Breastplate. Kratos’s strength and defense are boosted each time he blocks or parries, and this effect stacks. As soon as damage is received, it resets. Successful blocks and parries deliver shield damage to foes in the area thanks to Dragons Rebuke I, which raises all shield damage by 25%. Shield damage goes up to 50% if the Dragon Scaled Girdle is equipped.

Pair this build with the Dauntless shield and go to town. For players comfortable with God of War Ragnarok’s fighting techniques, the Dauntless Shield is ideal. To utilize it effectively, you must develop your ability to parry strikes in combat. Your liking of the Dauntless Shield will increase if you can perfect parrying strikes. Players who prefer a Shield with higher offensive capabilities should choose the Dauntless Shield. Consider the Dauntless Shield more of a weapon than a shield that provides protection.

Best Attachment For Your Shield

Since weapon attachments don’t really matter for this build, we’ll suggest the Shield attachment, which will come in very handy.

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Deflection	Increases timing window on parries

Rage of Sparta / Maximum Rage build

Let off some steam with this build; it’s an aggressive build that maximizes Rage upkeep and damage in either Fury or Wrath. More attacks mean more rage, so you’ll need to use the Spear more than ever. Here’s what you’ll need for this build

Armor	Stats	Perks
Sols Spaulders of Courage	·         Strength: 54 ·         Defense: 68 ·         Vitality: 68	Kratos’ melee damage increases based on his Rage. Incoming damage that would be lethal is absorbed by available Rage.
Darkdale Arm Guards	·         Strength: + 64 ·         Defense: + 34 ·         Luck: + 30	Increases the rate at which Rage is gained when attacking Status-Afflicted enemies and using Runic Attacks (Up to 40%).
Darkdale Waist Guard	·         Defense: + 98 ·         Luck: + 30	Increases the rate at which Rage is gained when attacking Status-Afflicted enemies and using Runic Attacks (Up to 40%).

NOTE: The Darkdale Set is from purchasing/upgrading to the Deluxe Edition of God of War Ragnarok. If you don’t have access to this set, use the Fate Breaker mixed with some of the Sol’s Set, although it’s not as good for this build.

The perk from the chest armor increases melee damage significantly, while the Wrist and Waist Armors allow you to build Rage faster. This means that should you have to spend your Rage to unleash Kratos’ Rage abilities; you’ll get it back without as much downtime.

Here are the weapon and shield attachments you will need

Best Attachments for Your Weapons and Shields

Leviathan Axe Grip

You can choose whichever grip you want; there’s no clear candidate for this particular build.

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Deadly Obsidian Handles	Low Luck chance to grant a Rage Burst on any Blades kill.

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Battle Scarred Sauroter	Stun Grabbing an enemy grants a Rage Burst

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Aggravation	High Luck chance to grant a Rage Burst when Parrying.

The All Rounder / Balanced Build

The next build in our Best Builds in God of War Ragnarok is the All-Rounder Balanced build. To combat all endgame threats, this build offers well-rounded stats and usefulness while inflicting excellent single-target and area-of-effect damage. The Berserker Set increases all of Kratos’ stats, and its perks allow him to use his Relic more often, which also has the bonus of massively increasing his damage output.

Armor	Stats	Perks
Berserker Cuirass	·         Strength: 68 ·         Defense: 27 ·         Runic: 41 ·         Vitality: 41 ·         Cooldown: 41 ·         Luck: 41	Using a Relic massively increases the damage of Kratos’ Melee Attacks and the damage received for a duration.
Berserker Gauntlets	·         Strength: 77 ·         Runic: 21 ·         Vitality: 21 ·         Cooldown: 21 ·         Luck: 21	Low Luck chance for successful hits to cause a Soul Explosion, dealing damage and restoring some Cooldown of the Relic.
Berserker Waist Guard	·         Defense: 77 ·         Runic: 21 ·         Vitality: 21 ·         Cooldown: 21 ·         Luck: 21	Taking damage, Blocking, and Parrying all have a Moderate Luck chance to cause a Soul Explosion, dealing damage and restoring some Cooldown of the Relic.

The Berserker set boosts STRENGTH, DEFENSE, RUNIC, VITALITY, COOLDOWN, and LUCK. Apart from the increased core values, the perks offered by the Berserker Set are unparalleled and extremely lethal.

This armor set boosts Kratos’s stats throughout the board, making it conceivably the finest all-around gear in the game. This armor is a high-risk, high-reward kind because even when you suffer damage, there’s a potential that you’ll set off a soul explosion that will change the course of the conflict. A suit of armor fit for a god of war.

Best Attachments for Your Weapons and Shields

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
Grip of the Nine Realms	Activating Glacial Permafrost while Permafrost is full triggers a Realm Shift.

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of the Nine Realms	Activating Furious Immolation while Immolation is full triggers a Realm Shift.

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Warrior’s Echo Sauroter	Spear attacks against Sonic-inflicted enemies deal bonus damage and build bonus Maelstrom skill charge.

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Obliteration	Hold Block for several seconds to charge the shield, then press Block + L3 to fire a volley of Valkyrie shards at enemies.

Kratos can enhance his Glacial Permafrost and Furious Immolation with the Grip and Pommels of the Nine Realms, while the other attachments provide great utility and a strong mix of stats.

Unkillable / Maximum Defence and Health Build

This build is about making Kratos a Tank, he’s invincible in the cutscenes, but we’re gonna make him next to unkillable with this build. It’s a mix of Vitality and Defense stats, It requires 3 different pieces of armor, and when combined, oh boy, Kratos is gonna be a true God of War. Here are the armor pieces you’ll need for this build.

Armor	Stats	Perk
Steinbjorn Plackart	·         Defense: 190	After significant damage is taken, Kratos’ attacks will restore some lost Health for a time
Bracers of Raven Tears	·         Strength: 64 ·         Defense: 34 ·         Luck: 30	This increases the healing from Healthstones, Rage, and Gear by 15%
Surtr’s Scorched Girdle	·         Strength: 17 ·         Defense: 76 ·         Vitality: 30	Kratos takes 20% reduced damage and has increased Stagger Resistance during his basic attacks and skills.

Best Attachments For This Build

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
Grip of the Fallen Alchemist	There is a high LUCK chance to grant a Health Burst on any successful hit with the Serpent’s Snare skill.

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of the Nine Realms	Activating Furious Immolation while Immolation is full triggers a Realm Shift.

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Hind of Volatile Might	Elemental Siphon (Hold R2) imbued Spears do increased Melee damage, but the siphoned element now fades after a duration.

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of Restoration	On taking damage, Kratos has a LUCK chance to gain DEFENSE and for his next Shield Strike (Double Tap L1) hit to restore Health. The chance increases with lower Health.

We chose all the following attachments not cause of their perks (though they are useful) but because of their different stats that boost Runic, Vitality, Luck, Strength, and Defense. All these combined make you indestructible.

Timekeeper / Realm Shift Build

And the last of the Best Builds in God of War Ragnarok is The Timekeeper build; it essentially has to do with the Realm Shift mechanic in the game. Timing your dodges to activate the very powerful Realm Shift slows down time around you for a brief period. For the next few seconds, you can punish enemies without the risk of taking any damage. In the right hands, this build can be incredibly strong, provided you know how and when to dodge attacks.

Armor	Stats	Perks
Surtr’s Scorched Cuirass	·         Strength: 82 ·         Defense: 68 ·         Vitality: 48	Kratos’ attacks that hit enemies during their attacks do bonus damage
Gauntlets of Radiance	·         Strength: 68	A last-second evade activates Realm Shift, temporarily slowing down surrounding enemies
Belt of Radiance	·         Defense: 68	A last-second evade activates Realm Shift, temporarily slowing down surrounding enemies.

You should put on the Gauntlets and Belt of Radiance for the Wrist and Waist. This will lengthen the time that the slow-down will persist each time Realm Shift is engaged. And here is where Surtr’s Scorched Cuirass comes into play: its perk enhances damage to enemies still in their attack animations. When you combine this with Realm Shifts, you may add even more damage to your time-slowing assaults. Realm Shifting is arguably tough to perfect but incredibly rewarding.

Best Attachments to Maximize Realm Shift Abilities

Leviathan Axe Grip

Grip	Effect
Grip of the Nine Realms	Activating Glacial Permafrost triggers a Realm Shift

Blades of Chaos Pommel

Pommel	Effect
Pommels of the Nine Realms	Activating Furious Immolation while Immolation is full triggers a Realm Shift.

Draupnir Spear Sauroter

Sauroter	Effect
Hind of the Nine Realms	Activating Violent Maelstrom triggers a Realm Shift

Shield Attachment

Sheild Attachment	Effect
Rond of the Nine Realms	Low Luck chance to trigger a Realm Shift, temporarily slowing down surrounding enemies, when Parrying.

 

These are all the God of War Ragnarok Best Builds. They make boss fights look like a piece of cake and allow you to do so in style. Most of these builds require some armor pieces that cannot be obtained till late game, so you might have to grind for some time. If you want to switch some armor pieces, make sure to check our God of War Ragnarok Best Armor Sets guide.

 

All of these best builds from God of War Ragnarok are strong in their own right. If you learn to effectively use any build to your advantage and maneuver around that, you will become a goliath in no time. Moreover, feel free to switch things out to make them more suited to you as mixing and matching is imperative to better performance ingame.

 

With that, we conclude our God of War Ragnarok Best Builds guide. Let us know down below which build is your favorite.