God of War Ragnarok: Crucible Challenges [Simplified Instructions]

Upon entering the burning area of Muspelheim, a side quest favor called The Crucible becomes available. Like the first God of War game, Surtr will put you through several combat challenges to see how strong you are, but the stakes are much higher this time. Here’s everything you need to know about all the Muspelheim Crucible challenges in God of War Ragnarok.

Completing God of War Ragnarok Muspelheim challenges unlock rewards and exclusive upgrade materials to help you max out your gear. There are 15 challenges to complete: six difficult challenges that are a true test of your combat prowess and stamina and nine short trials in smaller areas. There’s also a hidden boss, arguably the hardest boss in the game located in the same region.

First, I will explain how to unlock Muspelheim and get to the Crucible in God of War Ragnarok.

How To Unlock The Muspelheim Region

To enter that realm, Kratos must first obtain the Seed of Yggdrasil connected to each Realm. Most of the time, these are given through the plot, unlocking new Realms. This includes places like Vanaheim and Svartalfheim.

For Muspelheim, you’re going to need to find the Muspelheim Seed. It won’t be handed over like the others. You must locate the two Muspelheim Seeds halves to unlock the region.

Where To Find One-Half Of The Muspelheim Seed

You can find the first Muspelheim Seed Half by accepting the first favor (side quest) in God of War Ragnarok. In Service of Asgard is the side mission that asks you to dismantle some outdated mining equipment contaminating Svartalfhiem Bay.

Be sure to complete it. You receive a set of armor, and a Light Runic attack, and it opens several other side tasks.

You must demolish Modvitnir’s Rig, an objective of the In Service of Asgard favor. Once you get off the ship, scale the wall to your right, jump across the bridge, and climb a different wall. A chest with a Muspelheim Seed Half is located on top.

NOTE: This section will contain some spoilers about a story’s mission. Do not continue if you do not wish to be spoiled.

The next half of the Seed cannot be unlocked until after the Story quest Forging Destiny.

1. Returning to the Bay of Bounty after getting the Draupnir Spear will allow you to unlock additional locations for exploration.
2. This contains Dragon Beach, a small island in the southern section of the Bay that has a sizable Dwarf monument at the back of it.
3. The island has a few foes and a Nornir chest to open up to this point.
4. The Beach, though, becomes much more accessible with the Spear.
5. When you get to the beach, seek a sizable wooden building.
6. It ought to be close to the Nornir Chest. The initial section can be climbed normally.
7. Kratos must utilize the Draupnir Spear to establish a foothold to reach the higher ledge.
8. When you encounter a spirit with a favor, you will know you are heading in the right direction.
   

1. Make your way up to the bridge before the large Dwarf statue.
2. Although you can obtain another quest item here, to get to the seed, you must first travel to Alberich Hollow by turning left into the cave by the statue.
3. Many passageways and spaces inside the Hollow will be blocked by golden ore that can only be destroyed with Fire Bombs when you first enter.
4. A Legendary Chest is among the items that are locked. The second half of the Muspelheim Seed will be located inside that chest.

Now, just return to any Mystic Gateways, and the Muspelheim region will be unlocked for travel.

Muspelheim Combat Trials – The Crucible

Upon entering Muspelheim, you’ll notice a nornir chest. Unlocking this chest is pretty standard. Remove the three letters like any other chest, but with this particular chest, there’s a catch. You must complete the six trials in this region to remove the three letters from the chest.

The Crucible is a set of battle tests, much like in 2018’s God of War. Each Trial has different restrictions and conditions, such as not allowing enemies to harm you or keeping them outside of a certain area. Completing these challenges rewards you with various items, armor sets, and special crafting materials for endgame armor and weapons.

When the first six challenges are completed, a Nornir Chest will become available in Muspelheim’s center, along with The Undying Pyres Armor Set for Kratos. The Shoulder Guard grants Kratos the ability to gain a shield, while the Bracers and Girdle speed up the rate at which your Permafrost, Immolation, and Maelstrom gauges fill up.

Because of that shield, the initial blow you take won’t cause those gauges to empty again. Divine Ashes are also a part of the reward, and they are utilized to create and improve a variety of armor sets and weapon accessories.

Here are all six trials and the rewards for clearing them:

Population Control:

Kill the Bergsra without the enemy count going above four. If there are more than four enemies, a timer will begin. If you find it hard to complete early on. Come back once you’re stronger.

Rewards:

• Girdle of Undying Pyres
• 250 Divine Ashes
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 100 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP

King of the Hill:

 This challenge is more about dispersing, crowd control, quick mobility, and about killing quickly, than it is about killing. In the indicated circles, an endless stream of opponents will assemble in three waves that you must survive. If you don’t use all means required to chase them out, the longer they remain in these areas unchallenged, the sooner you’ll lose the task.

The gold meter that expands on either side is what you need to stop from increasing by driving foes out, while the timer in the center shows how long you must survive.

Rewards:

• 100 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 250 Divine Ashes

Weapon Mastery:

In three minutes, defeat 16 foes. Frost shields are in the first wave, while flame shields are in the second. After that, you’ll encounter a few waves of foes with a variety of shields, some of which you’ll need to break with the Draupnir Spear.

A Draugr Lord, a Draugr Scout, and a flame-shielded Nokken that will heal them all make up the hardest wave.

Rewards:

• Shoulder Guard of Undying Pyres
• 100 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 250 Divine Ashes

Flawless Trial:

As you must destroy 15 foes without taking any damage at all, this test will need patience and timing more than anything else. The good news is that you won’t have to battle them all at once, but some of the opponent setups will be difficult to handle, and a simple shot or swipe at your back can mean certain death.

Rewards:

• 500 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 250 Divine Ashes

Ring Out:

Kill 21 enemies with recharging health. This is one of the easier trials once you figure it out. To kill enemies, you’ll have to knock them into the nearby lava pits. We strongly advise investing in talents with significant knockback for this trial, such as Serpent’s Snare, Leviathan’s Fury, Blazing Explosion, and Rising Chaos.

Using shields like the Dauntless Shield or the Shatter Star Shield to throw foes back and into lava pits is another strategy you should employ.

Rewards:

• Bracers of Undying Pyres
• 100 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 250 Divine Ashes

Feed the Rift:

Kill foes to produce orbs, then fling the orbs through the appearing realm rifts. You’ll be familiar with the Ancient Soul Eaters if you’ve battled it.

Rewards:

• 100 Kratos XP
• 100 Companion XP
• 1,000 Hacksilver
• 250 Divine Ashes

Return to the Nornir Chest in the center of the large arena once you have finished all six challenges at each Rune, and it will now be unlocked. The Chaos Flame is now yours to keep, and you can spend it right away at the adjacent Dwarven Shop to improve your Blades of Chaos.

Additionally, Kratos will receive a massive 10,000 XP, and your partner will receive 2,500.

However, know that your trials have just begun, as a new sword will appear next to the Nornir Chest, locked by a new set of trials back in the previous arenas.

Muspelheim’s Final Challenges

Using the golden blade that emerges from behind the Nornir Chest. When you do, “The Final Challenges” Favor will start, requiring you to complete six difficult God of War Ragnarok Crucible successfully challenges in the main arena. To unlock them, you’ll need to perform additional challenges besides many of the six smaller ones you just finished. These are the three fresh small arena challenges:

Rampage (Arena F):

In 150 seconds, eliminate 20 adversaries. Though easy, things become dangerous midway through when an Ogre attacks the area. Use attacks to knock him down rapidly, then mount its shoulders to stomp foes.

Rewards:

• Smoldering Embers
• 8 Asgardian Ingots
• 250 Divine Ashe
• 2,500 Hacksilver

Health Steal (Arena N):

Your health will be depleted, but it will be refilled by defeating foes. If you’re properly levelled, this is also simple. Keep an eye out for adversaries that appear on ledges and unleash ranged strikes at you. Rewards:

• Blazing Embers
• 3 Luminous Alloy
• 250 Divine Ashes
• 2,500 Hacksilver.

Kill Fuse (Arena R):

Kill 22 enemies in 30 seconds, but every kill adds more time. Just kill stuff as quickly as possible but save your powerful Runic Attacks for the tougher Wulver enemies. Rewards:

• 4 Petrified Bone
• Glowing Embers
• 250 Divine Ashes
• 2,500 Hacksilver.

By finishing all six final trials, you’ll assemble Surtr’s Scorched Armor Set and collect a trio of Muspelheim amulet enchantments. Surtr’s Scorched Armor decreases the damage Kratos takes and increases his stagger resistance, but amulet enchantments boost Kratos’s melee damage while Permafrost, Immolation, or Maelstrom are fully charged. Below are the final trials, and the combinations that unlock them:

Endurance:

Kill 99 enemies without dying. Combination: Unlock Endurance Challenge by completing Rampage and then Health Steal. Rewards:

• Blazing Embers
• 3 Smouldering Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Surtr’s Scorched Cuirass.

Ring of Fire:

Kill all enemies while staying within the safety of the fire ring. Combination: Unlock Ring of Fire by completing Health Steal and then Rampage. Rewards:

• Blazing Embers
• Smouldering Embers
• Glowing Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Surtr’s Scorched Arm.

Boss Rush:

Defeat a series of increasingly challenging boss enemies. Combination: Unlock Boss Rush by completing Kill Fuse and then Health Steal. Rewards:

• Smouldering Embers
• 2 Glowing Embers
• 3 Blazing Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Surtr’s Scorched Girdle

Phantom:

Defeat a Flame Phantom boss. Combination: Unlock the Phantom challenge by completing Kill Fuse and then Rampage. Rewards:

• Glowing Embers
• 2 Smouldering Embers
• Blazing Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Muspelheim’s Essence Amulet Enchantment

Shield Breaker:

Defeat grunts to break the boss’ shield. The first boss is an Einherjar Champion, followed by a Stalker. Combination: Unlock Shield Breaker by completing Rampage and then Kill Fuse. Rewards:

• Glowing Embers
• 2 Blazing Embers
• 3 Smouldering Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Muspelheim’s Force amulet enchantment.

Onslaught:

Survive in the static ring of fire for five minutes. Combination: Unlock Onslaught by completing Health Steal and then Kill Fuse. Rewards:

• Smouldering Embers
• 2 Blazing Embers
• 3 Glowing Embers
• 1,000 Divine Ashes
• 20,000 Hacksilver
• Muspelheim’s Endurance amulet enchantment.

After completing all six challenges, you will have finished The Final Challenges Favor in God of War Ragnarok. You may now farm any of the 15 Crucible challenges for upgrade materials, including Muspelheim-exclusive Smouldering, Blazing, Glowing Embers, and Divine Ashes.

Gather enough resources to upgrade all of your equipment to Power Level 9. You can also take on the hidden boss Valkyrie Queen Gna.

Valkyrie Queen Gna – Defend Your Valor

You may access a secret boss via a crawl space south of the Crucible’s main arena. Crawl through the cliffs before grappling over them to reach Gna, the new Valkyrie Queen, in her arena.

Gna is the most unpredictable fighter in the game, and she may use a variety of openers and follow-ups to many of her techniques. What appears to be a conventional broad strike one moment might quickly transform into an unblockable jab the next, and you’ll need to keep a close eye on her motions to respond the moment you notice different movements or warnings.

She can do a ton of damage with each strike she lands, and she also has not one but two unblockable grabs that will soon kill you.

Beating her will complete the Defend Your Valor Favor quest and provide you with the Queen’s Armor for Freya, a Lore Scroll of Gna’s diary, The Queen’s Roar Runic Summon for Freya, and the Shield Rond of Obliteration, which adds a projectile blast attack to your shield.

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