God of War Ragnarok: The Hateful [Explained]

God of War Ragnarok has an optional boss that you can skip. Once you defeat “The Hateful, you’ll be rewarded with XP, resources, and attachments.

Who is The Hateful in God of War Ragnarök?

The Hateful is an ugly and scary-looking boss you will encounter while going to the Applecore mines. Even though he looks scrawny, his axes deal decent damage that can become lethal if you aren’t careful.

Where to find the Hateful?

You can encounter The Hateful while doing the Quest of Tyr. You will start this quest as you normally follow this game, as this is the second chapter of the main story. During this quest, you will be asked to make your way to Tyr, which will be possible by traversing through the Applecore mines.

The Hateful exists at the southeastern door that you will come across before the doors that lead to Tyr. Once you approach the door, you will come across him where you must defeat him. Now that you have found him, let’s talk about how you can put him to rest once and for all.

How to defeat The Hateful?

When the battle ensues, you come across The Hateful and his minions. The fight might seem simple enough that you can obliterate them, but it isn’t so. If you don’t play your cards right, you might be in trouble, as you will still be around Level 2 at this stage. So, to help you along, I have provided steps to approach the battle.

Fighting Strategy

Defeat the Minions First

When facing bosses, prioritize defeating the lower-level creeps like Draugrs first to focus solely on the boss. This enhances your ability to respond to the boss’s attacks and dodge effectively.

To defeat the Minions efficiently, combine Frost Awaken and Freezing Throw to freeze the Draugrs, making them easier to eliminate. Once frozen, separate them from the Hateful and slam them against walls for a quicker takedown.

If Hateful’s attacks obstruct clearing the minions, instruct Atreus to shoot arrows at them. This diversion will shift Hateful’s attention to Atreus, allowing you time to eliminate the Draugrs.

Dodge the Hateful’s Flame Attack

The Hateful possesses unblockable and block-breaking attacks that demand evasion as they can’t be blocked. Getting hit inflicts a damaging flame debuff, significantly reducing your health over time. To win, evading these attacks is crucial due to the substantial damage and lasting effect of this debuff.

Throw his Molten Spray Back

Some say that the best way to defeat enemies is to give them a taste of their own medicine. Well, that can be true in the case of the Hateful. During the fight, the Hateful will keep throwing multiple flame projectiles at you that will gnaw at your health bar.

So it would be best if you parried them when he launches his molten spray rather than getting out of the way. This will cause the projectiles to go back and hit the Hateful. They do decent damage and momentarily stun the Hateful, allowing you to get some attacks in.

Spartan Rage Usage

Spartan Rage offers both damage and vital survival abilities, so save it for critical moments of low health. The Hateful’s relentless attacks often leave players low on health, limiting resources for healing. Learn his attack patterns to defend and defeat him proactively.

The Hateful’s Attack Patterns

The Hateful has four major attacks that you need to look out for. They can be deadly if you are not careful enough. Hence, I will let you know about them so that you know what to look for.

Molten Spray

The Hateful launches a Molten Spray, hurling molten rocks at Kratos, causing significant damage and applying the Burning debuff. Parry this attack with your shield to reflect it back, stunning the Hateful briefly and creating an opportunity for your decisive blows.

Triple Axe Rush

The Hateful relies on Axes to inflict direct damage, notably with the Triple Axe Rush as its main damaging attack.

In this assault, The Hateful charges, executing two rapid axe swings followed by a single blow. To evade injury, anticipate and block or parry each axe strike, as they follow a predictable pattern.

Stay vigilant for variations in this combo; later in the battle, The Hateful might initiate the Triple Axe Rush with an unblockable twin slash.

Flaming Axe Combo

With its right axe, The Hateful swings downward before lighting it on fire and unleashing an unblockable Flaming Upward Slash. Stay aware and respond to the red ring signal on the unblockable attack when it appears since the attack’s first slash features a channeling animation comparable to Triple Axe Rush.

Flaming Upward Slash

The Hateful ignites its right axe before attacking Kratos with an unblockable upward slash that deals mild damage and applies the Fire debuff. This attack has a lot of charge-up time. Therefore, move away from its course in response to its characteristic movement and red ring signal to avoid being hit.

Rewards

Defeating the Hateful provides many rewards that will help you progress smoothly in the main storyline. The Rewards include XP, resources, and attachments, so let’s take a closer look at them.

XP

XP Rewards	250 XP for Kratos 75 XP for Atreus (Give Me Balance)

Resources

Resource	Type
2 x Sovereign Coals	Resource
5 x Dust of Realms	Unique Resource
1 x Chaos Spark	Weapon Upgrade
250 x Hacksilver	Currency

Attachments

Name	Type
Fortified Frost Knob	Leviathan Axe Attachment
Cursed Empress Handles	Blades of Chaos Attachment

Conclusion

This is all the information you need to take down the Hateful and etch your name in God of War Ragnarok. This battle prepares you for the upcoming bosses by refreshing your mechanics and ability on how to approach a fight. This is crucial as God of War has many bosses you will have to face.

Other than bosses, God of War Ragnarok allows you to explore various locations, all being unique to others. Among them is Svartalfheim, which has numerous activities for you to complete. Moreover, you can strengthen your arsenal by upgrading your armor and having a solid build.