One of the later areas you access in God of War Ragnarok is The Crater in Vanaheim. There are some main story quests that take place here, as well as a slew of side quests, fierce battles, and lots of treasure to be found.
One of the more complex side quests you will unlock here is A Stag For All Seasons. In order to complete the mission, you’ll have to find the stags of winter, and spring, which will have you traversing all corners of the map and overcoming countless obstacles. This guide will help you find each stag in the least amount of time.
Quest Requirement
After saving Freyr by completing the Main Quest – Creatures of Habit, you will automatically unlock the Favor – Scent of Survival. This side quest has you following the trail of Lunda’s pet hound Helka, and upon completion, will allow you to access The Crater area of the Vanaheim where all four stags reside.
Talk To Ratatoskr
You can start the mission one of two ways: by finding one of the stags first, or by heading back to Sindri’s house after initially reaching the Crater area. The latter is the easier option, so you might as well take that route since you won’t be able to do anything with the stags until you speak with Ratatoskr first.
Once you head back to Sindri’s House and talk to Ratatoskr, he will give you special feed that will send the stags back to the World Tree, and prevent them from causing damage to Vanaheim. Head back to the Crater Entrance Mystic Gateway to begin finding the stags.
The Stag of Winter
This stag is found close to the Overgrown Tower Mystic Gateway. To get there, you’ll need to first change day to night by accessing one of the alters in the area. This will be important as the stag’s location is hidden behind a plant wall that can only be accessed at night. The closest altar is to the northeast of the Crater Entrance Mystical Gateway.
Enter The Plains
Once you have turned day to night, head northwest towards The Plains. Go between the two pillars to reach the clearing. There you’ll see a small pond of water with an altar on the west side, and a doorway on the north wall. Normally this doorway would be blocked (as seen in the left photo above), but since you already changed day to night, you can head right through.
Once through the doorway, follow the path around to the right until you see a hole in the wall. Slide through there, and it will let out into a giant clearing littered with the bones of the Crimson Dread’s prey. Follow the wall to the right where you’ll see a Mystic Gateway on the ledge above. Climb up to access the gateway and the Stag of Winter in front of it.
Stag of Summer
Before you can get this stag, you’ll need to complete the Favor – Return of the River. Doing so will release the dammed waters back into The Crater area, giving you access to more points on the map.
Into The Jungle
Start by navigating to The Jungle area of The Crater, which is found in the southern part of the map. Hop in the boat and cross the river towards the altar in the south of The Jungle. Here you’ll change the area from night to day. This causes a bridge made of roots to form that you will cross to reach the stag.
Double The Ogres
Hop back in the boat and face the newly formed bridge. Rather than going under the bridge, head right just before it and continue under the cliff face where you’ll find some dew of Yggdrasil and a small tunnel where the river continues. Follow that until you find the boat dock on the left, and head up to the clearing.
Before you’ll be able to get across the bridge, you’ll need to face two ogres first. Once the battle is over, head towards the bridge and break the blockage using the Chaos chains. Head across the bridge to find the Stag of Summer waiting.
Stag of Autumn
This stag is located in The Sinkholes area of the map. It is possible you have found it already by the time you get this Favor. If so, simply travel to the Mystic Gateway at the entrance of The Sinkholes. When facing the gateway, the stag is a few feet to the left. If you haven’t explored this area yet, here’s what you need to know.
Zipline Ride
After restoring the river, you’ll be able to access more of The Sinkholes area in the southeast of the map. From the Crater Entrance Mystic Gateway, start by heading north, up the grapple wall, and back down into the clearing just ahead of it. From there, turn right and follow the path forward until you see a circular stone archway.
Go through the archway and follow the path down until you find a zipline. Take the zipline down into The Sinkholes area and immediately head right. Go into the cave and freeze the poison totem. Hang a left at the wall, and it will lead you to a dock. Across the river, you’ll see a Mystic Gateway. Hop over by using the grapple spot to the right, and the stag will be a few feet to the left of the gateway.
Stag of Spring
Turn around and head back towards the Sinkhole Entrance Mystic Gateway and continue left and up the wall to make your way to the Wishing Well where the final stag is located. After climbing the wall, use your spear to blow open the weak point in the rock and continue forward into the clearing where you’ll see a dragon attacking some weaker enemies. As you approach it’ll shoot fire at you so make sure to blow up the pillars it perches on first thing. Once the dragon flies away, head to the right and pull the chain to open the gate.
Defeat Crag Jaw
After opening the gate, continue forward to find some overgrowth. Burn this first, and then freeze the poison totem on the other side. Sidle between the rocks, and you’ll reach an open area. Here you will have to fight The Crag Jaw before you can proceed further.
Once you have defeated them, burn the vines in the area and slide through the gap. Continue moving upward by grappling from wall to wall with your Chaos Chains. Once you reach the top, you’ll see a red chest covered in vines. You’ll need to destroy the bulbous plant that the vines are connected to in order to kill the shooting flowers and get the chest. Continue up the stairs until you reach the top floor where you’ll destroy the plant and any remaining enemies.
Enter The Wishing Well
After killing the enemies, look up, and you’ll see a spot on the ceiling where you can force your way through using a Chaos Chains grapple. Once you reach the next level, turn and lift the gate that leads into the Wishing Well. At this location, you’ll be able to use those Crystalline Shards you’ve been gathering to unlock a new set of armor and other rewards.
Before you use the well, continue heading around the top level from where you entered until you see another doorway. Next to it is the fourth and final stag – The Stag of Spring. After giving the stag the feed, find your nearest gateway by exiting the Wishing Well to the north. Here you’ll find a chain to kick down that leads back to the Crater Entrance Mystic Gateway. Take this back to Sindri’s house to collect your rewards from Ratatoskr.
Rewards
- Rond of Disruption
- 75 Whispering Slab
- Kratos XP 4500
- Freya XP 1125
