God of War Ragnarok is here with a story full of surprises, characters full of life, and a setting filled to the brim with memorable locations and creatures. When Atreus returns to Midgard during Fimbulwinter, he’s quickly confronted by Kratos who wants to know where he has been. During a scuffle with Draugr, a Valkyrie named Vanadis surprise attacks Kratos to take his life.
This isn’t a Valkyrie Kratos and Atreus have encountered before, and she doesn’t seem to have any interest in explaining why she’s attacking them. This is one of the tougher fights at this point in the game, and it can cause a major headache if you’re not ready for it. So, if you’re looking for tips and tricks for taking down Vanadis, you’ve come to the right place.
Defending Against The Onslaught
Vanadis is fast — faster than you might expect. She will quickly back away, put a lot of distance between you, and throw projectiles that can be blocked or parried if your timing is right. She will also throw poison above her head that leave three pools of poison around her. Look out for these. Getting caught in them can deal a good chunk of damage and weaken you.
Blue Rings
Some of Vanadis’ attacks will flash with a blue ring. These are devastating attacks that can deal a lot of damage. The good news is that double-tapping L1 will cause you to interrupt Vanadis with your shield.
Yellow Rings
While many of Vanadis’ normal attacks can be blocked, her yellow ringed attacks will knock aside your block and leave you momentarily vulnerable. If your timing is on point, you can parry yellow ringed attacks, but if you’re not confident in your ability to parry, dodging these attacks is second best.
Red Rings
Vanadis will occasionally throw down a ground slam with unavoidable damage. She doesn’t use this move often, but when she does, your only option is to evade it.
Taking The Fight To Vanadis
There doesn’t seem to be an advantage over which weapon you choose to use in this fight, so feel free to use the Leviathan Axe or the Chaos Blades. If you’re looking for some extra damage, you can swap between them to use all of your runic attacks. As you’ll see, her attacks are swift and deadly. You’ll want to time your attacks in between her own.
Valor Over Rage
In this fight, your usual Spartan Rage is replaced by Valor, which heals you for a solid chunk of health, spending a portion of your Rage bar instead of all of your Rage bar. Use this strategically to keep your health up for the rest of the fight.
Build Status Effects
When you move to attack, be sure to frost your axe or flame your blades to inflict the frozen status or cause immolation damage. If you can stack flame damage, you’ll be well on your way to dealing some extra damage and moving the fight along.
Keep your wits about you, your dodge, parry, and attack buttons at the ready, and you’ll defeat this difficult foe in no time.
