As God of War Ragnarok players make their way through the game's 18 chapters, they'll find themselves coming up against tougher and tougher foes. This is evident not just through the game's many challenging boss fights, but also through the regular enemies that players encounter on their Nordic adventure. Thankfully, there are a few things that players can do in order to make themselves stronger too.
Opening Nornir Chests will reward players with special items that can increase their health and Spartan Rage meters. They can also find drops of Yggdrasil's Dew while sailing for permanent stat boosts or unlock new skills and abilities using XP. However, as in the previous God of War game, the most effective way to become stronger in God of War Ragnarok is by increasing one's power level.
How to Increase Power Level in God of War
Much like the player themselves, all enemies in God of War Ragnarok have a power level, which is indicated by the number in the shield to the left of their health bar. It should perhaps go without saying, but the higher this number is the more powerful the enemy will be, not just in terms of how hard they can hit and how much damage they can take, but also how easily players can block their attacks. If an enemy's power level is higher than the player's then blocking becomes far more difficult and can even be impossible in certain situations.
With this in mind, it's important for players to increase their own power level, which is done not by fighting, but instead by visiting one of Brok and Sindri's workshops and upgrading weapons and armor to make them stronger, or by equipping a more powerful armor set. Each piece of equipment has its own level as well as its own stats, and having higher-level gear equipped will increase the player's overall power level as indicated by the number in the shield in the top left-hand corner of the crafting and equipment screens.
However, even though leveling up is by far the best way to become stronger in God of War Ragnarok, that's not to say that players should ignore all of the other methods. New skills can make fighting much easier, while the small stat boosts granted by each drop of Yggdrasil's Dew can quickly start to add up. Opening Nornir Chests can be a real game changer too, as having more health can obviously make surviving a whole lot easier.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.