God of War‘s Runic Attacks make its combat incredibly deadly. While there’s plenty of world map exploration and father/son bonding to enjoy in the story, frenzied combat is the heart of this rebooted experience. But which are the best ones to upgrade first?
With so many different stat, weapon, enchantment, and upgrade options in God of War, it can be difficult to pick which Runic Attacks to use more than the others. If you want to know which are the absolute best runic attacks, we break down the best options for each type, as well as where to best use them in different combat scenarios.
Note: One story weapon gets unlocked at the end of the game, and it is mentioned below, so there are a few spoilers ahead just by listing attacks with that particular weapon.
Use these links to jump to a specific attack:
- Hel’s Touch
- Leviathan’s Wake
- Cyclone of Chaos
- Frost Giant’s Frenzy
- Blessings of the Frost
- Hyperion Grapple
- Murder of Crows
Best God of War Light Runic Attacks
Tending to have lower cooldown times and lots of utility, there are plenty of awesome Light Runic Attacks to utilize in nearly any combat situation. You can find them in Legendary Chests or buy them from shops.
Hel’s Touch
Location: Unmissable first rune near the start of game.
Although this is the very first Runic Attack you can unlock, Hel’s Touch remains useful for much of the game. It can get Kratos out of a bind when he’s swarmed by enemies, and it deals decent damage.
While personal preference will determine which specific light Runic Attack you use most often, Hel’s Touch is probably the best all-around option for any situation.
Sending a stunning shockwave through the air with Hel’s Touch
(thanks to PowerPyx for the screenshot)
Leviathan’s Wake
Location: Pick this Runic Attack up in a Legendary Chest in Veithurgard.
This laser death beam of an axe throw plows through any enemies in a line. While you do have to maneuver a bit to make full use of it, any area with multiple enemies crowding toward you (like a bridge) can easily be turned into an instant killing field.
Launching a Leviathan’s Wake runic attack
Cyclone of Chaos
Location: This Runic Attack can be found in a Legendary Chest in Helheim, or you can buy it for 50,000 Hacksilver and 30 Aegir’s Gold at a shop.
Recalling the earlier God of War games, this is the classic whirling Blades Of Chaos Runic Attack you know and love. It’s consistently useful both for damage and for stunning enemies swarming Kratos.
Throwing out the Blades Of Chaos for a Cyclone runic attack
Best God of War Heavy Runic Attacks
In most cases, it makes more sense to upgrade your other stats for a more well-rounded Kratos, but one interesting strategy is to instead focus on upgrading the cooldown stat and base your build around heavy Runic Attacks.
If you upgrade your cooldown stat incredibly high, you can launch a round of Runic Attacks from your Blades of Chaos, switch over to your Leviathan Axe Runic Attacks, and then have your first set of Runic Attacks recharged for a nearly continuous stream of devastation.
Frost Giant’s Frenzy
Location: You can pick up the Frost Giant’s Frenzy Runic Attack at a shop for 15,000 Hacksilver and 10 Aegir’s Gold.
This devastating Runic Attack ability uses three successive slam attacks to launch enemies before sending them flying.
There’s already killer damage and stun ability at Level 1, but when you upgrade Frost Giant’s Frenzy to Level 3, you can spam new slam attacks, making this ability absolutely overpowered against normal enemies or even some trolls.
Kratos slams the ground with Frost Giant’s Frenzy
Blessings of the Frost
Location: Buy this Runic Attack at a shop for 50,000 Hacksilver and 30 Aegir’s Gold.
At first, this ability seems a little underwhelming, since it basically just increases your Leviathan Axe melee attack damage. Once you upgrade Blessings of the Frost, however, it can become indispensable against enemies with larger health pools.
Besides bonus physical and frost damage, it also greatly increases the duration and bonus damage of runic attacks, making it a deadly combo used with additional Runic abilities.
Activating Blessings of the Frost
Hyperion Grapple
Location: Grab this Runic Attack in a Legendary Chest in Tyr’s Temple.
Not to be confused with Hyperion Slam, this heavy Runic Attack with the Blades of Chaos hits an enemy for heavy damage and stuns them. It then launches Kratos directly at them. For big, difficult enemies where you need to deal a bunch of damage and get some time to breathe (like the Valkyries), this attack is amazing.
Launching chains for the Hyperion Grapple
Best God of War Runic Summon
Atreus can get in on the Runic Attack activity as well with his special Talon Bow Runic Summons. While all of them can be useful when upgraded, one stands head and shoulders above the rest for its potential tactical use.
Murder of Crows
Location: Grab this Runic Summon in a Legendary Chest in the Witch’s Cave found in the River Pass region.
Summoning a large group of crows that stun enemies can be absolutely deadly, especially when used in conjunction with the various heavy Runic Attacks Kratos has that hit large numbers of enemies or deliver area effect frost damage. The downside to Murder of Crows is the long cool-down time, and the need to upgrade to get to the full 12 crows.
Murder of Crows Runic Summon
Related guides:
- Frozen Flame And Leveling The Leviathan Axe
- All Valkyrie Locations And Combat Guide
- All Dragon Locations
- Odin’s Ravens Locations
- Nornir Puzzle Chest Locations And Solutions
- All God Of War Artifact Locations
- Complete Jotnar Shrine Locations Guide
And there you have it: the best God of War Runic Attack combos. No matter the situation, both light and heavy attacks will prove useful in your adventure through Midgard. Let us know your combat strategies below, and be sure to check out our other God of War guides.
