God of War Ragnarok: How to Beat the Hateful

There are dozens of different world bosses scattered throughout God of War: Ragnarok, and one of the first you’ll encounter is a powerful draugr called The Hateful. You’ll fight this fire-using boss six times as part of the Born From Fire Favor sidequest, and each encounter is more difficult than the last. The Hateful moves quickly, hits hard, and tends to summon friends when put on the back foot.

We’ll catalog every one of the Hateful’s attacks in this guide so you’re armed with how to deal with whatever the undead beast can throw at you.

Two things to keep in mind about The Hateful. First, like all enemies in God of War: Ragnarok, its attacks can cover a deceptively long distance, so you never want to underestimate whether an attack will connect or not. Always assume that it will be able to hit you, even if you’re halfway across from the arena.

Second, like all enemies in the game, The Hateful is vulnerable to parrying, but it has some mix-ups to deal with parry spammers. Whether it leads with two standard attacks or two yellow circle attacks, it will almost always close with an unblockable you’ll need to dodge. Timing and quick attack identification are paramount, as the Hateful quickly punishes sloppy counter attempts.

The Hateful’s Attacks

The Hateful doesn’t have the largest repertoire of attacks nor any additional phases, but what it does deals an unhealthy amount of damage and is faster than you’d think.

Running Chop

This unblockable attack, noted by the red circle around The Hateful when it starts the animation, sees the boss run toward you with its ax raised over its head. After traveling about five meters or so, or when it reaches you, the ax comes down, causing a small explosion and sending a line of fire directly away from the boss. Dodge to the side just before the attack would land to avoid taking damage.

Charged Uppercut

Another unblockable, The Hateful, brings its right-hand ax low across its body and slashes upward after a brief windup. If the attack connects, it will send Kratos flying and inflict Burn. Dodging away from the boss is liable to see the attack connect, so dodge roll to The Hateful’s left and behind it for best results.

Stomp into Double Uppercut

A third unblockable that usually comes out when the boss is some distance from you, The Hateful starts by stomping its foot on the ground, then rushing across the arena before swinging its axes across its body. As with the charged uppercut, you can dodge to the left to avoid the initial swings, but this attack tends to immediately transition into a guard break or standard combo, so stay on your toes.

Triple Slash

A set of three slower slashes, The Hateful usually uses this attack as a combo extender but can also do it from a standstill. The slashes are easy to reaction parry, and they aren’t guard breakers, so if you’d rather play defensively, you can. Our best recommendation is to block the first swing and then parry the second. If you fail, the third slash comes out fast enough to catch you before you can get your shield up again.

Single into Double Ax Slash

This attack is almost always a combo extender, usually following one of The slower unblockables. Once you dodge the unblockable part of the combo, The Hateful immediately turns around and slashes with one ax, followed by a slow slash with both axes. You can block the first part of the attack, but the two-handed swing is a guard crush, so you can parry it or dodge it. Trying to block it will see you staggered and vulnerable.

Dash Slash into Unblockable Uppercut

The Hateful is a big fan of dashing around its arenas, and this attack takes advantage of the boss’s mobility. The Hateful will dash at you and swing for a single guard crush, but then, if you dodged the attack, immediately turn and slash upward as an unblockable. This attack tends to come out when you aren’t in a good position to parry, so while you can do so to negate the unblockable follow-up, if you’re caught off guard, just keep dodging.

Mobility

The Hateful is a very mobile boss and likes to dash to the side out of your line of sight. About midway through the fight with it, two standard draugr enemies will also spawn, forcing you to prioritize the lesser foes over the boss.

Keep your head on a swivel when fighting The Hateful, and use your dodges liberally. It’s one of the better bosses to practice parrying on, but because it hits so hard, you should only try when you’re sure you can land the counter.

Armed with this knowledge, hopefully, fighting The Hateful will be a bit easier. Dying against this boss, especially in your early encounters with it, is nothing to be ashamed of, as it’s harder than some of the story fights in God of War: Ragnarok‘s early game. For more guides about Kratos’s latest adventure, check out our guides hub.