God of War Ragnarok: Best Builds for Kratos

What are the Best Builds for Kratos in God of War Ragnarok? In this God of War Ragnarok guide, we're going to list specialised character builds that take advantage of the stats and perks granted by armour and accessories. For more information on how equipment actually works in Ragnarok, you can check out our comprehensive breakdown of all the game's Equipment and Gear by clicking the link.

***Please use caution: this guide contains potential spoilers for equipment that is found later in the game.***

God of War Ragnarok: Best Builds for Kratos

Below is a list of effective and specialised builds for Kratos. Some are designed to maximise certain stats, giving Kratos's abilities a flat boost across the board, while others take advantage of key perks and abilities to get the most out of specific styles of play.

The Destroyer

The Destroyer is all about maximising Kratos' Strength stat — and that's about it. With an unparalleled damage output — without having to rely on specific perks — this build turns Kratos into a wrecking ball when using physical attacks, albeit at the cost of his other stats.

All of the following equipment is based on Strength alone. Wear all of it at once, and you'll push Kratos' Strength stat to the highest value possible. Again, this directly results in dealing more damage to your enemies with your normal weapon, barehanded, and shield strikes.

The only drawback here is that this equipment set can leave you a little light in terms of defence — so it's a bit of a glass cannon character build. As such, it's recommended for skilled players who won't be tanking many hits to begin with.

The Unbreakable

The Unbreakable is all about maximising Kratos' Defence stat, greatly reducing damage from all incoming attacks. However, the all-in focus on survival means that Kratos will never hit quite as hard as other builds.

The recommended equipment is based purely on Defence values, making for the highest possible Defence stat without the use of specific perks. Now, this build won't make Kratos invincible — big boss attacks and other especially destructive moves will still take a chunk out of your health — but it should allow you to tank more hits in most cases.

This can be a real boon during particularly tough battles, giving you more time to learn your opponent's attack patterns, and survive against any surprises that they might have up their sleeves.

The Runic Master

The Runic Master is all about maximising Kratos' Runic stat, greatly increasing all magical damage. Broadly speaking, this stat mostly impacts your Runic Attacks, but it also bolsters things like ice-based blasts from your Leviathan Axe, and the burning damage of your Blades.

All of the recommended equipment for this build is based on Runic value alone. Worn all at once, Kratos' Runic stat will be pushed extremely high, to the point where all of your elemental damage will be noticeably increased. However, as with any build that focuses on one specific stat, Kratos' other stats will have to take a hit.

This build doesn't have a whole lot of defensive value, but it's capable of dishing out big damage with the right abilities and Runic Attacks in a very short window. An explosive build for aggressive players.

The Undying

The Undying build is all about restoring Kratos' health as efficiently and as regularly as possible. It's based around the Cuirass of Raven Tears, as its perk grants a small chance of activating a 'healing mist' on any successful attack that you use. With a bit of luck, this perk can trigger multiple times in a single fight, and although the amount of health that it restores is fairly minimal, it can all add up.

The Cuirass and its matching Wrist and Waist Armours sync especially well with equipment that grants similar boons. Grip of the Fallen Alchemist gives you an almost guaranteed burst of healing when you use your charged heavy axe attack (hold R2), and it'll actually restore more health than usual thanks to the perks of the aforementioned Wrist and Waist Armours. It's obviously a slow attack, though, so you'll need to time it well.

While this build doesn't make Kratos invincible — no build does! — it can make longer fights much more manageable, as you gradually restore small chunks of your health throughout. A solid, reliable build for players of all skill levels.

The Blight Bringer

The Blight Bringer is a build that takes full advantage of Lunda's Lost Cuirass, and its perk that can apply poison to your foes. This can be a surprisingly powerful build at its best, both weakening your enemies and providing a noticeable damage increase.

Although the build does hinge on your opponents actually being poisoned via the aforementioned perk, the advantages are abundant in the heat of battle. Poison effectively lowers a foe's overall power level — albeit temporarily — so the damage that you deal to these enemies can really start stacking up when taking the Wrist and Waist Armour perks into account.

Things get especially spicy when you add the Rond of Affliction to the equation. This Shield Attachment basically detonates poison-afflicted opponents when you hit them with a shield smash (double tap L1). This causes a highly damaging explosion that can be great for finishing enemies off.

When played correctly — maximising your normal attack damage with combos on poisoned enemies, and triggering the shield smash at regular intervals — this build can be brutally efficient.

The Insatiable Rage

The Insatiable Rage is a reasonably balanced build that attempts to maximise Kratos' Rage gains, while also putting his Rage to good, consistent use through the perk that comes with Sol's Spaulders of Courage.

Said perk can increase Kratos' melee damage quite significantly when his Rage is full, or close to full. Meanwhile, the Wrist and Waist Armours allow you to build Rage at a faster rate. This means that should you have to spend your Rage to unleash Kratos' Rage abilities, you'll get it back without as much downtime to your Chest Armour's damage boost.

Combine the Wrist and Waist Armours with certain weapon attachments (particularly the Rond of Aggravation) and you can rack up Rage really fast, especially if your melee combat is on point, stringing combos together and parrying most incoming blows.

All in all, this is a solid build, and the damage increase can really add up over time in bigger fights.

The Unstoppable Force

The Unstoppable Force requires a fair degree of skill to make the most of its equipment perks, but during longer fights — especially against groups of opponents — it can be a beastly build. It's designed to take advantage of the Dragon Scaled Breastplate, which increases Kratos' Strength and Defence every time you perform a successful block or parry. This means that you have to play somewhat defensively, but you'll likely be doing that anyway when you're up against multiple foes.

Combined with the set's Wrist and Waist Armour, you'll be able to maximise your shield's abilities when you're defending. This, of course, is ultimately in service of the Breastplate's perk, but the extra damage certainly doesn't hurt.

And to top it off, you've got weapon attachments that give you even more momentum as you tear through your enemies. All of them grant boons that make Kratos more and more powerful as you fight.

Again though, to get the most out of this build, your blocks and parries have to be on point, or you won't build those buffs up to a point where they make a huge difference.

It's also worth noting that this build isn't quite as effective against singular opponents, like bosses. Although the Chest Armour's perk can still be a big help, the other perks are more geared towards group battles.

The Gambler

The Gambler build is all about rolling the dice on perks that are triggered by Luck. Overall, it's a solid build in terms of Kratos' stats, but with enough Luck on your side, you can build some serious momentum, to the point where this build can actually be very powerful.

The perk from Giptumadr's Breastplate alone is a big deal; a 70% restore on cooldown is huge, reducing the wait for your most powerful Runic Attacks to mere seconds in many cases. As such, you should be borderline spamming Runic Attacks when utilising this equipment. Combined with the Wrists and Waist Armour perks, and you might even be swimming in Healthstones and Ragestones. Again, when fortune falls your way, this build can be shockingly effective.

And that applies to all of the weapon Attachments as well. Played correctly, and Kratos' Strength can be boosted by a large amount. What's more, the Runic Hailstone Knob combines especially well with your Runic Attack spam, bolstering damage... with a bit of luck.

The Realm Shifter

The Realm Shifter build can be brutally effective, but you'll need a fair degree of skill to make the most of it. It's built around the game's Realm Shift mechanic, in which time is temporarily slowed for enemies upon triggering certain actions. This essentially allows Kratos to get additional attacks in, or reposition away from potentially dangerous situations.

Every piece of this build's equipment (barring the Chest Armour) gives you an additional opportunity to Realm Shift. While the weapon Attachment perks do require a bit of know-how in order to properly intergrade them into your fighting style, practice goes a long way, and it won't be long until you're swapping between weapons and triggering Realm Shifts at will.

It's the Wrist and Waist Armour perk that really seals the deal, though. Evading incoming blows at the last second isn't always easy depending on the enemy, but again, with enough skill (and knowledge of your opponents' attack patterns), you can activate Realm Shifts with alarming frequency, and the damage racks up very quickly.

And this is where Surtr's Scorched Cuirass enters the equation: its perk increases damage to foes who are still in their attack animations. Pair this with Realm Shifts, and you can stack even more damage on top of your time-slowed onslaughts. Catching tough enemies, or even bosses in a well-timed Realm Shift lets you dish out additional damage with each and every strike — and it all adds up very quickly.

This guide is currently under construction. Check back soon for more Builds!

Do you have any Best Builds for Kratos to add to this guide? For more information, be sure to refer to our God of War Ragnarok guide, and maximise your own build in the comments section below.