God of War Ragnarok: Surviving Fimbulwinter Walkthrough

Looking for a Surviving Fimbulwinter walkthrough for God of War Ragnarok? Surviving Fimbulwinter is the first quest in The Path, which represents Ragnarok's main storyline. As part of our God of War Ragnarok guide, we're going to share our full Surviving Fimbulwinter walkthrough, which includes puzzle solutions, combat strategies, and any other key areas of interest.

God of War Ragnarok: Surviving Fimbulwinter Walkthrough

Upon starting up a new game, you'll be introduced to a seemingly sorrowful Kratos and a teenage Atreus. Once the opening cutscene ends, you're given control of the sleigh that the father-son duo are riding. The sleigh moves forward automatically, so all you need to do is concentrate on steering left and right. You can use this opportunity to adjust any camera or sensitivity settings.

It's not long until you're attacked. There are a couple of button prompts, but nothing too dangerous. When you have control of the sleigh again, you'll need to try and avoid the rocks on the path, as hitting them will do a small amount of damage to Kratos' health bar. Another couple of button prompts later, and you'll be free of the threat. A second, shorter sleigh ride begins, complete with some opening credits, and afterwards, you'll end up back home. This is the first time you take direct control of Kratos. Walk up towards the house and get ready for more cutscenes.

Once you're regained control of the main man during the dream sequence, simply follow Faye through the woods. You'll walk and talk, climb a ledge or two, and that's about it. Now we're into the game proper. Your objective is to find Atreus, and you now have full control over Kratos. You can smash some nearby boxes if you want, before heading down to where your pet wolves are and squeezing through the gap next to them, after you smash some obstructive ice with your axe.

This is a linear area, so just follow the path, hopping over scenery as you go. When you hop your second log, you'll be attacked by native warriors. This is your first combat encounter, and the enemy Raiders are fairly weak. Use this as an opportunity to get used to Kratos' movement, and try not to get surrounded by your foes. Once you're victorious, head into the next part of the area by lifting the nearby log. There's a health stone here if you need it. Investigate the dead bear that's nearby, and continue on. You can follow the blood here, but there's a small treasure chest off to the right in a cave. When you come to a fallen tree, use the axe to smash through it, and jump to the other side of the gap.

Keep following the path, and you'll come across a body to the right, with an item at its feet. Grab it and continue on your way. Another chest is just ahead, up and to the left. Once you've opened that, you can once again follow the trail of blood for easy directions, before crawling through a small cave. More Raiders are on the other side of this cave. Once they're defeated, you can find another frozen body up to the right of the cave exit, which also has an item at its feet. Meanwhile, the blood trail ends at a frozen wall. Go up to the left of the wall to find a way around it — and watch out for more Raiders.

You'll quickly arrive at a wall that you'll need to climb. When you're at the top, you'll find a chest. Keep following the path up here and you'll come to another cave. There's a small chest along this route as well. Squeeze inside the cave and you'll find yet another group of Raiders. There are a few items scattered around this cave, so make sure to grab them after you're done with fighting.

Keep going through the cave, and you'll come to another open area with more Raiders. There's a chest here, along with a couple of items on the ground. Grab the loot, and then head upwards. Keep an eye out for a large chest to the right once you start climbing. Hop across the gap to reach it. Climb another wall, and you'll soon see the cave exit.

Boss Fight: How to Beat Bjorn

Once you come out of the cave, prepare yourself, because you'll be immediately attacked by a giant bear named Bjorn. This is a pretty straightforward fight, and serves as more of a tutorial than a true combat encounter. Simply dodge its fairly well telegraphed attacks, and strike when you have the opportunity. Midway through the battle you'll be prompted to launch your Spartan Rage meter, so click the L3 and R3 buttons simultaneously and beat up the big ol' bear. If you need to replenish your health at any point, you'll find plenty littered around the arena.

Once Bjorn's health has dropped significantly, you'll be given the opportunity to finish him. This will ultimately trigger a finishing attack, which segues into a cutscene with Atreus. At this point you'll unlock a Trophy named A Grizzly Encounter. Watch the story unfold, and then use your axe to cut through the wooden log in front of you once you regain controls.

Follow the path through the sun, chatting with Atreus and Mimir along the way. As you progress you'll eventually stumble upon some Raiders. You can instruct Atreus to help out in combat with the Square button. Defeat the Raiders and then climb down the metal rope into the tunnel. Directly to your right is a red chest with Hacksilver and Forged Iron inside.

Continue to follow the tunnel all the way around, and you'll come out in a familiar area where Atreus will observe the blood trail on the ground. Head out into the opening and a cutscene will play involving some bears. Once it's over, cut through the tree blocking the path and you'll immediately find yourself in an area with a group of ambushing Raiders. Be sure to take out the ones on higher ground as quickly as possible, as these will pose the biggest the biggest problem to you.

Once the Raiders have been dealt with, follow Atreus back home, through the crack in the wall that you used much earlier in the quest. Then follow the pathway up towards the house and head inside, where you can get ready for bed. Of course, your rest is short-lived.

There's a somewhat familiar face at your front door, and they've brought mead. Watch the cutscene unfold for some big revelations and jaw-dropping moments.

Boss Fight: How to Beat Thor

It's time to fight, then. You'll be dropped into an arena against Thor, and you won't have your Leviathan Axe initially. Hit the God of Thunder with everything you've got, ensuring to dodge roll away from his rushing grab attacks. Inflict enough damage, and you'll trigger a cutscene, leading to Kratos summoning his Leviathan Axe. Continue to battle Thor, and eventually he'll launch you outside.

Many of Thor's attacks remain the same once you're outside, so be sure to continue to dodge roll out of the way of his grapple moves. You'll notice that the stage is lined with large pillars, which you can grab and use to inflict some serious damage on Thor. Occasionally he'll hammer the ground, which will send a deadly tunnel of destruction in your direction, so be sure to dodge roll out of the way of this. Lower his health once more for the third and final phase of this fight.

Once you're outside, in the area with the tree, Thor will pummel the ground. This causes surges of energy all over the floor, symbolised by large red spots. Make sure you dodge roll out of these, as they will incapacitate Kratos. Continue to damage Thor until you trigger a final finishing move, which eventually ends the battle and unlocks the Blood Debt Trophy.

With all that hard fighting out of the way, it's nice to see a familiar face. Brok and Sindri witnessed the whole thing, and want to help you get back home so you can rendezvous with Atreus, who's still knocking about with Odin of all people! Climb over the platforms and head up the staircase. Eventually you'll come to a doorway, which you can go through. On the other side, Brok and Sindri will create a gateway for you which will teleport you back home.

Back home you'll be reacquainted with Atreus, but you'll need to spend a few moments equipping new gear and upgrading your statistics before heading out. Once you're outside, follow Atreus to the woods. You'll need to use your Blades of Chaos to hookshot up one ledge, and shortly after you'll find a group of discarded corpses with some Hacksilver nearby. Eventually you'll happen upon some brambles, which you can ignite by aiming at them with L2 and igniting with R2.

A little further ahead you'll stumble upon a blockade which you can pull down using the Blades of Chaos. Then, once you've climbed up, directly ahead is a Hel-Raider. You'll need to defeat this foe by using the Blades of Chaos to set fire to it, then you can finish it off using the Leviathan Axe if you wish. Continue to follow Atreus. On the left is an off-shoot path you can explore with some Hacksilver at the bottom of a long ledge. Once you've grabbed it, climb back up and get back to the main path with Atreus. You'll eventually come to a cave where a Raider is killed by a mysterious foe; double-back through here for an area with a chest consumed by brambles. You can ignite these to get some Hacksilver. Return to the main path and find more Hacksilver in the area where you previously saw the Raider get attacked. Then deal with the Hel-Raiders at the top of the path.

Follow the path and drop down the ledges. To the immediate right is a ledge you can drop down with a chest at the bottom; there's Hacksilver inside. Then you can squeeze through the gap directly ahead. Beware because you'll be ambushed inside here. The first Raider will reanimate as a Hel-Raider, so don't drop your guard once you've dealt with him. Once you're back outside, pull down the pillar that's blocking the path, and leap across to the other side. Then climb back up the wall behind you and pull the pillar back into its previous position to create a path across.

Grab the chain rope and use your Leviathan Axe to throw at the object blocking the rope. Finally, you can pull the chain until the rope's taut, and then abseil down. Once you drop down into this area you'll have to deal with more Raiders, so prepare yourself to take them on. There are brambles blocking the pathway out of here, so be sure to set fire to those using the Blades of Chaos. On the other side are more Hel-Raiders, so have your Blades of Chaos ready to deal with them.

Immediately after the Hel-Raiders, on the path directly ahead, is a type of Lore called a Rune Reads on the wall. It's pretty impossible to miss, so make sure you interact with it to add it to your Codex.

Climb up the wall at the end of the pathway and deal with the Hel-Raiders at the top. Then continue to climb up the next wall, before you're rudely interrupted.

Boss Fight: How to Beat The Huntress

The Huntress is the mythical foe that's been killing all of the Raiders in the area, so it's time to deal with her. Fortunately, she's fairly straightforward. Dodge roll out of the way of its flailing legs, and attack when you have an opening. She'll shoot fire arrows into the ground which you should also dodge roll out of the way of. Wait for her horns to start glowing and then throw the Leviathan Axe at them to stun her. This will give you a window of opportunity to do some serious damage. Rinse and repeat to unlock the Light Runic Attack named Winter's Bite. Then climb up the wall you tried to get up previously, and continue into the building that Atreus points out.

As you make your way through the temple, you'll happen out into an area with a collapsed pillar blocking the way. Try jerking it and you'll notice it's stuck by a tree trunk. You can cut this down by throwing your Leviathan Axe at it, and then finally pull the pillar out of the way. Head up the staircase. Atreus will lead you to a secret doorway, and Kratos will follow him inside for some more exposition.

Once you take back control of Kratos, after all the cutscenes, follow Atreus forwards. He'll point out a crack in the ground, so climb up the nearby ledge and smash your way through the crack. Directly ahead is a red chest with Hacksilver and Rawhide inside. Once you're done, climb back up to Atreus on the ledge you used to break through the ground. Unfurl the chain and move forward. You'll end up an arena with a handful of Raiders and a stronger Raider Chief, so be sure to dispatch of them all. Then lift up the tree log and follow Atreus forward, down the path.

Directly ahead on the path is a red chest, with Forged Iron and Hacksilver inside. Climb up on the ledge and you'll find yourself in familiar surroundings: back home once again, with Sindri waiting for you. Follow Sindri who will open a gateway to take you to a safe shelter. Once you go through the gateway, you'll complete the Surviving Fimbulwinter quest.

He'll take you to a realm between realm between realms, and a new location named Sindri's House. Go through the door to trigger a cutscene. Eventually you'll be able to upgrade your Weapons and Armour, so spend a little bit of time doing that, before speaking with Sindri at the back of the room. Then head outside to the magic gateway.

Collect Mimir from the contraption that Brok and Sindri put him in, then use your newly acquired Yggdrasil Realm Seeds to travel to Svartalfheim. Once you arrive in Svartalfheim, you'll begin The Quest for Tyr.

God of War Ragnarok: Surviving Fimbulwinter Objectives

• Head home
• Track Atreus
• Return home with Atreus
• Return home to Atreus
• Follow Atreus into the forest
• Return home
• Follow Sindri

God of War Ragnarok: Surviving Fimbulwinter Rewards

• Kratos: 500 XP
• Atreus: 250 XP

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