Best Skills to unlock early in God of War Ragnarok

Essential early-game skill priorities and combat strategies for God of War Ragnarok’s Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos

Strategic Skill Selection in Ragnarok

Making informed skill choices during the early stages of God of War Ragnarok dramatically impacts your combat effectiveness and progression pace. Unlike the 2018 installment, Ragnarok introduces refined mechanics that reward strategic planning from the very beginning.

While every skill offers unique benefits in God of War Ragnarok, certain abilities provide disproportionately higher value during the critical opening chapters. These essential picks form the foundation of your combat toolkit.

Building upon the foundation established in the 2018 reboot, Ragnarok expands Kratos’s arsenal with sophisticated skill trees that significantly alter combat flow. Beyond simple damage increases, many skills introduce entirely new attack patterns and defensive options that can redefine your approach to encounters.

The introduction of skill modifiers adds another strategic layer, allowing you to enhance specific abilities after meeting usage requirements. This mechanic makes early skill selection particularly crucial, as investing in the right abilities from the start accelerates your modifier progression and combat power.

For players seeking optimal early-game performance, focusing on skills that provide immediate tactical advantages against common enemy types while setting up long-term synergy will yield the best results throughout your journey.

Leviathan Axe: Essential Frost-Based Skills

Extinguish Flames stands as your primary anti-fire solution during the opening hours. This skill delivers bonus damage against burning targets, which proves exceptionally useful against the fire-wielding Draugr that dominate early encounters. The tactical advantage extends beyond simple damage amplification.

As you progress through Ragnarok’s mid-game, Extinguish Flames becomes indispensable against shielded adversaries. Enemies protected by fire-element barriers demonstrate resistance to matching damage types, but your Leviathan Axe’s frost properties combined with this skill allow rapid shield depletion within just several strikes.

Best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons & full tier list

Best Monster Hunter Wilds mods & how to install them

Best Long Sword build in Monster Hunter Wilds: Skills, armor sets & how to play

Permafrost represents arguably the most impactful Leviathan Axe skill for sustained combat. Although not immediately accessible, you should prioritize saving experience points to acquire it the moment it unlocks. This ability systematically increases your frost damage output with each successive axe strike.

The damage scaling provided by Permafrost synergizes perfectly with Kratos’s extended combos, transforming each follow-up attack into progressively more devastating impacts. This snowball effect makes extended engagements significantly more manageable against tougher opponents.

Glacial Rake completes the trifecta of essential Leviathan Axe abilities, offering unparalleled crowd control capabilities. By holding R1 and projecting ice shards from the terrain, you generate massive stagger damage that can disrupt multiple enemies simultaneously.

Strategic positioning and timing with Glacial Rake can shatter defensive formations, creating openings for execution moves against vulnerable targets. Additionally, this skill efficiently contributes to your frost charge accumulation, further enhancing your Permafrost benefits.

Blades of Chaos: Fire and Combustion Skills

Mirroring the Leviathan Axe’s elemental counter, Vaporize Frost enhances fire damage against frost-affected enemies. This creates a foundational combat loop where you can freeze targets with axe attacks then obliterate them with blazing follow-ups from the Blades of Chaos.

When combined with Extinguish Flames, these complementary skills elevate weapon-switching tactics to an art form. Mastering the timing between chilling axe combos and searing blade attacks enables devastating elemental combinations that will become instinctive during intense battles.

Immolation follows the same damage amplification pattern as Permafrost but applies to the Blades of Chaos. This skill progressively increases burn damage with each successful hit, capitalizing on the blades’ rapid attack sequences to quickly stack substantial damage multipliers.

The damage escalation provided by Immolation creates exceptional synergy with runic attacks and other special abilities. Whether deploying light or heavy runic assaults, the accumulated burn damage significantly amplifies your ultimate attack potency.

Chaotic Rampage delivers precision single-target devastation that perfectly complements the area control offered by Glacial Rake. This skill unlocks a blistering combo sequence capable of rapidly dismantling individual high-priority threats.

While lacking the area denial capabilities of its axe counterpart, Chaotic Rampage excels at eliminating formidable solitary opponents like Trolls or Orgres that can overwhelm you through sheer durability alone.

Advanced Combat Techniques and Optimization

Mastering Weapon Switching Combos

The most advanced technique involves chaining Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos attacks in specific sequences. Initiate with Glacial Rake to freeze and stagger groups, immediately switch to Blades and activate Immolation, then execute Chaotic Rampage on the most dangerous frozen target. This combination maximizes both crowd control and single-target elimination.

Common Skill Mistakes to Avoid

Many players overlook skill modifiers, forgetting to check for available upgrades after extensive use of their preferred abilities. Others mis-time their weapon switches, applying frost and fire effects separately rather than in quick succession. Avoid using Glacial Rake at point-blank range against agile enemies who can easily evade it.

Optimization Tips for Advanced Players

For maximum efficiency, prioritize upgrading Extinguish Flames and Vaporize Frost modifiers first, as these provide the foundation for your elemental combos. Time your Permafrost and Immolation activations to coincide with enemy vulnerability phases. Use Glacial Rake preemptively against approaching groups rather than reactively when already surrounded.

Advanced players should practice the “freeze-melt” combo until it becomes muscle memory: land two Leviathan Axe combos to apply frost, immediately switch to Blades of Chaos and activate Vaporize Frost, then execute a full Chaotic Rampage sequence. This rotation typically eliminates most standard enemies while setting up elites for finishing moves.

No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Best Skills to unlock early in God of War Ragnarok Essential early-game skill priorities and combat strategies for God of War Ragnarok's Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos