God Of War: Every Stat Explained (& Which Ones To Improve)

There are multiple kinds of upgrades that can be applied to Kratos in God of War, and the different stats have an effect on how Kratos performs in combat, how often he can use runes, and even the amount of XP and Hacksilver he receives. Unlike skills and other upgrades applied through XP or Hacksilver purchases, stats upgrades in God of War are somewhat temporary upgrades that are determined by armor and enchantments. Kratos can primarily have improved stats by equipping more powerful armor and enchantments, and removing these gear pieces lowers the God of War’s stats as well.

Smaller stat upgrades can also be applied by improving the Leviathan Axe Pommel in God of War, as well as making Pommel upgrades to the Blades of Chaos. Additionally, there are Yggdrasil droplets throughout God of War that will apply small, permanent boosts to a random stat, and finding more of these droplets will allow players to improve Kratos’ stats slowly over time. There are six stats players have to upgrade for Kratos in God of War: Strength, Runic, Defense, Vitality, Luck, and Cooldown.

Thankfully, as players progress through God of War they’ll find armor and enchantments that can improve multiple skills at once, even more so with further upgrades to specific gear pieces. Although players will ultimately want to increase each of Kratos’ stats, they only really need to focus on a couple of stats in order to upgrade the God of War’s skills and usability. The first skills that players should upgrade in God of War are Strength, Luck, and Runic.

God Of War: Improve Strength, Luck, & Runic Stats First

Before diving into why the Strength, Luck, and Runic stats are the most important to upgrade first in God of War, it’s critical that players understand what each stat does:

• Strength: Increases damage for all standard attacks
• Runic: Increases damage for runes and elemental attacks
• Defense: Reduces all types of taken damage
• Vitality: Increases maximum health and decreases the flinch reaction from enemy attacks
• Luck: Increases XP and Hacksilver gains
• Cooldown: Reduces charge time of runic attacks, summons, and talismans

Luck is by far the most important stat to have improved early in God of War because it maximizes the rewards players receive for exploring and fighting. With more XP, players can upgrade more skills for both Kratos and Atreus, as well as the runic attacks themselves. Earning more Hacksilver in God of War makes it easier to upgrade armor, which in turn can increase multiple stats. Additionally, by having a stronger standard and runic attacks, Kratos will be able to defeat enemies more easily regardless of the difficulty.

While stats like Defense, Vitality, and Cooldown are ultimately important, they don’t provide any return upon their initial investment, especially early in God of War. Although the Cooldown stat will be important to improve over time, having stronger attacks, in general, ensures that Kratos will be able to rely upon his standard and runic attacks consistently. Furthermore, as long as players can dodge and use the Block Break skill wisely, their Defense and Vitality stats won’t be as critically needed for the majority of God of War. Players can also improve Kratos’ health by finding all the Idunn Apple chests in God of War and should definitely take priority over the Vitality stat itself.

God of War is available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and will be available for PC on January 14, 2022.

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