How to Defeat Nidhogg in God of War: Ragnarök

Nidhogg is the final boss for part six of God of War: Ragnarok‘s main story, The Reckoning. This boss will appear rather suddenly as the player works to remove Freya’s binding, specifically when they move to attack a grouping of World Tree roots. The giant serpent is a brutal fight, with four different stages and several damaging attacks she won’t hesitate to use. But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Kratos is no stranger to killing dragons.

Phase One of the fight is the easiest, and if the player has gone for an early Strength build in God of War: Ragnarok, then this part shouldn’t be difficult. Nidhogg will be anchored inside a World Tear, with only clearly telegraphed attacks to worry about. Move back to the side as she winds up for a bite or claw attack, then rush in and wail away at her until she gets ready for her next attack. She might drop a short damaging field effect in front of her sometimes, but it’s as easy to avoid the claw and bite attacks. The real challenge begins in phase two when she’s at 85% health, and the R3 prompt appears.

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How To Beat Nidhogg in GoW: Ragnarok

Phase two starts with Kratos dragging Nidhogg out of the World Tear and into the open. On top of her old attacks, she has three new attacks, ranged fire blasts, and a tail slam that explodes after a few moments. Like the parrying and shield skills in God of War, shields plays a vital role, as double tapping L1 in the gap between the tail slam and its explosion will stop the explosion and stun Nidhogg for a few moments. So long as the player remembers to dodge attacks, block and parry they can’t, and interrupt the tail explosions, this fight is manageable, even if every landed attack will hit Kratos hard.

Once Nidhogg is at 60% health, pressing the R3 prompt on her stunned head will transition to Phase Three, where Freya will join in. This is where ranged weapon throws and any unlocked Light Runic Attacks the player has will be most useful, as the boss will do a lot to keep Kratos at a distance. She’ll climb up one of the three pillars around the battlefield, move between them, and use several different ranged attacks.

• An unblockable sweeping laser followed by an overhead laser that can be blocked or parried.
• Three fire blasts that can be parried
• Three tail stabs using World Tears that the player has to dodge.
• A vortex stomach that sucks up a whole load of rocks and then blasts them at Kratos all at once. This one is difficult, and the player should try to strafe to the side or get up close so that Nidhogg overshoots.

Occasionally use Sigils on the pillar to let the player knock Nidhogg down or stun her during the tail explosion. That’s when God of War: Ragnarok’s Heavy Runic Attacks come out, and the player should rush to get her health down.

The final Phase Four begins with Nidhogg at 10% health, again with the R3 prompt. Nidhogg is immune to damage until Freya places a sigil over her vortex stomach attack. Then, throw the Leviathan Axe in, break the immunity, and get rid of the remaining health during the stun window. Congratulations, Nidhogg is dead, and the player can keep going. Be sure to pick up all the loot, as she dropped some nice stuff, the Frozen Flame weapon upgrade and an item that can be equipped with a bunch of different Yggdrasil Enchantments, God of War: Ragnarok’s Amulet.

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