2018's God Of War is a critical darling, having earned rave reviews from all over the gaming sphere. The game is rough and violent and, at times, incredibly difficult - which is why finding the best equipment for Kratos is so crucial to a player's success. There are a few pieces of loot, however, in the early game, that can you the defensive edge you need to go toe-to-toe with the Norse gods.

The Amulet Of Kvasir

The first thing you'll need to do is row your boat to the Light Elf Sanctuary in Alfheim. You'll find that through the beach on the Eastern shore of Alfheim's central lake. You'll be confronted with a number of puzzles involving root nodes, which usually involving destroying all root nodes in sight in an impossibly short period of time. This can be done through careful aiming of your axe throw, or through use of environmental effects to your advantage.

Anyways, once you've walked up the path from the beach, you'll come across a timed gate. You'll need to flip the switch in order to activate the gate, and then take a running leap to reach the gate before it closes again. Atreus gets left behind on the other side, mostly likely, but he can take care of himself.

The next challenge is a root node puzzle. There is a gate tied to a switch before you, with one of the root notes on your side of it, and its twin on the other side. In order to destroy both root nodes, follow this pattern:

Activate the switch. Throw an axe at the lower root node, allowing the gate to rise, and recall your axe immediately. Quickly throw your axe at the upper root node as the gate rises. This will cause the gate to fall again, but on its way down it will destroy the regenerating first root node. Once they're both removed, you'll be able to progress.

Take a right here (ignoring the realm tear), throwing an axe to break the two overlapping root nodes. Follow the path, and deal with some more root nodes in order to access the chamber where the talisman is hidden.

Continue down the dark hallway to get to the final puzzle - you need to hit all three root nodes at once. To make this happen, spin the wheel in the room as far as it can go, then take a step to the right and line up your shot as the the orbits of the rotating root nodes align in syzygy. Get them all in a row, and you can pick up the Amulet of Kvasir!

What Does It Do?

This talisman greatly improves the value of dodging enemy attacks. Once it's equipped, when you dodge with perfect timing, you'll activate 'Realm Shift,' temporarily slowing down surrounding enemies, and giving you the chance smash them to bits.

The amulet may not suit your particular style of play. Luckily, God Of War provides opportunities for a variety of players to find their groove. If you're more interested in improving your ability to block attacks with your shield, check out our guide to the Golden Talisman Of Protection.