Like many other PlayStation fans, I thought that the God of War series had run its course, and —with an already solid lineup of exclusives for the PS4 platform— Sony didn’t seem to need the series anymore. Sure, longtime Sony partner Naughty Dog Studios brought Nathan Drake and company back for one final romp on the PS4, but the story of legendary deity slayer Kratos seemed to have been pretty much put to an end. When you spend the duration of five entire games doing nothing but dethroning ancient Greek mythological figures, you’re bound to run out of content eventually.

To everyone’s surprise, the franchise was brought back, and, having already eliminated every living being on Mount Olympus, Kratos seems to have taken up residence in a mythical Norse world, presumably so he could never be too far away from his favorite hobby: destroying gods. He’s also got a kid now, though he seems to have literally named him “boy,” as that’s practically always how he addresses him.

The God of War series of games was never big on collectibles or upgrades. Yes, you did spend much of the game buffing up Kratos in God of War 3, but that was hardly the focal point of the experience. This new game, however, puts much, much more emphasis on tricking out your version of the ashen deity destroyer and fine-tuning him to be outfitted exactly as you’d like. The trouble is, most of the better upgrade materials are pretty tricky to get your hands on.

20 Mist Armor

Armor plays a pretty major role in God of War. While Kratos seemed to have been bare-chested for much of the series’ introductory trilogy, he’s since wisened up and kitted himself out in some of the best armor Norse mythology has to offer. However, if you really want the best of the best when it comes to protection, you’re going to have to work for it.

Mist Armor is popularly considered to be the best armor class in the game, but it’s by no means easy to obtain. Players must first gain access to the shadowy realm if Niflheim, which is done by obtaining four Niflheim Ciphers scattered throughout the game. Once there, you’ll need to collect nine pieces of rusted armor scattered throughout the realm. After that, you will be tasked with collecting enough mist echoes to upgrade the armor.

Once you’re done with that, you can choose to develop one of three kinds of mist armor: Deadly Mist Armor, Endless Mist Armor, and Cursed Mist Armor, each of which has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. If you are looking to succeed in the late game on some of the higher difficulties, this armor set is pretty much essential.

19 Aesirbane

God of War’s Niflheim seems to be something of a callback to the labyrinth in God of War 3. Or, rather, this is what God of War 3’s Labyrinth should have been. The region is essentially a series of ever-changing rooms packed with traps and dangerous enemies. The ultimate goal is to find the treasures stashed in the center of the randomly generated maze, or to come back with enough mist echoes to upgrade your equipment or buy some new gear.

It’s almost reminiscent of the Souls games, though people tend to be absolutely accosted for calling something a “souls-like” these days. If Kratos kicks the bucket in the misty maze, he’ll lose all of his blood echoes… sorry, mist echoes, and you’ll be left with essentially nothing for your troubles. Much like that infamously difficult trilogy of games, there’s a huge risk/reward element to the Niflheim maze. If you manage to gather up 7500 mist echoes, however, you’ll be able to Aesirbane from Ivaldi’s workshop, which can be used to imbue armor, pommels, and talismans with a cursed mist. It’s an upgrade worthy of only the most dedicated players, though, and I would be willing to bet that most players find themselves at the end game before they actually get their hands on this stuff.

18 Chaos Flame

Be warned, I will be forced to reveal something of an unavoidable spoiler. You’ve likely heard of this already, but, just in case you weren’t aware, the new God of War title sees Kratos reunited with his famously formidable Blades of Chaos. A treat for veterans of the series, they provide a somewhat unique experience when compared to the Leviathan Axe, the other main weapon featured in the title.

Unaware players may find themselves at the end of the game without the ability to upgrade these weapons to their final form, however. It’s kind of a bummer, but, if you want to max out your weapons, you need to prove that you're worthy. First, you’ll need to gain access to Muspelheim, which, much like Niflheim, the game’s other forbidden region, is only admissible by way of a set of Muspelheim Ciphers. Once inside, you’ll have to battle your way through a set of arenas which will both test your strength and make you wish you already had the Chaos Flame. There are five arenas with two trials apiece, and conquering them will grant you access to a sixth and final arena which tasks you with defeating a Valkyrie. Accomplishing that will earn you the Raging Inferno of Muspelheim, which finally allows you to unleash the full potential of the Blades of Chaos.

17 Chilling Mist Of Niflheim

Some of the late game unlockables and upgrades in God of War can be sort of confusing, and the Chilling Mist of Niflheim is a prime contender for one of the most obscure, frustrating items to acquire.

Anyone who has cut their teeth on Santa Monica Studio’s newest hit will know that, in order to upgrade the Leviathan Axe, you’ll need to get your hands on a Frozen Flame. Though oxymoronic and almost certainly the name of a teenage garage band, these Frozen Flames are nearly invaluable to progression. That said, the final one can only be unlocked once you actually beat the game.

To finally fully upgrade this weapon, you’ll obviously need to make your way to Niflheim; more specifically, you’ll need to journey to the center of the Niflheim maze. In a legendary chest in the center area you’ll find the Chilling Mist of Niflheim, and, provided you’ve already seen the game’s ending, you can return to Sindiri and purchase the fifth and final Frozen Flame to upgrade your axe. It may be a bit more trouble than it’s worth give that you have to have already made your way through the late game to get you hands on this upgrade.

16 Traveler’s Armor Shard

A battle-hardened piece of material used to craft the Traveler’s Armor set, obtaining these upgrade materials will have you doing battle against the relatively difficult Traveler enemies, which are the only foes in the game which drop these particular pieces. You are bound to encounter at least a few of these during the game’s main story, and a few more still if you venture through the game’s various favors (which are more commonly referred to as side quests). If you are interested in pursuing this set of armor, however, you’re going to have to take down quite a few of these enemies, so you’ll need to be prepared. Also, it’s important to know that Travelers don’t actually respawn—there’s a limited amount of them in the game. This means that you can’t farm them, you’ll have to go and seek them out yourself. From my experience, they can be found around towers near the Lake of Nine, but pursuing this armor set is almost a side quest unto itself, and, though it is useful in combat, I can only really see dedicated players who have already experienced the title’s endgame enduring through the struggles of crafting this armor. If you’re a battle-hardened veteran at this point and you’re looking for some extra pieces of content to experience, then you may as well give this a shot.

15 Royal Dwarven Armor Set

If you’ve spent any amount of time with the new God of War title, then you are probably intimately familiar with the game’s dwarven brothers, Brok and Sindiri. Unlike some of the more infamous equipment sets in the game, the Royal Dwarven Armor set isn’t all that difficult to get your hands on, and it’s an ideal loadout for players who may be struggling to pass through some mid game sections.

The dwarves aren’t just giving this stuff out to anybody, though: you’ll have to earn their favor to get your hands on their precious armor. How might you go about doing that? Well, by accomplishing some of they favors they offer. Specifically you’ll be required to do the Second Hand Soul, Deus Ex Malachite, Fafnir’s Hoard, Family Business, and Hail to the King sidequests. That may sound like a bit of a distraction from the main quest lines, but God of War is already a relatively lengthy experience as it is, so what’s the harm in tacking on a few more hours of playtime.

Once all of the requirements have been fulfilled, the Royal Dwarven Armor pieces will be available for purchases at Brok and Sindiri’s shops. The brothers actually offer two unique armors sets, so you will have to decide which brother you like more… or, if you aren’t interested in taking sides, which armor set best suits your playstyle.

14 Tyr Armor Set

If you aren’t already privy, Tyr, who plays a major role and is referenced tons of times in God of War’s new installment, is the Norse deity of law and war. Ordinarily, that would put him suspiciously high on Kratos’ hit list, but, given the Greek demigod’s current parental preoccupations, he doesn’t seem all that focused on obliterating literally every supreme being who comes across his path.

Tyr could also be thought of something of a foil for Kratos and his son, as Tyr was the son of the treacherous Odin. That’s neither here nor there, but, instead of pursuing the god’s power yourself, it may be best to emulate his abilities via his in-game armor set.

If you want to get your hands on this epic armor set, you’ll have to work your way through a couple of different favors which can be picked up from Wayward Spirits scattered throughout the game’s world. The first of which may be found at the Forgotten Caverns dock, the second east of Tyr’s Temple at the Stone Falls dock, and the third at the Mason Channel boat dock. You’ll be given the Dead Freight, Hammer Fall, and The Anatomy of Hope favors, which, when completed, will grant you Tyr’s Lost Unity Cuirass Chest Armor, the Lost Unity Gauntlets, and Tyr’s Lost Utility Belt.

13 Dust Of Realms

As you likely already know, Midgard, the realm in which much of the new God of War game takes place, is one of nine realms imagined in Norse mythology. While Midgard is intended as the domain of humanity, it is possible for Kratos to transcend between these dimensions. Yet, as you may have guessed, introducing trans-dimensional travel into a game can make for some interesting, complicated plot points. In this case, Santa Monica Studios included Realm Tears, which appear to be the manifestation of blended or incompatible dimensions crossing into one another. It’s too bad Stephen Hawking isn’t around anymore, I would really like to get his opinion on this stuff.

Kratos can actually harness some really useful material from these oddities in the form of a material known as the Dust of Realms. To get your hands on this stuff, which can be used to upgrade a myriad of different in-game items, you’ll have to track one down and interact with it. You’ll then have to face some pretty difficult and varied enemies, and I wouldn’t recommend that you pursue this too early in the game. If you succeed, then you’re one step closer to unlocking Kratos’ full potential.

12 Ancient’s Heart

Whether you’re ruthlessly pursuing God of War’s platinum trophy, looking for something to do after experiencing the endgame content, or simply want to get your hands on a cool armor set, you’re going to want to find out how to forge the Ancient Armor Set. Doing so will unlock the “Primordial” trophy, and you’ll feel pretty cool about rocking some armor intended for powerful, ancient beings.

This armor set isn’t all that difficult to pursue—well, relatively speaking, that is. You won’t have to battle your way to the top of Muspelheim or plunder the misty depths of Niflheim to collect this stuff, but you’ll still have to put some work in to get it done. The armor set requires two specific items: the Ancient’s Heart, and the Ancient’s Rubble. Fortunately, both of these materials can be found in the same place. Unfortunately, you’ll have to take down some of the Ancient enemy types, but I would be willing to be that you’ve already assumed as much. It isn’t quite as tough as you’d think, and you don’t need that many of these resources to make the armor. However, like the Travelers, there is a fixed amount of Ancients in the game, which means that you may have to do a bit of hunting to accomplish this goal.

11 Horn Of Blood Mead

If you’ve played God of War for any amount of time, you probably know just how useful Kratos’ rage can be. I mean that literally: the ex-Grecian deity has an in-game meter which allows him to manifest his anger in the form of a temporarily upgraded set of Blades of Chaos, as well as fleeting invincibility and increased attack damage. Extraordinarily useful in tough spots and sometimes required to progress in the game, Kratos’ rage is something that, when used wisely, can really elevate your playing ability.

While you can’t upgrade this particular stat through traditional means, the game does allow you to lengthen Kratos’ rage mode through the use of in-game items known as Horns of Blood Mead. As far as I know, there’s a total of nine to be found throughout your playthrough. They aren’t lying out in the open for anyone to simply come across, however. As with most useful equipment, these upgrades are hidden in chests and require the discovery of several seals to unlock. Find the chest, break the seals, and you’re golden. I’m guessing that most players will have stumbled across a few of these items in their first run through the game, but, if you’re looking to beat the game on the tougher difficulties, you’ll really need to be on the lookout for this stuff.

10 Helheim Artifacts

Taking a page out of fellow Sony dev Naughty Dog’s playbook, there’s a ton of collectible artifacts scattered throughout the game. Stuff like this is completely commonplace in modern-day AAA gaming, as it’s a great way to extend the life of the game and give completionists a little extra to strive for. If you aren’t interested in this kind of stuff, I wouldn’t really blame, but amidst all of Odin’s ravens and hidden legendary chests, it’s pretty easy to miss some of this stuff.

This is just my experience, but I thought I would pass along the location of a particularly easy-to-miss artifact located in Helheim. I found Helheim to be a pretty amazing place. The Norse underworld, as I’m have been led to believe, reminds me a lot of God of War 3’s first real playable area — and its even creepier than that, in all honesty.

Anyway, though I’m not particularly great at directions, just past one of the location’s legendary chests you can climb down the cracks in a wall. Directly opposite from that will be the underside of a stone bridge bearing a collectible caught in some bramble. Use your blades to smack it down, and you’ll be one artifact richer.

9 Asgardian Steel

Perfect Asgardian Steel is a miraculous upgrade item which allows for the enhancement of pommels, talismans, and, of course, armor. If you’re having trouble with the game’s difficulty, then few things would be better than pieces of equipment imbued with the power of Norse gods. If you’re having trouble with the game, though, then you probably won’t be seeing very much of this stuff during your romp through the realms of Norse mythology. That’s because the only way to acquire items as valuable as these would be to defeat one of the nine Valkyries in the game. These formidable foes actually serve as optional bosses which may be pursued by the hardest of hardcore players, and seeking out and defeating the eight regular Valkyries and the Valkyrie Queen is absolutely no small task. Kratos, of course, is pretty used to herculean feats. He’s actually bested Hercules himself in a face off in the series’ third installment, so it’s safe to say that he’s up for the task.

Most of these fights are pretty tough, so I would remind you to utilize Atreus’ arrows as much as possible. I found it pretty hard to dodge most of the homing attacks, but you can actually get around this by stunning a Valkyrie with an arrow.

8 Forbidden Grip Of The Ages Axe Pommel

Widely considered to be one of the best upgrades available for Kratos’ Leviathan Axe, the Forbidden Grip of the Ages is about as difficult and cryptic to get your hands on as you could imagine, and, should you have laid claim to the thing without looking up some sort of walkthrough, you are already a god worthy of a contest between yourself and Odin.

This special pommel can be found at the top of Muspelheim Tower, which is already a pretty difficult location to reach. The path to the tower actually starts at the Lookout Tower during the low water phase, but you’ll really need to keep your wits about you as, during your journey to the top, you’ll be faced with all manner of nightmarish creatures that’ll make you break your controller and delete your save file.

While I can’t get into all of the specifics, once you reach the top of the tower, you actually have to look in four specific directions while standing in the middle of the golden circle embedded on the tower’s peak. Stand facing Tyr’s Temple and look left at the flaming brazier, straight ahead at the temple, the brazier on the right, then at the floor. Do it right and you’ll open up a tear in which resides the sacred upgrade.

7 Muspelheim Smoldering Embers

If you haven’t already gone through the five areas of Muspelheim, I would suggest steeling yourself and diving in. It’s certainly a challenge and can be a bit frustrating at times depending on the difficulty level on which your playing, but the rewards you get for doing so are so significant that they are more than worth the extra effort. As Muspelheim and Niflheim are essentially bonus areas, I worry that most players won’t bother with this stuff on their first run, which is definitely a shame. Will you actually have to beat the game to get some of these area’s items like the final Frozen Flame, they’re still great inclusions that I would hate to see go unsung.

If you are successful in overcoming the trials of Muspelheim, you will likely be rewarded with some Smoldering Embers found in some of the chests in the area. These work as vital upgrade items, and you can imbue some of your armor, talismans, and pommels with the land’s ancient primordial flame. If you for some reason thought that Kratos wasn’t quite fearsome enough, this might be just the kind of upgrade you need, though I don’t know why you would ever think something like that.

6 Get Your Hands On the Avengers’ Infinity Gauntlet

Marvel’s most recent blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War has taken the world by storm, and, unlike the film’s relatively underwhelming prequel Age of Ultron, fans are freaking out about just how good this movie is. So good, in fact, that it actually managed to influence some of the creative minds at Santa Monica Studios who saw fit to include a pretty sly nod to the film’s notorious relic.

In God of War, players can collect a talisman labeled the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages. The item’s description implies that it was once part of a world-shatteringly powerful weapon which was simply too dangerous to remain whole. What’s more, this golden gauntlet can be inlaid with a set of enhancements eerily similar to the Infinity Stones. Named Andvari’s Soul, Asgard’s Shard of Existence, Eye of the Outer Realm, Ivaldi’s Corrupted Mind, Muspelheim Eye of Power, and Njord’s Temporal Stone, these artifacts are way too similar to Marvel’s stones to be a coincidence. Plus, I suppose Thor is technically a Norse god, though I don’t suppose Chris Hemsworth makes an appearance in the game, unfortunately. I would also have loved to have seen Anthony Hopkins reprise his role as Odin, but perhaps there are a few more easter eggs the community has yet to come across.

5 Niflheim Alloy

By now you’ve surely recognized a pattern: if you want the best upgrade materials, you’re going to have to brave the realm of Niflheim. As I’ve already said, I’m a huge fan of the concept of a shadowy, ever-changing maze. It was sorely lacking in other God of War games, as the subject matter would have been perfect for a mechanic of this nature. We’ve got it now, though, and, while it may seem like a real drag to keep venturing into this place only to be beaten down and thrown out with nary a mist echo or alloy to show for it, dedicated players know just how handsome your efforts may be rewarded.

In some chests in the random, sprawling maze will contain Niflheim Alloy. It’s probably the most common item drop in the realm, but it’s still extraordinarily valuable as you’ll need copious amounts of it to develop things like the Deadly Mist, Endless Mist, and Cursed Mist armor sets. They will also require things like Haze Weave, but, endure Niflheim long enough, and you should be rich in all three of these resources.

I try to beat every game I buy, which is not always an easy task. As a result, I tend to get late-game tunnel vision and ignore most side objectives in favor of completing the main goal. In God of War, that would be a mistake.

4 Amulet Of Kvasir

I honestly wish the game’s talisman mechanic were just a bit deeper. As it stands, you can only equip one at a time, and, though they can bestow some cool attributes and temporary upgrades, they work on a cooldown. I would have been all about min-maxing multiple passive talismans to cultivate the perfect conditions for myself, but that’s just not an aspect included in this feature of the game.

That said, some of the talismans can still be really neat, and you would be missing out were you to blindly slap one on without considering the positives and negatives. The Amulet of Kavasir is regarded as one of the better talismans in the game, though it is a largely defensive-oriented upgrade. It’s effect is really cool though; if you dodge at the correct instance, time will slow down and allow you a few extra hits at your enemy. Though I found it to be just a bit tedious if overused, it’s invaluable in particularly difficult fights in which every second matters, and the windows for unleashing damage on your enemies are small.

This talisman is available in Alfheim, though clever, dedicated players have discovered that you can actually nab this late-game trinket around an hour after reaching the Lake of Nine. Again, it isn’t necessarily something that will propel you through the world with ease, but, used efficiently, it’s another great tool in Kratos’ arsenal.

3 Mistbourne

Arguably the most useful Leviathan Axe pommel in the game, Mistbourne is a must-have for the late-game on high difficulties. The stats are impressive, but the real draw is its ability to occasionally activate a healing mist upon any successful hit. Healing on the fly is always nice, and this pommel could end up carrying you through some really precarious moments. This could be indicative of my poor play, but I found this to be beyond helpful.

I’ll give you one guess as to where you might pick up an item with the word “mist” in the name. That’s right, Niflheim. Here, you can pick up a favor from Sindir which will require you to close every realm tear in the area, which is much easier said than done. I’m still pretty confused by the architecture of that place, so I’m not sure if I could accurately relay the location of all these dimensional gaps, but, once you’ve done so, you’ll actually be bombarded by enemies from a fourth and final tear. Defeating them will grant you the Mistbourne Axe pommel. While already flawless players will claim to have turned their noses at the prospect of health regen, I was all too happy to hack away at enemies with this thing.

2 Valkyrie’s Might

I haven’t actually been able to get my hands on this particular upgrade for the Leviathan Axe, so I can’t really provide a firsthand anecdote about it, but, from what I’ve heard, it’s extremely useful. The attributes are slightly confusing, but the pommel essentially allows for a small perk activation chance which causes a small explosion in combat. There’s also a small chance that pulling off a successful executioner’s cleave will activate a strike of the Valkyrie, which pretty much amounts to a huge explosion.

While that sounds cool, you’ll probably have to go up against a few Valkyries before you get access to this pommel. The only way to get it to drop is to defeat these optional bosses, and, from what I can tell, the loot they drop can be pretty random. I don’t really have the patience or skill to go around toeing it against Valkyries all day, so I’ll leave this one to the more experienced players. I’ll be honest: God of War was never really my forte, and I don’t quite know why. I struggled through God of War 3, and I’m struggling through this pseudo-reboot. If you’ve got what it takes, casting the occasional explosion sounds like a handy ability to have in a fight.

1 Grips Of The Valkyrie

Again, I’ve kind of shown my hand here already. Though I plan to play the game again and experience all of the content on which I initially missed out, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time attempting to conquer non-essential bosses. As a result, I didn’t pay as much attention as I perhaps should have to the pommels I would using on my weapons, and I actually think I spent most of the game with the same pommel equipt to my Blades of Chaos. Maybe that’s why I’m not that great at this game, but that’s neither here nor there.

If you are really into the destruction of Norse deities, you’ll likely have gotten the Grips of the Valkyrie from a fallen Valkyrie at some point. Pommels intended for the Blades of Chaos, they offer a slight chance on each successful blade hit to activate a strike of the Valkyrie that sounds pretty decent, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be that motivated to go through with outsing all nine Valkyries from their respective realms. It could be that, after literally destroying every deity in Greek mythology, I’m just a little bit worn out. I do want to look cool in front of my son, though.