Time to go back to the land of the elves and see how it has changed in God of War Ragnarok. If you are expecting to enter into a land that is at peace, we may have some not great news for you. Seems like the Light Elves being in power didn't suddenly mean peace, love, and groovy vibes took over.
You will be fighting a whole assortment of Elves as you traverse the labyrinthine Tower Of Light. And, naturally, you will be encountering a steady supply of puzzles and treasures. We will help you solve some pretty tricky puzzles, and lead you to that sweet, sweet loot.
Updated July 20, 2023, by Sean Murray: Fighting your way through the Temple of Light in God of War: Ragnarok can be a pain. That's why we've refreshed this guide with improved formatting and breakout tips to help you find every treasure chest and defeat the elves.
The Strond
You will be starting off in the Strond, which is the desert of Alfheim. Make sure to read the Lore Text written on the statue. Now, follow Atreus and Tyr up the rocky ledges. Once you enter into a clearing that gives you a view of the desert below, hop down to the ledge under you.
There is a treasure chest here; you'll get some slag from this one. There is also a Lore Marker to be read as well.
Now, back on the main path, crawl though the crevice, and you will be with your companions again.
As Atreus talks about hearing an animal in the distance, there will be another ledge you will be able to hop down to below. This ledge holds a Nornir Chest. The first rune is to the left of the chest; destroy the rubble around the brazier, and you will be able to light it with your Blades of Chaos.
On the opposite end of the cave, there is another brazier hidden up above. The final brazier is just over the ledge on the far right side. Open the chest, and you will get a Horn of Blood Mead.
Continue on the path until you hop over a gap and come across a giant tree. There is a raven sitting on a branch of that tree. Take it out. You will now come across a fence surrounded by Twilight Stones.
When you aim your axe at these stone, a line of light will be emitted. That indicates where your axe will travel as it ricochets off of the stone. When the beam of light turns blue, you are typically lined up with the target of your shot. Aim your axe at the Twilight Stone on the other end of the fence through the hole. You will be able to break open the fence this way.
Now, get ready to fight some Wretches. Yes, they are here too.
While the Wretches in Alfheim are pretty similar to the others you have fought, these will blow themselves up when they are low on health. You tend to get a lot of notice, so just roll away when you see the indicator.
After you kill the Wretches, there will be another ledge to jump down to. There is another chest with a Runic Attack accessory, and a Kvasir poem waiting for you down here. Now climb back up, and continue on the main path.
You will soon encounter your first elf who is dual-wielding katana (nice). These enemies will primarily attack you with a series of sword slashes. You can parry all of these. They will also sometimes dash away and leave an explosive behind, but you will have plenty of time to get distance. They also have the ability to guard. Just parry their sword slashes and hack 'em up with your axe.
Something you should know is that if you press the block button twice you will slam through an opponent's guard. If an enemy has a blue indicator around them, then this attack will always disrupt and stun them. This is an extremely useful move in Alfheim.
Once you kill all the elves, move onward. You will find an artifact near a second Nornir Chest. Unfortunately, you can't open this chest at this point in the game, as you don't have the necessary tool. You will come across a locked door that will require some wheel turning. Just listen to Atreus and follow his directions.
You will come across a wall of light. You need to ricochet your axe off of the nearby Twilight Stone and destroy the crystal above the door.
The Temple Of Light
Keep following the main path, and you will see a chest just waiting to be looted. At the next light wall, get to the left of the Twilight Stone, and aim at the center. Continue forward, kill some elves, and then cross the gap by swinging to the large stones dangling from the ceiling.
Once you cross the gap, head to your left to find a chest tucked away. Back on the main path, there will be yet another chest out in the open.
You will travel up a giant stone staircase. Once you get to the top, there will be a place to hop down on your left. Do so. You will fight a few Wretches down here, before encountering one of Odin's ravens sitting behind a fence.
Don't aim for the Twilight Crystal in the room with it, aim for the Twilight Crystal to your left. This will make quick work of the raven. There is also a Lore Scroll around here.
Finally, hop down another level, and you will find a chest with a Runic Attack in it. After claiming your giant haul, climb back up and go back to the main path.
In order to lower the next light wall, climb up to the area behind the Twilight stone, travel to the right side, pick up a poem on the ground, and then aim at the stone from here. You will now encounter another form of Light Elf: the Light Elf Mystic.
This enemy fires slow-moving projectiles at you. Throw your axe at this slow ball of light to dispel it. Running from it is a mistake. The Mystic also has an attack where they dash away and throw a fast-moving ball of light that travels erratically. Just block these.
In general, the best way to take out the Mystic is to freeze them with your axe and then whale on them, as they are quite mobile. As the battle continues, other Light Elves (the ones with swords) will rush you. Just make sure you take care of the Mystics first and foremost, as they are the more dangerous of the two.
Once you clear that group out, make sure to claim the nearby treasure chest. Continue on the main path until you reach yet another light wall. There is a place to jump down on the left with a giant wheel to turn.
But before you do that, open the nearby door. Pull the chain to raise the Twilight Stone, then, while still holding the chain, throw your axe at the stone; it will lodge itself in the wall inside the chamber. Now, let go of the chain, and recall your axe, severing the chain holding the platform in the process. Hop down and grab your treasure. You will get a new hilt!
Back on the main path again, turn that wheel, then, when the Twilight Stone drops down, hit the targets above it to spin it around. Once the purple side is on the right, release the wheel and ricochet your axe off of it to destroy the light wall.
Now, kill a few Nightmares, and head into the room on the left to grab another poem. You will now enter into another chamber and face off against two Light Elf Warriors.
The Light Elf Warrior has a giant Katana and likes to dash forward with a sword attack. These attacks are parryable. The Elf Warrior also has a projectile attack where it sends a wave of energy at you.
Whenever the blue indicator shows up, they are about to perform a highly damaging attack. Double-tap the guard button to stun them! Try to parry their attacks, and make sure to stun them when you see the blue circle appear, and you should take care of them.
Once you take care of the Warriors, move into the back corner of the room, and hop down to the level below. There is a chest waiting for you down here. Jump back up, and go to where Tyr jumped across. You are going to climb across using those hanging stones.
But before you go to Tyr, take a left, and get the chest. You will need to get to the platform, and then yank the Twilight Stone so that it sways left and right. Then, aim your shot as the crystal is swinging to the right, and destroy the light wall. This is a touch tricky and may take multiple attempts. However, as a reward, you will obtain a new accessory!
Continue forward, and you will climb up to a room with a number of Twilight Stones. You will fight a bunch of Light Elves here.
If you ricochet your axe off of one of those stones and hit an elf, you will do a considerable amount of damage.
Once you clear them out, you will cross a light bridge and be in a room with a spiraling staircase, a Nornir Chest, and a hallway off to the side. Head down the hallway first.
Head to the end of this hallway, jump down, and claim the chest here. Now, climb back up. Atreus will bring something odd to your attention. There is one of those glowy green spots in one of the alcoves. Use a sonic arrow to destroy it, revealing one of the runes for the Nornir chest!
Now, go back to where the chest is. This chest requires that you hit three bells in quick succession. Two of the bells are lined up. One just above the chest, and another well behind it. The third you just revealed in that hallway.
From beside the chest, aim for the Twilight Stone in the hallway beside that bell. Once you hit it, get the bell above the chest, then finally, the one in the distance behind it. You will be rewarded with an Idunn Apple.
Head up the stairs and prepare for a brutal, brutal battle. All the elves will be here, and there will be tons of them.
The best way to handle this is to use the Twilight Stones placed around the room when possible and to retreat down the stairs to create a bottleneck when things get a little hairy.
With a little perseverance, you will emerge victorious. Before you leave the room, take care of the raven perched in the distance.
In the next room, you will need to angle the Twilight stone by yanking the statues around. Just shoot the green stones with Atreus' sonic arrows, and yank the statues until he tells you that looks right. Then, jump up to the balcony on your right and toss your axe at the Twilight Stone on the statue's shield.
Make sure you grab the treasure chest up on the second floor before you leave.
In the next room, Tyr will hold the Twilight stone for you, making it easy to break the light wall. However, there is also a secret here. On your right, there is a statue with a growing green spot near their hand, fire a sonic arrow at it, and you will free a stone that has a grapple point. You can then hop across and read the Lore Text, as well as open a chest.
You will now take an elevator, say hi to Sindri, and view one of those prophecies of the giants. Before you leave, grab the chest in this area. After all of that, you are going to engage in a ton of little skirmishes with Light Elves.
The path from here on out is extremely linear. You won't have to worry about missing anything, as there is nothing to miss. All of this will lead you to this world's boss: Alva.
Boss Battle: Alva
Alva has a number of tricks up her sleeves. In a way, she feels like a combination of the Light Elf and the Light Elf Warrior. She has extremely fast combos, similar to an enhanced version of the Light Elf unit, and her glaive projectile feels pretty similar to the Light Elf Warriors projectile attack.
Also, like both of them, she has an attack that can be staggered by your shield bash (pressing the block button twice in quick succession). Make sure that when you see the blue indicator you stun her, as you will otherwise eat an extraordinarily powerful attack. Alva's projectile is pretty predictable, as she holds the glaive above her head before she throws it at you.
Her standard combo is mostly parryable, though she will occasionally end it with an unblockable attack that you will need to roll away from. If you keep an eye open for that red circle, you should have more than enough time to retreat.
As the battle progresses, she will also start using an unblockable projectile attack where she sends a cross-shaped wave of energy at you. These projectiles will often come in pairs. But this attack is pretty easy to dodge.
Your main goal here is going to be parrying her standard attacks, and then hitting her with a punishing combo, and breaking her guard when that blue indicator appears—which will be another opportunity to deal substantial damage. If you maintain a constant offense, you will probably stun her once or twice as well.
Finally, once you have Alva on her last legs, she will start healing. Just bash her with your shield and finish her off. She should be on death's door at this point, as using your shield bash as she is healing does a considerable amount of damage.
Once you kill Alva, a series of unfortunate events will occur that lead you back to The Strond. Just as you exit the temple, there will be one last treasure chest on your right. Now, you will have to fight your way through waves of Dark Elves.
In general, the Dark Elves feel like weaker, yet more mobile, versions of the Light Elves. They can fly away, but your axe will pluck them out of the air with ease.
There are no treasures or goodies to be had, just hack your way past them, and you can finally leave this place.