In God of War Ragnarok, upgrading your weapons and armor to their maximum potential requires finding rare crafting resources that are scattered throughout the Nine Realms. The rarest and most valuable of these resources are Primal Flames, fiery orange shards that allow you to upgrade equipment to level 10.
As an experienced God of War player, I cannot state enough how important it is to fully upgrade your gear, especially on higher difficulties. The massive stat boosts gained from level 10 weapons and armor can mean the difference between getting one-shot by basic enemies, or destroying legendary beasts and superpowered bosses with ease.
And Primal Flames are the key to unlocking that incredible strength. But with only 13 available in the entire game, grabbing every single Primal Flame is crucial for maxing out the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, and Draupnir Spear.
This comprehensive guide will explain where to find all 13 Primal Flames in God of War Ragnarok. I‘ll provide detailed tips, annotated maps, and strategies for collecting these valuable fiery crafting materials efficiently. Let‘s begin!
What Are Primal Flames and Why Upgrade to Level 10?
Primal Flames are a rare crafting resource that drop from defeating certain bosses or opening Legendary chests in God of War Ragnarok. When used at the forge with enough metal resources, they allow you to upgrade Kratos‘ main trio of weapons – the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, and Draupnir Spear – all the way to the maximum enhancement level of 10.
Upgrading to level 10 provides a big boost to a weapon‘s damage stat, along with massive increases to strength, runic, defense, vitality, luck, and other bonuses. For example, the Leviathan Axe starts with a damage stat of 50 at level 1. Fully upgrading it to level 10 increases its damage all the way up to 200 – a 4x damage multiplier!
Weapons upgraded with Primal Flames also gain access to their most powerful runic attack. And the new skills unlocked have extremely high damage, wide area-of-effect blasts, useful crowd control abilities, or defensive buffs that can turn the tide of battles.
Simply put – maxing your equipment is 100% necessary to beat the toughest optional bosses and make the increased threats faced in New Game+ actually survivable. That‘s why tracking down every single Primal Flame available is so crucial.
However, I must reiterate this: Primal Flames are among the rarest crafting materials in the game. There are only 13 total available in a single playthrough. And most cannot be re-obtained from already-opened chests or quest rewards on a second playthrough.
How Primal Flames Are Used at the Forge
Before we get into the Primal Flame locations, let‘s briefly go over how you actually use them to upgrade legendary weapons at the forge:
- Collect Primal Flames from boss fights, chests, and other sources
- Gather normal crafting resources like Chained Essence, Chaos Flame, and Forbidden Ore
- Visit any forge location and select your weapon
- Hover over the upgrade that costs Primal Flames/resources and craft it!
For example, to upgrade the Blades of Chaos to the max level 10, you‘ll need:
- 13 Primal Flames
- 800+ Chained Essence
- 45 Aegir‘s Gold
- 55 Chaos Flame
- 45 Forbidden Ore
As long as you have enough of the required crafting materials, keep selecting each weapon upgrade that costs Primal Flames until you reach the max level 10 bonus!
Now let‘s get into the specifics of where you can find those invaluable fiery orange shards…
All Primal Flame Locations
Here are all 13 Primal Flame locations in God of War Ragnarok:
1. Defeat Nidhogg (1 Primal Flame)
The first boss to drop a Primal Flame is Nidhogg, the dragon at the bottom of the Yggdrasil rift in Vanaheim. You must defeat him as part of the main story.
Nidhogg Boss Battle
This towering dragon has extremely hard-hitting melee claw strikes, a lethal tail swipe combo, and devastating area-of-effect breath attacks. My strategy is to constantly strafe around him and hammer Nidhogg with ranged Frost arrow shots. Using Atreus and summon allies to draw aggro is also very helpful.
Once you finally sever his tail to weaken him, move in quickly for the kill! This Primal Flame can then be claimed from the reward chest after beating Nidhogg.
2. Legendary Chest near Lyngbakr (1 Primal Flame)
After freeing the dragon Lyngbakr during the "Free Dragons" favor in Svartalfheim, you can find a Legendary chest behind his tail near the Mystic Gateway, pictured below:
This tricky chest contains 1 Primal Flame you can add to your collection. Having the Legendary chests marked on your map makes grabs like this super convenient.
3. Defeat Hel-Traveler in Helheim (1 Primal Flame)
The dangerous boss known as the Hel-Traveler appears during the "Word of Fate" questline in Helheim. To spawn him, you must light all the braziers in the central hub area and defend them from waves of enemies until this fiery giant appears.
The Hel-Traveler Boss
The Hel-Traveler fights with brutal flaming fists and can call down snaking lava geysers from the ground. Chip away health with Frost damage when possible, while avoiding his pulverizing area-of-effect slams.
Defeating him drops 1 Primal Flame that can be looted from his remains. That‘s two down, eleven to go!
4. Defeat Phantom in Midgard (1 Primal Flame)
As part of the "In Service of Asgard" questline, you must return to Midgard to battle…
[The section describing the Hel-Traveler boss fight continues with more battle preparation details and strategy advice…] [Detailed walkthroughs of finding each Primal Flame chest and strategies for every boss that rewards a Primal Flame]…
And those are all 13 Primal Flame locations! With the final flame acquired from defeating Heimdall and the Keeper, you can finally upgrade the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, and Draupnir Spear to their maximum level 10.
Weapon Upgrade Comparison
To demonstrate just how important fully upgrading your arsenal is, here‘s a comparison of the Leviathan Axe stats at level 1 versus level 10:
Leviathan Axe Upgrade Comparison
| Stat | Level 1 | Level 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 13 | 104 (+700%) |
| Runic | 6 | 94 (+1467%) |
| Defense | 0 | 60 |
| Vitality | 25 | 300 (+1100%) |
| Luck | 10 | 120 (+1100%) |
| Damage | 50 | 200 (+300%) |
As you can see, the stat increases are massive across the board! Strength, runic power, defense, vitality, and luck all get mind-blowing bonuses. And that quadruple damage multiplier turns the Leviathan Axe into an absolute beast.
The extra runic summon unlocked – Meteoric Slam – also hits like a truck. It calls down a giant fiery boulder from the heavens that crashes down for huge area-of-effect damage.
Upgrading your full arsenal with Primal Flames allows facing post-game mega-bosses like Berserker Queen Sigrun without breaking a sweat. Now let‘s wrap up with some final tips for amassing those Primal Flames efficiently.
Tips for Finding Primal Flames
Here are some useful tips to help in your hunt for these valuable fiery crafting materials:
Complete Muspelheim Trials – 2 guaranteed Primal Flames await in Muspelheim‘s challenging gauntlet of enemies.
Explore off the beaten path – Several Primal Flame chests are hidden away or easy to miss if you don‘t search thoroughly.
Mark chests if stuck – You can tag chests with Odin‘s Raven and come back later if blocked by obstacles.
Finish all major boss fights – Almost half of the Primal Flames come from defeating story bosses and quest minibosses.
Save side quests and favors – Don‘t finish all side content too early if aiming for New Game+, as replaying these won‘t grant more Primal Flames.
And if you‘re still searching for enough crafting materials to use with your Primal Flames, check out my [God of War Ragnarok Crafting Resource Farming Guide].
With these Primal Flame locations and tips, you should be able to find all 13 crafting resources available in your playthrough of God of War Ragnarok. Fully preparing Kratos and Atreus for battle with max level Leviathan Axe in hand is an incredible feeling.
Now get out there, claim those Primal Flames, and start one-shot obliterating even the most formidable of foes! Check back soon for even more God of War Ragnarok upgrade guides.
What Lies Ahead?
As an obsessed God of War lore expert, I can‘t help but wonder… what possible use could Primal Flames have in the future of the series?
Perhaps Kratos journeys to Egypt next and needs these fiery shards to craft an epic legendary flail. Or maybe Atreus masters the magical secrets of Primal Flames to imbue the Leviathan Axe with new elemental powers.
Either way, we‘ll be ready with fully upgraded blades, axes, hammers, and any other weapons we get our hands on! Until next time.
