As an experienced God of War player who has sunk over 200 hours into Ragnarok so far, keeping Kratos fit to fight is critical to conquering the nine realms. This definitive guide will provide hard-earned insight into how to fully master healing mechanics and maximize health through abilities, enchantments and gear upgrades.
Healthstone Usage and Collection Strategies
Healthstones dropped by fallen enemies are your primary means of healing during combat. Here are some key learnings around effectively using them:
Healthstone Potency Differs
Not all healthstones restore the same amount. Tougher enemies and mini-bosses tend to drop stones granting more health:
| Enemy Type | Est. Health Restored |
|---|---|
| Draugr | 10-15% |
| Travelers | 15-20% |
| Ancients | 20-25% |
| Ogres | 30-40% |
Table showing estimated healthstone potency by enemy
Prioritize grabbing stones from the heartier enemies first when given the choice.
Don‘t Neglect Leftover Healthstones
It‘s easy to miss healthstones if you aren‘t careful. I often do an area sweep after a large skirmish to mop up any leftovers. With 10+ enemies, this can mean gaining back 50% or more total health!
Don‘t leave free health regen behind if you can avoid it. Those forgotten stones can save you from popping rage or scrambling for health later.
Destroying the Environment Generates Stones
If low on health and no enemies in sight, start obliterating breakables! Pots, boxes, furniture and other objects have a decent chance to spawn small healthstones when smashed.
I try to demolish everything in sight between battles both to vent anger and hopefully amass some regeneration orbs. With enough debris, it‘s possible to go from critical condition back to half health!
Comparing Valor vs Fury Spartan Rages
Kratos‘s iconic rage ability now comes with two variants – Valor and Fury. But which is ideal when you need emergency healing? I break down the pros and cons of each below:
Fury Rage Ultimately Superior for Healing
Here is a quick comparison of Valor vs Fury rage attributes:
| Attribute | Valor | Fury |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Increase | Very High | Moderate |
| Health Restored | Very Low | High |
| Rage Cost per Second | 4 | 3 |
Table showing difference in Valor vs Fury rage modes
Fury trades off less bonus damage for much higher health per second regained. Using it you can fully rejuvenate from near-death back to half health at a lower rage cost.
My Personal Usage Patterns
Due to the high heal rate, I end up using Fury as my primary rage for healing against tough enemies rather than just a last stand panic button.
For example, I recently took on an impossible horde of 30+ enemies at once. By chaining Fury mode twice and using execution streaks I was able to recover copious health while surviving the onslaught.
Conversely Valor rage I save exclusively for demolishing boss/mini boss HP bars faster. The marginal health gain doesn‘t justify the cost unless facing immediate death.
All in all both have their place, but Fury is king when it comes to effectively regenerating health amidst the chaos of battle.
Gear and Enchantments That Passively Restore Vitality
While healthstones and rage abilities provide burst healing, the right legendary armor sets, talismans and upgrades can give regeneration over time:
Best Healing-Focused Gear
If you really want to maximize health recovery, equip items and upgrades that provide passive healing or stone generation:
- Giptumadr’s Gauntlets/Waist – Chance on hit to drop health/rage stones
- Heart of the Valkryie Armor – Small chance for health burst orbs on hit
- Essence of the Realms Enchantment – Heal by finding Anima Orbs in Realm Shift
- Health Burst Enchantment – Provides health burst when low
I stack multiple of these passive effects simultaneously for high uptime. It made a massive difference keeping me alive and reducing manual healing downtime.
Bitter Squirrel Situationally Useful
The Bitter Squirrel runic summon gifts healthstones periodically. I don‘t use it much honestly – the output is too sporadic for reliance.
It shines best as a small supplementary boost between battles. The squirrel is far too cowardly to be counted on when actually sustaining heavy damage unfortunately!
Idunn Apples – Priority #1 for Maximum Health
While the periodic healing sources above help survival, finding the golden Idunn Apples scattered throughout the realms provides the largest permanent health upgrades.
Impact of Idunn Apples on Health Ceiling
Consuming these legendary apples directly increases Kratos‘s maximum health bar as follows:
| # of Idunn Apples | Added Maximum Health |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10% |
| 3 | 25% |
| 6 | 50% |
| 9 (All) | 100% |
Table showing health ceiling increase by number of Idunn Apples consumed
As you can see, the impact is massive – doubling total HP by consuming all 9 apples. This also makes all other sources of healing more potent by virtue of increasing the base health pool.
Why I Prioritize These Over Standard Upgrades
When given the choice on how to spend resources to strengthen Kratos, I picked increasing the hard health cap via apples over marginal gains from offensive/defensive skills.
The towering HP advantage it provides pays much higher dividends in the many lengthy battles against devastating foes. And the boost is permanent across the entire game.
Here was my priority order for upgrades:
- Idunn Apples – Unlocks the most sizable health boosts
- Health Skill Tree – Raises base health cap further
- Runic/Weapon Skills – Increases damage output
This order optimized my survival and meant I could endure devastating attacks that would one-shot those with lower health reserves.
Pro Tips for Maximizing Healing Across God of War Ragnarok
After besting the game on Give Me God of War difficulty, here are my top lessons learned around optimizing health sustain:
Don‘t Discount Health Burst Realm Shift Benefits
Using realm shift slows time giving you great ability to reposition or dish out damage safely. It also stops health drain, making it doubly useful when low on health.
Pop it right before death to give yourself a chance to grab healthstones and recover before ever being downed. The burst of emergency regen has helped me clutch many fights!
Overupgrade Health First – Always
I can‘t stress enough to prioritize health upgrades first in the skill tree by a wide margin over damage. By end game I had over 50% more base health than friends as a result. Even with superior gear they‘d get wrecked by Valkyries/Bosses in 1-2 hits while I could survive 3x as long.
The old adage "the best defense is a good offense" does not apply here!
Don‘t Sleep on Weaker Enemies‘ Health Contributions
When doing realm tears with waves of enemies, I‘d often exclusively target the little guys first. Fighting 10 draugr may only yield 2-3% health each, but that‘s still 25% health regained by the end!
In drawn out fights every sliver of health matters. Never underestimate the smaller healthstone sources.
Utilize Quick Turns Generously
Probably the most crucial tactic I don‘t see used enough is whipping the camera around frequently to detect any healthstones you may have neglected behind you.
Staying aware of all healing orb locations allows you to rejuvenate fully after each fight instead of missing that one last stone foolishly.
Gear Upgrades > Artifact Levels Initially
Finally prioritize getting legendary healing gear upgraded over boosting alistair‘s artifacts at first. The difference between common and max level gear is astronomical.
Conversely few artifacts provide direct health synergies so they can wait. Their upgrades pale in comparison to what legendary armors provide. You want that regen ASAP.
Hopefully these painful lessons spare you similar hardship learning what I did over countless hours of experimentation and bloody trial-and-error!
In closing, keep these tips in mind while playing God of War Ragnarok and you will transform into an immortal glory-bathed warrior deity instead of keeling over at the slightest provocation. Skål!
