Boss fights are usually the most important and the most difficult part of any game. God of War is no different. There are a total of seven different bosses that you will have to face during your time in the game, and this God of War Bosses Guide will be your one-stop companion to defeating them all.
Our God of War Bosses Guide will tell you what all of the bosses found in the game are capable of and how can you defeat them easily. However, do note that our God of War Bosses Guide contains potential spoilers so read at your own discretion.
Also, be sure to check out our Optional Bosses Guide by heading over to the link.
God of War Bosses
The bosses are by far the most difficult enemies to deal with in God of War 4.
They are usually invulnerable to your attacks most of the time and their attacks can crush you in mere seconds. Dealing with bosses is imperative through the story as each narrative link is capped by defeating one of them.
The bosses will have multiple different phases and you will need to fight them through all of them in order to defeat them. Do not worry though, as each and every single part of the fight is mentioned in our God of War Bosses Guide.
- The Stranger
- Gullveig
- Hraezlyr
- Magni and Modi
- Mattugr Helson
- Dark Elf King
Let us go ahead and see how to take on all of the bosses in God of War.
The Stranger
Baldur is the son of Odin and you first see him appear known as ‘The Stranger’ in the Wildwoods. His curse is that he cannot feel any pain and thus he will not relent, as he cannot feel anything when you deal damage.
He has no weaknesses to speak off and you face off against him numerous times in the game. The first of these will be at your home as The Stranger, so let us go ahead and see how to beat him there.
The Stranger Boss Fight
In the backyard, The Stranger will repeat the same moves and mix them up in different patterns. Try to predict his attacks and dodge them as much as possible. You can block the dash-punch and dodge the shockwave.
After that, use counterattacks to deal damage and whittle his health down to half.
When his health drops to half, you will be knocked to the top of the house. Repeatedly press R1 here to drain The Stranger’s health until you both fall to the ground.
Here, a cutscene will trigger which will increase the health of The Stranger to 100%. When you are trapped in the rocks after that, Press L3 and R3 together to enter Spartan Rage mode.
Once you are in Rage Mode, you are invulnerable and have more strength and speed for the duration of the rage. The meter will start to deplete slowly and you can fill it up by inflicting or taking damage. When you pile-drive The Stranger with a log, keep on punching The Stranger until your fury is gone.
After that, your enemy will revert to the same pattern that he had at the start of the fight. Keep on attacking the Stranger until he is seemingly dead.
In the end, he will rise up one more time and you will need to fight The Stranger until he flees the fight. Do not worry though, as you will see him again.
Gullveig
Gullveig appears after you collect three bones of her and return them to the spirit. She is a Revenant who is invincible to almost all attacks of Kratos. However, she is still weak against Atreus’ arrows and Spartan Rage.
She also has a Unique Elite Enhancement that gives her a massive increase in damage and status power. Let us go ahead and see how to defeat Gullveig during God of War.
Gullveig Boss Fight
In order to fight Gullveig, you need to find 3 different bones of her and return them to the Spirit. The right hand can be found on the beach to the left of Alfheim Realm Tower. It is on a cliff near the beach and you can climb the cliff by using a Shock Arrow on the Shatter Crystal that blocks your path.
The left hand can be found on the northeast shore of Ruins of the Ancient. Go over the pillar and move past the rocks on your left-hand side to get the hand.
The third and final piece, the skull, is found towards the west side of Lake of Nine. Get to the shore on a boat near Svartalfheim Realm Tower and keep on moving inward until you see the three wolves.
Here, go east and climb up the wall. After that, keep on moving ahead until the path finishes and you will be able to pick up the Skull from the ground. Once you have it, take all x3 Armor Pieces to the spirit to begin the fight with Gullveig.
Gullveig attacks you as soon as she has been reanimated. Kill her Nightmares first as they can be easily dealt with by using Atreus’ arrows and axe throws. Gullveig is a revenant, and thus she needs to be dealt with like one.
Keep on hitting her with arrows so that her shroud is gone. Once that happens, unleash hell on her with Leviathan Axe. Remember that she can easily evade your attacks and has a lot of health so taking her down may take a little longer than other Revenants.
Avoid her poison attacks at all costs as they can easily drain your health without you even realizing it.
Hraezlyr
Hraezlyr is a beast that is immune to Shock, Burn, Stun, Weaken, and Frost. However, he does have a particular weakness and that is to Shatter Crystal explosions. You will fight Hraezlyr as you ascend The Mountain.
You will have a couple of small encounters followed by the actual main encounter at his arena. Remember to use the Shatter Crystals as much as you can in order to stun it and avoid its claw as it swipes across the horizon.
Hraezlyr Boss Fight
Remember that his basic attacks can deal a lot of damage in itself and he can inhale to bring you closer to himself. His claw swipe has a large area of effect and must be avoided by dodging backward.
If you manage to dodge the swipe, you can attack its claw for a few seconds, as it will have been left vulnerable before it is pulled back.
Hraezlyr can also do a stomp wave that can be blocked by your Guardian Shield. Remember to put your shield up as soon as you see the dragon rises into the air. After that, the claws will be vulnerable on the ground so attack them as much as possible.
Remember that if you see Hraezlyr start to electrify, you can pick up the Shatter Crystals and toss them at him in order to deal a lot of damage and stun your target.
The stun usually occurs after the second Shatter Crystal detonates. Remember to rush over to Hraezlyr and deal damage on the red spot on his head in order to deal a lot of damage. Keep on attacking that area until the dragon is up again.
Keep on repeating this process for as long as you have to until you get the option to use Atreus’ arrows to drop the claw from Hraezlyr himself. When this happens, a cutscene will begin to play which will show Kratos using Hraezlyr’s own claws in order to finish him once and for all.
When that cutscene happens, you have successfully defeated the Hraezlyr and can move on with your ascension onto the top of the summit.
Magni and Modi
Magni and Modi are there for just one reason, and that is to stop Kratos whichever way they can. Magni has a large sword whereas Modi has a mace along with a shield. Kratos has to face off against Kratos and Modi fights Atreus.
However, the opponents are always switching and anyone can kidnap Atreus, so you need to free him up as soon as possible in order for him to be able to fight again.
Magni and Modi Boss Fight
Both of the heroes have six segmented health pieces that need to be emptied.
Magni has to be your focus during the earlier parts of the fight. It is very easy to anticipate all of his attacks and all you need to do is to roll away when he is preparing his attacks. After that, you can counterattack the enemy.
Keep on repeating until the first segment of the health bar is gone. Once he has been stunned, turn your attention to Modi and deal as much damage as you can to him.
For Modi, you can use your own shield to break her shield using the Block Break. It should be easy to deal damage to Modi and to whittle his health down to the same point as Magni. This will begin the second phase of the fight.
During the second phase, you need to only dodge. Remember to stay vigilant and keep your eyes on the orange directional pointer to dodge the attacks. Rotate Kratos to the direction of the attack and block it when you see a figure in the fog.
Do this three times to make the fog disappear. After that, repeat the pattern at the start of the fight and continue to take their health down for as long as you can.
Magni will also have a new dash attack that you can counter by pressing ‘Square’. If you fail, you will be the victim of a powerful headbutt. Eventually, you will have to face another pattern of attacks.
Here, one guy will feint while the second guy attacks. For this attack, you need to be ready to rotate as soon as you see the second orange pointer pop up and use your shield to block the assault. Eventually, you will have dealt both of them enough damage to defeat them once and for all and continue on with your journey.
Mattugr Helson
This boss defends the Bridge of the Damned. He is weak to your Blades of Chaos but completely immune to axes of all types. He can also create magical orbs that track you down and detonate upon collision.
Lastly, he can summon a Hel-Brood to fight you and move around the arena.
Mattugr Helson Boss Fight
During the beginning, Mattugr will teleport towards you so remember to keep on rolling to the side to dodge all of these attacks. Apart from that, it is very important to take out all of the orbs that are shot towards you.
Press L2 to aim at them and then R1 to destroy them. Remember to stay within the range of your Blades of Chaos and to deal damage whenever possible – avoiding attacks at other times.
After Mattugr is done with his combo, he will kneel on his pillar to rest and that is when he is vulnerable. Use your Blades of Chaos to deal as much damage as you can before he teleports to another place and then repeat. If your health gets really low, it is best to unleash your Spartan Rage as that will be quite effective against Mattugr.
Remember that you need to keep on moving and deal damage to the troll by getting behind him as that will deal a lot more damage than its front. If you still find your health being an issue, try to collect the green orbs scattered about the map so that you can replenish it.
Lastly, when you stun the boss and get the R3 prompt to finish the guy, do it, and then repeatedly press R1 when you are asked to do so in order to save your son.
Dark Elf King
The Dark Elf King is the king of the Dark Elves (unsurprisingly). It is immune to most effects including Shock, Weaken, Stun, Frost, and Burn. It is also quite strong against Spartan Rage and thus, it is a very difficult fight when you do end up facing this boss in Alfheim trench.
Dark Elf King Boss Fight
In the beginning, you need to avoid the single swing of his staff and the double swing. The double swing has another spin in it that can be quite surprising and catch many players off guard.
He also has a deadly dash attack that has a small tell. Whenever you see the Dark Elf King rise and flash, you need to dodge as otherwise he will hit you and blind you.
Soon, he will add explosives to his arsenal. They come out of his staff and go in three directions. Do not step on them and avoid them at all costs as they cannot be blocked by Kratos.
They can also blind you, but Dark Elf King’s staff glows blue before he fires them, so keep an eye out. Later on, you will have to face an uppercut and a dive attack as his health starts to dwindle down and he struggles to find a way to beat you.
Remember to stay mobile, as you will probably be blinded over half of the time otherwise. It is very important to use Atreus to weaken the enemy and land in combos whenever you dodge one of his attacks. Remember to gather the pickups after defeating the Dark Elf King.
That is all we have for our God of War 4 Bosses Guide. Let us know if we missed something using the comments section below!
