God of War: Ragnarok features six different stats that can be improved for Kratos through progression.
Unfortunately, the game does little to go into any detail about how each of those stats work or what you get by leveling them up.
The following guide will explain what those stats do in God of War: Ragnarok. Hence, when you find a couple of armor pieces with varying stats, you will have a better understanding of which armor piece to equip for the best stat boosts.
How stats work in God of War: Ragnarok
Strength and Defence
These two stats are your bread and butter and should always be prioritized over any other stat. Strength increases the amount of damage you can do from every attack, skill, and weapon. Defence, as it should be obvious, reduces the amount of damage you take from enemy attacks.
Every armor you find in God of War: Ragnarok will give you either Strength or Defence stats. Leaning too much on Strength will make you vulnerable, whereas focusing too much on Defence will make it harder to defeat some of the bosses.
You can decide whether you want to go for a glass cannon or tank build. You will eventually get hold of some late-game armor sets that offer a balance between the two.
Runic (RNC)
The Runic stat increases the damage of your runic attacks as well as the damage of your elemental status effects. Improving RNC means doing more frost and burn damage with your Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos, for example.
There are also other elements like poison if you manage to get the Lunda’s armor set. There is then Shock, Daze, Blind, Sonic, and Hex; all of which get amplified with high RNC.
Vitality (VIT)
The Vitality stat increases your maximum health. It also improves your stagger resistance, meaning that Kratos will have a higher chance of not getting stunned by enemy attacks, or at the very least, reduce the amount of stun.
Luck (LCK)
The Luck stat increases your chance of looting higher-level and rare loot from chests and enemies. It also increases the chance of activating passives and abilities more often.
That being said, keep in mind that there is nothing missable in God of War: Ragnarok. You can also max out all of your stats. So, prioritizing LCK early on will be a mistake.
Cooldown (CLD)
The Cooldown stat reduces the cooldowns of your special abilities and attacks. Kratos will get access to many skills over the course of the game. Some of these are incredibly powerful but have a longer cooldown period. Improving CLD will allow you to use those abilities more often during combat.
