An integral feature in God of War Ragnarök‘s combat system is Kratos’ Spartan Rage ability. This ability sees Kratos drop his weapons and engage his opponents bare-fisted. In an enhanced combat state, Kratos deals more damage, attacks faster, and takes no damage while Spartan Rage is active.
One of the core elements added in the 2018 God of War reboot, Spartan Rage is back in Santa Monica Studio’s sequel and is just as important as ever for players picking up the game. Being one of the single most important tools in God of War Ragnarök, it is extremely important that players know how to build, activate, and eventually upgrade Spartan Rage. This is everything you need to know about Spartan Rage.
How to build and increase Spartan Rage in God of War Ragnarök
Kratos’ Spartan Rage ability notably has its own meter visible while engaged in combat, located under the player’s health bar. Players can build Spartan Rage by landing successful blows onto their enemies, gradually increasing the meter little by little. All forms of attacks, including melee, ranged, shield bashes, and runic attacks work into building up the bar.
Along with this, Kratos also build rage every time he is hit by an enemy attack. The amount of rage Kratos builds after being hit corresponds with the amount of damage he takes, meaning that stronger attacks, especially those with status effects, will fill up the Spartan Rage bar faster.
Armor is another way to help expedite building your Spartan Rage bar. Some pieces of armor will carry stat upgrades that can help build rage faster or grant chances for a Rage Burst, which automatically fills a portion of your Spartan Rage meter.
While you may have noticed green healthstones that sporadically drop from enemies, there is also a red inverse that helps players build their Spartan Rage meters. These rage stones can only be found by staggering and slaying enemies.
How to use Spartan Rage in God of War Ragnarök
After completely filling the rage meter, players can then press L3 + R3 to unleash Spartan Rage. Any enemies caught within your vicinity will be staggered by a fiery explosion.
Every hit while enraged not only deals massive damage but constantly staggers your enemies and renders them unable to defend themselves. Each successfully landed hit will also refill your health bar for a small portion, making this an essential healing tool as well for players.
While unable to take damage in this state, any damage players do receive will deplete the rage meter quicker, which is constantly draining over time after activating the status effect.
While players may simply spam R1 to unleash a flurry of quick punches, Kratos has several combos he can land exclusively while enraged.
- Hold R2 to gather power and draw in opponents before releasing the trigger to jump into the sky for a slam attack that deals massive area-of-effect damage.
- Charge enemies by pressing L1. If you charge a regular enemy, Kratos will take hold of them and use the enemy as a battering ram.
- Rip Earth straight from the ground with L2. With this attack, Kratos can hurl the massive rock at any ranged target.
Types of Spartan Rage in God of War Ragnarök
As players continue through God of War Ragnarök, they will unlock different forms of Spartan Rage with slight differences. All three different variations can be upgraded to increase duration, damage, and more.
- Fury – The base version of Spartan Rage, which enables players to use a different move to deal heightened damage, stagger enemies, and regain health for every successfully landed hit.
- Valor – A version of Spartan Rage that will convert large chunks or rage to gain significantly more health.
- Wrath – Allows players to use significant chunks of rage for single target attacks. If the target dies by this attack, players are awarded a small amount of health.
