How to get past the God of War Valhalla barriers

Guides
By last updated

Locked doors blocking chests in GOW Valhalla require Sanctuary Barrier Keys

God of War Valhalla
(Image credit: Sony)

The God of War Ragnarok Valhalla barriers are actually called "Sanctuary Barriers", and early on in your experience you'll find them cutting off a lot of your routes and with no obvious way to get past them. Presented as swirling walls of green energy with a gold disc in the middle, that disc is actually a kind of lock - and an item called the Sanctuary Barrier Key is... well, the key you need, though they're single-use disposable items. We'll explain how to get the keys below, and how to break through the Sanctuary Barriers in God of War Valhalla.

How to get Sanctuary Barrier Keys in God of War Valhalla

If you're coming across the locked door "Sanctuary Barriers" in God of War Valhalla, you'll need a special Sanctuary Barrier Key. These aren't introduced to the game until you beat a certain boss in Valhalla's main story: specifically, you have to beat the god Tyr. You'll fight Tyr multiple times across the game, but you only need to beat him once to start unlocking the ability to get Sanctuary Barrier Keys. Therefore, getting them added to the game is simply a matter of playing until you reach a certain point in the narrative.

Once you reach that point, you'll be able to get Sanctuary Barrier Keys for 200 Spirit Seals at the Shore between runs, buying them from the Tablets. You can also buy them mid-run from Tablets of Influence, for 400 Fleeting Echoes each. We've also heard that you can occasionally get them as drops from difficult enemies and bosses, but I've personally yet to see this happen, so if it is true it's, at the very least, pretty rare.

Once you have a Barrier Key, it's a permanent addition to your inventory until you use it up, staying with you even if you die and restart the run, only disappearing once you actually use it to open a barrier.

What's behind the barriers in God of War Valhalla?

God of War Valhalla barriers

(Image credit: Sony)

The locked doors in God of War Valhalla that you open with Sanctuary Keys usually have some sort of chest on the other side, one that could contain any number of things - perks to help with your run, new cosmetics, special resources, etc. You should be able to see the chest symbol through the barrier and can make your choice based on that, and it's useful to know that barriers you unlock stay unlocked permanently, even if you start the run again - though depending on the chest, it may be empty on following runs. You can't unlock the same cosmetic twice, after all.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.