How to find and beat all God of War Valkyries

God of War Valkyrie win

The God of War Valkyries are up there with the most fearsome enemies you'll encounter, and they provide no less than eight separate boss fights where you need to take down these winged foes. If you can find and beat them, you can claim the impressive treasures protected by the Norse warrior angels, but believe us when we say this is no cakewalk. To defeat all of them, including the ferocious Valkyrie Queen, you must demonstrate impressive skill backed up with preparation, as well as solid knowledge of the game world itself – because each of the God of War Valkyries are hidden away, and until the storyline provides you with a magic chisel you won't be able to find or fight them in God of War.

Killing all eight of them is how to get the God of War Valkyrie armor, which is one of the game's most powerful gear sets, and a perfect challenge to prepare players for the upcoming God of War Ragnarok. Here's where to find, and how to beat, all of the God of War Valkyries.

Check out our video below for how to beat the God of War Valkyries:

Because these Valkyrie’s are seriously aggressive divas, I’d also recommend waiting until you’re at least level 6 before even attempting to take one on. They love crushing necks and bones and don’t take any prisoners. But, they’re seriously worth it because the armour you get is rather impressive, gives you low perk activations to refill your Runic Attack cooldowns, prevent attack interruptions, and basically makes you as badass as a Valkyrie. Without the wings. Sigh.

How to find all eight Valkyries in God of War

  1. There are four Valkyries in Midgard: one in Wildwoods near your home; one in the River Pass; another in the Foothills; and the last in the Mountain.
  2. The one in Muspelheim is the level 6 challenge
  3. There’s another hidden deep within the Niflheim maze. 
  4. Alfheim is home to one.
  5. There's another hiding in Helheim.

How to beat the God of War Valkyries

Valkyries in God of War

But more importantly, you’re going to want to know how to beat the little buggers, because they’re not easy. It isn’t impossible though, and thankfully all eight of the Valkyries share attack styles and movements, just with varying elemental types, so you can learn how to beat them all. So here are 8 tips for beating the Valkyries in God of War:

1. Patience is key

As tempting as it might be to go all in with your blades and your axe every time a Valkyrie comes anywhere near you, doing that is a quick way to death. It’s better to bide your time, watch for patterns and only attack when they’re taking a few, short, seconds to recover.

2. Use Atreus for airborne, red ring attacks

Valkyries God of War

Every Valkyrie has a nasty habit of flying up into the air and unleashing a devastating light ring attack, or shrouding the whole arena with a thick grey fog. But although it might seem like both of these attacks spell the end of the fight - or at least a great portion of your health bar - you can actually interrupt the attacks using your favourite offspring Atreus. Hit square whenever they’re airborne and he’ll bring them down a peg or two, and save you from a devastating attack. Also, don’t forget Atreus’ Runic attack can come in very handy too.

3. Keep your shield up for most attacks

A Valkyrie’s power is mostly in her wings, which are tipped with dagger-like feathers that will cause serious damage to any unarmed thing in the way, even the God of War himself. But, thankfully, not his shield. It’s easiest to keep your shield up 99% of the time during a Valkyrie tangle. You’ll be protected against spinning wings, feather darts, staff smacks, and other aggressions as long as you’re hiding behind that shield.

4. Don’t forget your resurrection stones

God of War Resurrection Stones

It goes without saying really, but when you first start fighting the Valkyries your health can go down incredibly fast if you miss a dodge here, or a Valhalla slam there. So before you decide to fight one, make a trip to see Brok or Sindri and nab yourself a Resurrection stone. I’d recommend the Superior Resurrection stone, as it gives you a nice burst of health upon resuscitation, whereas the Berserker's is much more risky as gives you no health but refills your rage. Trust me, you’ll value that extra health. 

5. Dodge red and gold attacks as much as possible

The majority of red and gold attacks, unless they can be stopped by Atreus, will need to be dodged. That’s especially true of the flying dive, which will literally smash your face into the ground if you don’t. Other attacks like the staff-based ones, will give you a moment of dodge time beforehand. Just don’t forget to use it. 

6. If you hear them scream "Valhalla", start rolling

God of War Valkyrie

Although you don’t really want to be on the receiving end of any Valkyrie attack, there’s one that really packs a health-draining punch. It involves some neck stamping and bone crunching and will leave you begging for a health stone. But helpfully a Valkyrie will scream "Valhalla" before they pounce, so if you hear that word, dear god you better roll. 

And most of them will chain a couple of Valhalla slams together, so don’t dodge just the once.

7. Keep locked on at all times

Valkyries are speedy devils, so to cut yourself some slack and make sure you’re ready for every incoming attack by hitting R3 to lock on to the enemy. It might seem like a simple trick, but it’s saved me more than once.

8. Attack as soon as you can

Valkyries are basically just waiting for you in their various chambers, so as soon as they even start opening their wings hit them with the big hitter attacks and steal a chunk of their health before the… umm… party even gets started. 

How to beat the Queen of the Valkyries in God of War

Queen of the Valkyries in God of War

Once you’ve done all of that and finally feel like you’ve got room to breathe, you’re presented with one last challenge - beating the Queen of the Valkyries. Thankfully, she doesn’t have any attacks that you won’t be prepared for. Beating her is just a case of ultimate patience, as she has all the attacks of her Valkyrie horde combined and about quadruple the health. Good luck, and get ready to claim that reward.

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Sam Loveridge
Global Editor-in-Chief, GamesRadar+

Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.