The best God of War armor and how to get it

Finding the best God of War armor and equipping it means that Kratos will be ready to take on anything thrown his way, turning you into an unstoppable force to face down enemies without fear. To achieve this you need the Mist Armor sets from Niflheim, which contain three variants that could all be considered the best armor in the game, depending on the traits you want to prioritize. They each boost different stats, but crucially they all deliver a permanent passive health regeneration buff, turning Kratos into an almost unkillable fighting machine if used correctly in God of War.

Dropping at level 7, these armor sets are about as good as it gets, and also serve as a way to spend longer in the dangerous realm of Niflheim itself, thanks to them mitigating the poisonous effect this area has on players – though we also have some specific God of War Niflheim tips while you're exploring this location. That's why we've put together this guide on how to get the best God of War armor, so you can reap these benefits yourself.

Warning: there are some mild story spoilers ahead. You can also watch the video above for how to get the best God of War armor.

You'll need to find the Niflheim Ciphers to reach the best God of War armor

First you’ll need to find all four pieces of the Niflheim Cipher which will let you travel to the Realm of Niflheim, where where you can buy and upgrade the mist armor. These are found in purple chests with masks on the front that are hidden around the world. However, the best way to get them easily is to follow the story mission, ‘Return to the Summit.’ Here you’ll quickly find four chests in a row. Outside of this mission, the other chests that exist are in places that are hard, or impossible to reach, until you’ve completed later objectives or have certain items. Because there are more chests than you need, once you have the four pieces the remaining chests just give out enchantments.

So, here’s the easy way to get started. When you follow the mission ‘Return to the Summit’ you’ll find the the first chest when you reach the summit. This will begin the Favour ‘Unlock the Realm of Fog’. From there you’ll just have to play through the mission until you reach the section called ‘Path To Jotunheim’ and the part where you have to break the chains to turn the realm travel room over. After you descend in the elevator, you’ll find one cipher in each of the two rooms where you break those chains. One can be found on the left past the spinning blade traps, while the third can be found by turning right from the elevator and heading past spike crusher traps.

The fourth and final cipher can be found on the mission ‘Jotunheim in Reach’ when you have to go inside the World Serpent’s mouth to retrieve Mimir’s eye. You’ll find that cipher in a chest immediately behind you as soon as you finish the objective. Crack open that chest, complete the cipher and you’re good to go.

How to get Mist Echoes you'll need to buy and upgrade the best God of War armor

With all of the ciphers collected you’ll be able to go to Niflheim using the realm travel room. Here you’ll find a foggy world full of toxic mist that will kill you over time, and Ivalidi’s Workshop where the best armor is locked away. Sindri’s also here and, helpfully, will make you a key to the workshop for 500 Mist Echoes to open the door.

To earn those echoes you’ll have to go past Sindri and into an area filled with enemies. Beat them, and open the chests to find the echoes, being careful to get out before the mist, or anything else, kills you. If you die you’ll lose EVERYTHING you’ve collected. So be careful and head back to Sindri to bank whatever you’ve got when things get dicey. Don’t worry about the traps just yet as you won’t have to leave the main area to begin with, so we’ll get to those later. Just find the 500 echoes for the key and unlock the workshop. Inside you’ll find nine pieces of Ivaldi’s Rusted Armor (three per set) and now the real fun begins.

And by fun I mean navigating a randomly generated maze full of traps and monsters that resets every time you enter it to get the resources you need to craft the armor. The nine pieces of rusted armor can be crafted and upgraded into three sets of full Chest, Waist and Wrist armor with different stats.

Here's what's on offer:

The Deadly Mist set: good boost for Strength, Runic, Defense, and Vitality.
The Endless Mist set: high boost for Strength, Defense, and Vitality.
The Cursed Mist set: high boost for Strength, Runic, and Defense.

The Deadly Mist set is probably your best bet, unless you really want to buff up your magic with a high runic stat (Cursed Mist), or gain more Vitality to boost your life bar (Endless Mist set).

What resources do you need to upgrade the best God of War armor?

To upgrade a piece of Mist Armor you’ll need a variety of resources. Most, like Mist Echoes, Haze Weaves, Niflheim Alloy and Aesirbane can be found by searching the Niflheim maze for chests. Just remember to return to Sindri or the workshop to bank what you find regularly. You’ll also need some Smouldering Embers and Greater Crest of Flame which you can get from Muspelheim. In addition you’ll also need a Pristine Scales of the Realm and a Pristine Dust of the Realm which can be found in Midgard at the Light Elf Outpost and Stone Falls and respectively.

How much do you need to fully upgrade the best God of War armor?

Because of the high cost of the upgrades you’re best picking one set and focusing on that rather because you’ll get extra health regen if all three pieces match. To upgrade a chest piece the two levels it takes to max it out you'll need 20500 Hacksilver, 9000 Mist echoes, 5 Niflheim alloy, 5 Haze Weave and 100 Smouldering Embers.

To max out the Wrist armor and Waist armor both will need 15400 Hacksilver, 7000 Mist Echoes, 5 Niflheim alloy, 3 Haze Weave, 1 Aesirbane and 5 Greater Crest of Flame. The Wrist armor will also need the Pristine Scales of the Realm, while the Waist armor will need a Pristine Dust of the Realm.

If that sounds like a lot it’s because… well it is, but don’t worry, you can check the resources tab in the menu to remind you where everything is and how much you have. Now you just have to get it all. Go on. Off you go.