Like its predecessor, God of War Ragnarok relies on a leveling and gearing system akin to an action RPG. It’s not as straightforward, though. As Kratos completes encounters, solves puzzles, and progresses through the story, he’ll gain XP. But this doesn’t go towards leveling up or increasing his overall stats.
Instead, XP is used to purchase skills for different weapons. Of course, to access the higher tiers of the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos and so on, you’ll need to upgrade them with Frozen Flames and Chaos Flames. Once that’s done, you can unlock better skills with XP and equip them.
As for increasing Kratos’ overall level, you need to equip higher-level gear. Each gear piece needs different materials and Hacksilver to upgrade. As you upgrade it, the overall stats and rarity will increase. Since many of the best armor sets are in the latter part of the game, saving your resources is the way to go. You’ll also receive rarer materials and a lot more Hacksilver for upgrades in the post-game, which opens up avenues for hitting the max level (which is 9).
Nevertheless, if you’re having trouble or enemies start to out-level you or have an armor set you like, try upgrading your gear through the story to gain an advantage. God of War Ragnarok is out now for PS4 and PS5. Check out our official review here.