God of War Ragnarok guide: How to complete Defend Your Valor Favor

God of War Ragnarok is packed full of intriguing stories and challenging combat encounters in both the main story quests as well as all the side content the game offers. Much like its predecessor, God of War (2018), God of War Ragnarok follows a non-linear progression system, featuring a host of side quests called Favors and optional activities that players can complete at their own leisure.

Although God of War Ragnarok is not an open-world experience in the traditional sense, it still boasts a world that begs to be explored, filled with side quests that unlock organically and reward players with interesting gear and resources as well as narrative tidbits.

While most side quests in God of War Ragnarok unlock as players explore different realms and progress through the narrative of the game, some questlines are locked behind the completion of the main storyline. One such end-game questline is 'Defend Your Valor,' which sees Kratos going up against Odin's new Valkyrie Queen, Gna.

Note: This article contains spoilers for God of War Ragnarok.

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Objectives, requirements, and rewards for completing the Defend Your Valor Favor in God of War Ragnarok

The Defend Your Valor quest is only unlocked after players have completed the main storyline of God of War Ragnarok, i.e., fought both Thor and Odin, and completed the game's epilogue, which is indicated by the initiation of the 'Beyond Ragnarok' questline.

The objectives of the Defend Your Valor questline are:

• Defeat the Valkyrie Queen (Gna)

This Favor's requirements are:

• Compete the main story

Finally, the rewards that players obtain after completing this quest are:

• 4000 Kratos XP
• 4000 Freya XP
• Freya's armor: The Queen’s Armour
• Freya's runic summon: The Queen’s Roar
• Shield Rond for Kratos: Rond of Obliteration
• Gold Trophy: The True Queen

Once players complete the main story, they will need to travel to Muspelheim in order to start this questline. The quest will not begin until players approach Gna's arena, which is to the east of the central area of the Crucible. You will need to engage in some platforming to reach the arena, where interacting with the relic on the ground will trigger a short cutscene of Gna's arrival.

Once players are ready to take on the new Valkyrie Queen, they can approach Gna in order to start the battle.

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Strategies to easily defeat Gna in God of War Ragnarok

Much like in God of War (2018), the Valkyrie encounters, although only a handful, are easily one of the most challenging boss encounters in God of War Ragnarok. As such, players should be fully prepared with adequately upgraded armor sets, weapons, and runic abilities.

Although Gna is not as difficult or aggressive as Sigrun from the prequel, she still poses a great challenge, partly due to her massive health pool and also her frequent use of the Bifrost status ailment.

We recommend going to fight Gna with a level 8 Kratos, since the boss is at level 9. While it is possible to defeat this boss at lower levels, it can end up being much more challenging since, at lower levels, Gna can practically one-shot Kratos. Here is a recommended loadout that players can use to easily defeat Gna:

• Weapon Attachments: Grip/Pommels/Hind of the Nine Realms, anything that gives high stats
• Shield: Onslaught Shield
• Rond: Rond of Expedition or Rond of Aggravation
• Armor: Berserker armor set, Surtr’s Scorched armor set, Guiding Light armor set, or the Steinbjorn armor set
• Amulet Enchantments: 3x Niflheim Enchantments, 3x Muspelheim Enchantments, 3x Vanaheim Enchantments

The recommended runic attacks for the weapons are as follows:

Leviathan Axe

• Njord's Tempest
• Wrath of the Frost Ancient
• Ivaldi's Anvil
• Mists of Helheim
• Fog of Fimbulwinter

Blades of Chaos

• Rampage of the Furies
• Tartarus Rage
• Nemean Crush
• Atlas Eruption

Draupnir Spear

• Mountain Splitter
• Thrust of a Thousand Soldiers
• Honour the Fallen
• Artillery of the Ancients

The recommended weapon skill unlocks are as follows:

• Leviathan Axe: Glacial Permafrost, Whirling Storm, Frost Rush, Leviathan’s Fury, Glacial Rake, Serpent’s Snare
• Blades of Chaos: Vaporise Frost, Furious Immolation, Spinning Chaos, Rushing Chaos, Chaos Slam
• Draupnir Spear: Violent Maelstrom, Spear Throw, Spear Drill, General’s Advance, Elemental Siphon, Impaling Thrust

The boss fight against Gna in God of War Ragnarok is purely a battle of attrition, where players need to keep their cool and balance their offensive as well as defensive moves in order to chip away at the Valkyrie's massive health pool.

Gna has two main attacks that players need to be wary of. The first comes with a relatively long wind-up, where the Valkyrie will fly up into the air and summon a massive orb made up of rocks imbued with sonic.

Players can easily deal with this by using Freya's Sonic Arrows, which will momentarily stun Gna, leaving her open to damage. Alternatively, players can also dodge the orb as it comes towards Kratos, but the window to dodge is fairly small.

Another attack sees Gna rising up into the air and summoning a trailing beam of Bifrost that inflicts the status on Kratos. Even a single hit from Gna is lethal while Kratos' healthbar is covered in Bifrost. The easiest way to deal with this attack is to stun Gna as she summons Bifrost by either throwing your ae or shooting projectiles from the Draupnir Spear.

Apart from these two moves, Gna possesses the usual Valkyrie moveset from the last game, including a flurry of wing attacks, a charged parryable scythe attack, and the mid-air stomp, followed by the Valkyrie's new catchphrase 'For Asgard' instead of 'For Valhalla,' as used by most of the Valkyries in God of War (2018).

While Gna is easily one of the toughest encounters in God of War Ragnarok, she is also a joy to fight, especially on higher difficulties. She is the perfect example of a boss that's properly balanced, challenging but fair.