God of War Ragnarok: How to travel to Svartalfheim

God of War Ragnarok, the highly anticipated sequel to Santa Monica Studio's 2018 masterpiece, has finally hit the market.

While the pre-launch period of the game was somewhat marred by leaks and spoilers, players can finally get to check out everything it has to offer themselves.

One of the most exciting aspects of God of War Ragnarok is that players can visit all nine realms from Norse mythology in the game. This is a significant upgrade from the last game, where certain realms were locked by the All-Father, Odin.

During their journey in God of War Ragnarok, one of the first realms that players visit outside of Midgard is Svartalfheim, the realm of the dwarves.

Also called Nidavellir (or Niðavellir, to accommodate the old Norse alphabet), the realm is composed of rocky islands, mountains, towns with impressive dwarven architecture, water wheels, and geysers. It also contains new enemy types like Grims and Wretches.

Let's take a look at how God of War Ragnarok players can reach the realm of the dwarves.

Disclaimer: This article contains major story spoilers for God of War Ragnarok.

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How Kratos and Atreus' journey to Svartalfheim plays out in God of War Ragnarok

Shortly after God of War Ragnarok kicks off, Kratos and Atreus are visited by a familiar face: Thor, the Aesir God of Thunder. Thor’s appearance indicates that the vision Atreus had at the end of the last game has come true.

Surprisingly, Thor doesn’t act aggressively at all, aside from brandishing his hammer. Instead, he asks if he can come into their house and offers them a drink. Kratos obliges, and the humongous figure of Thor, along with Odin’s two ravens, walks into their hut and takes in its inhabitants.

After a bit of banter, Thor signals the ravens to invite Odin into the hut. The All-Father walks in and gets straight to business. He offers Kratos peace on the condition that Atreus stops looking for Tyr, the Norse god of war.

Even though this is new to Kratos, he refuses to agree to Odin’s deal, which prompts Thor to attack him. What follows is a bloody battle that ends in the partial destruction of Kratos’s hut and a stalemate.

However, the aftermath leaves both Kratos and Atreus certain of the fact that their home in Midgard is no longer safe for them.

Fortunately, the Huldra brothers, Brok and Sindri, offer the pair their own place. It is located inside the Realm between Realms and serves as their base of operations for the time being.

After some discussion, it is decided that the next step in Atreus’s plan to stop Ragnarok is to track down and rescue Tyr, who is supposedly in the mines of Svartalfheim.

However, with Odin having blocked access to the realm travel room and, therefore, all realms, Kratos’s Bifrost is of no use. This is where Brok and Sindri come in.

Using a custom-made device for him, they use Mimir’s Bifrost crystal eyes to make a new travel device that resembles the travel stones from God of War 2018: a Yggdrasil Seed.

The brothers also reconfigure mystic gateways to accept the Seeds and allow the user to travel to any realm. Each realm gets its own seed, as is indicated by Sindri when he hands Kratos the Seed for Svartalfheim.

Players will then have to look at the gateway, select Svartalfheim, and hold the “X” button for the “Confirm” option to lock in Svartalfheim and enter the Mystic Gateway.

Shortly after, the pair will arrive at the edge of Nidavellir city and can commence their search for Tyr.