God of War Ragnarok: Which Weapon and Skills to Upgrade First

God of War Ragnarok arms Kratos with both the Leviathan Axe and his Blades of Chaos, but which weapon should you focus on upgrading, and which skills should you pick? The latter, the Blades of Chaos, were obtained in God of War (2018), too, but they were picked up way late into the game which meant that players had already invested plenty of time and experience into the Leviathan Axe, so upgrading one or the other wasn't as much of a dilemma. That's not the case in God of War Ragnarok, but after spending plenty of hours with the game, we've got some insights on which weapon is best to start dumping points into.

The weapon is only part of the equation, too, since there are tons of skills to pick from as well. Whether you're planning on taking our advice or are already set on upgrading one weapon, we've got some skill suggestions as well.

Which God of War Ragnarok Weapon to Upgrade First?

The Blades of Chaos are the defining weapons for Kratos and the ones people most associate with him, so naturally, longtime God of War players will be drawn to those. But unless you're just really wanting to cosplay as the Kratos of old, we'd suggest putting more of your resources into the Leviathan Axe upgrades.

While upgrades for the weapons themselves to make them stronger require materials unique to each weapon, the stuff used to upgrade specific components like attachments is shared between the two items. This means that you'll frequently run into situations where you have only enough resources to upgrade one attachment either for the Leviathan Axe or the Blades of Chaos, and we'd recommend choosing the former unless there's something that really catches your eye.

Early on in Ragnarok, the Leviathan Axe is simply more useful than the Blades of Chaos. The Blades are great for crowd control but suffer when it comes to their reach. Enemies often jump back in Ragnarok either to prepare a special red-ring move or simply to evade Kratos, and when they do so, you'll want the Leviathan Axe to either knock them out of their prepped ability or to keep the "stun" bar from dropping. In our experience, equipment for the Leviathan Axe was found more frequently than for the Blades, too, so it makes sense to focus on the former.

Which God of War Ragnarok Skills to Choose First?

Leviathan Axe

• Frost Rush/Leviathan Fury: These skills are the sprinting ones that use R1 and R2. They're perfect for starting combat and closing the gap on enemies.
• Glacial Rake: By holding R1, you send out a blast of ice that pushes enemies backwards. It's great for interrupting light attacks.
• Extinguish Flames: This ability makes the Leviathan Axe do extra damage against burning enemies which is helpful when switching between the Axe and the Blades of chaos.

Blades of Chaos

• Rushing Chaos/Chaos Slam: Sprinting attacks for the Blades of Chaos with the same reasoning as the Leviathan Axe, but they look cooler on the Blades.
• Scorched Earth: By tapping the triangle button to wind up the Blades, Pressing R2 will slam them down on enemies. It's perfect for AOE damage and knocking enemies airborne.
• Hyperion Grapple: Another gap-closer, this one used by aiming and holding R1. Simply pressing R1 pulls the enemy to you, but holding it activates Hyperion Grapple which can get Kratos out of clusters of enemies while dealing damage.