God of War Ragnarok receives New Game Plus in latest update

Ragnarök is going to be a little harder to deal with because Santa Monica Studios added New Game Plus (NG+) to one of last year's best games, God of War Ragnarök.. For those looking to jump back into the Nine Realms for a more challenging experience, your prayers have been answered.

Similar to other iterations of NG+ found in other games, you will have to complete the game once and then you can dive right into NG+ where your equipment, weapons and skills will carry over from your previous save.

However, do take note that you will not have access to Sonic and Hex arrows, and areas that require said arrows or the Draupnir Spear will only unlock when you have reached that point in the story.

In NG+, Kratos and your enemies in the Nine Realms will be more powerful as there is now a new level cap. Seeing as we are on the subject of enemies, two of the optional mini-bosses-the Hateful and the Ormstunga-have been given a few new tricks so be prepared for some surprises.

If you choose to play the game on Give Me No Mercy or Give Me God of War difficulties, all bosses and mini-bosses are now equipped with Runic Armour and enemies can also turn into elites, giving them an increase in Power Level.

To make things a little easier for you, you will be able to convert your Level 9 equipment into new 'Plus' versions that will provide additional levels of progression. Converting equipment will also yield a Gilded Coin that can be used to purchase the newly added Enchantments.

These are taken from perks for your Armour (Engravings) and Shield Rönds (Badges), allowing you to equip them in your Amulet as Enchantments. With this new system in play, you can now essentially combine two different chest armour perks simultaneously.

However, the more powerful enchantments from the Gilded Coins will require you to meet certain Stat thresholds so you can't have an overpowered Kratos right from the get-go.

But in NG+, when you defeat Berserker Souls, you will be rewarded with new Enchantments that will give you a boost to select stats or you can also find Nornir Chests that will give Yggdrasil Dew to push your Stats beyond their previous limits. On top of that, you can also use XP to further enhance the effects of your favourite Skill Mod tokens.

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Other than just going through the story again, new options have been added to the Sparring Arena in Niflheim. Alongside a selection of new enemies, you can now play as either Kratos or Atreus and choose any of the following characters to fight beside you: Atreus (with Kratos), Freya, Brok, Sindri, Angrboda, Ingrid, Thor, and Thrúd.

For those who want to give their Kratos a snazzy new look, the new update also adds four new armours namely the Armour of the Black Bear, Spartan Armour, Ares Armour and Zeus Armour.

Each of these armours will come with new stats and challenges, for example, the Spartan Armour is for those who want to test their skills as it has no Perk, Stats and is locked at Power Level 1.

Alongside the armours, you also have the new Spartan Aspis shield that has a tighter Parry window but successful parries yield a more damaging reward.

If you prefer to rely on the current armour you have equipped, the devs have given 13 of the existing armours new colour combinations and styles that can be purchased at the Huldra Brothers' Shop and applied to existing Level 9+ armours in the transmog menu.

Finally, the new update adds a new Black and White render mode that gives the game a more old-school cinematic look and if you are playing in NG+, you can also opt to skip cinematics.

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This article was first published in Potions.sg.