God of War Valkyrie guide: Hildr (2024)

Hildr may be the easiest Valkyrie fight in God of War, not because she’s a pushover but because Niflheim makes you a better fighter.

Still, the best offense for fighting Valkyries is a good defense. To win, you need to learn their attack patterns and unleash Kratos’ might when they’re vulnerable and distracted. In this guide, we’ll show you how to read Hildr’s attacks so you can respond and defeat her.

How to find the Valkyrie in Niflheim

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

In short, hug the left wall.

From home base (where you start), head left to third base. Then head through third base as if you were going to second base. In the safe area between the deadly corridors that connect third and second base, turn left to enter left field. Ignore all of the enemies you encounter along the way.

Be prepared

Before you begin a Valkyrie fight, do three things:

• Fill your Runic attack meters. Begin every Valkyrie fight with back-to-back Runic attacks (L1 + R1 and L1 + R2). As Valkyries descend from their winged cocoons, they’re vulnerable. Attack then, and you’ll chip away a big portion of her health without resistance. (If your meters aren’t full, you can just stand around and wait for them to fill up.)
• Fill your Spartan Rage meters. Spartan Rage does two things. The obvious one is inflict massive amounts of damage. The less obvious one is restore your health as you attack. You can use it to punish a Valkyrie or restore your low health — or both! (If your meters aren’t full, go find some enemies to kill.)
• Bring a Resurrection Stone. If Kratos dies while you’re holding a Resurrection Stone, press Square and Atreus will bring him back to life. Any Resurrection Stone will do, and you can buy them at Sindri’s shop. Just remember that you can only hold one at a time.

Hildr attacks and strategies

The trick to defeating a Valkyrie is identifying and responding to her attacks. Then the fight becomes an if-then statement: If she does this, then I do this. In this section, we’ll show you Hildr’s most common attacks (the “if” part) and how to respond (the “then” part).

Parry her dash attacks

The best single thing to do to counter Hildr is to parry, which gives you what feels like a huge window to attack.

You can parry many of her attacks — especially when she slides across the arena to close the distance between her and Kratos. Just wait for her to get close, and hit L1 to bring up your shield and stun her.

Then use the powerful new attacks (hold L1 with your axe, for example) that you used to defeat the enemies in Niflheim quickly. Those are just as effective here as they are elsewhere.

Block and dodge her ranged attacks

When she launches her ranged snowball attacks, block them. She’ll fire a bunch of snowballs. You can block all of them. Then she’ll fire a large ice ball. You can’t block it. When she pauses and you see the telltale red circle indicating an unblockable attack, double-tap X and roll to the left or right. It’s easy to dodge.

Her other ranged attack is unblockable. It’s easy to spot the difference: The unblockable one begins with the telltale red circle, but it ends with a yellow burst of energy traveling across the battlefield. Just do the same thing as you did with the ice ball attack — dodge left or right.

Shoot and dodge when she jumps into the air

When Hildr flies up into the air, have Atreus shoot her. She may fall right back to the ground, giving you an opportunity to attack. She may dive at you with another unblockable attack. If you see the red circle, dodge out of the way as soon as she starts moving.

Block her wing attacks on the ground

Her only other notable attack is when she hits you with her wings at close range. Lots of Valkyries use this attack, and you should deal with it the same way you deal with in Niflheim it elsewhere: Block it, and attack after her flurry ends.

Collect your loot

Defeat Hildr, and you’ll receive Hildr’s Helmet, the Heart of the Valkyrie Epic enchantment, Asgardian Steel, its Epic counterpart Perfect Asgardian Steel, the Epic chest armor Cuirass of the Valkyrie, and the Epic axe pommel Wing of the Valkyrie. Browse the gallery above for the details on each item.