God of War: Niflheim Guide
Improving Survivability of the Cursed Mist
Players who thoroughly explore during the later stages of The Journey will find four ciphers that allow travel to the realm of Niflheim. This realm is one of two entirely optional realms that are an integral part of God of War's end-game. Exploring Niflheim means enduring a cursed mist that gradually saps the life of all who enter it. We can access the enchantments and armor of its creator in order to give ourselves more time exploring in the mist, but doing so will require making many runs into the Mist.
Basics and Mist Mechanic
Collecting mist requires you to explore Ivaldi's Workshop: essentially a small, randomized maze in Niflheim. In order to keep any mist you find, you've got to make it back to a safe zone where the mist and any other crafting materials you find are permanently added to your collection. There are two safe zones: the area with Sindri's shop and the central area you get to access with the entry stone.
Entry Stone
Sindri will give you a quest to come up with 500 mist in order to craft an Entry Stone for Ivaldi's Storeroom area. You can get this by going into the first room, fighting the enemies there, and returning and doing this twice.
Crafting Items
We are able to increase the time we spend in the mist by crafting items from Sindri's shop. We need to expand the time we can spend in the mist in order to go a bit deeper so that each run is more efficient. Because I was curious, I decided to look into how much time each item adds and determine what is best to craft earlier in order to speed up the process for when I reach this place in Give Me God of War.
Base Resist - How Long You Have on The Timer
With Ivaldi's armor and enchantments against the mist of Niflheim, Kratos and Atreus can survive in the mist for about 120 seconds before he begins to lose 5 HP per second. Opening a chest adds 20 seconds to the meter and there are often two per room. The chests don't work on a percentage basis so they appear to do very little when you have Ivaldi's armor. It just gives you the same amount in a much larger pool of mist resistance. Time is consumed by fighting and waiting for traps, so keep that in mind. Because there is a Valkyrie to defeat in Niflheim, we need to boost our ability to withstand the mist as much as possible. You just need enough time to find and defeat the Valkyrie, as winning will refill your meter.
Increasing Mist Survival Times
I did some recordings of Kratos standing around that were very boring to determine how much longer you can stay in the mist wearing various pieces in isolation. I also tested the mist talisman (Hvergelmir Stone) that restores some time along with a small heal. It would seem that a player should start with one piece of armor, assuming they always receive enough Niflheim Alloy from the central room after crafting the entry stone. The bracers/waist are cheaper than the chest and do the exact same. Wearing each piece of Ivaldi's armor increases time in the mist by 50%, so you double to 4 minutes with 2 pieces and will reach 5 mins with 3. Add opening chests and the following and you can stay quite a long time!
The other good item is the Eye of Niflheim. This is received from the chest that costs 2500 to unlock but does not take any Niflheim Alloy. Skip all other chests and go straight for this one. Players should also be on the lookout for Perfect Eye of Blight that suits their playstyle. Crafting them can be a crap shoot. There is one with a passive that works constantly that offers a 25% boost to time and may help you get through the Valkyrie fight.
The Leviathan Axe pommel (Grip of the Maze) will give another 25% boost to time spent. Get one of the armor pieces with an Eye of Niflheim and you're able to explore a bit further (go out 2 rooms and back to be safe) which will help you get the remaining Niflheim alloy you need for the other two armor pieces.
The last thing worth mentioning here is the Hvergelmir Stone, which is a talisman that seems to have between a 90s or 2 minute cooldown. This can be used to extend your time in the maze, but its usefulness greatly depends upon how much cooldown you have. I had around 80 and it was 70 seconds. It restores an amount of mist resistance equal to that of opening a chest. Given that it is 20 seconds, it is only a 1/6th boost to the base. However if you get to where you have 5+ minutes in the mist, it may come in handy for its additional healing (maybe 20hp). A person who has decent cooldown and 5 minutes in the mist could use it 3 or so times, making it equal to an armor piece. For players just reaching Ivaldi's Workshop, it is a clear loser despite its cheap cost.
I suggest using Cooldown runes with Ivaldi's to maximize time in the mist and allow you to use 4 runic attacks per room you enter. This will keep them always ready as you go to the next. If you run out of enchantments with 7-8+ cooldown, add to your runic to improve runic attack and magical damage for fast room clearing.
Some people might prefer to just see a list in 'best' order so they can know the order most efficient in terms of Mist cost (ignoring Niflheim Ally).
Best Mist Resistance Items
| Item/Enchantment | Mist Echoes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ivaldi's Gauntlets | 1000 | Boosts time in mist by 50%. There are three flavors which might suit your playstyle |
| Ivaldi's Waist | 1000 | Boosts time in mist by 50%. |
| Ivaldi's Chest | 1500 | Boosts time in mist by 50%. |
| Eye of Niflheim | 2500 | Boosts time in mist by 66% (roughly). Get from chest in central room once you have 2500 mist. |
| Grip of the Maze (Pommel) | 1000 | Boosts time in the mist by 25%. You do NOT have to be using the Leviathan Axe actively in order to benefit from this boost, unlike on-hit pommels. |
| Perfect Artifact of the Blight (Passive Version) | 750/0 | Boosts time in the mist by 25%. You can sometimes loot one (or more) of these from chests or even mobs in Ivaldi's maze. |
| Perfect Artifact of the Blight (Executioner's) | 750/0 | Boosts time by 20 seconds when it fires after a successful Executioner's Cleave. If you can do it multiple times, this becomes better than grip of the maze. |
| Hvelgermir Stone | Boosts time by 16% of base each time it is used. Higher cooldown or more uses may place this item above grip of the maze. However even fully upgraded it lacks any sort of sockets. |
Other God of War Guides
God of War Tips - My Intro Page with loads of advice.
God of War Stats: What Luck, Cooldown, Strength, Defense and Runic do for Kratos
Using Stats to Make a Build
Atreus in Early to Mid Game - Making use of Atreus and upgrading his abilities.
Status Effects - Permafrost, Immolation, Shock, etc.
