Santa Monica Studio has recently released a new update that will introduce the God of War Ragnarök new game plus mode and unlock new content.
God of War Ragnarök New Game Plus Perks
The moment God of War fans has been waiting for has finally arrived. The God of War Ragnarök New Game Plus update is finally out and it unlocks NG+ mode. It allows players who have completed one playthrough to play a new game with all of the equipment, weapons, and skills carried over from a previous save. This includes the Draupnir Spear at the start, but they will not have access to Sonic and Hex arrows at first. All the areas that require those arrows or the Draupnir Spear to access will not be unlocked until they will reach a certain point in the main questline in order to not break the narrative.
New Armor Sets
There is new equipment to look forward to with the latest update like the Armor of the Black Bear, Spartan Armor, Ares Armor, Zeus Armor, Spartan Aspin, and new armor appearances for the current ones.
The Armor of the Black Bear is the one Kratos wore at the beginning of the game. It offers stats that focus on Strength and Defense with a perk that rewards evasions with a volley of Bifrost shards. Players will be able to equip the armor at the start of the NG+ run.
The Spartan Armor is an armor with no Perks, no Stats and locked at Power Level 1. It is for players who want to challenge the game. It can be bought for Hacksilver at Huldra Brothers’ Shop.
Ares Armor offers players a random drop of Health Stone. Stomping on this Health Stone will gain some rage together with a bigger explosion. It can be bought at the Huldra Brothers’ Shop for Hacksilver.
Zeus Armor will enable the ultimate risk-reward playstyle. It greatly increases the melee and runic damage, but also increases incoming damage. A double-bladed effect. A single hit could take down Kratos down so be careful. It can be acquired after defeating Gna the Valkyrie Queen and completing certain Remnants of Asgard on a NG+ save.
New Shield and Armor Remixes
The Spartan Aspis is a new shield inspired by Kratos’ homeland. It is similar to the Guardian Shield but has a significantly tighter Parry window. A successful Parry would yield more damaging rewards. It can be bought at Huldra Brothers’ Shop with Hacksilver.
There are also new 13 remixes of existing armors with new color combinations and styles. It can all be bought at Huldra Brothers’ Shop and applied to any of the existing Level 9+ armor in the transmog menu.
Level Cap Increased
NG+ offers more powerful Kratos and enemies with an increased level cap. Players can convert all Level 9 equipment into new Plus versions that will offer additional levels of progression. Converting will reward them with a Gilded Coin that can be used to purchase one of the new Enchantments from the shop.
There is also a quality of life adjustment to the shop where players can purchase and sell resources incrementally now.
Enchantments Introduced
The new Enchantments are either for boosting stats or giving players negative Perks to make the game more challenging than ever. Players can get these Stat Boost Enchantments via Berserk Soul Drops. The Burdens can easily be purchased at the Huldra Brothers’ Shop with Hacksilver.
There are new Progression Paths to pursue like New Skill Mod Plus, Platinum Tier Labors, and Additional Stat Gains.
Arena Upgraded
The Niflheim Arena has been expanded allowing players to select new enemies and either player as Kratos or Atreus and choose any companion to fight together with them: Atreus, Freya, Brok, Sindri, Angrboda, Ingrid, Thor, and Thrud.
End Bosses Get Deadlier
The Berserker Souls and the Valkyrie Queen Gna have been upgraded further in NG+ so be careful. The Hateful and the Ormstunga, optional mini-bosses, got new abilities too.
Play NG+ with the Give Me No Mercy and Give Me God of War difficulties and the bosses and mini-bosses will have Runic Armor. Enemies could also turn into elites in these difficulty modes.
Lastly, there is the Black and White Render mode for a whole different look at God of War Ragnarök.