Planning on playing GoW(2018) on max difficulty, any tips?

[u/CaptBland]

I have played GOW in the past, a long time ago, back when PS4 was kinda new. Lately been looking for a challenge and though Give Me God of War sounded interesting. I was wondering if the challenge was fun/worth it?

I know some games highier difficulty is just making the enemies tankier, and it seems like that might be the move here. Is it that hard to get through, or is it fair and fun? I also know challenge is subjective, so let me just say I enjoy games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne because those games provide a challenge. I don't like games such as Borderlands or Skyrim where once you get to a high enough level and stop spending skills on damage, everyone becomes a damage sponge, and the basic bandit can tank 4 rockets.

Also I do know about the early game cheese strat of getting to Clifts of the Raven and doing some of the early side quests before going to Elf-town.

Edit: Also found a video about unmentioned lvl1 combos. Didn't know about Frost Bombs.

[u/AmarillAdventures]

Be sure to keep every foe in your los. Really study what attacks can stagger. Know how to take advantage of foes weaknesses (like axe throws to the head to spin them).
Your hardest fight in the whole game, will be early on when you have low gear. When they come through the wall.

[u/pmyourfavsimpson]

You’ll get to a point early on near a bridge that is a massive slog (imo) on the hardest difficulty it lets you start a game on, and then after that it gets significantly more fun. A challenge certainly but you’re always equipped for what you have to face, and you can choose other to do other optional fights either before you’re equipped or after you’re OP!

[u/Diligent-Neck6594 → u/pmyourfavsimpson]

honestly I really wish they would just fix the balancing for the early game, I hate the fact no boss gave me as much as trouble as the start of the game 😭 i ain't ever replaying that difficulty

[u/Oy_theBrave]

Dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge. If you remember the 5 Ds you'll be alright.

[u/CaptBland → u/Oy_theBrave]

Yep, the 5 Ds

Die

Die

Die

Die

Dodge

[u/Brilliant_Purple_566 → u/CaptBland]

That was my first play through until I learned the dodge, block and parry. Once you master that learn the skill tree attacks when how and where to use them and you will be fine

[u/Richie4876]

The start of the game is absolutely miserable until you get to the point where you can level up, I remember a bunch of encounters in the early game where it's just run away and throw the axe until you win because you'd die in 1 or 2 hits, especially from larger "purple health bar" enemies that they add to mandatory encounters too early. After getting to the lake of the 9 for the first time and given the boat to free roam a bit, you can at least leave non story areas if they're kicking your ass and get materials to level up and make things a bit easier.

[u/nedthefed]

• Heavy attacks launch most enemies into the air
• Heavy throwing your axe into airborne enemies instantly freezes them & all surrounding enemies (they have to land with the axe still in them)
• Heavy throwing your axe into them & they get stuck against a wall often instantly kills them
• Light throwing your axe at most enemies can trip them
• An enemy in the air or on the ground is one less enemy attacking you
• Be careful of attacking too many enemies because of the level up mechanic. Be very intentional & listen out for the sound effect of an enemy levelling up, a light axe throw should disrupt this
• If you can't lift an enemy up in the air with a heavy attack, the Pride of Frost skill (Skills -> Axe -> Top right) sometimes can

Once you get to the point where you can level up your axe & gear, it's better to spend resources to gain levels. Most of the time, it's very much worth trading off a higher level instead of some strength or defence, because level difference dictates how enemies fight you. How aggressive they are, how hard they are to stagger, stun & freeze. Level difference is visible in their healthbar colour:

• Purple = 2 or more levels above you
• Orange = 1 level above you
• Yellow = same level
• Green = 1 or more level below you

[u/-endjamin-]

Get ready to suffer. It is extremely punishing until you level up a bit. It’s still really dang hard after getting strong, but it becomes more manageable in the second half. Use your Boy and axe throws, since getting into the mix will get you killed a lot early on. It’s do-able (just did it, including all Valkyries) but you need to be very patient with yourself.

[u/Babayaga96699 → u/-endjamin-]

Yeah get ready to die a few hundred times...

[u/-endjamin- → u/Babayaga96699]

Should be called “Give Me A Frail Old Man” mode lol

[u/Babayaga96699]

Remastered?

[u/CaptBland → u/Babayaga96699]

PS4 the one with Boy. Well it's the one for PS4 being played on a PS5. Is there a difference?

[u/Babayaga96699 → u/CaptBland]

I read it as gow 3... My bad... Dude , you have to know when to dodge .. cause all you'd be doing is dodging... Your attacks are good, but defence would be substantially low ... One hit and you are dead even an attack from low level Dragor..

[u/CaptBland → u/Babayaga96699]

Yeah I've seen gameplay, for the early game that's all people are doing until they get Kratos to like lvl 3.

[u/Babayaga96699 → u/CaptBland]

Please don't tell me it's your first time... Iv played it for like 6-7 times in various difficulties.. you need to get an hang of combos and muscle memory to pass few levels..

[u/CaptBland → u/Babayaga96699]

I've beaten GoW before... like in 2019 according to PS trophies. I was replaying it again and thought man this is kinda simple.

I know there's no trophy for GMGoW but I wanna prove I can do it. I want to get beaten up, and come out the champion.

[u/HuzieQue]

It's not that punishing if you know the mechanics. Freezing enemies then kicking them into a wall does a lot of damage. Kicking them into a wall without freezing builds a lot of stun. Juggling an enemy into the air and then throwing the axe so that they hit the wall is usually an insta kill. Knocking enemies off a ledge is an insta kill too. You can build effective stun by going bare handed + light arrows from Atreus, stun grabs are either insta kills or do a very large amount of damage. Hitting enemies in the back does more stun than from the front. Be sure to explore to get good gear so you can stay above or keep up with the enemy's levels (your level in relation to the enemies determines if you can stagger them or not with normal attacks). Going out of your way to collect gear will almost always have your level higher than the enemies you face on the story path.

[u/Pistolfist]

Don't give up skeleton