How to defeat Nidhogg in God of War Ragnarok

Nidhogg is the keeper of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, in God of War Ragnarok. It has a duty to protect the tree’s roots, which blocks the way for Kratos to progress further on his adventure with Freya. The only way to free Freya from her imprisonment is to defeat Nidhogg. Here’s what you need to know about how to defeat Nidhogg in God of War Ragnarok.

How to beat Nidhogg in God of War Ragnarok

Nidhogg will erupt from a tear within the realms, attempting to keep you away from the roots that bind Freya. You will need to battle it from this tear during the first part of the fight. You will want to do this from a close range, hitting the creature as often as possible with your fists, Leviathan Axe, or Blades of Chaos. Several of the attacks it uses here will be used in different parts of the fight, so it’s a good idea to get familiar with them now.

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The creature will attempt to use its talons to swipe out at you from this position. Starting from one side and then going to the other. These are easily dodged. If you see its claws beginning to glow with a distinct purple glow, it’s about to unleash a Bifrost attack, which it does by slamming down at the ground near it. You will want to create distance between you and the creature whenever you see this happening.

Nidhogg’s tail will also release Bifrost attacks. The tail will appear at the front and swipe from the side. Although it’s going across the entire arena, you can dodge underneath it if you time it correctly. The tail will also go vertically at you, which is much easier to dodge. These attacks appear in other parts of the encounter and are similar, but with more instances, including horizontal strikes before unleashing a vertical strike.

When Nidhogg’s tail comes out with a red ring and slams into the ground, it will have a distinct blue ring around it. You can interrupt this incoming attack by charging at it and double-tapping the block button, stunning Nidhogg for a brief period. While it’s stunned, you can do the most damage against it, and later in the encounter, Freya will attempt to help you.

Eventually, Kratos will remove Nidhogg from its tear between the realms and fling it across the arena. When thrown on a pillar in another area, Nidhogg will perform many of the same attacks that it has been using. Its tail will still swipe across the arena and hit you with Bifrost, it will still attempt to swipe at you with its claws, and it will try to strike its tail down on the ground, which you can then hit to stun it.

An added move it can use during this portion of the encounter is that it can now send its tail through tears between the realm, appearing where Kratos is standing. You will want to wait until you see a red ring appearing next to you before you perform a dodge, avoiding the attack. If hit, these will also do Bifrost damage.

As this encounter progresses, Freya will place runes on the pillar, and the tree Nidhogg uses to overlook you. When it is on the pillar, throw your Leviathan Axe at the pillar to bring it down. When Nidhogg is on the tree, use your Blades of Chaos to burn them down, bringing it to the ground. As it draws closer to the end of the fight, Nidhogg will be in the center of the arena. Throughout this encounter, hitting it with your weapons will do a small amount of damage, but the best way to truly harm it is to interrupt its blue ring tail strike and briefly stun it.

When you return to the starting location, Kratos will go through an animation and end the creature’s life alongside Freya. Once this happens, Freya will be free, and a cutscene will play out.