God of War Ragnarok New Game Plus Update Now Available

Sony Interactive Entertainment and Santa Monica Studio announced that a New Game Plus mode for God of War Ragnarok is now available to all players. The free update also includes content to entice going through the whole epic all over again.

For those not familiar with New Game Plus, this is the mode that allows you to play through the whole campaign from the start but this time with all your equipment and levels you’ve obtained in your first playthrough. There’s a limitation, as Sonic and Hex arrows will not be available right away, and so is the Draupnir Spear. These gear will unlock until you reach a certain point of the campaign, which makes sense as these items also function as a way to get access to new areas in the game. 

With progression carrying over, New Game Plus features an increased level cap, new armor sets, and new enchantments.

For armor, here’s how Sony describes the new gear in their blog post.

New Game Plus Armor Sets

Armor of the Black Bear

Rest assured, we’ve been taking note of the requests to add Kratos’ cloak from the opening scene since the launch of God of War Ragnarök.

The Armor of the Black Bear will keep Kratos bundled up against the Fimbulwinter frost even after the sled chase. Its stats focus on Strength and Defense with a perk that rewards your last-second evades with a volley of Bifröst shards.

Your NG+ run will begin with the Armor of the Black Bear already equipped. 

Spartan Armor

If you want a serious test of your skills and to take on the toughest challenge you can get in God of War Ragnarök, the Spartan Armor is for you. With no Perk, no Stats, and locked at Power Level 1 – the Spartan Armor lets you take a more… well, spartan approach towards protection.

This set is perfect for those of you who want to strip down your power to the minimum and leave no room for error. If you’re brave enough to face the coming of Ragnarök pecs-first, then give the set a try!

If you’re more into the Spartan General look and less into the challenging gameplay, you can always transmog this armor onto another set to achieve the look without sacrificing protection.

The Spartan Armor can be acquired for Hacksilver at Huldra Brothers’ Shop. 

Ares Armor

Returning favorites from God of War 2018’s New Game Plus are the Ares and Zeus armors with new visuals and Perks.

The Ares Armor rewards the lucky with a chance to drop a Health Stone on hit. When you stomp the Health Stone, you also get a rage gain alongside a bigger explosion.

The Ares Armor can be purchased for Hacksilver at Huldra Brothers’ Shop.

Zeus Armor

The Zeus Armor will enable the ultimate risk-reward playstyle. This set greatly increases your Melee and Runic damage, while also increasing incoming damage.

A single hit could be enough to take even Kratos down with the Zeus Armor equipped, so you’ll need to be mindful of where your enemies are while you prepare to deal out punishment with the raw power this armor provides.

The Zeus Armor can be acquired by defeating Gná the Valkyrie Queen and completing certain Remnants of Asgard

Players can also pick up the Spartan Aspis Shield, which plays similarly to the Guardian Shield but is said to have a tighter Parry window. You can pick this shield up at Huldra’s Brothers’ Shop for Hacksilver.

As for the increased level cap, players can also improve their gear beyond level 9. Not only does gear can get stronger in New Game Plus, but enemies will also be tougher as well.

Tons of new Enchantments to obtain

New Enchantments come in the form of Gilded Coins, allowing you to equip two different chest perks at the same time, giving players more options to create insane builds in their second playthrough. There are also new Enchantments to earn by beating Berserker Souls in New Game Plus, which give boosts to certain stats.

Lastly, players can also earn Enchantments called Burdens, negative effects to give players the option to tailor the difficulty of their new game plus run.

God of War Ragnarok’s new game plus mode also adds new skill modes, more stat gains, and Platinum Tier Labors carrying over to unlock a new tier of rewards. Also expect endgame bosses to be more brutal the last time they fought them as they were adjusted to align with the increase in level and progression.

In this update, the Sparring Arena in Niflheim in New Game Plus will feature more options to play with as you can pick who you play with and who companion you can go with as you go through the arena. Players can also go through the game in the new Black and White render mode as well, and you can now skip cinematics in New Game Plus.

This is quite a meaty free update and pretty much covers almost all of what fans have been requesting when it was released back in November.

---