God of War - How to Unlock All Runic Attacks for the Axe

God of War - How to Unlock All Runic Attacks for the Axe

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God of War has a great selection of Runic attacks for the Leviathan Axe. These "Super Moves" give Krato's overwhelming power in short bursts with some beautiful animations to admire. In this guide I'll explain exactly how to unlock all of the Leviathan Axe Runic Attacks, both Light and Heavy.

There are no story spoilers in this guide.

For the most part, Runic attacks are unlocked by finding the appropriate Legendary Chests in the regions listed below. The harder part is actually solving the puzzle to access these chests, which are quite often hidden behind an inaccessible door or passageway. Quite often, players need to use good Axe throws, quick speed and know the solution to these mini-puzzles beforehand.

Once the Legendary Chest is reachable, it's simply a case of opening the chest and claiming the new Runic attack for your arsenal. Nothing else is required to craft or buy these Runics; once unlocked, Runic attacks are immediately available to equip to the Leviathan Axe.

How to get all Runic Attacks



The first table below shows a list of all Runic attacks, which map location they're in and also how to get them. Scroll further down for images and puzzle solutions for the harder chests.

Type Runic name Description Location How to get
Light Njörd’s Tempest A rapidly spinning melee attack that clears out surrounding enemies and deals significant damage. Alfheim Legendary Chest. No puzzle.
Light Fury of the Ice Troll A quick radial shockwave attack that slows enemies and sends them flying back. Völunder Mines Legendary Chest. 
Light Týr’s Revenge A powerful spinning attack against a single target, with a follow-up attack that slams the enemy to the ground. The Mountain  Legendary Chest. 
Light Leviathan’s Wake A powerful axe throw that plows through any enemies in its path. Veithurgard Legendary Chest. 
Light Charge of the White Bear A quick, propulsive dash attack with a follow-up strike. Kratos is protected during the dash. Foothills Legendary Chest.
Light Wrath of the Frost Ancient A powerful ice beam that slows all enemies on contact. Fáfnir’s Storeroom  Legendary Chest. 
Light Strike of the Utgard A wide-arcing attack that inflicts a moderate amount of Frost damage. Alfheim Legendary Chest. No puzzle.
Light Hel’s Touch An extremely quick burst of energy that interrupts and knocks back all nearby enemies. River Pass Legendary Chest
Heavy Thiazi’s Talon A propulsive slice attack that launches a small, vertical wave that inflicts medium Frost damage. Alfheim Legendary Chest
Heavy Ivaldi’s Anvil A devastating area-of-effect attack that freezes all enemies caught in the blast radius. River Pass Brenna Daudi (BOSS fight) Drop
Heavy Mists of Helheim A lingering area-of-effect attack that creates a small hazard that inflicts Frost damage to all enemies inside. Iron Cove Legendary Chest
Heavy Frost Giant’s Frenzy
3 powerful slam attacks that launch enemies and then sends them flying. Alfheim (Light Elf Shore)  Legendary Chest
Heavy Breath of Thamur A massive area-of-effect attack that deals damage to all enemies within an extremely large area. Muspelheim  Shop
Heavy Blessing of Frost Activate to temporarily power up the Leviathan Axe with small explosions of Frost damage on every hit and slight bonus to Runic and normal attacks. Thamur’s Corpse  Legendary Chest
Heavy The River of Knives A destructive attack that sends out a line of ice shards that inflict Frost damage and launch enemies into the air upon contact. The Mountain  Legendary Chest
Heavy Glaive Storm Throw the Leviathan Axe towards any nearby targets, automatically seeking out, hitting, and inflicting Frost damage to any enemies caught in its path. Buri’s Storeroom  Legendary Chest


Legendary Chest Locations and Puzzle Solutions



Charge of the White Bear - Foothills



Foothills chest location

Look for the poisonous gas area shown in thee image above. It's outside in the open area with an impassable hole in front of it. Use the Axe to hit the two red fires on either side of gas. Hitting both of these causes an explosion that ignites the area, blasting away the rocks and giving you access to the Legendary Chest.

Fury of the Ice Troll - Volunder Mines



Volunder Mines chest location

You can grab this one during or after Brok's Favour called "Second Hand Soul". Work your way to the lower levels of the mines and look for the gold chain and a locked gate with an Ancient walking around in the distance (see image above). Find the three "seals" in the nearby area: there's one by the locked gate, backtrack outside for the other and the last one is inside the red pot, dangling from the ceiling.

Once you have all three seals, head through the circular door with symbols on the front. Sneak past the Soul Eater (Ancient) and grab the Legendary Chest in the corner of the room.

Týr's Revenge - The Mountain



The Mountain chest location

From within the Mountain, head towards the edge of the platform shown in the image above. Use the wooden structures (ladder) to climb down to the very bottom. It's very dark here with not much light. Thankfully, the only thing here is the Legendary Chest. Use Atreus' Shock Arrows to shoot the red vines and get access to the Legendary Chest.

Wrath of the Frost Ancient - Fáfnir's Storeroom



Fáfnir's Storeroom chest location

A very easy Runic to find but it must be during or after Sindri's Favor called: Fafnir's Hoard. When ready, venture past the dead knight outside and through to the room with the many waterfalls, as shown in the image above. Venture slightly to the right and the Legendary Chest is staring you in the face.

Thiazi’s Talon - Alfheim



Alfheim chest location

Straight after the Dark Elf boss fight: Go into the circular chamber (right side of image above), then read below.

Or, if you have passed the boss: Use the boat to travel to the circular platform, in front of the giant circular frame and shining beam in the distance. See left hand side of the image above. From this platform, activate the elevator and go down to the next level (the basement). There are a series of chambers here but the important part is to turn 90 degrees to your right as soon as the elevator stops, head forward into the large chamber. This is the right hand side of the image above. Follow the red arrow into the small chamber to the right.

The key to this puzzle is to throw the axe and then summon it back from a different location, thus hitting two of the red vines in one go. So, from the chamber highlighted by the red arrow, throw the axe at the first vine, which is near the chest we want to get to. Leave the room and head back to the previous larger chamber and find the other gate with the vine. Now stand in front of the gate and recall your axe. If done correctly, this opens the gate leading to the chest.

Mists of Helheim - Iron Cove



Iron Cove chest location

A simple puzzle here with no time limit. Jump down from the deck of the broken ship and climb up the wall, shown on the left hand side of the image above. There’s a rune chest up here with a puzzle - find the three blue symbols and throw your axe to rotate the gold plate and activate each symbol.

The right hand side of the image above shows one of these symbols. The locations are: to the left of the ship (in plain sight), the other side of the ship (explode the rubble first using your axe by throwing from up above), behind the ship (in plain sight).

Glaive Storm - Buri’s Storeroom



Buri’s Storeroom chest location

We’re in Buri’s Storeroom for this chest, on the eastern shore of the Lake of Nine in Midgard. There’s a timed runic puzzle to solve, requiring Krato’s to throw his axe at three blue symbols in quick succession.

First, use Atreus’ Shock Arrows to remove the red vines from the cliff edge that are blocking the rotating wheel. Now head up the stairs and rotate the wheel to turn the huge water wheel, opening a passage for Kratos to reach via his boat. Ride the boat round the other side of the small island, dock and close the gate using the lever.

Ride the boat back to the chest side of the island and start the timed puzzle. The three blue symbols are in close proximity, with the first being up top of the gate you just closed, the second to the cliff side and the third on the right side of the cliff. Hit all three quickly with the axe to unlock the door leading to the chest.

The other Legendary chests are easy to find. Good luck!