God of War (2018): How To Fully Upgrade The Leviathan Axe

[Want to see more guides like this? Subscribe to GuideRanx for daily new gaming guides.]

Say goodbye to Kratos’s old bag of tricks — in God of War, the newly widowed father primarily uses the Leviathan Axe instead of his old Blades of Chaos. The gameplay might’ve changed, but you’ll still slaughter armies of enemies. The Leviathan Axe is an awesome weapon, and one that Kratos can throw to freeze opponents at range. Gradually, you’ll unlock more powerful skills and abilities to make destroying Norse-themed monsters a breeze.

It isn’t the only weapon in the game, even if you can stick with it from the start right to the end — the Leviathan Axe stays useful, and normally you’ll be able to upgrade it after certain milestones in the story have been passed. That isn’t always the case. At the end of your journey, you’ll have to find an alternate method to upgrade to Level 6. Here’s how to do it and earn the ‘Darkness and Fog‘ trophy.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

More God of War (2018) guides on Gameranx:

How To Fully Upgrade The Leviathan Axe | Level 6 Upgrade Guide

To get the most powerful upgrade for the Leviathan Axe, you’ll need more than your standard materials. Late in the game, you’ll return from a story mission and find that the water has receded to its lowest point. When that happens, you’ll be able to access a secret, optional area called Niflheim.

Niflheim is a bonus zone that’s surprisingly challenging. Instead of fighting through trials like in Muspelheim, Niflheim is a mysterious world that changes every time you enter it. The goal is to sprint through the fog before you die and collect as many Mist Echoes as possible. Why? Because, with the right amount of Mist Echoes, you can finally unlock the Level 6 Upgrade for the Leviathan Axe.

How To Unlock Niflheim:
- To unlock Niflheim, you’ll need to reach the Mountain for the second time. On your second visit (or later) you’ll be able to collect four cipher language chests.
- Collect all four Niflheim Cipher chests to unlock Niflheim in Tyr’s Temple.
  - Niflheim Cipher #1: Lookout Tower – You can access the Lookout Tower once you’re free to explore the Lake of the Nine. The Lookout Tower is south of the temple, at the base of one of Odin’s (the statue’s!) massive feet. The lonely beach has an easy-to-spot chest that’s only available when the water is completely lowered and you’ve lowered the spike traps.
  - Niflheim Cipher #2: The Mountain – Starting from the vendor, which you’ll reach naturally on your second visit to the Mountain, exit through the lower door to find a balcony with a Realm Tear. The Cipher chest is right behind it.
  - Niflheim Cipher #3: Ruins of the Ancient – This area is located far northwest of the Temple in the Lake of the Nines, and can only be accessed once the snake moves and allows you to access Konunsgard. There’s a Soul-Eater on this lonely beach, and a cipher chest.
  - Nilfheim Cipher #4: Council of the Valkyries – Land on the beach northeast of the temple, just west of Stone Falls. You’ll need to climb up the narrow cracks on the cliff walls and destroy the debris to the right to access this final chest.

Once you’ve collected all four Niflheim Cyphers, you can go to Tyr’s Temple and travel through the Niflheim gate. In Niflheim, your goal is to collect Mist Echoes in the poisonous fog. Enter the randomly-generated dungeon, defeat enemies, open chests to collect echoes, then sprint to the exit before you lose everything.

How To Upgrade The Leviathan Axe To Level 6:
- Talk to Sindri in Niflheim to get a quest — collect 500 Mist Echoes in the random dungeon to unlock a world key, unlocking the central workshop.
  - In the workshop, you can spend Mist Echoes to unlock chests with powerful items inside.
- Open chests in the workshop to get the “Chilling Mist of Niflheim” — getting this allows you to purchase Frozen Flame from shops.
  - Opening chests costs Mist Echoes, so save up plenty.

Opening all of the chests in this area will help you unlock the ‘Darkness and Fog‘ trophy. Here are some tips to help you earn as many Mist Echoes as you can in this area.

How To Get Mist Echoes Fast
- Unlock the cheapest chests to get a talisman that will increase your resistance to the mist.
- Build the armor you find early in the Niflheim quest. It’s weak, but it will increase your resistance to mist. Upgrade it to stay in the mist even longer and earn more echoes per run.
- Opening chests will slightly increase your mist meter.
- At the start of every random dungeon, there’s a nornir chest — screencap the chest to see the three runes, then sprint around the dungeon to find three poles.
- Flip through the runes on the poles to the matching runes on the chest (that’s why you want to screencap!) to unlock the chest and get tons of Mist Echoes.
- As you explore, you’ll find more nornir chests. Look around for bells to see if you can solve them.
- In the later stages of the random dungeon, you’ll earn far more echoes. The dungeon has the same layout every time, but the traps / enemies will be randomized.