The best God of War Valhalla upgrades are all brought from the Shore Tablets, a strange merchant system where Kratos is paying rocks on Valhalla's edge for perks that he brings into the rogue-like labyrinth beyond. These Glyphs and more can do all sorts for Kratos - long-term bonuses, short-term perks, enhance certain playstyles and weapons, so balancing your priorities isn't easy. Still, there are some standouts, so we'll cover all the best upgrades for God of War Valhalla below.
Which upgrades should you buy in God of War Valhalla?
As mentioned, there's two kinds of upgrades in God of War Valhalla: permanent upgrades bought on the Shore from the Tablet of Influence and the Tablet of Reflection, and temporary upgrades and Glyphs you get while doing a run through Valhalla. We'll cover both kinds below and what you should prioritise.
Best Shore upgrades (Tablet of Influence and Tablet of Reflection)
Mastery Seals, Spirit Seals and Divine Influences are spent here for permanent upgrades. Here are the upgrades you should buy as soon as possible:
- Tablet of Influence (Blue)
- Mastery Seals Pot Increase: Pots destroyed have a chance to drop Mastery Seals.
- Spirit Seals Pot Increase: Pots destroyed have a chance to drop Spirit Seals,
- Echoes: Encounters: Increases Fleeting echoes dropped by enemies.
- Tablet of Reflection (Red)
- Starting Resurrection Stone: Start every run with a Resurrection Stone - a safety net is always helpful.
- Critical Health Regen: Restore health up to a certain level after a fight (max 30%).
- Health Looter: Regain a small percentage of Health when opening Legendary Chests and Rifts.
Basically, we've focused on two things here that are more important than anything in our experience: investment and survivability.
To start with investment in the Tablet of Influence, this is a simple principle: making sure your efforts keep paying out more and more, as it means you can pursue upgrades faster and faster. We all know how it works: if the game offers you an XP multiplier, you buy it as soon as possible.
When it comes to survivability in the Tablet of Reflection, the principle is simple: builds vary and all stats are helpful, but ultimately you still win or lose depending on whether you can survive the damage you take, so health and health regen is the "universal" quality shared by all experiences. Make yourself as robust as possible, and you'll thank yourself for it later.
Best upgrades and temporary Glyphs
Choosing the best Glyphs to pick out during your run is much harder, for a few reasons: ultimately, this is about creating a build that works for you. While some Glyphs are better than others (usually indicated by rarity), there's too many in play to be able to pick the same ones consistently, so you should more pick certain kinds of Glyph depending on the following qualities:
- Glyphs that match your playstyle: Do you prefer the Axe, Blades or Spear? If there's a weapon or kind of attack you don't use, you don't want to invest in it.
- Glyphs that trigger more often: Some Glyphs provide perks that are incredibly contextual and rare, requiring you to fulfil very esoteric conditions, or provide rewards that are very specific to certain builds. Look for ones that'll trigger as often as possible.
- Glyphs that build on each other: Think about what Glyphs you've already found, and try to assemble a build as you go: for example, if you've got a bunch of Glyphs that provide bonuses to Permafrost or Burning, a Glyph that charges those qualities faster will be very helpful!
Admittedly this side of the upgrade system is far more art than science, as you'll have to improvise each time from a massive pool of diverse Glyphs and perks, and as is often the case with Roguelikes, you're as dependent on luck as you are on skill.
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