This page will detail how to defeat Thor in the first fight in God of War Ragnarok.

How to Beat Thor in God of War Ragnarok¶

Thor is probably the first real boss of the game, especially since it spans multiple phases. Overall, it’s not too different than the Bjorn fight, but as you’re still getting accustomed to the controls and everything, you might be in for a rough battle. There is one particular move he has that is very fast, meaning it’s quite annoying to dodge out of the way. In fact, despite his stature, Thor is quite quick, so make sure you

List of Thor’s Attacks (1st Phase)¶

Below, you will find a list of all of Thor’s attacks you will see in the first phase of the battle.

Dash Grab¶

This is the one attack that is highly annoying, as it is very quick and does some good damage. Thor will dash in, complete with a red circle, and try to grab you. If he connects, he will slam you into the ground to deal some decent damage before tossing you away. Dodging to either side is ideal here, and it’s also possible to roll backwards to avoid it.

Dash Shockwave¶

Thor will dash straight towards your position, clap his hands together and cause a shockwave right in front of him. While the dash-in is pretty quick, there is a little bit of a delay before the shockwave comes out, so this should be pretty easy to dodge. Note that you can also block this attack, so that might be a good idea.

Punch-Kick Combo¶

Thor will deal some fisticuffs by performing two basic punches, then doing a guard-breaking elbow shot. If the elbow hits normally, he doesn’t do anything else. However, should the elbow break your guard, then you will be hit with a straight kick that knocks you away. The best way to get away from this is to block the first two hits, then roll out of the way of the third hit. The kick always seems to connect, though, so there’s not avoiding that.

The first phase of the battle will be over after you take off two bars of Thor’s health. You will be able to press R3 to initiate a scene, after which, the second phase will begin.

List of Thor’s Attacks (2nd Phase)¶

Thor will introduce a one attack during the second phase. He still retains all of the moves from the first phase.

Ground Slam¶

Thor will put his arms into the air, complete with a red circle, and slam them into the ground. This will cause a decent sized shockwave around him, so you will want to be careful about spending too much time next to him. Since it is unblockable, there’s not much you can do about it. As long as you quickly realize he’s doing this move, you can swiftly back away.

Once you get Thor to only one bar left on his health, you will be able to use R3 to initiate another cutscene, where you will move onto the third phase.

List of Thor’s Attacks (3rd Phase)¶

The third phase will have a few new attacks. He will still retain all of the moves from the other two phases.

Hammer Throw and Shockwave¶

Thor will begin using his hammer more in the third phase, with there being a possible combination attack. He will have a red circle around his hammer, which indicates he’s about to throw it straight at you. This is pretty easy to dodge, as it’s telegraphed ahead of time. Note that he will sometimes immediately call the hammer back, meaning he’s going to follow it up with another unblockable attack. This one will send a shockwave on the ground, straight at you. Again, you should have more than enough time to easily dodge this.

Hammer Blow¶

This is another attack that seems to happen if you’re close to Thor. Similar to the above combo, Thor will brandish the Mjolnir and dash in, then do a slightly delayed swing with it. You will unable to dodge this, as a quick tutorial message will pop up telling you this, should you get hit. To not take damage here, you will need to use L1 to block the attack.

Hammer Combo¶

If you’re close to Thor, you will see him brandish his hammer and swing it at you. He will do this three times and you can block each of the hits. It’s definitely a challenge to try and dodge all three hits. If you get hit by the third one, you will be knocked back.

There is a bit of a fakeout during this third phase. After removing about two bars of his health, there will be a cutscene with some quick-time events. Despite your best efforts, you will be unable to win the second one and it looks like you died. However, the game breaks the fourth wall a bit here and the battle will continue. Once you get his health to about 20% or so, you will have a R3 prompt, with there being another cutscene and the final phase.

List of Thor’s Attacks (Final Phase)¶

Thor will have two new moves during this final phase, and like the others, he will still retain all of the previously listed moves here, too.

Lightning Strikes¶

One of the new moves will have Thor calling down some lightning strikes. These will be marked with red circles on the ground and are unblockable. There will be three lightning strikes each time he does this move and should you get hit by any, then you will be stunned. However, you can mash the X button to free yourself from this. Anytime you see the red circles on the ground, you will want to avoid them.

Hammer Shockwave Combo¶

The last new move you might see during this final phase is another combo. He will start with an unblockable hammer strike, then a guard-breaking second hit, followed by another unblockable attack, that shockwave along the ground that was with the hammer throw. This is a tough combo, since two of the attacks are unblockable, and the middle one cannot be blocked, due to it breaking your guard.

How to Defeat Thor¶

This is definitely a longer, and more difficult, battle over Bjorn, and it’s only the second boss in the game! There’s quite a lot to break down here, since there’s a total of four phases. Luckily, there will be a checkpoint during each phase transition, so you don’t need to do the whole battle in one go. By far, one of Thor’s most dangerous attacks is the one where he dashes in to try and grab you. The reason this is dangerous is because it’s a very quick move and you sometimes might be recovering from another attack, or scurrying to grab a health pickup. It is also unblockable, so you are forced to dodge it.

The rest of his attacks aren’t too bad, although the Hammer Blow introduced in the third phase can get tricky. If you’re in close and see him brandishing his hammer, then just block, since that attack cannot be dodged. As with Bjorn, you will want to try and take your time here, since getting greedy and trying to more attacks than you’re allowed can result in taking some damage. Just get a few hits in, then back off and wait for another opportunity to present itself.

Also, as mentioned above, don’t be fooled by the instance where it looks like you died, but didn’t, since Thor will revive you to keep the fight going. During the second phase, there are some columns scattered around the battlefield that you can use to get a nice hit on Thor. It’s a good idea to keep an eye out for these, since you seem to not take hits while grabbing one. Once you get his health low enough in the final phase, there will be one more cutscene, then the battle will just end. The Blood Debt trophy will be unlocked after this fight.