This page will detail how to start and complete the For Vanaheim Favor in God of War Ragnarok.

Where to Start the For Vanaheim! Favor in The Plains - God of War Ragnarok¶

You won’t be able to begin this Favor until you have complete the main quest, Creatures of Prophecy. Once you have, as you’re trying to leave via the one passage in Freyr’s Camp, you should notice an animal named Helka waiting for you. This will start the Scent of Survival Favor, so just follow the trail left for you by Helka, leading to a cliff’s edge where you can use your new boat. This will be a cutscene that ends up with you arriving in The Crater area of Vanaheim.

Once you have your bearings, just follow the only path you can take and when you’ve climbed to view a cutscene showing off The Crater a little bit, you will automatically start this Favor.

How to Complete the For Vanaheim Favor in God of War Ragnarok¶

Your objective is to reach the northern area of the western section of The Plains. There is a big fissure in the middle of The Plains, essentially cutting it in half, with you starting off on the eastern side. Go north a little bit, then venture west until you spot some Tatzelwurms that decide to pop up out of nowhere. Near them should be a spirit that begins the Casualty of War: The Brooch Favor, which isn’t too far from where you need to drop down to a lower area. Drop down here, look for the short path that allows you to hop over a gap, then grapple over the next gap, which leads to the western side of The Plains.

If you venture north on the western side, you should see a wooden fence blocking the way you need to go. These wooden barriers just mean you have to change the time of day, so you will need to locate a Celestial Altar. Look for the nearby ledge you can drop down, where you should see a gate with some poison gas on it, meaning you can’t do anything about it right now. There is a cave right next to it, so grapple across the gap, then go across the next gap. Go up the next wall here and you will find the Celestial Altar up there, along with a Blacksmith Shop. Interact with the altar to change it to night.

The wooden barrier will now be gone from before, although you will find some enemies in its place, namely an Ogre and some Seidr ones. After clearing the enemies, open the gate and follow the trail to a small cave, where you can squeeze through a wall. If you wish to fight a miniboss of sorts, go to the materials chest near the above cave, where Vali the Oath Guard will be forced on you (he’s a Traveler). Once you squeeze through that little passage, you will enter a bigger area and have to fight that pesky dragon.

How to Defeat The Crimson Dread¶

Despite the ominous name, The Crimson Dread shouldn’t be all too challenging, as most of its attacks can be easily dodged. There is one bit where you might be a little lost on what to do, but your companions will likely say something to give you a hint on what to do. For now, let’s go over its attacks:

Dashing Attack¶

The Crimson Dread will flash a red ring and just charge straight at you. Seeing as it’s unblockable, you will want to dodge out of the way to avoid taking damage. He does tend to do this if you’re a certain distance away from him, although the ease of dodging this shouldn’t give you much trouble. It will do this a few times in a row, as its health dips low enough.

Lunging Bite¶

The dragon will kind of rear up, flash a yellow ring, then attempt to lunge at you and take a bite out of Kratos. The tell sign that this is coming is fairly obvious, though, so you should be able to easily roll out of the way.

Flame Breath¶

If you’re too close to the dragon for a long enough period of time, he will breathe fire right in front of him, on the ground. This fire doesn’t extend much beyond his position, but it does persist on the ground for a few seconds before disappearing. It is also unblockable, so you will want to dodge backwards to avoid it.

Flying Flames¶

At some point during the battle, The Crimson Dread will take flight and fly around the arena. He will periodically fly across your position, while spewing a healthy dosage of flames. This is unblockable and very easy to dodge, as you can see it coming a mile away, but the flames persist on the ground for a while, so you will need to avoid those. The catch here, though, is that the dragon will just continue flying, until you hit it with a ranged attack, which will cause it to crash into the ground.

Grab Attack¶

If you stay too close, the dragon will flash a yellow ring and attempt to grab you with its one claw. You will need to mash the button here to free yourself, but you will still take some damage. There is a slight delay in the attack coming out, so be wary of that and don’t dodge too soon. It’s unclear if it will use this move from the beginning, or if it gets added after a certain amount of health has been lost.

Grounded Flames¶

This is similar to the Flying Flames, except the dragon will use it on the ground. There will be a quick red ring, and the dragon will spew a line of flames across the ground, towards your position. Quickly dodge out of the way to avoid being hit. Since this is on the ground, you don’t need to worry about actually doing anything to the dragon.

The Crimson Dread doesn’t have too much health, thankfully, so it shouldn’t be that difficult of a battle. It might be a little more annoying, should you have decided to do the Traveler battle right outside of the arena. Most of the dragon’s attacks should be easy enough to avoid, since most of them are easy tells. Strike whenever you see an opening, and the dragon will eventually fall. Make sure to grab the loot it drops, for a Frozen Flame, Vanaheim’s Fortitude Amulet Enchantment, a Dragon Claw and other less minor things.

With the dragon out of the way, look the for markings on the one wall to find a spot to climb. You will find Birgir taking refuge here, so talk with him for a bit of dialog. He doesn’t have a stone to use the gateway, so interact with it to send Birgir back to the camp. This will end the Favor, with Birgir handing over the Rond of the Nine Realms shield attachment as thanks.