At heart, God of War Ragnarok is a classic hack-and-slash adventure of godlike proportions. Similarly, the game offers a large number of ways to customize the brutalization of your enemies, be they monsters or gods. Although Kratos only uses a few different weapons and a shield, there is no shortage of variety in the combat system.
God of War Ragnarok has all kinds of options for armor, weapon abilities, rune attacks, buffs, and weapon attachments. Sometimes figuring out the extra options, like which attachments are best for the Leviathan Ax, can be overwhelming. So, whether it’s a grip, a knob or a maul, here’s a simple overview and ranking of the weapon’s best attachments.
10/10 Reinforced frost knob
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Calm down | Level |
| 4 | 5 | 2 |
The Fortified Frost Knob is here in the last-but-not-least category. It doesn’t have the best stats, but gives a good ability quite early in the game. “Frost Resolve” increases the defense and displacement resistance of the Leviathan ax when charged. In the game, this as a free buff significantly increases Kratos’ defense.
This makes the fixed defense heavy, but it also gives a small strength boost to survive the Fimbul winter. Cooldown is also always welcome and makes for some great combos with Runic Attacks. This attachment can be found in Svartalfheim, inside Applecore, where The Hateful’s boss is.
9/10 Grasp of weighted extraction
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Rune | Level |
| 11 | 1. 3 | 4 |
The Grip of Weighted Recovery has small sharp white teeth in the grip. It is the “Seized Refresh” ability that triggers when “Stun Grabbing (R3) grants a blessing of cooldown.” In other words, using the R3 button for enemy executions gives a short buff to Cooldown. From there, it’s up to the player how to utilize the extra abilities.
The grip mount also provides a boost to Strength and Rune stats, making it an ideal choice for Runic Attack-heavy builds. It can be crafted in the workshop at Freyr’s camp and in the story at any time after that.
8/10 Stonecutter knob
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Rune | Level |
| 18 | 9 | 4 |
Stonecutter’s Knob is a solid attachment with stats that steadily increase Kratos throughout the game’s middle stages. The “Slicing Finish” ability “adds a concussive surge to the end of the R1 Ax combo.” That means every R1 combo that completes will trigger a huge wave that knocks enemies back.
This attachment provides a solid boost to strength and defense, making it a good fit for any scenario. Combine that with a knock-back ability that can be used quite often in “Slicing Finish” and this would seem like a good choice in any Kratos build. Stonecutter Knob can be crafted at the workshop at Freyr’s camp and in the story at any time after that.
7/10 Grip Of The Nine Realms
| Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rune | Calm down | Luck | Level |
| 16 | 16 | 16 | 6 |
The Grip of the Nine Realms attachment is great, but not the best. Its most powerful feature is its ability, “Momentous Shift”, which starts a “Realm Shift” when a Glacial Permafrost is activated. This means that time slows down for Kratos for a few seconds.
The increased rune damage and cooldown stats make this attachment perfect for builds that rely on rune attacks. “Realm Shift” is also a perfect chance to unleash rune attacks on defenseless enemies. This attachment can be found in The Forbidden Sands at the Berserker Gravestone.
6/10 Rune hail knob
| Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Rune | Luck | Level |
| 14 | 14 | 18 | 6 |
The rune hailstone is a useful attachment in God of War Ragnarok. Its ability, “Prey Upon Frost”, provides a runic damage boost when a frosted enemy is hit with a moderate chance of success. In other words, hitting Frosted enemies will grant a Runic buff for a short time with a correlation to the Luck stat.
The attachment has some all-round good stats with strength, rune and luck boosted. It ranks lower on the list because of the steps needed to get the ability to go. However, it’s great for rune-heavy builds or playstyles. Found in Vanaheim, this can be grabbed after giving Crystalline Shards to the Purification Pool.
5/10 The Furious Maul
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The Furious Maul takes the number five spot through nostalgia and context. While not the very first, Kratos gets this attachment after the first surprise boss fight, and looking back, the first chapter is such a fun introduction to the game. Getting through “Surviving Fimbulvinter” is an achievement in itself.
But The Furious Maul returns to the original hours of God of War Ragnarok in the snow. So much weirdness. So much joy. The enthusiasm for the sequel, which for most players has lived up to the hype. Furious Maul also looks pretty cool and has a strength boost that helps in the early game. Kratos will automatically get this attachment after completing the mission “Surviving Fimbulwinter.”
4/10 Grip Of The Fallen Alchemist
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Vitality | Level |
| 15 | 12 | 5 |
The Grip of The Fallen Alchemist ranks four on the list and beats some higher level attachments based on its ability. “Serpent’s Health Burst” causes all hits to heal Kratos when using the “Serpent’s Snare” XP skill. That skill by itself is strong, but adding a healing effect really increases its value.
This, combined with increased vitality and luck, makes it a great mount for Leviathan Axe. In God of War Ragnarok, having another healing tool during battle can be a big game changer, so this attachment can be a good choice. It can be found in a legendary chest in Vanaheim.
3/10 Grasp of brilliant reflection
| Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Rune | Calm down | Level |
| 25 | 11 | 11 | 6 |
Grip of Radiant Reflection is one of the best attachments in the game. Its ability is called “Precision Momentum” and it provides a charge of Permafrost for ranged attacks. Basically, throwing the ax will continuously recharge Permafrost, and it’s pretty OP in terms of attachment powers.
Almost every ax thrown begins to freeze enemies. It also has the second highest strength and a nice mix of Cooldown and Runic damage boost. This attachment can be crafted in the workshop when the Leviathan Ax is upgraded to level 6.
2/10 Grip Of Healing Harmony
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Defense | Level |
| 15 | 17 | 5 |
The Grip of Healing Harmony is surprisingly a top tier attachment in God of War Ragnarok. The attachment has an ability called “Permafrost Lifesteal”, which grants healing on hit but increases incoming damage.
Overall, however, the defense, in combination with Lifesteal, is more than enough to compensate for the damage increase. There is also a good balance between attack and defense and has the potential to suit any style of play. It can be found by doing the Hel-Tear in Helheim.
1/10 Banahogg button
| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Vitality | Level |
| 29 | 34 | 9 |
The Banahogg knob is easily the best mount for the Leviathan axe. This late game ability is called “Bare Force” and awards a bonus to bare-handed combat damage when you land precision throws with the axe. The base stats for strength and vitality are also almost double that of the next highest knob or grip.
The Vitality boost is particularly beneficial and balances out the strength boost to make it both an offensive and defensive powerhouse. The Banahogg Knob can be found in the Jarnsmida Pitmines, beyond the Mystical Gateway and behind a wall that needs a chisel to open.
