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<p class="">The God of War Ragnarök New Game Plus (NG+) update is available now. To make sure you’re ready to jump back into the Nine Realms, we’ve put together everything you need to know below.  </p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Change the way you play</h2>
<p class="">New equipment, an increased level cap, new Enchantments – all this and more is introduced with God of War Ragnarök’s NG+ mode. As soon as you’ve beaten the game, you’ll be able to dive right into a NG+ save to experience the story again with many more gameplay options available from the start.</p>
<p class="">Your equipment, weapons (including the Draupnir Spear), and skills will carry over from your previous save, so you’ll be able to use your entire arsenal from the beginning of your journey. </p>
<p class="">Please note that you will not start the game with access to Sonic and Hex arrows. All areas requiring either those arrows or the Draupnir Spear to access will not unlock until you have reached the point in the main questline in which they become available via the story.  </p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Equipment</h2>
<p class=""><strong>Armor of the Black Bear</strong></p>
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<p class="">Rest assured, we’ve been taking note of the requests to add Kratos’ cloak from the opening scene since the launch of God of War Ragnarök.</p>
<p class="">The Armor of the Black Bear will keep Kratos bundled up against the Fimbulwinter frost even after the sled chase. Its stats focus on Strength and Defense with a perk that rewards your last-second evades with a volley of Bifröst shards.</p>
<p class="">Your NG+ run will begin with the Armor of the Black Bear already equipped. </p>
<p class=""><strong>Spartan Armor</strong></p>
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<p class="">If you want a serious test of your skills and to take on the toughest challenge you can get in God of War Ragnarök, the Spartan Armor is for you. With no Perk, no Stats, and locked at Power Level 1 – the Spartan Armor lets you take a more… well, <em>spartan</em> approach towards protection.</p>
<p class="">This set is perfect for those of you who want to strip down your power to the minimum and leave no room for error. If you’re brave enough to face the coming of Ragnarök pecs-first, then give the set a try!</p>
<p class="">If you’re more into the Spartan General look and less into the challenging gameplay, you can always transmog this armor onto another set to achieve the look without sacrificing protection.  </p>
<p class="">The Spartan Armor can be acquired for Hacksilver at Huldra Brothers’ Shop. </p>
<p class=""><strong>Ares Armor</strong></p>
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<p class="">Returning favorites from God of War 2018’s New Game Plus are the Ares and Zeus armors with new visuals and Perks.</p>
<p class="">The Ares Armor rewards the lucky with a chance to drop a Health Stone on hit. When you stomp the Health Stone, you also get a rage gain alongside a bigger explosion.</p>
<p class="">The Ares Armor can be purchased for Hacksilver at Huldra Brothers’ Shop.</p>
<p class=""><strong>Zeus Armor</strong></p>
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<p class="">The Zeus Armor will enable the ultimate risk-reward playstyle. This set greatly increases your Melee and Runic damage, while also increasing incoming damage.</p>
<p class="">A single hit could be enough to take even Kratos down with the Zeus Armor equipped, so you’ll need to be mindful of where your enemies are while you prepare to deal out punishment with the raw power this armor provides.</p>
<p class="">The Zeus Armor can be acquired by defeating Gná the Valkyrie Queen and completing certain Remnants of Asgard on a NG+ save.</p>
<p class=""><strong>Spartan Aspis – New Shield</strong></p>
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<p class="">The Spartan Aspis returns in God of War Ragnarök and displays Kratos’ heritage boldly.</p>
<p class="">The Spartan Aspis is similar to the trusted Guardian Shield, but it has a significantly tighter Parry window. While more challenging to time, successful Parries yield a more damaging reward.  </p>
<p class="">The Spartan Aspis can be purchased at Huldra Brothers’ Shop with Hacksilver.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Armor Appearances</h2>
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<p class="">For those of you looking to keep things fresh, we’ve also remixed 13 of our existing armors with new color combinations and styles that were previously unavailable.</p>
<p class="">These appearances can be bought at Huldra Brothers’ Shop and applied to any of your existing Level 9+ armor in the transmog menu. The new Berserker Armor appearance can be acquired after defeating the Berserker King on NG+. </p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Level Cap</h2>
<p class="">In NG+, both Kratos and your enemies will become more powerful with an increased level cap. You will be able to convert all your Level 9 equipment (armor, weapons, weapon components, and shields) into new ‘Plus’ versions that will provide additional levels of progression.</p>
<p class="">Converting your equipment will also yield a Gilded Coin that can be used to purchase one of the new Enchantments from the shop.</p>
<p class="">We’ve also added a quality-of-life adjustment to the shop, so you’ll be able to purchase and sell resources incrementally. Buy and selling materials to get your equipment in tiptop shape for your NG+ run is now smoother than Kratos’ scalp.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Enchantments</h2>
<p class=""><strong>Gilded Coins – Engraving and Badge Enchantments</strong></p>
<p class="">If you ever agonized over an armor choice because you couldn’t choose a favorite Perk, the new Enchantments available in the shop are for you! These take a selection of powerful and versatile perks from Armor (Engravings) and Shield Rönds (Badges), allowing you to equip them in your Amulet as Enchantments.</p>
<p class="">For example, you can purchase the Dragon Engraving, which has the Dragon Scaled Breastplate Perk, Dragon’s Fury (Blocks and Parries grant a Strength/Defense stacking buff). You can equip that in your Amulet while wearing a different chest piece like the new Cuirass of Ares, allowing you to combine two different chest armor perks at once.   </p>
<p class="">The most powerful enchantments from the Gilded Coins will require certain Stat thresholds to be met to encourage and reward you for getting clever with your builds. With so many new options available, we can’t wait to see which combinations you make.</p>
<p class=""><strong>Berserker Soul Drops – Stat Boost Enchantments</strong></p>
<p class="">Defeating the Berserker Souls on NG+ will also reward you with new Enchantments to equip. While not as flashy as some of the Perk Enchantments, these will give you big boosts to select stats so you can lean into whatever build you like best even more.</p>
<p class=""><strong>Burdens</strong></p>
<p class="">Burdens are a new set of Enchantments that will allow you to equip negative Perks for a tailor-made challenge.</p>
<p class="">For example, the Burden of Evasion will automatically give Kratos the Frost status effect when he rolls.</p>
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<p class="">For those of you seeking to ramp up the difficulty with an exceptionally brutal experience, you can combine Burdens with the Spartan Armor.</p>
<p class="">We’ve also added a new UI option called Show Difficulty (Difficulty HUD Visualization), which will display the current difficulty setting on the HUD, as well as how many Burdens you have equipped. Feel free to flex a little bit for your friends.</p>
<p class="">Burdens can be purchased at the Huldra Brothers’ Shop with Hacksilver.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">New Progression Paths</h2>
<p class="has-default-font"><strong>New Skill Mod Plus</strong></p>
<p class="has-default-font">Upgrade your existing Skill Mod tokens using XP to further enhance the effects of your favorite Mods.</p>
<p class="has-default-font"><strong>Platinum Tier Labors</strong></p>
<p class="has-default-font">Carry over any progress from your Kill Labors or Ratatasks and continue to unlock a new Platinum Tier of rewards.</p>
<p class="has-default-font"><strong>Additional Stat Gains</strong></p>
<p class="has-default-font">Nornir Chests will now provide Yggdrasil Dew to allow players to push Stats far beyond their previous limits. </p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Expanded Niflheim Arena </h2>
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<p class="">The Sparring Arena in Niflheim in NG+ will give you a ton of new options to play with! Alongside a selection of new enemies for you to face off against, you will now be able to play as either Kratos or Atreus and choose any of the following companion characters to fight beside you: Atreus (with Kratos), Freya, Brok, Sindri, Angrboda, Ingrid, Thor, and Thrúd.</p>
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<p class="">With any companion combination possible, we can’t wait to see how creative you can get in gameplay and in Photo Mode.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Endgame Bosses</h2>
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<p class="">Got comfortable fighting the Berserker Souls and the Valkyrie Queen Gná? We’ve made sure the toughest optional fights have a few switch-ups in NG+ so even if you’ve beaten them before, they’ll still pack a punch when you meet them again.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other Enemy Adjustments</h2>
<p class=""><strong>Available on All Difficulties in NG+</strong></p>
<p class="">The Hateful and the Ormstunga, two of our optional mini-bosses, have been given a few new tricks. Be sure to pay them a visit when you can in your NG+ run.</p>
<p class=""><strong>Available on </strong><strong>Give Me No Mercy and Give Me God of War in NG+</strong></p>
<p class="">If you choose to play on Give Me No Mercy or Give Me God of War difficulties, all bosses and mini-bosses will have Runic Armor. Strategic Runic usage in these fights can make the difference between victory and defeat.</p>
<p class="">In NG+, enemies turning elite can now also happen on Give Me No Mercy in addition to Give Me God of War. Elite enemies will gain an increase in Power Level, so make sure you keep a special eye on them when you see one transform in combat.  </p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Black and White Render Mode</h2>
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<p class="">Looking to experience the story again with a more cinematic twist? After you beat the game once, you will have access to a new Black and White Render Mode for any subsequent NG+ or standard New Game saves. </p>
<p class="has-default-font">You can find the new mode under the Graphics &amp; Camera settings menu.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Skip Cinematics</h2>
<p class="">Pick your own pace when replaying the story with the option to skip cinematics in NG+.</p>
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<p class="">We hope you enjoy NG+ in <a href="https://www.playstation.com/games/god-of-war-ragnarok//?smcid=mablog">God of War Ragnarök, available now</a>.</p>
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