God of War guide: Second Hand Soul walkthrough and collectibles

In God of War, you’ll meet two blacksmith dwarves, Brok and Sindri, who will dole out several quests for you. They often involve investigating new areas around the Lake of Nine and pilfering magical items for their use in their shops. The quests are always worthwhile as they unlock new items. One such quest, Second Hand Soul, comes from Brok. In this quest, you must find Brok’s missing friend, Andvari the Alchemist. To get the quest started, head to the Volunder Mines which are just left of the Cliffs of The Raven.

Second Hand Soul walkthrough

To get this mission, sail through the Volunder Chasm’s frozen waters until you can dock your boat. Once on land, you’ll find a Lore Marker and a chest. Continue forward until you reach an area where must crawl through to find Brok working away at his shop. Speak with him, and he’ll give you a Volunder Entry Stone so you can enter the mines.

Once you’re inside the cave, chuck your axe at the red pot to open a path on the left to find a chest with some soft Svartalfheim steel and some World Serpent scale fragments. Head back out and move forward into a large corridor where you’ll encounter a large Soul Eater. You’ll run into it again later.

Dropping down onto the lower area will unleash a few Draugr and Nightmares. Mop them up and follow the path the Soul Eater took.

Lifting the gate and heading into the next area will put you toe-to-toe with a single Revenant. Once clear of the enemy, you’ll see a door on the path to the right that needs to have three runes cleared before entering. Time to find them.

Finding the runes

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The very first one is actually right next to the door itself. If you destroy the hanging red pot, that will take care of the “R” symbol.

Next, head to the lower level from the chain near the path where the locked door is. As you do, two Nightmares should appear in front of the chest containing some more soft Svartalfheim steel and World Serpent scale fragments. Right next to the chest will be a map for the Dead and Bloated treasure. (Check out our Dead and Bloated guide for the location of the buried treasure.)

Continue along this path until you find find a breakable wooden wall. This sets you behind the golden rocks and the red pot you need to destroy them. Once cleared, drop down and grab some hacksilver from the corpse there. Head back up the path.

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Before dropping to the lower level near the chain, you’ll find the “C” symbol ahead of you on the rocks. Next, drop down and take a right and you’ll see a gate with a chest with even more Svartalfheim steel and World Serpent fragments, the “N” symbol and the Soul Eater awaiting past yet another gate.

Once you’ve destroyed the symbol and head back out, you’ll get jumped by some draugr and some nightmares. Put them to rest and head back to the runic door. You have a date with a Soul Eater.

The Soul Eater fight

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Like other Ancients, the Soul Eater can’t be hurt by any sort of external attacks, so save your Runic attacks and Spartan Rage. To damage the enemy, wait for it to telegraph its projectile attacks. You’ll know it’s ready to shoot once it crosses its arms over its chest. That’s your cue to get ready to chuck your axe at its exposed core, knocking a piece of its core out of its body. Once it’s done shooting, grab the body part that flew out and wait for the next attack. When it’s exposed, hurl the core at its exposed belly to cause big damage.

Throughout your fight, Draugr might show up. It’s best to use your Runic attacks on them to get them out of the way as quick as you can. Keep up this process and avoid getting hit directly or with splash damage from the Soul Eater’s attacks. They all cause burn damage.

Once you’ve done enough damage, the enemy will drop to its knees, allowing you to go for a stun grab where you can directly attack its chest. Keep this up and the Soul Eater will eventually fall giving you a handful of resources plus The Alchemist Ring and the Fire Sigil of Protection, which increases burn resistance. You can also open the chest in the area to get a new runic attack, the Fury of the Ice Troll.

Return to Brok

Pop Atreus up the wall on the far side of the room to have him drop a chain for you. Moving forward, ride the zip line down to a different area of the mines where you’ll get attacked by some more Draugr and Nightmares.

Once defeated, you can climb along the walls on the right side to get some more hacksilver and take the same rope back down.

Climbing up the wall into the next area will lead you down a corridor where yet more Draugr are waiting for you. After clearing the path, you’ll find a chain to knock down bringing you back to the first room you were in and on the path to meet up with Brok.

Speak to your friend to return the ring and get the Grip of VOlunder that offers a low chance to give you a protective barrier when you hit enemies. You’ll complete the quest and Brok will have another one waiting for you elsewhere in the game.

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon