Geirdriful, God of War’s Foothills Valkyrie, is exceptionally tough to defeat. To win, you need to learn her myriad attack patterns and unleash Kratos’ might when she’s vulnerable, recovering or distracted. In this guide, we’ll show you how to read Geirdriful’s attacks so you can respond and defeat her.

Be prepared

Before you begin a Valkyrie fight, do three things:

• Fill your Runic attack meters. Begin every Valkyrie fight with back-to-back Runic attacks (L1 + R1 and L1 + R2). As Valkyries descend from their winged cocoons, they’re vulnerable. Attack then, and you’ll chip away a big portion of her health without resistance. (If your meters aren’t full, you can just stand around before the fight and wait for them to fill up.)
• Fill your Spartan Rage meters. Spartan Rage does two things. The obvious one is inflict massive amounts of damage. The less obvious one is restore your health as you attack. You can use it to finish off a Valkyrie or restore your low health — or both! (If your meters aren’t full, go find some enemies to kill. You can warp right back to the Mystic Gateway outside of the arena.)
• Bring a Resurrection Stone. If you die while you’re holding a Resurrection Stone, press Square and Atreus will bring him back to life. Any Resurrection Stone will do, and you can buy them at Brok or Sindri’s shop. Just remember that you can only hold one at a time.

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Geirdriful Odin’s raven

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Before jumping over the gap to enter the arena, turn around and look up. The Odin’s raven is perched above the stairs.

Geirdriful attacks and strategies

The trick to defeating a Valkyrie is identifying and responding to her attacks. Then the fight becomes an if-then statement: If she does this, then I do this. In this section, we’ll show you Geirdriful’s attacks (the “if” part) and how to respond (the “then” part).

General strategy

Geirdriful is difficult because she doesn’t telegraph her moves like other Valkyries — or at the very least, they’re much harder to identify. She’s also fast, and she’s able to attack you while you’re evading.

Defeating Geirdriful is about blocking, switching between weapons and evading her attacks whenever possible. You can learn her moves, prepare for the worst, accept some amount of damage from her unblockable attacks and still win.

Air-based attacks

Geirdriful can attack from the air in a few ways, so whenever she hovers, have Atreus fire arrows at her. She may not fall immediately, but she’ll eventually come back to the ground. The main point here is to interrupt her devastating ground pound, which has a wide area of effect radius.

Avoid being under her when she’s airborne. When the camera can’t see her, you’ll have a hard time identifying her next attack, which is often unblockable. Whenever she takes to the air, keep your distance.

She often jumps up in the air and throws yellow magic discs (similar to Hildr). Block them — except for the variant that you can’t block. That’s a one-throw exception, and you’ll know it’s coming if you see the red circle. If you don’t see the red circle, it’s safe to block.

The grab and pound

She can transition from her hovering state into a grab attack, where she takes Kratos by the neck and pounds him into the ground. (The first GIF in the previous section illustrates this attack.) It hurts. It’s also unblockable. Again, keep your distance when she’s flying.

Ranged attacks

Geirdriful has more than one ranged attack:

• She swings her scythe and sends an unblockable yellow wave of energy toward Kratos. You’ll know it’s coming because of the telltale red circle just before she attacks. Evade them.
• She flaps her wings and flings smoky, black projectiles at Kratos. Block them.

Distance remains the key to managing Geirdriful’s attacks. You’ll have plenty of time to block and dodge if you’re far away from her.

Ground-based attacks

Geirdriful has more than one ground-based attack, too:

• She can close the gap from across the arena and twirl, attacking with her wings. Block.
• She uses the standard Valkyrie wing attack, where she alternates between her wings, swiping at Kratos. You can block those. She may dash away from this and transition into her smoky ranged attack.

Block and dodge. Block and dodge.

Collect Geirdriful’s loot

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Defeat the Valkyrie, and you’ll receive Geirdriful’s Helmet, the Heart of Vanaheim Epic enchantment, Asgardian steel and perfect Asgardian steel. See the image above for the details on the enchantment.