The God of War Valkyrie Eir in The Mountain can (emphasis on can) be among the easiest to defeat — as long as you can learn her attack patterns and unleash Kratos’ might when she’s vulnerable, recovering or distracted. In this guide, we’ll show you how to read Eir’s moves so you can respond and defeat her.

While these guides were originally written for God of War when it was released on the PS4. The advice below holds true for the PC release as well.

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

Eir Odin’s raven

SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Turn left as soon as you enter the arena. There’s an Odin’s raven perched above you.

Eir 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).

Air-based attacks

Eir has a couple of attacks that she launches after jumping up and hovering in the air. Here’s how to counter them.

Scythe swing

From the air, she’ll dash toward Kratos, attacking with her scythe. You can parry this attack and follow up with an attack of your own. Look for the telltale yellow circle that indicates this incoming attack.

You can also cancel this attack and knock her back to the ground if you hit her with arrows.

Air explosion

Eir jumps into the air, twirls her staff and creates a giant, deadly explosion. Make a habit of firing arrows whenever she takes to the air, and you can interrupt this attack.

Ground-based attacks

Eir launches several attacks from the ground. Here’s how to deal with them.

Slide to stab

Eir will slide across the floor to close the distance between her and Kratos, ending the side with an unblockable stab. Dodge to the side to avoid it.

Staff attacks

Eir spins twice while holding a staff, and each swing can damage Kratos. This is her most frequent move.

Dodge roll with X (twice for good measure) to get away from the first attack, which has an area of effect (AOE) radius around her when she smashes her staff into the ground and can blind Kratos. Keep dodge rolling to avoid her second spinning attack.

Wing twirls

Eir twirls, whipping Kratos with her extended wings. You can block all of these attacks. The number of times she does these attacks varies, so keep your guard up and wait until she’s finished to respond.

Wing shield

Eir uses her wings as a shield. Double-tap L1 to break the block and stagger her. You can also break through her makeshift shield with a charged strong or Runic attack. There’s no harm in waiting it out, either.

If you’re not close to her when she puts up her shield, don’t worry about breaking through. She exits this stance with a powerful wing attack.

Collect Eir’s loot

Grid View

• SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon
• SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

Defeat the Valkyrie, and you’ll receive Eir’s Helmet, the Eye of the Winged Chosen Epic enchantment, the Valkyrie’s Might Epic axe pommel and Asgardian steel. See the gallery above for the details on the Epic loot.