In God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, those looking for an added challenge for extra rewards should look out for the chance to activate Burdens. The Burdens of Valhalla are specific types of challenges that usually last for a specified number of encounters and then reward you for lasting through them. That being said, players should be cautious before activating a Burden, as they could cause far more harm than good.

There are different kinds of upgrades in God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, some permanent and some only temporary. The rewards from a run can be spent to unlock the permanent upgrades, and things like Glyphs and Burdens can unlock rewards that temporarily help you make it to the end of a run. Either way, both upgrades will make Kratos stronger and more easily able to complete a run.

How To Find & Activate The Burdens of Valhalla In God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla

To find and activate a burden in God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, players should look for a tall, icy pillar, as seen in the picture above and located throughout the new roguelite Encounters in the Halls of Valhalla. Kratos can interact with it, and it will pull up two different options that players can choose between. Both options will come with a very taxing negative “Burden” that will last for a certain amount of time and a reward that Kratos can receive upon completing the challenge. At this point, players can either activate the one they want or back out of the menu and continue their run as normal.

Since this game mode is a roguelite and the levels change slightly every time, the pillars will sometimes be in different places. However, the pillars are quite easy to spot as Kratos walks through the various Encounters in Valhalla.

In general, particularly for newer players of God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, it is not advised to activate a Burden until you know the area well and are more comfortable completing those encounters. These challenge options will make the game significantly harder for a short time, such as making it impossible to dodge or making Kratos take extra damage for blocking an attack. This can make it quite hard to complete the number of encounters to receive the reward and potentially use up all your healing items.

However, for those who do make it to the end of the encounters, the rewards can let Kratos do extra damage or become better at parrying. It might not always be worth it depending on how significantly the Burden drained your reserves, but these are significant boosts without the added costs of Fleeting Echoes or Spirit Seals. And with a powerful weapon like the Blade of Olympus, you may not spend as many resources as expected. No matter how it goes, the Burdens of Valhalla will change Kratos’ journey in this God of War Ragnarok DLC.