God Of War Ragnarok: New Game Plus Builds That The Developers Recommend

"God of War Ragnarok" has been out for a while, and most fans have likely beaten the game multiple times and moved on to other titles. Santa Monica Studios is giving players a reason to head back to the Nine Realms, however, with the introduction of a New Game Plus mode — and plenty of new content to go along with it. Among the additions is a new set of armors and items only available on subsequent playthroughs that will give players who have already seen it all a chance to experiment with some brand-new builds.

While some fans will want to engage in trial and error and develop new strategies for themselves, Santa Monica Studios is also offering some advice for players who want to roll with the builds the experts use.

In a recent blog post, several QA analysts offered a thorough rundown of the new builds they're enjoying, complete with full explanations and strategies. For players who want to skip the experimentation and go with the strategies used by those who know the game best, here are the builds some of the developers are recommending when venturing back into the lands of "Ragnarok."

Dubbed the "Can't Touch This" build, this setup from QA Analyst Wilson Santiago has players emulating boxer Muhammad Ali to "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Combining the Gauntlets of Zeus for increased damage dealt and received and the Cloak of the Bear for improved evasion, this build can dish out lots of damage but won't be able to take it. Thus, players utilizing it will need to stay nimble, striking at the enemy before dodging away to attack again from a different angle.

This build also includes the Belt of Radiance, the Grip of the Nine Realms, and the Hilt of Hofuð to provide multiple Realm Shifts. This should make outmaneuvering foes and dealing heavy damage to them even easier, provided Kratos can time his evasions properly and avoid taking damage.

This will certainly appeal to those that favor a high-risk, high-reward approach. The increased damage and speed come at the cost of less survivability and a need for perfection when defending. Anyone who enjoys the strike and evade combat of "Bloodborne" will likely want to give this build a try.

For those that are less interested in agility and dodging and would rather destroy their enemies with their bare hands, Senior QA Analyst TJ Gilbert's "Status Striker" build could be ideal. This build utilizes Giptumaðr's Breastplate, Lúnda's Lost Bracers, and the Fate Breaker Belt to reduce cooldowns on Runic and Relic Attacks, increase damage against poisoned enemies, and boost Rage generation. The true power of this build, however, comes from the addition of the New Game Plus exclusive Lúnda's Engravings enchantment. This enchantment provides a chance to do extra damage and poison enemies on blocks, parries, and unarmed attacks.

Altogether, this build will allow players to become deadly when throwing punches by poisoning enemies and then dealing extra damage against those same foes. Faster refreshes on Runic Attacks and quicker access to Rage are bonuses that further enhance this build.

This build should be great for anyone looking to try something truly different. Generally forgoing weapons and taking advantage of equipment that maximizes the power of Kratos' fists makes this build truly unique. Getting to rage and smash enemies more than The Hulk doesn't hurt either.

From a build that doesn't use weapons, we move on to one that seeks to utilize all of the weapons. The "Zeus' Wrath" build, from QA Analyst Evan Gilbert, seeks to consistently rotate through each weapon to use their Runic Attacks for maximum effect.

"Zeus' Wrath" includes the War Belt of Zeus to increase Runic damage along with a set of enchantments to increase both offensive and defensive stats. The core of the build, however, is the various Light Heavy Runic Attacks added to the weapons, which tend to focus on AOE damage and crowd control. The Leviathan Axe gets Winter's Bite and Mists of Helheim, the Blades of Chaos get Flame of Anguish and Meteoric Slam, and the Draupnir Spear gets Whisper of the World and Vindsvalr's Windstorm. Gilbert recommends starting each fight by using the Hilt of Hrotti Relic to mark enemies and then start tearing them down with Runic Attacks.

This build will appeal to anyone who can't choose which weapon they like best or wants to unleash as many Runic Attacks as possible. It should also be great for anyone who struggles against larger mobs and needs help taking down lots of enemies at once. On the other hand, anyone going up against bosses or tough, solo monsters may want to switch to a different build for more targeted attacks.

Finally, QA Analyst Wilson Santiago offers another build that also focuses on AOE damage. This build, however, deals out damage in a truly novel way. With the right equipment, Kratos can create constant explosions by generating and stomping on Health and Rage Stones.

This build incorporates the new Cuirass of Ares and Giptumaðr's Gauntlets to increase the chances of dropping Health Stones when Raging — or Health or Rage Stones when using Runic and Relic Attacks respectively. Further, the Cuirass of Ares also increases the explosions caused by stomping on these stones to do greater damage to enemies. Combined with a few other items to increase Rage generation and Luck, this build will keep Kratos constantly replenishing Health and Rage and damaging foes while doing so.

Anyone who ever enjoyed luring an enemy near a Health or Rage Stone — so they could hit them with an explosion — should give this build a try for even more fun. Further, those who like to keep the Health regeneration coming during fights will find this build helpful in tough encounters.

There's no shortage of new builds to try out with New Game Plus arriving, but those who want to play like the experts will definitely need to give one or more of these strategies a try.