This page details everything you need to know about how to defeat the Berserker Gravestone boss Hardrefill the Callous, who can be found just outside The Forge in Svartalfheim.
Where to Find Hardrefill the Callous Berserker Gravestone¶
The first thing you should know before you go looking for Hardrefill the Callous is that you won’t be able to fight him until you’ve acquired the Hilt of Skofnung item, during The Word of Fate main quest. You’ll also naturally encounter this boss during the Forging Destiny main quest, as you exit the dwarf train with Freya, so you might as well complete that to find yourself in the right area before you go searching. The exact location of the boss is shown in the screenshots below.
(1 of 2) The location of the Hardrefill the Callous Berserker Gravestone in Svartalfheim.
The location of the Hardrefill the Callous Berserker Gravestone in Svartalfheim. (left), You can interact with the Berserker Gravestone once you have the Hilt of Skofnung. (right)
How to Defeat Hardrefill the Callous - Attacks¶
Charge Attack¶
The first attack that you’re likely to face from Hardrefill is a charge attack, similar to the one performed by Fraekni the Zealous but with a slightly different animation. Hardrefill will still fly into the air before descending upon you, so you’ll need to block or parry at the right time to avoid being hit, or be ready to dodge if you see a red circular ring instead, indicating that it’s an unblockable attack. Keep in mind that you can still interrupt these unblockable attacks by performing a Light or Heavy Runic Attack of your own, or by using a Relic or Sword Hilt ability.
Dive Stomp Attack¶
This is perhaps the most powerful attack that Hardrefill uses, and it can be easy to get hit by it if you try to dodge it too soon. Instead, all you need to do is keep running around the arena until the attack is over. So long as you’re sprinting in an open space without being blocked by anything (such as Freya or the walls of the arena) the attack will never hit you. It is possible to avoid it by dodging at the last moment, but this is much more risky than simply running away from it. You’ll notice a green substance beneath your feet while Hardrefill is in the area, which indicates the area that he’s going to land up until the final moment. Just keep running until the green substance is gone, and Hardrefill lands.
Melee Slashes¶
This is a fairly basic melee attack that Hardrefill will perform whenever you’re close to him in melee combat. It usually consists of one or more slashes with his sword, marked by a yellow circular ring. This means that you can block or parry this attack reliably, so you don’t need to bother with trying to dodge it. However, you can just as easily dodge it if you’d rather do this. Aside from the yellow ring, Hardrefill will raise his sword above his head, which provides another clear indication that the attack is incoming.
The above are the three main attacks that Hardrefill the Callous will spam throughout the fight, so once you’re familiar with how to avoid them, the rest of the fight should be a breeze. You can see the indicators for each attack in the screenshots below, and we’ve also included a gif to demonstrate the attacks in motion so that you can get a better idea of how to avoid them. In the gif we actually dodge too soon, but we recover by dodging just at the last minute to avoid the unblockable dive stomp attack. This was before we realized that simply running away while he’s in the air is guaranteed to make the attack miss, so be sure to do this instead!
(1 of 4) Hardrefill will lower his body just before jumping in the air to perform the unblockable dive stomp attack.
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