Defend your Valor will most likely be the last Favor you’ll need to complete to get the Platinum Trophy for God of War Ragnarok. You can only accept the Favor after you finish the story, and complete the prerequisite Favor The Last Remnants of Asgard. This Favor will test your strength against the new Valkyrie Queen, Gna who is the super boss of the game. This page will guide you on how to defeat God of War Ragnarok’s toughest fight.

How to Accept Defend Your Valor¶

As mentioned above, you’ll need to finish the story as it can only be fought in post-game. Before you can attempt the battle, you’ll need to complete the Favor The Last Remnants of Asgard. This Favor will be given automatically to you once you descend the Hoddmimis Holt mountain after the credits. Once you’ve completed the prerequisite, you’ll automatically accept the Defend Your Valor Favor.

Where to Find Valkyrie Queen Gna¶

Now that you have the Favor in your Goals section of the menu. Make your way to The Crucible in Muspelheim. You’ll need to have collected both halves of the Muspelheim Seed to reach the sub-area where you can find out how to get them here. From The Crucible Mystic Gateway, drop to the floor below, run past the Blacksmith, and drop again to the circular area with the Nornir Chest in the middle.

Stand to the right of the Nornir Chest, and turn your camera to the southeast, and If you look closely, you should see a ledge you can grapple to, and a small hole you can crawl through next to it. Go through the small hole, and you’ll end up in a small area that looks like there is nowhere to go. Head over to the ledge, and look down to find a grapple point. This will lead to a couple more grapple points which will eventually lead you to the boss arena.

How to Beat Valkyrie Queen Gna – Attacks¶

Gna can be a tricky opponent as she has a lot of attacks with some of them sharing a similar starting animation, but have completely different ways to counter them. Furthermore, she is extremely aggressive, so you’ll need to have patience, and wait for your opening to attack her or be punished for your over-aggressiveness. Below, we’ll explain every attack she has in her arsenal, and how to avoid them.

Ranged Attacks¶

First off, we’ll start off with her ranged attacks as she has a few, and they can be some of the hardest attacks to deal with.

Bifrost Bolts (Dodge)¶

From ranged, Gna will spread her wings, and unleash some Bifrost bolts at your location in a line. Getting hit with this can deal a lot of Bifrost damage. Once the bolts have hit the floor, they’ll persist on it for a short-while, and if you walk over them, you’ll still take Bifrost damage. You can avoid this attack easily by dodging/rolling/running to either side of the attack, but be careful of any follow-up attack that can occur afterwards. In the early part of the fight, this will be the Lunging Thrust attack which needs to be dodged. Later on, it can be almost any other attack, so be on your guard. Note: Although it’s predominantly a ranged attack, it can be used in melee range, and that will probably be the only you get hit with it.

Magic Missiles (Block)¶

This attack will hit you more than you’ll like, and it can deal a hefty amount of damage when they do hit. From ranged, Gna will quickly leap back, and dodge to the side. While doing that, she’ll unleash two ranged attacks. These can be one of two attacks: Magic Missiles which she’ll unleash a volley of Magic Missiles that track you. This attack has to be blocked, as dodging will just get you hit by them. The other is her Pink Missiles attack, and these have to be dodged.

What makes this attack hard to deal with is she could throw two Magic Missiles attacks at you, or two Pink Missiles. She can even unleash one of each, and it’s hard to tell which one is coming at you. What’s worse is she also does the leap back, side-dodge animation for her Lunging Thrust attack which needs to be dodged too.

Back to Magic Missiles, these have to be blocked because if you get hit by the follow-up attack as well, you’ll be dead, or close to it. Another important factor of the Magic Missiles attack is that it has a Bifrost element to it, meaning that you’ll still take Bifrost damage even though you’re blocking the attack. So, you’ll need to be even more careful of any future attacks in the short-term.

Pink Missiles (Dodge)¶

As mentioned above, Gna will perform a leap backwards, and dodge to the side before unleashing a volley of Pink Missiles. Unlike Magic Missiles, these HAVE to be dodged due to the red-ring indicator that precedes the attack. Dodging these are easy if you know they’re coming, but because you won’t know 100% until she throws them, you can never be sure if you need to block Magic Missiles or dodge the pink variant.

Fire Sigil (Dodge)¶

Gna will stand side-on, and raise her weapon to her side. The tip of the weapon will have fire around it, and a pink sigil will appear around that. You’ll know this is coming if you hear Freya shout out “It’s Sigil magic”. This attack has a red-ring which only appears for a brief moment just before the attack comes your way which means it needs to be dodged. Once she’s finished conjuring the spell, a wave of flames will travel across the floor to your position at pace.

This is ideally dodged from ranged, so if you see it coming, try to get some distance to make avoiding it a little easier as the attack semi-tracks on to you. To make it easier to dodge, try to bait it one direction, and dodge the opposite side just before it reaches you. If you’re in melee range when this attack goes off, try rolling to the side of it as soon as it gets near you, although most of the time, you’ll take damage from it.

Sonic Shurikens (Dodge)¶

This attack is another ranged attack that can be used in melee range, but more often from ranged. Gna will leap back, and jump into the air, and a red-ring indicator will appear for a brief moment before she throws two Sonic (green) Shurikens at you. A simple dodge/roll to either side of them will avoid the attack. The worst part of this though is she’ll frequently use it after another attack, especially the two ranged missile attacks or a melee combo. The attack itself is easy enough to avoid providing you’re ready for it, but it will come at you with pace, so be on your toes.

Sonic Orb (Dodge or Use Freya’s Sonic Arrows)¶

Gna will slowly rise into the air and spread her wings while she conjures a sonic orb. If you attack her with a few of Freya’s Sonic Arrows, you’ll knock her to the floor. When she hits the deck, sometimes you’ll be able to press to get Freya to jump in, and attack her. If you’ve expended all her arrows, quickly get some distance, and dodge to the side when the orb approaches you.

Rotating Shurikens (Dodge or Attack the Shurikens)¶

Similar animation to her Sonic Shuriken attack, but she’ll stay on the floor instead of jumping. A red-ring will appear, and she’ll let out a couple of shurikens rotate around her body, and expand outwards. These will normally be of two different elements which will apply their status and deal a bit of damage. For the most part, you don’t need to worry about these, but to be sure, throw a few spears or your axe at the shurikens, and they’ll disappear. Although a ranged attack, these will only hit you if you’re in front of her when she casts them as they are easy to avoid/destroy.

Melee Attacks¶

Gna probably has as many melee attacks as she does range. Although these attacks are listed as melee, a lot of these attacks start from a ranged position before she leaps in to perform the attack, so you could argue they’re ranged attacks instead.

Lunging Thrust (Dodge)¶

Gna will leap lunge in with her spear, and perform a quick thrust attack. This attack had a red-ring indicator, so it’ll have to be dodged to avoid it. Before Gna lunges in, she’ll normally do a quick dodge to the side. The red-ring indicator will appear during the attack which comes at you quickly. To avoid the attack, a simple sidestep will work, but your reactions will need to be quick. After avoiding the attack, you can get a few hits of your own, but be careful as the less health Gna has, she may perform another attack after. This attack will be a quick red-ring stab/grab which will deal a lot of damage.

Twisting Lunge (Parry)¶

From a distance a yellow ring indicator will briefly appear before she lunges across the arena while twisting her body in the air before attacking you. Although you can block this attack, it’ll most likely leave you open to a follow-up attack, instead you should parry the attack as this will give you a brief moment to attack her. The timing on the parry can be tough to get down, but you’ll want to time your parry as late as possible, just after she finishes the spin.

Lunging Wing Spin (Block)¶

Gna can do her wing spin attack mentioned in the previous attack, as a normal attack. She’ll lunge across the arena, and spin with her wings at you which hits multiple times, dealing a lot of damage. It’s best to block the attack as dodging can still get you hit by it.

Wing Pirouette Combo (Block/Dodge)¶

This attack is a normal melee attack combo where Gna will use her wings to attack you. She’ll attack you with one wing first, pirouette, and hit you with her other wing. The second attack has deceptive range and can hit you from further than you’d expect. The third attack will change from time to time, but it’ll be either her wing spin (normal attack), Lunging Stab (unblockable) or her Fire Blade attack (unblockable). You should always dodge the last attack, unless she waits a second and lowers her wing as the normal spin attack will happen, and that is best to be blocked. Note: She can use this attack from distance as she’ll lunge in at you on the first attack.

Sonic Shuriken Combo (Block first two hits, Dodge the last attack)¶

Gna will spread her arms apart with shurikens in each hand which will glow green. This is a 3-hit combo where she’ll attack with each hand then jump in the air, and throw her shurikens at you which will have a red-ring indicator. The first two hits can be blocked or dodged, but the last attack needs to be dodged. A simple sidestep or roll to the side will avoid this attack. Sometimes the third attack won’t happen, or it’ll be another sonic melee attack which means you can just block the entire attack.

Dropkick/Frostkick (Block/Dodge)¶

In melee range, Gna will jump in the air to perform a dropkick, this comes at you with pace, but if you see her jump, quickly dodge to the side or block the attack. She’ll always follow up with another dropkick, but this one will have a red-ring indicator which means you’ll have to avoid it. If you get hit by this, you’ll take frost damage which can slow you down. Thankfully, this is easily avoided with a simple sidestep or roll, and you can use this time to attack her a bit. Later on, she may chain up to three or four dropkicks, so be extra careful going in for the attack.

Wing Stab (Dodge)¶

As the name suggests, at close range, Gna will perform a red-ring stabbing attack with her wing. This is normally used as a follow-up attack, but she can use it on its own. The only way to avoid this is to sidestep/roll to the side.

Wing Guard (Shield Bash)¶

This attack is basically free damage for you. Gna will cover herself with both wings acting as a shield. This is a blue-ring attack, so you’ll need to shield bash her first, but it leaves her open for a moment so punish her for her foolish attack. If you don’t shield bash the “attack”, she’ll push both wings open which will do a bit of damage/break your guard.

Shock Slam (Shield Bash/Get out of the red circle)¶

This is a blue-ring attack, and Gna will show the indicator for a brief second before she spins around, jumps into the air, and slams down creating a shockwave of shock in the red circle. There are two ways to deal with this attack. If you’re close to her, double-tap to shield bash, and stun her out of the attack. If you’re further out from her, roll/run out of the red circle shown on the floor to avoid the attack. This comes at you extremely quickly, so you’ll need to decide straight away what method you’re going to choose. The shield bash will always be more preferable as you can punish her with a combo or two, but if you’re not near her, roll out of the circle. This is where the Onslaught Shield shines as you can close the distance with it, and you’ll also get a few i-frames with its rush attack, should you be late to react.

Lunging Fire Blade (Dodge)¶

Gna will lunge at you from range before spinning and attacking you while her weapon is enchanted with fire. This is a red-ring attack, but the indicator won’t appear until she’s spinning right next to you. As it’s a red-ring attack, you’ll need to avoid the attack, but a simple sidestep or roll to the side will make this attack void. You can punish her with a few attacks of your own after you avoid it. Like most of her attacks, she may chain this attack in with her other attacks.

Lunging Grab (Dodge)¶

This starts off like most of her lunge attacks, but she’ll end it with a grab that’ll lift you up, and throw you to the floor. While you’re down, she’ll attempt to attack you, but Freya will normally jump in, and stop any follow-up attacks. There’s no simple way to avoid this other than roll to the side, but even then the timing needs to be good to avoid it. Try waiting until she reaches you to roll to the side. Note: At later stages of the fight, she can perform this attack in melee range without the lunge.

Spinning Shockwave/Combo (Parry/Dodge)¶

Another attack which is technically a combo, but she can use the last part where she leaps in the air as a separate attack. The combo will be a wing strike which is a normal attack, and she’ll follow it up with a yellow-ring diagonal upward swing before she jumps in the air, and crashes down creating a mini shockwave. You can block the first attack, and block or parry the second attack, but for the third attack, you’ll want to parry it if you can or dodge to the side if you can’t. It’s better to parry the last attack as it’ll leave her open for a few attacks, and it will stop the attack dead. If you dodge it, she can, and will perform the last part multiple times in succession (as much as four times!)

Jumping Shockwave (Parry/Dodge)¶

Almost exactly the same as the last part of the previous combo, but instead of spinning to perform the shockwave, she’ll just jump in the air, and slam her weapon into the ground. This can be used multiple times in successions if you choose to dodge it, so try to parry it if you can. You’ll want to time the parry as soon as she lands, and the shockwave is about to hit you.

For Asgard! (Dodge)¶

Gna will leap into the air, and reappear above you. If you’re hit by this attack, she’ll stomp on your face, and you’ll have to repeatedly press to get out of it. Sometimes Freya will interrupt this attack for you. She’ll normally perform this attack three times in quick succession, but that isn’t a guarantee as sometimes she may only just do it the once, or twice. This attack is upgraded to the attack below when she has about 30-40% health left.

For Asgard! (Bifrost Edition) (Dodge)¶

An upgraded version of the previous attack, but doesn’t replace it entirely. This is a really difficult attack to avoid as similar to the regular version, Gna will leap into the air, and stomp down on you. But this version isn’t instant like the other variant. When she leaps into the air, she’ll shoot down a beam of Bifrost which persists on the ground, and then after a second or two, she’ll perform the stomp. Also, like the regular version, this can be performed multiple times in succession.

How to Defeat Valkyrie Queen Gna – Strategy¶

That’s a lot of attacks, huh? Anyway, start the fight by rushing her with the Blades of Chaos equipped and perform one of your Runic Attacks on her. While you’re doing that, have Freya unleash all her arrows at Gna as you’re running over to her. As your first Runic Attack is about to finish, hold to have Freya use her multi-slash sword attack, and perform the second Runic Attack. Once that’s finished, use your Relic attack if it’s one that performs an attack. For the most part, you can do this every time you start battle with her, but she will try to dodge out of some of your attacks. But, if you time it right, and use Freya in combination, you can stunlock her, and do about 1 bar’s worth of damage right from the start.

Now the battle will begin for real. There’s no way to tell you how this fight will play out as Gna will use all of her arsenal mentioned above, and in any order. One thing that is for certain is she will constantly chain a number of these attacks together in quick succession. Another certainty is she will change up what attacks follow after her combos.

The best way to handle this fight is to stay in mid to close range, and wait for her attacks, and once you avoid them one way or another, attack her with a combo of your own. You should be able to get six to seven hits on her each time, although this lessens the lower health she has. Make sure you choose, and use your Rage (Fury or Valor) to keep your health above 50%, so you can at least take a hit or two should you make a mistake. Gna will really punish you if you get hit by an attack as another attack is always around the corner, and one of her combos can end a perfect run in seconds. A lot of her attacks minus a couple are really easy to avoid once you know when they’re coming. The problem is, a lot of the animations for specific attacks are similar, and she can change it mid-combo from a blockable attack to an unblockable attack.

Throughout the fight, she’ll drop health stones on the floor which can give you a much-needed boost to your health, although we’re not sure if it’s random or if you make her flinch enough. You should always pick these up to keep your health topped up, but make sure you have time for the animation as it could leave you open to an attack. So, what are her weaknesses? Not much, unfortunately, but she does appear to be susceptible to sonic damage, and you can make her flinch a lot with your Relic, and Runic attacks. Freya’s Steel Harmony attack is also a nice way to interrupt Gna. Another weakness she has is she will leave herself open after a lot of her attacks, and you should be able to get at least a combo of your own on her, but this lessens when her health gets low.

When her health drops below 40-50%, her attacks will come quicker, and she’ll chain them together with other attacks than you’re used to, you’ll get fewer openings to attack her, and she’ll even start using new attacks altogether like For Asgard! Bifrost Edition. This battle is an endurance fight, and you’ll need to be patient to beat her as well as a bit of luck. So in short:

• Go aggressive at the start of the fight.
• Be patient for openings after her attacks to deal damage back to her.
• Use Rage whenever your health gets low, but don’t waste all of it in one go as you’ll need it later.
• Save a couple of Sonic Arrows for Gna’s Sonic Orb attack to stun it.
• Don’t expect the same combo twice, she will regularly change an attack which will keep you off guard.
• Runic/Relic Attacks can, and will interrupt some of her attacks.
• Ask yourself why the lock-on system sucks

If you want to follow our build for defeating Gna, check out our build page here. Once you defeat Gna you will unlock The True Queen trophy.