God of War presents players with some of the most challenging trials in the series. Among these challenges is navigating Ivaldi’s Workshop in Niflheim, which is shrouded in cursed mist and constantly changes its layout. It’s easy to get lost, but the rewards are well worth the risk.
Ivaldi’s Workshop
To access Niflheim, you must first find all four pieces of the Niflheim cipher and unlock its location in the Realm Travel Room. Once you arrive, you’ll meet Sindri, who will provide an overview of Ivaldi’s Workshop. The workshop consists of a central locked room surrounded by larger battle rooms and smaller trap-filled rooms. Hidden throughout these rooms are treasure chests filled with Mist Echoes. These echoes can be used to create, upgrade equipment, and open chests within the workshop. Your objective is to gather Mist Echoes and bring them back out of the workshop. However, if you die inside the workshop, you will lose everything you’ve found.
It’s important to note that the cursed mist in Ivaldi’s Workshop slowly drains your health. You can temporarily increase your mist resistance by opening chests, which provide a shot of Cleansing Fog. The more chests you open, the longer you can stay in the workshop.
You’ll come across many items and equipment that can enhance your resistance to the mist. However, your first priority is to gather Mist Echoes so Sindri can craft a key to the workshop’s inner storeroom.
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Getting the Key
In your initial runs into the workshop, you won’t be able to venture too deep due to the quick depletion of your mist resistance. Start by exploring the area directly in front of the inner storeroom, which always contains a few chests. However, you can’t open these chests until you defeat all the enemies in the area. If you find the enemies overwhelming, you can retreat back to Sindri to reset the area.
Once you’ve cleared the first room, you can explore the side areas to find more Mist Echoes before leaving. Look for hidden gaps in the walls and alcoves that may contain chests. The Mist Echoes you bring out of Ivaldi’s Workshop are yours to keep, even if you reenter. However, any Mist Echoes you collect during your current run will be lost if you die. Return to Sindri’s shop once you’ve gathered your first 500 Mist Echoes. Although Sindri mentions crafting the key, you can actually find it under the “Buy” menu in his shop. Once you have the key, you can reenter the workshop.
Crafting Mist Armor
Your next goal is to acquire enough Mist Echoes to purchase a suit of mist-resistant armor. Head into the workshop area, defeat the first group of enemies, and collect the Mist Echoes in the room. Then, use the key to open the door leading to the inner storeroom. As you ascend the stairs, you’ll realize that you’re technically “out” of Ivaldi’s Workshop. This means that if you need to refresh your mist resistance but can’t make it back to Sindri, you can enter the central chamber to reset your mist timer and retain all the items you’ve collected.
In this area, be sure to open all the chests you can find. There are plenty, although some require additional Mist Echoes to unlock. One of these chests contains the coveted “Ivaldi’s Rusted Armor.”
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Take the armor back to Sindri, who can combine it with some Mist Echoes to craft three pieces of mist-resistant armor. It’s crucial to obtain all three pieces and upgrade them as quickly as possible. The armor significantly prolongs the time before your mist resistance depletes, allowing for longer stays within Ivaldi’s Workshop. You’ll also discover Enchantments scattered throughout Niflheim that can be added to your armor, providing opportunities to extend your mist resistance by killing enemies in specific ways.
The Workshop Layout
Ivaldi’s Workshop may initially appear complex, but its layout is relatively straightforward. The workshop is essentially a diamond shape, with the storeroom at the center. The bottom of the diamond is formed by the area in front of the storeroom, where you’ll engage in battles against enemies. Moving along the hallways to the left or right will lead you to side battle rooms. Continuing to the top of the diamond will bring you to another battle, followed by the other side battle room, and ultimately back to the beginning. Connecting the battle rooms are trap-filled hallways, with smaller intermediate rooms between them that sometimes contain chests.
There are two additional rooms outside the diamond, accessible from the trap-filled hallways on either side of the top. These rooms always contain challenging battles. We’ll delve into those later on.
Fighting Enemies
Battles in Ivaldi’s Workshop primarily test your speed. While enemies can be lethal, the real danger lies in the depletion of your mist timer. Thus, your primary objective in every fight should be to eliminate enemies swiftly. Additionally, you can only open treasure chests after defeating all enemies in a battle room, so quick eliminations are essential to prevent the mist from overwhelming you.
These enemies are tough, ranging from levels six to eight, so equip yourself with powerful gear. The enemy composition may vary, but it remains relatively consistent throughout the diamond once you start a run. Utilize Atreus’ light arrows and Kratos’ bare-fisted attacks to build up enemies’ stun meters and execute them. This approach usually ends fights quickly, so maximize the use of arrows.
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The traps along the hallways can also be hazardous to enemies. If you manage to knock or throw an enemy into a trap-filled hallway, they are likely to perish. Utilize the environment to your advantage and concentrate on ending each fight as swiftly as possible.
Nornir Chests are the Best
Most runs in Ivaldi’s Workshop feature a rune-sealed Nornir chest hidden in a non-battle room between trap-filled hallways. This gives you ample time to search for the three bells required to open the chest. The bells are always located above you on the maze’s cliffs. Two of the bells will be nearby, while the third will be farther away.
To optimize your chances of success, start by hitting the farthest bell first. These bells are often more challenging to reach, so use the heavy axe throw to cover more distance and ensure accurate hits. Experiment with different locations if you find yourself hitting solid rock. After ringing the first bell, you’ll have plenty of time to locate and hit the other two bells, ultimately opening the chest. While Nornir chests in Ivaldi’s Workshop don’t offer significant mist resistance, they contain abundant Mist Echoes, making them well worth your time.
Opening the Entrance Nornir Chest
When you begin a run in Ivaldi’s Workshop, you’ll often find a Nornir chest against the wall closest to Sindri’s shop. However, you won’t find the mechanism to open it in this area. To access the chest, you must visit each point of the diamond and defeat all enemies there.
Before proceeding, take note of the three runes on the chest, as you won’t see them again until you open it. Enter the workshop maze and halt at the first battle room point on the diamond. Defeat all enemies in that room and then observe the cliffs surrounding the area. Look for spinning pillars that display runes. Match one of the runes you observed earlier with the corresponding pillar before moving on.
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Each of the battle rooms at the diamond’s points contains one of these spinning pillars. You must complete the entire loop to unlock the chest at the front. This chest contains a generous amount of Mist Echoes and often rare Niflheim crafting materials.
Finding the Valkyrie
There are eight Valkyries hidden throughout the realms in God of War. If you aim to defeat them all, you’ll need to enter Ivaldi’s Workshop multiple times. The Niflheim Valkyrie awaits in the back of the workshop, accessible through the battle rooms on either side of the top point of the diamond. This is a challenging battle, especially with the mist timer running. However, if you manage to survive and defeat the Valkyrie, your mist timer will be completely refilled, allowing you to safely navigate your way out of the maze.
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Where to Find Anchors of Fog
Once you’ve unlocked the central storeroom of Ivaldi’s Workshop, your main objective is to open all the treasure chests within. These chests require Mist Echoes to unlock, as well as an additional item called an Anchor of Fog to access the battles in the Realm Tears.
Anchors of Fog appear in the gold Legendary chests found in the two back battle rooms, located on either side of the top point of the diamond. You can access these rooms through the trap-filled hallways on both sides. However, be prepared for challenging battles, as these rooms contain regular enemies as well as tougher foes like Travelers, Dark Elf Lords, or Fierce Ogres. Defeating them can be time-consuming, so brace yourself for a tough fight.
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Win the battle in these rooms, and you’ll often find an Anchor of Fog. Although it’s not guaranteed, if you don’t find an Anchor in one room, you will likely find it in the other. It’s rare to encounter a situation where you can’t acquire an Anchor in one of the two rooms.
The Inner Storeroom
Once you’ve collected enough Mist Echoes and Anchors of Fog, you can open all the treasure chests in the inner storeroom. These chests contain unique items that can’t be found elsewhere, ideal for maximizing your weapons and armor. Among the treasures, you’ll find an item known as Chilling Mist, located in one of the chests available for Mist Echoes. Return the Chilling Mist to either Brok or Sindri’s shops, and it will enable you to access the “Buy” menu. Under “Resources,” you can trade the Chilling Mist for a Frozen Flame, essential for the final upgrade of your Leviathan Axe.
You’ll also need to confront the three Realm Tears within the storeroom. These battles won’t pose significant challenges if you’ve been consistently upgrading your Mist armor throughout your exploration of the maze. Moreover, you won’t have to worry about the mist timer during these battles, so take your time and fight strategically. The first battle primarily consists of Draugr and lesser enemies, the second introduces toxic foes like Revenants, and the final clash involves Ogres paired with Wulvers.
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While the other battles are relatively straightforward, the third battle may be lengthy if you focus on eliminating the weaker Wulvers first. More adversaries will join the fray until all the Ogres are defeated. However, stunning an Ogre and utilizing its powers to eliminate other enemies can lead to victory.
Upon clearing the storeroom of Ivaldi’s Workshop, you’ll unlock the Darkness and Fog prize.
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This article is written for OnSpec Electronic, Inc..
