Is Valkyrie Armor the Best in God of War 4? Not Quite…

While the incredible Valkyrie Armor set is undoubtedly one of the most powerful options in God of War, a few other heavy-hitting armor sets just barely edge it out for best-in-class status. I‘m going to deep-dive into how you can obtain this epic armor, its killer stats and perks, and how it size up against armor that some players argue is even better suited for crushing foes in the harsh Norse wilds.

How to Get the Legenday Valkyrie Armor

Let‘s start by talking about exactly how you unlock this mythical armor…and why it‘s so challenging to obtain.

The Valkyrie Armor is composed of 3 pieces – the Cuirass of the Valkyrie, the Gauntlets of the Valkyrie, and the Waist Guard of the Valkyrie. But collecting them requires you to defeat not one, not two, but all 8 of the deadly Valkyrie bosses imprisoned around the realms.

These optional fights are no joke – raging, relentless gods of war that will test your skills, gear, and blood pressure to the very limit. They unleash devastating combo chains mixing unblockable attacks and air juggle launchers. And they have massive area-of-effect blasts that will one-shot most players if they fail to roll out of the way fast enough.

You‘ll clash with Valkyries in side areas of Alfheim, Muspelheim and Niflheim. And I cannot stress enough how difficult these sprawling multi-phase battles can be. I lost track of how many times I got smashed by overhead dive bombs, wing slashes, and screen-filling yellow energy rings before finally improving my reaction speed enough to take them down.

But the reward for conquering all 8 Valkyries (plus the optional 9th Valkyrie Queen fight) is this magnificent armor that retains the iconic wings and armor design of the fallen sisters you defeat.

Trust me – the first time you equip the complete Valkyrie set after spending hours grinding those battles, you‘ll feel like an absolute legend ready to dish out some carnage.

Valkyrie Armor Perks and Power

So let‘s talk about why exactly this armor stands toe-to-toe with some of the best late-game sets you can unlock.

The Valkyrie Armor provides excellent starting stats, with a solid boost to Strength, Defense, Runic, Vitality and Cooldown Reduction right off the bat. This excellent balance means you hit harder both with melee combos and special Runic Attacks, while still retaining enough durability to avoid getting one-shotted in intense battles on higher difficulties.

But the real star of the show is the armor‘s unique perk called Resurrection. This passive activates a brief protective barrier anytime Kratos takes damage and his health drops below a critical 25% threshold. It negates a set amount of damage during the effect, buying you precious seconds to use a Healthstone, activate Spartan Rage, or retreat and regain footing.

This perk saved my skin more times that I can count against onslaughts from deadly Draugr, Revenants and Travelers. Having that emergency shield trigger right before a boss can land the killing blow gives you at least a chance to recover.

The Valkyrie Armor also has one more great benefit – all that time spent grinding Valkyrie fights gets you incredibly warmed up to handle anything the game can throw at you after. The armor set almost trains you in itself to take down top tier enemies.

How Valkyrie Stacks Up to the Competition

The Valkyrie Armor‘s balance of offense and defense makes it incredibly viable for almost all combat scenarios. But a couple other God of War armor sets specialize further and some players argue they claim the title of "best armor" as a result.

I‘ve created a comparison table below detailing how the Valkyrie set stacks up numerically versus the other top contenders:

As you can see, Ivaldi‘s Deadly Mist armor edges out the completion just slightly with a massive boost to Strength and Runic power alongside solid Vitality. It renders Kratos an absolute powerhouse capable of dishing out devastating special attacks in rapid succession.

And its special Regenerating Essence perk passively heals Kratos during and after combat encounters. I found this steady stream of healing perfect for offsetting the attrition of pressing through lengthy gauntlets like Muspelheim and Niflheim. It saves you precious resources not having to continuously consume Healthstones.

Meanwhile, the infamous Zeus Armor armor locked behind New Game+ ratchets offense to an even more insane degree at the cost of defense. Its monstrous Strength and Runic allow you to dish out utterly absurd damage. Paired with the Deadly Mist or Valkyrie Waist Guard to jack up your Vitality, this glass cannon build lets you erase enemies before they can even touch you.

The Zeus Armor‘s special Damage Aura perk accentuates this offensive style even further – any successful hit has a high chance to trigger a burst of lightning damage in an area around Kratos. This wrecks groups of clustered enemies. I felt like an unstoppable angel of carnage whirling through hordes and wiping them from existence with each chained attack.

So while Deadly Mist and Zeus lean harder into offense or glass cannon builds, I still strongly recommend the Valkyrie Armor for players who prefer more balance and survivability. That lifesaving Resurrection barrier has your back when you inevitably bite off more than you can chew.

And honestly, sometimes looking like an absolute badass beats pure numbers!

Conquer the Valkyries!

I hope this deep dive gives you some insight into how you can gear up Kratos to become an unstoppable god-slaying machine in the fantastical Norse wilds! Let me know which armor set you end up rocking against the myriad threats of the nine realms.

And may the wings of the Valkyrie guide your axe throwing hand true as you cleave through hordes of Hel-spawned demons! Odin himself shall tremble before you!

Let me know if you have any other topics you want covered related to God of War gear, abilities, or strategy guides! I live for this stuff and love chatting with fellow fans. Skål!