What You Actually Need to Clear for 100%
The 100% completion screen in God of War Ragnarök tracks more than just Valkyries and dragons. It covers collectibles, side quests, realm tears, Draugr hordes, Nornir chests, artifact placements, and several other categories that are easy to overlook if you're rushing through the main story. Most players assume it's mostly about combat. It's not. A significant chunk is traversal and exploration tasks hidden behind optional objectives. I spent roughly 85 hours on my first run for a full clear, which includes all twelve Valkyries, all Dragon bosses, every Collectible quest, all Realm Tears, and both New Game+ requirements. On my second run I managed it in about 32 hours by skipping nothing but using some smart shortcuts. The difference between those two numbers comes down to knowing which tasks are actually optional versus which ones are mandatory. That's the first thing most guides miss. The game counts certain things as collectibles that don't show up in the obvious menu tabs. For example, the six Hidden Realms aren't tracked on the map unless you enter them. Nine are available in the base game. The sixth one, Vanaheim's Treasures, sits behind a puzzle that requires specific Lumen seeds. If you miss the Lumen Seeds early, you have to backtrack through three different realms to pick them up later. I learned this the hard way during my first completion attempt when I realized I'd burned through all the Lumen Seeds on miscellaneous side quests without realizing they also unlock a hidden area. That cost me about four extra hours of retracing steps.
Here's how the completion breakdown actually works in practice: The primary categories the game tracks are: Collectibles (artifacts, chests, etc.), Quests, Valkyries, Dragons, Realm Tears, Black Markets, and the overall completion percentage shown in the pause menu. You'll notice that completing the main storyline alone gets you somewhere around 12 to 15 percent depending on how many side quests you accidentally trigger along the way. From there, the real grind begins. One thing that trips up a lot of people is the Collectibles category. The game groups artifacts, chest caches, and other misc items under that heading. There are 24 artifacts scattered across the nine realms, but only about 18 are accessible in a single playthrough without using New Game+. The remaining six require either NG+ or visiting specific realms after completing their respective story segments. If you want to hit 100% without NG+, you need to visit every realm at least once during story progression and check each one thoroughly before moving on.
The Valkyrie fights are the most talked-about challenge in this game. There are twelve total. One is Queen Astrid in Grannsberg's Throne, and the other eleven are scattered across various realms. My suggestion is to tackle the earlier ones before you commit to the late-game Valkyries. The Fafnir and Otter dragon in Vanaheim, the Sable Coyle in Midgard, and the Brynhildr in Odin's Vault are significantly harder than the others. I recommend being at least level 6 or 7 on your skills before engaging them. Some of the later Valkyries have attacks that can melt you in under three seconds if you don't have proper armor set bonuses active. Realm Tears are another category that confuses people because they don't appear on the map until you solve the associated puzzle. There are nine Realm Tears in the base game. Each one transports you to a specific boss encounter that grants a unique upgrade when defeated. These upgrades are valuable because they unlock new abilities you'll need later. For instance, the Hel Wastes tear gives you access to the Draugr Horde mechanic, which is essential for completing the Draugr horde challenges across multiple realms. Skipping Realm Tears means you'll be missing key tools for other objectives. Draugr Hordes consist of waves of enemies that spawn in designated areas across different realms. There are seven total hordes. Each one has a difficulty rating from one to seven. The higher-level hordes are brutal. I found the Midgard level 4 horde particularly annoying because it includes a mix of draugr, trolls, and occasionally a draugr lord. The key is to use the Leviathan Axe throw to pull enemies together and then finish them with runic attacks. Don't waste time on individual strikes. Group them up and clear fast.
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Nornir Chests require collecting three chests' worth of key runes scattered around each area. There are quite a few across all realms. The trick is to explore every nook and cranny because these keys often hide in places that look like dead ends. A common workaround is to go back to each realm with Freya's companions after completing the main story, since some keys only appear after certain plot events trigger. New Game+ is essentially required for true 100% completion because it adds several exclusive missions and bosses. If you're aiming for 100% on your first run, you can get close but you'll likely fall short on a few collectibles that are locked behind New Game+ content. My recommendation is to complete the main game at least once, get a sense of the pacing and mechanics, then start New Game+ and focus purely on the missing objectives. This approach saves you roughly 15 to 20 hours compared to trying to squeeze everything into a single playthrough. The Black Markets are small vendor nodes that appear in specific locations after you complete certain realm-related tasks. They sell rare gear and materials. There are ten total across the game. A lot of players skip these entirely because they don't realize they exist. The reason to visit them is that some of the weapons and armor sets you find there are genuinely superior to what you'll get through normal drops. The Draupnir Spear is available at one of them and it's worth it for the status effect options.
For the Collectibles tab specifically, I found that checking the game's official map after each realm visit helps. You can filter by item type and see which ones you've already found. This cuts down on random searching significantly. Most people spend an average of 45 minutes per realm doing aimless exploration. Using the map filter brings that down to about ten minutes per visit. Another useful strategy is to prioritize quests that give multiple rewards. The "The Tyr's Road" quest line, for example, unlocks several pieces of armor and a weapon skin while also advancing your story progress. If you're only looking for completion points, this is one of the most efficient paths. Similarly, the "A Trojan War" quest chain gives you access to several realm tears and collectibles in one go. The game also has some achievements and trophies that align closely with completion. The "God of War Ragnarok" trophy, for instance, is awarded for completing the main story, which gets you about 15% toward full completion. The "Rise Again" trophy requires defeating all Valkyries, which is roughly another 5%. Getting all these together pushes you into the 30-40% range before you even start focusing on collectibles.
One thing I want to address directly: don't try to collect every single item in one sitting. The game encourages you to move forward with the story. If you get stuck on a collectible, leave it. Come back later with better gear and a clearer understanding of the map layout. I wasted about six hours on my first run trying to find a single artifact hidden in Alfheim. When I returned during NG+, I found it in under ten minutes because I had already explored that area multiple times and knew exactly where to look. The hardest part of 100% completion is managing your time across multiple realms. The game opens up progressively, so you can't just rush into high-difficulty areas early. My advice is to clear out the easier realms first, then work your way up. This gives you better gear and more skill points for the tougher challenges. It also reduces the chance of dying repeatedly in areas where you could have been much stronger if you'd trained elsewhere first. There's also a matter of which save files you use. If you're doing a completionist run, consider using a fresh save file rather than continuing an existing one. This prevents accidental skips or missed objectives from previous playthroughs. I learned this the hard way when I discovered that some collectibles don't spawn if you load a save that already has them flagged as found. A new game forces all objectives to reset properly.
For the dragons specifically, there are six total. Two are optional and fightable early on. Four are required for story progression and appear later. The optional ones can be taken down with relatively low-level gear if you use the right tactics. The required ones are tougher but drop valuable resources that make subsequent fights easier. Don't delay the required dragon fights too long. When it comes to the artifact collectibles, I recommend visiting the museum sections in each realm. They usually contain clues or hints about where nearby artifacts are located. The museum descriptions aren't just flavor text. They often point directly to nearby collectibles. Ignoring them costs time. Here's a quick summary of what you should focus on in order:
First, complete the main story. Second, tackle the Valkyries. Third, handle the Realm Tears. Fourth, clear the Draugr Hordes. Fifth, collect all Nornir chests. Sixth, visit all Black Markets. Seventh, gather all artifacts. Eighth, deal with the dragons. This order keeps your power level appropriately scaled for each challenge. The biggest bottleneck for most players is the Valkyrie fights. If you're struggling with those, go back and complete easier side quests in lower-level realms to gain skill points and better gear. Don't force a Valkyrie fight until you've maxed out at least two skill trees in your current build. The game gives you plenty of opportunities to level up before reaching the hardest Valkyries. If you're playing on higher difficulties, expect the completion time to increase significantly. On the "Give Me God of War" difficulty, the Valkyries become substantially more dangerous. I recommend completing the game on "Normal" or "Hard" first to understand the mechanics, then attempting 100% on a higher difficulty if that's your goal. You'll save a considerable amount of time by not fighting the same bosses twice.
One more thing: don't underestimate the value of crafting. The blacksmith and the draugr smiths offer recipes that require materials you'll find throughout your exploration. Some of the best armor sets in the game can only be crafted. Check the crafting menu regularly. It's easy to miss when you're focused on combat objectives. The game also has a number of optional combat encounters called "Legendary Creatures" that aren't required for 100% but are fun to fight. There are five of them, and they drop unique gear. If you're looking for more content after hitting 100%, these are worth a look. They're scattered across the realms and marked on the map as silver icons. For speed, the most effective method is to use the fast travel system liberally. Don't walk across realms when you can jump straight to the nearest waypoint. It sounds obvious, but a lot of players forget this when they're focused on collecting things. Fast traveling can cut your total completion time by roughly 20 to 30 percent. In my experience, this meant going from about 85 hours down to around 60 on my second run.
The game doesn't penalize you for returning to previously visited areas. In fact, returning is often necessary. Some collectibles only appear after completing specific main story quests. If you miss something during your first pass through a realm, you can always come back later. Just be aware that the world state might have changed, and some enemies could be stronger or positioned differently than you remember. I also want to mention that the game has a helpful "Companion Quests" system. Freya and Atreus each have personal quest lines that run parallel to the main story. These are worth doing because they grant rewards and sometimes unlock new areas or shortcuts. They're not mandatory for 100%, but they make the journey less tedious. Finally, the game's HUD can be customized to show more information about collectibles and objectives. Go into the settings and enable the detailed map view. This will show you exactly which items you've collected and which ones remain. Without this setting, you're basically guessing about your progress. Enabling it took me from wandering aimlessly for hours to knowing exactly what was missing and where to find it. It made a huge difference in my completion speed.
