All God of War Valhalla's best upgrades and perks
Dec. 14, 2023The tablets on the Shore in GOW Valhalla grant upgrades and permanent perks - but which should you buy first?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
The best God of War Valhalla upgrades are all brought from the Shore Tablets, a strange merchant system where Kratos is paying rocks on Valhalla’s edge for perks that he brings into the rogue-like labyrinth beyond. These Glyphs and more can do all sorts for Kratos - long-term bonuses, short-term perks, enhance certain playstyles and weapons, so balancing your priorities isn’t easy. Still, there are some standouts, so we’ll cover all the best upgrades for God of War Valhalla below.
Which upgrades should you buy in God of War Valhalla?
As mentioned, there’s two kinds of upgrades in God of War Valhalla:permanent upgrades bought on the Shorefrom the Tablet of Influence and the Tablet of Reflection, andtemporary upgrades and Glyphs you get while doing a run through Valhalla.We’ll cover both kinds below and what you should prioritise.
Mastery Seals, Spirit Seals and Divine Influences are spent here for permanent upgrades. Here are the upgrades you should buy as soon as possible:
God of War Ragnarok New Game PlusGod of War Ragnarok cloak and new game plus armorHow to save in God of War Ragnarok ValhallaGod of War Valhalla barriers
Basically, we’ve focused on two things here that are more important than anything in our experience:investmentandsurvivability.
To start with investment in the Tablet of Influence, this is a simple principle: making sure your efforts keep paying out more and more, as it means you can pursue upgrades faster and faster. We all know how it works: if the game offers you an XP multiplier, you buy it as soon as possible.
When it comes to survivability in the Tablet of Reflection, the principle is simple: builds vary and all stats are helpful, but ultimately you still win or lose depending on whether you can survive the damage you take, so health and health regen is the “universal” quality shared by all experiences. Make yourself as robust as possible, and you’ll thank yourself for it later.
Choosing the best Glyphs to pick out during your run is much harder, for a few reasons: ultimately, this is about creating a build that works for you. While some Glyphs are better than others (usually indicated by rarity), there’s too many in play to be able to pick the same ones consistently, so you should more pick certainkindsof Glyph depending on the following qualities:
Admittedly this side of the upgrade system is far more art than science, as you’ll have to improvise each time from a massive pool of diverse Glyphs and perks, and as is often the case with Roguelikes, you’re as dependent on luck as you are on skill.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
Indiana Jones Secret of the Queen Mother elevator and animal stone puzzles
Assassin’s Creed Shadows adds a “canon mode” that makes choices for you, after fans spent years unsure of what RPG choices meant for the series' story
Elvis and Dune 2 star Austin Butler to play Patrick Bateman in Challengers director Luca Guadagnino’s American Psycho remake
