How to complete the Animal Instinct Favor in God of War Ragnarok: Walkthrough, locations, rewards, and more explained

The Animal Instinct Favor is a side quest in God of War Ragnarok undertaken by Kratos and Freya in the Midgard realm. It’s an action-packed side quest where Kratos has to eliminate a group of four Kol Raider camps.

This Favor can be activated when players visit the Midgard realm and reach an area called the Lake of Nine. Once there, the Favor gets automatically activated whenever Kratos engages and clears any one of the four Kol Raider camps.

This guide will walk you through where to find each Kol Raider camp in the Animal Instinct Favor, how to approach the final boss fight and the rewards for completing the side quest.

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God of War Ragnarok: Animal Instinct Favor overview

Deal with a bunch of Kol Raiders and Raider Scouts to complete the Animal Instinct Favor (Image via Santa Monica Studio)

As stated above, the Animal Instinct Favor takes place in the Lake of Nine region of the Midgard realm. This Favor gets automatically activated as part of the story when Kratos engages with any one of the Kol Raider camps.

Each Kol Raider camp comes with its own set of Raiders and Scouts, which players must deal with one by one. Make sure to explore each camp before moving over to the next for rare items and collectibles. Taking down a bunch of Raiders is easy and shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

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Location of the four Kol Raider camps

Location of each Kol Raider camp in the order of West, East, South, and Central. Follow the orange round marker in each image (Images via Santa Monica Studio)

There are a total of four Raider camps that Kratos needs to clean up to complete the Animal Instinct side quest. Here we’ve compiled a list of where to find each Kol Raider camp:

1) Raider Fort (West)

Head west from the Temple of Tyr, or in other words, go to the left-hand side of the icy lake. Look for a campfire spewing black smoke. This is the location of the Raider Fort. Players need to climb over a ledge to reach the location.

2) Raider Hideout (East)

The second Kol Raider camp is located west of the King’s Grave. Go along the main path that ends onto a massive wall. There will be a cave entrance at the end of it. This is the Raider Hideout camp that Kratos needs to take down.

3) Raider Keep (South)

Look for a cave entrance south of Tyr’s Temple embedded with wooden spikes. Players need to scale over the ledge to discover this hidden Kol Raider camp.

4) Raider Stronghold (central)

After clearing the other three Kol Raider camps, Kratos will come face-to-face with the Chieftain of the Kol Raider, Olaf Nautson, in the final camp, regardless of which order players choose to take the camps down.

The Raiders Stronghold is located in the middle of the Lake of Nine. Find a huge dome with an entrance next to the elevator that leads to the Temple of Tyr.

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How to beat Olaf Nautson

To complete the Animal Instinct Favor in God of War Ragnarok, slay the mini-boss named Olaf Nautson, the Chieftain of the Kol Raiders.

Dealing with Olaf Nautson is not that hard. Most of his attacks are predictable, and neither does this boss deal massive amounts of health-draining attacks. Olaf Natson mostly relies on unlockable slams and heavy strikes from his shield, which regenerates his health.

Unleash the runic attacks when Olaf becomes a little dormant after regenerating his health and dealing a few blows from his shield. Once Olaf is killed, a legendary chest will lie behind him.

Collect the rewards from the legendary chests and return to the wolves to successfully complete the Animal Instinct Favor.

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Animal Instinct Favor rewards

After destroying all four Kol Raider camps in the Animal Instinct Favor, Kratos and Freya will be rewarded with 1000 XP points and 250 XP points, respectively. In addition to XP points, players receive a Token of Elemental Evasion and a Crackle of Bilskirnir. Also, completing the Favor unlocks a trophy named Besties.

This wraps up our guide on going about in the Animal Instinct Favor of God of War Ragnarok. Make sure to thoroughly explore each Kol Raider camp for additional rewards, rare items, and hacksilvers.