How to complete Return of The River Vanaheim Favour in God of War Ragnarok - Guide, rewards, and more explained

After completing Scent of Survival in God of War Ragnarok, Kratos will begin Return of the River. This is another crucial Favour in Vanaheim, as it will unlock some blocked-off areas in the already secret area.

It’s not an area that lacks danger, but the actual Favour is easy enough to complete. Once you start to see the Dam off in the distance, you’re close to beginning this Favour. It will auto-begin when you’re close by in God of War Ragnarok, so it’s not one you’ll miss.

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After Scent of Survival, tackle Return of the River in God of War Ragnarok

Rewards for Return of the River

• Kratos EXP: 500
• Atreus EXP: 125
• Access to blocked areas in The Crater

While exploring The Jungle in The Crater, you’ll come across a massive stone - Dam. Keep heading down the path towards it, taking out any enemies that spawn in your path. In particular, there will be some Gulons that you have to contend with.

Keep following the path and climb up slowly as you go through this God of War Ragnarok Favour. After climbing a small outcropping, you can turn to the right and spot some Red Vines. It’s easy enough to overcome. Shoot them with Atreus’ Sigil Arrows, and ignite them with your Blades of Chaos.

This is important because you can crank the lever and continue the mission. While you wait, Atreus remarks that Odin was making the animals die of thirst, angering him. If you come back and do this with Freya, the discussion will be a bit different. A few foes await you at the top, so defeat them, leap across the two gaps, and unlock some lore.

You’ll want to return to where you were and look for the glowing yellow cracks in the Dam. Throw your Draupnir here and detonate it. Now you have a way beyond the Dam, so progress further into God of War Ragnarok’s Vanaheim.

A Dreki shows up but dives back into the water, so you aren’t dealing with it yet. You’ll see red brambles again while you’re here, so ignite them as you did before. There is another set of brambles too, which will require you to chain some Sigils together to crack them.

Defeat the Nokken and Seidr, and then get ready to unleash the water. Turn the wheel to lift the grates, and unleash the water that was keeping you from progressing. You set a Draupnir spear into a hole nearby by running to a path and throwing it across to the spear hole.

Leap across, climb up, grab the Red Chest, and kick the chain down. This is where the Dreki shows up again. Defeat it and complete the Favour. This will unlock more God of War Ragnarok Favours, such as In The Dead of Night. It will also reveal more places to go in The Crater.