How to defeat Bjorn the bear in God of War Ragnarok

In the early moments of God of War Ragnarok, Atreus develops the habit of getting into trouble. Kratos spends more time murdering the local raiders while trying to track down his son. However, he’s not the only one hunting these raiders. A predator is also mauling them, which turns out to be a massive bear.

This bear, named “Bjorn” in the boss battle, is the first time Kratos uses his Spartan Rage in the game. Until this point, the God of War Ragnarok protagonist had not used it. It’s a relatively brief encounter, but it can be dangerous if players are new to the style of combat Kratos is involved in.

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The mysterious bear wants to fight Kratos in God of War Ragnarok.

The beginning of the fight

Kratos shouts into the wilderness as Bjorn attempts to maul the God of War off-camera. The two spiral into the snow, and the battle begins as Bjorn’s health bar appears on the screen.

You only have the Leviathan Axe and your wits, so God of War Ragnarok doesn’t overload new players with much information. The boss quickly lunges, which teaches you about attacks that can be parried. Yellow Rings mean an attack can be parried. Failure to dodge causes Block Break, which leaves Kratos vulnerable.

This first attack is a bite-and-throw, hurling Kratos across the battlefield. Bjorn also tries to do a double paw swipe down at Kratos, but you can evade this. He’ll also rush forward and try to bite, but you can roll out of the way of that.

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Big bear paws

It’s better to avoid those yellow rings as often as possible, as they allow for attacking opportunities. Bjorn will also clear the distance between you, swinging three times. The second two strikes can be parried. You can also learn about unblockable attacks (Red Rings). This God of War Ragnarok boss will pound the ground, sending a blast of snow and rocks.

It’s also essential to target lock in this fight because he can quickly get off-camera and start swiping you with his three-hit combo. Bjorn will also start using an unblockable leap attack as well. He’ll follow that up with a pair of blockable strikes.

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Finally, Spartan Rage

Around 75%, he’ll trigger an R3 cutscene, where the two grapple arm-in-arm. After this, the Spartan Rage will now be usable in God of War Ragnarok as a brief quick-time event. Pressing L3+R3 will trigger Spartan Rage, where every hit Kratos does will heal him a little bit.

You get a long time with Spartan Rage, so enjoy it. It should be easy to bring Bjorn down to about half health in this time frame in this God of War Ragnarok fight. This essentially begins Phase 2. Bjorn’s combos are longer, and he hits harder. Now he can strike up to five times, ending with a blockable hit.

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Things get harder

Bjorn also gets an attack where he strikes twice and mauls Kratos into the snow, so be careful of that. He’s also capable of back-to-back unblockable shockwaves. This phase remains the same, with the occasional blockable strike and long, rushing attack chains. When he gets to around 25%, he’ll start using his unblockable attack three times in a row.

His attack chain will also feature more jumping claw strikes, and the blockable attack will be followed by an unblockable if you don’t parry it away. On the default difficulty, however, if you perish, you’ll start in Phase 2, so there’s that much to be grateful for. For new players, Bjorn’s attack chains in God of War Ragnarok can feel overwhelming.

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With his final bits of health left, you can press R3 to grapple with the bear one final time and, ultimately, learn its identity. Who was this foe attacking Kratos in God of War Ragnarok? The following in-game cutscene will reveal the secret.