Path to the Mountain is the 2nd story main quest in God of War (2018, PS4). This walkthrough will guide you through all objectives of Path to the Mountain Main Quest.
Path to the Mountain triggers automatically after completing The Marked Trees.
Journey to the Mountain
Follow the newly opened crevasse down to a ledge, then a jump across a gap. Climb up a crack in the wall at the end of the path to continue. At the top will be a cave with a large wheel on the right side. Pull the wheel downwards to lower a bridge, and throw your axe at the gear directly across from you to freeze the mechanism. Then move over to the wall that Atreus is standing next to. You’ll be prompted to boost him up. Once he is at the top, Atreus will run over the bridge you just lowered and kick down a chain that you can use to climb up. Climb across the chain and cross the bridge to where Atreus is standing before you recall your axe, otherwise you’ll have to go back down and freeze the mechanism again.
Climb up the crack in the wall, then turn the camera left when you reach a gap and leap across to the next ledges until you reach the top. You will fight some additional Draugr, including a new type that launches fireballs towards you and doing burning damage. Use your shield to block them, or roll out of the way. In this fight a couple of them will spawn on top of the cliffs, shooting down at you in the middle of the fight. Make these Draugr priority targets, and hit them with axe throws until dead. Once all the Draugr have been defeated, follow Atreus to the end of the area. You’ll find some runes painted on the rock wall next to a crack. Climb up the crack to the next area.
Continue towards the mountain
Immediately on entering his new area, you will encounter a lone Reaver. Follow Atreus until the path leads to a large stone blocking your path. Lift it out of the way, and Atreus will run to a rotting wooden bridge, which you predictably fall through while trying to cross. You’ll fall into a large stone room full of Draugr “statues”. As Atreus finds, not all of them are statues, and you will have a long fight on your hands. Kill all of the Draugr, noting that there will again be Draugr throwing fireballs at you from an upper level which should be taken out quickly.
Escape the ruins
After all the Draugr have been defeated, you will hear a thumping, and a number of Draugr and Heavy Draugr will enter the room. The Heavy Draugr can not only absorb a lot more damage than regular Draugr, but it also has an attack that cannot be blocked with your shield. Rolling away is your only defense. Once they have been defeated, climb up the cracked wall and into a new area.
As you approach, you’ll hear strange chanting and as you get close you’ll see a strange witch-like spirit called a Revenant which will appear and disappear in a cloud of poison gas. Attacking it with your axe is pointless unless you have Atreus stun it with an arrow first. This will stagger it for a moment, preventing it from teleporting away during your attack. When close, it will attack you with its staff, or at range it will create a poison wave that you can either block with your shield or evade by rolling to either side.
Afterwards, follow the path to a leap across a gap to grab some wooden beams on the opposite wall. Climb to the top, turn left, and leap across a small broken bridge. There will be another Draugr attack on the opposite side. From the bridge, to your right will be an opening to a platform with a spiked barricade at its edge. Directly in front of it will be a drawbridge in an open position. Throw your axe at the two wooden targets on the chains to drop the bridge into position and go across it. There will be a large area with a number of Draugr and Revenants to kill.
After they’re defeated, use the wheel next to the drawbridge to lower it but don’t lower it all the way. Under the other half of the bridge you’ll see the counterweight dropping on a chain, behind a broken metal screen. Part way down that chain is a wooden target that can be smashed by throwing your axe when it lines up with the hole in the screen. Once you do, the counterweight will fall, and the bridge will stay down. Follow Atreus to a door near a huge pile of bodies. Go through to trigger a cinematic.
Fight off the Reavers
The room will fill with human Reavers, who are very easy to kill. There will be ten or so human Reavers to kill before a cinematic will play showing Atreus under attack. Run to him and trigger a second cinematic. The once human Reavers are now Seiðr Reapers, lobbing ice magic and ruining your day. Kill them all to proceed.
Escape the ruins
In one corner of the room is a wooden wall with a stone column half collapsed over it’s top. You can boost Atreus up here, and he will run across and drop a chain for you to climb up. Not immediately, however. You will have to give Atreus encouragement several times as he comes to terms with killing another human before he will be in position to let the chain down for you. Climb up, and go through the open doorway. You’ll emerge on a platform over a pit, with a narrow ledge on the left wall that you can use to shimmy across to reach the other side.
Continue towards the mountain
Follow Atreus to a bridge that is blocked by a Dwarf and his pack animal. After a short conversation, Atreus will tell you to…
Throw your axe at the trees
…which you should do. The animal will move, and you’ll have a conversation with Brok who will offer to enhance your axe. You’ll now have access to Brok’s shop, which allows you to craft and upgrade weapons and armor. When you exit the shop, you’ll be attacked by a Heavy Draugr and a couple Draugr throwing fireballs. Defeat them all to proceed.
Proceed through the gate to the mountain
To the left of Brok’s shop is a door grating with a chain to open it. Pull the chain down until the door is open, then throw your axe at the gears above the door to freeze it in place. Go through the gate and into the corpse hole.
Continue to the mountain
You and Atreus will pass through a low tunnel into a room with high walls. One of the walls has spikes on it, except for its upper right corner which looks like it has a lot of deep gouges in it. This should give you a clue as to what you have to do. Hit that upper right corner with your axe, and the force of the impact will push the wall back on a hinge. Behind the first wall will be another one that you open in the same way. You might have to do it a couple of times to ensure you have enough room to get by.
The next room will be a large spiked pit with a wooden contraption in the middle of the pit. The contraption has a wooden pole with a wooden panel on either side. The left panel has no spikes on the side facing you, and has a lot of gouges in it that look like the ones in the upper right of the spiked walls. Throw your axe at the left panel and the force will cause the pole to rotate, raising a large stone platform in the background. Keep throwing your axe at the panel on the left until the stone platform has been raised as far as it will go, then throw your axe at the gear at the base of the pole to freeze it in place.
Jump across the edge into the area beneath the stone platform that you just raised. You will have to fight a number of Draugr without recalling your axe, otherwise the mechanism will start again, causing the spiked stone platform to slowly drop down onto your head. Once you’ve defeated them all, look around the area of the stone platform for another spiked wall on hinges. Throw your axe at the upper right corner to reveal the exit to this area. Climb up the wall behind it, and the wall behind that, to finally emerge into the open air again. There will be a short cinematic, and Atreus will lead the way to a large ring puzzle.
To the left side of the sand bowl, there will be a wall to climb up leading to a path with a switch. Activating that switch will cause the rings on the wall to spin. There are several breaks in each ring that expose turning gears behind the wall. Start with the center ring, and freeze it when the gear is exposed. Wait until the runes on the second ring matches up with the first ring, then press triangle to recall your axe. Then wait till the gear in the third ring is exposed and throw your axe to freeze that. Wait till the first and second ring match up with the third ring, then press triangle to recall your axe again. If everything has been lined up correctly, the wheel will continue to turn until the word is right-side up, and Atreus will use the word to solve the puzzle causing the wheel to roll aside to reveal a passage.
Go through the tunnel to trigger a cinematic. You will find tracks that will prompt Kratos to tell Atreus to try hunting again to keep his skills sharp.
Hunt with Atreus
…but before he finds his prey, Atreus finds a troll instead! You will have to defeat Brenna Dauði to continue. Defeating this troll uses much the same strategy as the previous one, but its attacks are significantly different. It can throw what looks like firey lava in a huge arc near it, or its stomp attack also causes a large firey plume to erupt beneath the ground. All of its attacks cause burning damage over time as well. If that’s not enough, there are also a number of Shadows in the area that will throw spells at you in the middle of combat. Just like before, stay at range and throw your axe at the troll, only dealing with the Shadows when you need to kill them for health crystals. Careful when you’re retreating that you don’t get trapped in a corner; the irregular sides of this area make this something to watch out for.
Once the troll is dead, look around the edges of this area for a cave with a torch near the entrance. Go through the short tunnel to a drop into a wintry area. You will see the boar-like creature, and Atreus will try to shoot it with limited success. Follow Atreus again, dropping down several times into an abandoned village full of corpses. Though you may expect trouble, only one Reaver will attack you before you reach the end of the area, where you’ll lift a stone block out of the way to proceed. Atreus will spot the animal again and shoot it. Atreus will run off in pursuit of the animal, dropping his knife. As Kratos stoops to pick it up, he will lose sight of his son.
Find Atreus
Kratos runs blindly through a foggy area, calling his son’s name. Keep pressing square to call out to him, and listen for his response. The area is a literal maze, with dead ends and switchbacks to confuse you. Listen for the direction of his voice for a clue of which direction to turn. Eventually you will catch up to him, triggering a cinematic and introducing a new character, The Witch of the Woods. Follow her directions to treat the animal’s wounds.
Follow the Witch
Carry the animal and follow Atreus and the Witch to her house. The cinematic will have you place the boar on a mystic symbol, and send both Atreus and Kratos on a search for herbs in the garden outside.
Collect the white-petalled flower
Once outside the door, turn left, and follow the path until you can turn left again. You’ll find a grouping of white flowers next to a tall square stone column. Pick one, then…
Return to Atreus
Atreus is on the opposite side of the house, turning right as you exit the door. Talk to Atreus to continue.
Return to the Witch
With both the herbs recovered, the Witch will heal the boar. She will give you a warding, and a compass to make navigation easier. As an added bonus, she reveals a path that will take you to your destination faster.
Get to the boat
Travel down the rickety wooden pathway, killing Draugr as you go. A new enemy will appear called Nightmares, which fly and shoot projectiles at you but are easy to kill with a thrown axe. Their projectiles can be blocked by your shield, but they are poisonous if you miss, causing damage over time. Their real danger lies in their ability to possess other enemies, making them stronger, faster and much tougher to kill. Follow the path, leaping across a small gap, and eventually you’ll find your way down to a dock where you can get in a boat.
Boat towards daylight
Follow the path of the river until you emerge into the Lake of Nine. Ahead of you, you’ll see a massive statue of Thor jutting out of the water. Move around to its front and follow the direction it’s facing to see a glowing statue in the distance.
Investigate the glowing statue
Go towards the statue, and move around to its front to see runes for Atreus to read. You’ll see a long cinematic, the result of which will cause several other docks to appear.
Dock at the bridge
The bridge will be straight ahead of you at the end of the cinematic. Dock there.
Investigate the temple and bridge
Climb the stairs to trigger a cinematic with Brok.
Talk to Brok
Go into the temple and talk to Brok. He will give you a Key of Yggdrassil which will allow you to return to Brok’s shop at the Lake of Nine from magic doorways throughout the realms.
Make your way to the Tower
After you’ve done any upgrades that you want to do, go back the door out onto the bridge and go straight across to the building on the other side. Before you can enter, you’ll have to deal with a few explosive Draugr, who have a tendency to explode when critically damaged, so when you see them charging up, be sure to step back. Follow the waypoint and enter the temple, then go through the door opposite you.
Pass through the tower and caves
You will encounter a number of explosive Draugr as well as some Tatzelwurms. Destroy them before moving into the next area. You’ll see in the hallway here that there are clouds of poison gas billowing over the ground. The source is something called a Scorn Pole, which is a tall totem made up of bones lashed to sticks which billows poisonous gas in a surrounding radius. Throw your axe at one to freeze it temporarily. While it’s frozen, you’ll see a white sparkling area on the ground that represents its normal area of affect, so don’t recall your axe until you’ve cleared the poisonous zone.
Keep following your waypoint, killing enemies as you go until you emerge into the foothills. You will meet Sindri, Brok’s brother. After a short dialogue, Sindri will upgrade your axe.
Continue towards the mountain
Almost immediately after leaving Sindri’s camp, you’ll be attacked by Draugr and Tatzelwurms. After they are killed, follow the waypoint to a crack that you can climb up. Follow the path, freezing Scorn Poles as you go to clear your way. Be careful of Revenants that might be lurking inside the poisonous zone, and try to lure them to a safer place to fight then recall your axe. You will eventually be led to another crack to climb, which leads up to another large area full of enemies. This fight will introduce Poison Wolves, which are every bit as awful as you might think. All of their attacks cause poison damage over time.
Follow the waypoint marker up a ramp to a door that is blocked by a toppled stone column. Get close to the column to lift it up, and trigger a cinematic and a fight with an Ogre. While smaller than a Troll, they are also faster and more ferocious. The troll will be joined by a lot of Draugr to cause trouble during the fight. In fact, if the Ogre gets too close to one and you’re at range, it will actually pick up a Draugr and throw it at you! It will occasionally charge at you, ending with a ground slam. The attack is very fast, and the Ogre can cover a lot of ground very quickly. You will have to evade, because the Ogre is too big to block with your shield. If the Ogre’s life drops low enough, you will be prompted to get close and hit R3 to ride the Ogre and turn it against your enemies for a time.
Once you complete the encounter, follow your waypoint through the door into the Mountain’s Base area. Follow the path up the mountain until you reach The Black Breath. A cinematic will be triggered, and your new ally The Witch of the Woods will let you that you will need to dispel the Black Breath to continue, and she can help you do that.
This finishes the Path to the Mountain main journey quest in God of War. Now the next quest A Realm Beyond starts.
Next Up: A Realm Beyond
For more Walkthroughs, check out the complete God of War 2018 Story Walkthrough.
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