How to Beat Thor: Boss Fight Guide

Thor will be encountered during the first and last chapter of God of War Ragnarok (GoW Ragnarok). Defeating him the first time unlocks the Blood Debt trophy. Read on to learn about his attack patterns, rewards, and the best tips and strategies for how to beat Thor!

Thor Overview

Information

Thor
Recommended Level	Level 1 (All Difficulties)
XP Rewards	500 Kratos XP (Give Me Balance)
Trophy	Blood Debt
Bestiary Entry
There are many differences between Thor and his brother Baldur. Baldur fought wildly, his motivation to inflict pain. Thor is calmer—his bloodlust is for the fight itself, not for the suffering it inflicts. The full force of his attack is as heavy as any I have felt. The Hammer, Mjölnir, only compounds his power... each blow echoes with the death and destruction they have wrought together. He chose to end our fight prematurely. It is good for both of us that it did not reach its conclusion.

Thor Locations

First Encounter Location

Location Summary
Thor is encountered after defeating Bjorn and returning to Kratos and Atreus' home during Surviving Fimbulwinter.

Surviving Fimbulwinter Quest Walkthrough

Second Encounter Location

Location Summary
The second and final encounter with Thor will be on Asgard during The Realms at War

The Realms at War Quest Walkthrough

How to Beat Thor

First Encounter

Thor (First Encounter) Tips and Strategies
Prioritize Parries in the First Phase Utilize the Pillars in the Second Phase Thor Swaps Between Fist and Hammer Attacks Stagger Thor Using Healthstones Frost Up the Leviathan Axe Use Spartan Rage Wisely Play Around Thor's Habits

Prioritize Parries in the First Phase

At the start of Thor's first phase, Kratos cannot use any of his weapons, only relying on his fists and Guardian Shield. Prioritize parrying Thor's attacks in this phase until you wear him down enough to retrieve your Leviathan Axe.

Parrying Thor's normal and yellow ring attacks in this phase also quickly fills up his stun bar, letting you reach his second phase faster.

Utilize the Pillars in the Second Phase

Remember to use the pillars around the second phase's arena, as they act as one-time weapons that deal heavy damage to Thor and knock him backward. However, try to keep Thor away from the pillars as he can destroy them if the structures end up in his attacks' path.

Thor Swaps Between Fist and Hammer Attacks

Starting from the second phase, Thor starts switching between fist and hammer attacks throughout the fight. While Thor mainly swaps to his fists when his hammer isn't in its sheath, remain cautious while fighting him as the God of Lightning can still surprise you with sudden grabs and unblockable ground pounds.

Stagger Thor Using Healthstones

Remember that you can stagger Thor by triggering Healthstones while being right next to him. Doing this provides you with healing and a window of opportunity to deal plenty of damage toward the God of Lightning.

Frost Up the Leviathan Axe

Remember to Imbue your Leviathan Axe with Frost Awaken throughout the fight against Thor to improve your damage output and make it easier to build up his stun meter.

Use Spartan Rage Wisely

Spartan Rage is an incredibly potent ability when fighting against Thor, as it inflicts massive damage and restores Kratos' health with every hit. However, since it's a resource-based ability, try to save it for low-health situations or when close to finishing off one of Thor's phases.

Play Around Thor's Habits

Thor tends to disengage or counterattack after getting hit two to three times, so prepare to dodge, block, or parry any incoming attacks after taking advantage of an opening. In addition, running toward Thor has a high chance of baiting out one of his yellow ring attacks, providing you with an easy parry.

Second Encounter

Thor (Second Encounter) Tips and Strategies
Prepare to dodge a lot Parry his melee combos immediately Quickly press L1 when you're grabbed Interrupt his shockwave attack Thor moves faster while electrified Prepare to mash circle before the third phase Lightning strikes continuously on third phase

Prepare to Dodge a Lot

Most of Thor's attacks are unblockable (red ring) so prepare to dodge a lot during the entire fight. He also has block-breaking attacks (yellow ring) that you can parry so simply blocking won't get you far. Memorize the timing of Thor's attacks and time your dodges/parries right.

Parry His Melee Combos Immediately

Parrying Thor's barehand and hammer combos as soon as you can allows you to stop them abruptly and inflict Stun damage. If you're using the Dauntless Shield, you can also use its Shield Strike to interrupt any attack after a parry!

Quickly Press L1 When You're Grabbed

You can avoid damage from Thor's short-ranged grab by pressing L1 after the on-screen prompt. If you got caught, just quickly spam L1! His tackle-grab won't give you this kind of luxury, though, so dodge to the sides when you see him charging at you with a red ring!

Interrupt His Shockwave Attack

Thor also has a double blue ring attack where he charges up and releases an unblockable shockwave across the entire arena, dealing heavy damage. When the rings appear, quickly run at him and perform a Shield Strike to interrupt this attack.

Thor Moves Faster While Electrified

At the start of the second phase, Thor will be electrified and will start using Mjolnir to quickly move sideways. Every time he does this, be prepared to dodge at the end as it is always followed by an unblockable Mjolnir attack.

Prepare to Mash Circle Before the Third Phase

When Thor is down to about a third of his health, there will be a quick time event where you need to mash the circle button. Depending on the difficulty, this will quickly drain your health so don't get caught off guard!

Lightning Strikes Continuously on Third Phase

During the third and final phase, lightning will continuosly strike randomly in the arena. These will also leave small lightning fields where they hit so watch where you're going (or dodging)!

Thor Attack Patterns (First Encounter)

First Phase

Punch and Kick Combo

Thor rears his left arm back before lunging forward to punch Kratos, following his attack with a sturdy kick.

This attack is heavily telegraphed, so react to Thor's movements and evade or parry the incoming punch. It is also possible to dodge the punch first before parrying the follow-up kick.

Triple Strike Combo

Thor performs two quick right hooks before winding up a heavy backhand that can knock Kratos backward. You can efficiently deal with this attack by evading the first two hits and parrying Thor's backhand.

Thunder Clap

Thor opens his arms wide before forcefully clapping his hands together, letting off a thunderous shockwave that knocks Kratos backward. Avoid this attack by quickly evading sideways out of the shockwave's path.

Ground Pound

Thor lets out a mighty roar before slamming his right fist forcefully on the ground, sending out an unblockable shockwave that deals heavy damage and sends Kratos flying. React to the attack's distinct sound cue and roll backward out of its radius to avoid getting hit.

Grab and Punch

When in close range, Thor raises his right arm before picking Kratos up by the collar and slamming a fist into his gut, sending him flying. React to the attack's red circle indicator and move out of its way to avoid getting hit.

If you get hit by this attack, properly time L1 your presses at the intervals provided by the game to escape Thor's grasp.

Charging Grab

Thor spreads his arms wide open before rapidly charging toward Kratos to grab him. This attack has a similar start-up animation to Thunder Clap, so stay alert and move out of the charge's path when it occurs.

Second Phase

In addition to his attacks in the first phase, Thor gains the following new attacks in his second phase.

Hammer Throw

Thor infuses his hammer with lightning before throwing it toward Kratos, with the hammer returning to his hands after a short delay. While this attack is linear and heavily telegraphed, prepare to evade again after avoiding it, as Thor can perform different follow-up attacks after retrieving his hammer.

Hammer Overhead Combo

Thor performs an unblockable overhead hammer strike before following it up with a horizontal swipe. Avoid this attack by dodging sideways to escape the overhead and parrying or evading the second strike.

Lightning Shockwave

Thor winds up his hammer before swinging it upward from the ground to release a fast-moving lightning shockwave. The hammer swing and the projectile it sends out are unblockable, so move out of the attack's path quickly when it occurs. Note that Thor can also perform this move immediately after Hammer Throw.

Triple Hammer Strikes

Thor swings his lightning-infused hammer thrice, dealing moderate damage with each strike. To deal with this attack, evade or block all three hammer strikes with Kratos' Guardian Shield.

Third Phase

Like the second phase, Thor gains the following new attacks in his third phase in addition to his previous move set.

Triple Lightning Strikes

Thor calls down lightning from the skies using his hammer, slamming it down thrice to strike three different areas. Getting hit by Thor's lightning paralyzes Kratos, requiring him to struggle out of its effects.

Red circles on the ground indicate the lightning's path when Thor performs this attack, so move out of these areas quickly when they appear to avoid getting hit.

Overhead Hammer Strike

Thor performs the first part of his Hammer Overhead Combo, slamming down an unblockable overhead hammer strike on Kratos and dealing heavy damage on hit. React to the attack's red circle indicator and move out of its way to avoid getting hurt.

Hammer Strike Backhand Combo

In this phase, Thor modifies his Triple Hammer Strikes to include a heavy backhand at the end of the combo, which shoves Kratos backward and deals moderate damage on hit. Block the first three attacks and parry the follow-up backhand to effectively deal with this attack.

Thor Attack Patterns (Second Encounter)

First Phase

Barehanded combo

Throws punches and follows up with an unblockable ground slam. You can parry the punches to stop the combo immediately but you'll have to dodge if the combo reaches the unblockable slam attack.

Hammer combo

Thor swings his hammer continuously that can only be blocked. The last swing of the combo is unblockable so prepare to dodge right away.

Grab attacks

Thor has two grab attacks: first is the close-ranged grab which you can avoid damage by pressing L1 during the quick time event and second is where he charges from a distance. Both grab attacks are unblockable but unlike the close-ranged grab, you won't be able to break free from the tackle-grab.

Splitting bolt

Thor jumps and throws the Mjolnir at Kratos. The hammer then creates diagonal cracks on the ground that instantly releases lightning. This can be easily avoided by doding backwards.

Ranged Mjolnir attacks

Thor's ranged Mjolnir attacks are both unblockable and have different speeds, so you'll have to adjust your dodge timing accordingly. The Mjolnir throw is faster—you have to dodge sideways as soon as the red ring appears—than the Mjolnir wave attack, which you will need to dodge only when the wave itself is released.

Maelstrom

Lightning strikes randomly on the arena as Thor smashes the ground with Mjolnir. The bolts are unblockable so watch out for the red circles on the ground and dodge away.

During the second and third phase, every lightning strike will also leave lightning fields that continuously deal damage.

Second Phase

Shockwave

Thor charges up for a few seconds and unleashes an unblockable shockwave that hits the entire arena. You can only avoid this attack by using a Shield Strike on Thor while he's charging.

Empowered hammer combo

Thor swings the Mjolnir thrice, but slower than his usual hammer combo. The first and third attack are unblockable but you can parry the second swing to stop the combo and deal Stun damage.

Third Phase

Lightning plunge

Thor launches himself up with Mjolnir and plunges on Kratos with an unblockable attack. The AoE of this attack is slightly larger than the lightning strikes so avoid the plunge with a roll (double tap the dodge button).

Near the end of the fight, Thor can do up to three plunges in a row on top of the random lightning strikes in the field. Watch where you're rolling into!

Lightning storm

During the last phase (after using the Draupnir Spear on Thor during a quick time event), Thor will call lightning strikes on random spots in the arena, which also leave lightning fields for a few seconds. Quickly defeat Thor as this will go on for the remainder of the fight!

God of War Ragnarok Related Guides

List of All Bosses

Main Bosses

All Story Bosses
Bjorn	Thor
The Huntress	Dreki
Alva	Gryla
Vanadis (Freya)	Forest Ancient
Fiske	Nidhogg
Frost Phantom	Garm
Gulltoppr	Heimdall
Frost Ancient	Flame Phantom
Soul Eater	Hrist and Mist
Odin

Optional Bosses

All Optional Bosses
The Hateful	Slag Horn
Crag Jaw	Ash Tyrant
The Corpse Eater