Unlocking the Badass Darkdale Armor Set in God of War Ragnarok - A Warriors Guide

Sup folks, today I‘m going to show you how to get your hands on one of the sickest armor sets in God of War Ragnarok – the Darkdale armor. This legendary Norse-themed armor turns Kratos into an absolute beast and is included with the Digital Deluxe edition of the game.

Now I don‘t know about you, but ever since the first God of War back in 2005, I‘ve dreamed of customizing Kratos with the most OP gear to unleash some serious god-slaying chaos. And let me tell you, the Darkdale set does NOT disappoint. With this step-by-step guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know to unlock the Darkdale cuirass, axe grip, and blade handles as early as possible.

A Brief History of Kratos Kicking Ass Through the Years

Before we jump into the Darkdale unlock, let me give you some quick context on the God of War franchise and why this armor is such a big deal. The original GOW introduced us to the ruthless Spartan warrior Kratos, who hacks and slashes his way through Greek mythology seeking vengeance against the gods.

Over the Greek-era trilogy and handheld games, we see Kratos viscerally tear mythological creatures and gods apart in increasingly over-the-top fashion. Dude kills massive titans like Cronos with his Blades of Chaos and ghostly abilities granted by the gods.

The series gets a refreshing Nordic revamp in 2018‘s God of War. An older, quieter Kratos returns with his son Atreus and the sweet Leviathan Axe. The shift to Norse mythology allows for stunning new realms and enemies like trolls, valkyries and draugrs.

Ragnarok picks up where the last game left off – with Kratos and Atreus dealing with the prophesied Fimbulwinter and the coming of Ragnarok. Of course, plenty of gods and ginormous beasts stand in their way.

That‘s where the Darkdale armor comes in handy, adding some serious power to help take down those nasty Norse baddies with enhanced strength, runic, vitality and more. Time to walk through how to actually unlock this sweet gear.

What Exactly Does the Darkdale Armor Set Include?

Let‘s briefly go over everything you get with the Darkdale armor pack:

Darkdale Cuirass – This chest armor piece provides balanced boosts to strength and runic power. It has high stats that make it super viable even later in the game. The fur and leather design gives Kratos that rugged Norse viking look.
Surtr Axe Grip – This grip increases strength and luck, upping damage output and proc chances for axe perks like Frost Awaken. It‘s styled after Surtr the fire giant from Norse myth.
Hel‘s Touch – These Blades of Chaos grips boost vitality and runic, increasing Kratos‘ health and magical damage. The green accents represent Helheim.

Equipping all three pieces transforms Kratos into a true battle-ready champ. But it takes a bit of work to actually unlock the set…

How to Redeem and Unlock the Darkdale DLC

Alright, let‘s get into how to actually score this sweet gear. The Darkdale set is included in the God of War Ragnarok Digital Deluxe Edition. Here‘s what to do:

If You Bought the Digital Deluxe Edition

Buy and download God of War Ragnarok Digital Deluxe from the PlayStation Store on your PS4/PS5
Boot up the game and play through the intro mission until you unlock the weapons area and equipment. This takes maybe an hour or so.
Travel to Sindri‘s house in the main hub world. There‘s a big chest outside next to the shop.
Interact with the chest and loot the Darkdale armor pieces.

If you don‘t see them, try closing and reloading the game. The items should auto-unlock to your account if you bought the Deluxe edition.

If You Have a DLC Code

Go to the PlayStation Store and redeem your Darkdale DLC code.
Download God of War Ragnarok and play until you reach the weapons area and can loot the armor chest.
Equip the items from your inventory like normal.

Pretty simple right? Now let‘s actually walk through equipping it…

Equipping the Complete Darkdale Armor Set

Once you‘ve looted the DLC chest or redeemed a code, here are the steps to fully suit up with the Darkdale set:

Hit the touchpad to open your inventory screen.
Select the Equipment tab at the top.
Choose Chest Armor from the left column.
Scroll down and select the Darkdale Cuirass chest piece. Equip it.
Back out to the main Equipment screen.
This time pick Axe from the left column.
Choose Surtr‘s Axe Grip and equip it.
Return to the Equipment screen again.
Select Blades from the left side.
Equip both of the Hel‘s Touch blade handles.

And that‘s it! Check your stats to see the sweet bonuses this gear provides. Time to put it to work against some draugrs.

Troubleshooting Tips

Sometimes DLC items don‘t show up right away. Try these troubleshooting steps if the Darkdale armor isn‘t appearing:

Fully close and restart the game. This can reset unlocks.
Double check you looted the chest by Brok. It‘s easy to miss.
Verify the Deluxe edition is properly entitlement to your PSN account.
Play for another hour or so to see if the DLC unlocks.
Reinstall the game as a last resort. Make sure the Deluxe edition addons download.

You may also need to progress a bit further to access the DLC chest area. But it should be available very early on.

Why the Darkdale Armor is So Dope

Now that you know how to get it, let‘s talk about why this Darkdale armor is so damn good:

Balanced Stats for Early Game Domination

The Darkdale cuirass grants bonuses to strength and runic, which are super useful stats in the first 10 hours. With extra power and elemental damage, you‘ll crush fights with ease.

Here‘s a table comparing it to other top tier early game chest pieces:

Armor Set	Strength	Runic	Luck	Defense
Darkdale Cuirass	8	6	0	20
Draupnir Armor	6	0	6	30
Scalded Armor	0	6	3	15

And here are the grip and handle stats:

Piece	Strength	Runic	Luck	Vitality
Surtr Grip	6	0	9	0
Hel‘s Touch	0	7	0	8

As you can see, Darkdale has excellent well-rounded stats to overpower enemies.

Badass Norse Viking Aesthetic

Apart from kicking ass, you also look amazing decked out in Darkdale gear. The Nordic style fits the Ragnarok setting perfectly. Walking around with the wolf fur cloak and Hel styled blades makes you feel like a true Viking warrior.

Elite Quality That Lasts All Game

What‘s also great is the Darkdale set remains viable even late in the game. The high strength and runic gives you damage and elemental options no matter your build or playstyle. You really get amazing value from the DLC chest.

Mythology and Backstory of the Set

The armor pulls inspiration from Norse myths – specifically the dread wolf Fenrir and Hel goddess of death. Fenrir‘s monstrous children Skoll and Hati are said to chase the sun and moon. And Hel rules over those that perish from sickness or age.

The loot also references Surtr the fire giant destined to fight the gods at Ragnarok. These connections to themes of wolves, death, and fire make the Darkdale items thematically appropriate for Kratos‘ own Ragnarok journey.

Ideal Playstyles and Builds For the Darkdale Armor

Now for some tips on ideal abilities and gear to pair with the Darkdale set:

High Strength/Runic Hybrid

Focus on skills that maximize strength and runic power to take advantage of the cuirass‘ bonuses.

For runics, use powerful AOE elemental attacks like Meteoric Slam, Frost Awaken, and Hyperion Grapple.

Stack strength boosting enchantments to increase base damage. Good supportive relics include Shattered Gauntlet of Ages and Horn of Blood Mead.

Make full use of weapon skills like Leviathan‘s Fury and the Blades‘ wide cleaves. The extra power lets you shred through hordes of enemies.

Luck/Cooldown Build

The Surtr grip grants a hefty luck boost. Maximize this with supporting enchantments, relics and armor to trigger powerful perk activations.

Prioritize cooldown reduction in your build. This allows you to spam high damage axe throws and runic attacks. Odin‘s Spear is a top relic choice to slice cooldowns.

Utilize damaging axe throw skills like Thiazi‘s Talon and Mimir‘s Sight to inflict status effects and elemental damage.

My Experience Dominating with the Darkdale Armor

I‘ve put in over 50 hours with the Darkdale armor equipped and seriously love the playstyles it allows. Here are some of my own highlights:

The balanced stats let me constantly switch between weapons and runic skills without losing steam. Whether I need close combat axe slashes, wide blade cleaves, or powerful Frost Giant‘s Frenzy – this armor has me covered.
I stacked strength and luck bonuses to trigger the Surtr grip‘s Meteoric Slam perk like crazy. Seeing those giant flaming rocks rain from the sky never gets old.
Boosting runic let me absolutely spam Hyperion Grapple. Nothing more satisfying than suplexing 20 draugrs at once off a cliff.
Even late in the game against tough valkyrie and dragon fights, I lean on the Darkdale cuirass‘ power and defense to stay toe-to-toe.
The fur cloak and Hel styled blades make me feel like a total badass roaming the realms seeking battle.

So yeah, I can‘t recommend the Darkdale set enough if you enjoy mixing up abilities and dominating fights!

Wrapping Up

That covers everything you need to know about unlocking the killer Darkdale armor set in God of War Ragnarok. This DLC armor turns Kratos into an unstoppable Norse god of war ready to stop Ragnarok in its tracks.

To recap the key steps:

Buy the Digital Deluxe edition or redeem a DLC code
Play until you reach the weapons area to unlock the bonus chest
Loot the chest and equip the Darkdale cuirass, Surtr axe grip, and Hel blade handles
Enjoy the sweet balanced stats and mythic viking aesthetic
Experiment with strength, runic and luck focused builds and skills to maximize the armor‘s power

If you have any other trouble getting the armor to appear, let me know and I‘ll help you troubleshoot! Now get out there and put the Darkdale set to work against some legendary beasts and draugrs. Skål!