God of War Ragnarok mine puzzles in Svartalfheim explained

Oct 13, 2023

The Jarnsmida Pitmines and Applecore are two Svartalfheim locations with puzzles blocking your route

The God of War Ragnarok mine puzzles of Svartalfheim are found in Jarnsmida Pitmines and the Applecore, part of your initial quest to find the God Tyr. Similar to the previous puzzles you've gone through in Svartalfheim, most of them use mechanics you've seen before, but that doesn't make them any easier. If you're finding the mines trickier than you'd hope or just want to get through them fast, here's how to get through the God of War Ragnarok mine puzzles in Svartalfheim.

If this Lost Treasury puzzle in Midgard is twisting your melon too, be sure to read through our God of War Ragnarok Lost Treasury puzzle guide

After a disastrous mining wagon journey, Kratos and Atreus will arrive in the Jarnsmida Pitmines of God of War Ragnarok. Clear the enemies then use Sonic Arrows to destroy the cluster of Soundstone blocking the walkway to the right. Continue onwards and you’ll eventually reach a big box blocking your path. Above it is a water channel turning a wheel, so lob the Leviathan Axe at the yellow wooden panels of the channel to freeze it and stop the wheel. This’ll lower the box, allowing you to swing across and land right in front of one of the many Nornir Chests in God of War Ragnarok.

Carry on through the pitmines and direct Atreus to help Kratos reach another platform to the next puzzle using a bridge – you need to use the axe to freeze a gear and hold the bridge at the correct level. Now you’ll spot two cranes holding massive stone blocks and a water channel that can be redirected to flow onto one of two wheels. For this puzzle, you need to get up to the tower of the water wheel to the left of the water channel. Redirect the water flow to raise the stone block on the left, grapple onto it, then recall your axe to raise the block up to the correct level. Now you can cross the water channel and head up the rest of the path to reach the Applecore. These mechanics should already be familiar from the God of War Ragnarok water puzzles in the wetlands of Svartalfheim.

Explore this area a little more and you’ll uncover more water channels that you can redirect. Using the same logic as the previous puzzle, you can move a massive crane around to your position by changing where the water channel goes. Climb onto the rock that the crane is holding and recall the axe to get taken to a new path that has an Artifact collectible and a Legendary Chest containing a great attachment for the Blades of Chaos.

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Crawl your way through the pitmine tunnels and you’ll eventually board a boat that leads down into the heart of the Applecore: a real labyrinth of linear tunnels and looping areas that are easy to get lost in. Once you’ve got off the boat, go up the path to reach the first puzzle. There’s a crane claw in the water below that needs to be raised so that you can swing across. Start by clearing the Soundstone to get the water flowing, then block the channel with water to direct the flow to the waterwheel.

Progress through the Applecore until you reach the next big puzzle: another claw needs lifting out of the water so that you can reach a lift that will take you up to the next door. The problem is the flow of water in the channel above the claw means the nearby wheels aren’t moving, so the crane and the lift can’t be raised.

Like before, you need to solve this by redirecting the flow of the water, first by climbing up to the right and grappling a sluice gate to raise the lift, then by freezing the main channel to redirect the water onto the wheel on the left. This will raise the claw, allowing you to swing over. Then just recall the axe to lower the lift again and get inside.

Go deeper into the Applecore and you’ll soon reach a point where you need to fix and raise a zipline by clearing some Soundstone below. Slide down and you’ll be at the next major puzzle. While it might seem like you need to raise another crane claw, you need to save that for later as there’s another crane holding a large wooden box that needs to be moved first. To do this, help Atreus onto a climbing path near the zipline, and then freeze the water channel on the left to get the waterwheel, and therefore the box, moving. Once Atreus is in position, press Square to get him to release some Soundstone chunks into the water channel. This’ll gum it up, allowing you to recall the Leviathan Axe.

Now you can hoist the claw. Do this by freezing the water channel on the right to divert the flow. Swing across onto the wooden box, then get Atreus to shoot the Soundstone chunk blocking the channel to release the water and move the box back. With that, you’ve made it to the final door and the end of the Applecore!While it can be a bit of a nightmare to get through its muddy tunnels, it’s worth a return trip later in the game as there are a fair few collectibles and secrets contained within. Thankfully these puzzles will remain mostly solved, and other paths can become accessible with the right God of War Ragnarok special equipment, so you won’t have to re-do everything detailed in this guide.

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Will Sawyer is a guides writer at GamesRadar+ who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.

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