God of War Ragnarok Level Cap: What is the Max Level in God of War Ragnarok?

God of War Ragnarok is an RPG where you can earn new gear and level up your character, so naturally, there’s going to be a level cap somewhere down the road. You’ll likely hit the maximum level in God of War Ragnarok naturally just by playing the game before the credits roll, but the leveling process is a lot slower compared to other games. The level cap is also much lower than you’d expect, which makes sense given the slow leveling speed. Here’s what you need to know about the level cap in God of War Ragnarok and how to reach the max level fast.

What is the Maximum Level Cap in God of War Ragnarok?

The maximum level in God of War Ragnarok is 9. That may seem like an unusually low level cap if you’re used to other contemporary RPGs like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Elden Ring, but Kratos levels up differently in God of War Ragnarok. Rather than using XP to govern your level, God of War Ragnarok determines your level based on the gear you have equipped. Using weak gear will lower your level, and equipping more powerful gear will bring your level up.

You can think of God of War Ragnarok’s leveling system as a simplified gear score system from a game like Destiny or Diablo. It averages the level of all of your armor and weapons together to determine the overall level of Kratos. Your level determines how much damage you do to enemies, and playing on a higher difficulty will raise the level of every enemy you encounter to give them more health and make them output more damage.

How to Level Up Fast in God of War Ragnarok

To raise your level in God of War Ragnarok, you’ll have to craft and equip better gear. That means stopping by to see Brok and Sindri whenever you have an opportunity to shop, saving as much Hacksilver as you can, and completing Favors and opening chests as you come across them to stock up on crafting materials like Rawhide and Forged Iron. You’ll also need to upgrade the Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos with Frozen Flames and Chaos Flames respectively, but these are usually rewarded with story progress as you travel through the nine realms.

You can see how close you are to the next level in God of War Ragnarok by checking how far the level icon is filled up. As your gear score gets higher, the icon will slowly fill with glowing gold light. When it fills completely, you’ll reach the next level.

What is XP Used for in God of War Ragnarok?

If your level is determined by your gear, then you may be wondering what to do with all of the Kratos XP that you’ve been earning after every fight. Rather than leveling up Kratos directly, XP in God of War Ragnarok is used to purchase new skills that grant new abilities during combat and upgrade runic attacks. XP is still a very valuable resource even though its divorced from your overall level, so make sure to choose the best skills for Kratos to dominate the battlefield and best abilities for Atreus to support Kratos from afar.

God of War Ragnarok is available now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.