Viking: Battle for Asgard/Niflberg

You begin the game atop the hill within the walls of Brighthelm, the last viking settlement free of Hel's reign on the island of Niflberg. Skarin stands within a portal of sorts, surrounded by glowing stones. This is the Brighthelm leystone - you will appear here if you happen to die. On your minimap you'll notice green dots as you move around, these are significant NPC's such as shopkeepers and quest givers.

Make your way to the right and speak to Shaman Asta who will tell of the dragons. Head down the hill (either jump or run down the path), and make your way to the commander at the beach head. He'll open the gates of Brighthelm for you to begin your counterattack. Before leaving, speak to Torv the Innkeeper on the east side of Brighthelm and you'll receive the task of finding mead. Mead is one of the best ways of acquiring gold throughout the game, so keep a look out for hidden barrels shining white.

If you want some quick cash, head down to the beach and look for several bags of money, a barrel of mead, and two groups of vikings tied to poles. These captives can be freed to aid you in battle later on, so if you want a more successful and large scale battle, look for your allies all the time (in many cases, freeing your allies is a requirement for unlocking events).

When you're ready to move on, head east out of Brighthelm and follow the path.

The Ruins
Following the path east, you'll see it fork around a mountain, with a bridge to the right. Head underneath the bridge and break the urn, then run back up the hill and onto the bridge. Jump across the gap, and continue to kill the undead vikings who are feeding on dead bodies. There will be one straight ahead on the right, one straight forward, and then as you follow the path to the left there will be two more at the intersection with the trail up ahead (when it curves right, they'll be feasting like the other two). Additionally, if you go back to the area between these two pairs of grunts, there's a cave located in the large rock on the north side. You can climb the small steps into the cave and slay the enemies there to retrieve some gold.

If you like, you can take this time to check out the arena, because it's isolated on the beach. Choosing to head down there now, you'll find one urn near the cliff wall below where the two Legion Grunts were feasting. Additionally you'll find a barrel of Niflberg Mead located near the arena, along the cliff wall. Don't fall into the water, as you'll take damage rapidly, but go up into the arena circle and stand in the middle. Interact with the platform and a warrior from Valhalla will greet you, and a shop menu will appear. If you have enough money, you can get more than simply the free ability that's available.

When you're ready, head up the trail where you left it, and run up the path to where it opens (in the direction of the leystone). If you look down the path you'll notice a large group of grunts located around a center area, and a wooden cage-like structure in the back. That structure has some ally vikings in it, who are willing to help fight with you. Grab the leystone, then sneak around the left side and to the back where you can free your allies to help you take on the other grunts located around the center area. If you happen to grab the attention of all of them, either fight to the death (not recommended, as you won't have the fighting techniques unlocked to give you an advantage) or run until they retreat. Do not jump off the cliff down to the beach unless you have full health, for the drop will reduce your life significantly, depending on the location you fall from.

Again, you have options in this situation: you can sneak around and try and pick off the enemies, you can take them all on at once, or you can attempt to recruit help to fight for you. Upon defeating all the enemies, Hel's influence will be purged from the area and the weather will become bright and sunny. Open the cage if you haven't done so already, and wait for the men to spread out. One will be standing next to the cage entrance, and a green dot will appear on your minimap. Talk to this man, who will tell you about a traitorous viking who fled when their forces were captured. Your mission is to slay this man, and bring back his helmet.

The Traitor
Use Brisingamen to look at your map. You'll see a circled "X" marked on your map just north of the arena. Scroll to it and press - this will make a white arrow appear on your minimap, which you can follow to your next objective (the location of the traitor).

Following the path back down the ruins to where you can access the beach safely, you'll notice a beached longboat up ahead. Run over to it, and you'll be greeted by Legion Grunts, and eventually a cutscene when you get close enough to the traitor. He'll tell you why he left his men for Hel, and gladly fight you to the death. Take out the closest grunts, and then run to the back of the camp and up the wooden ramp to slay the two Legion Archers (these are very annoying when fighting other enemies). Finally, take on the traitor. The best technique is to block and then shoulder shove him over and use the time he's on the ground to attack. Sometimes this won't work (he guards a lot), but every once in a while the game will allow you to strike him. Alternativeley, if you have acquired the Freeze ability, activate it when entering a skirmish with him and you can often kill him with just one or two hits.

After receiving the traitor's helm, collect all the gold and head back to the ruins to talk to the guy by the cage. He'll tell you his men have joined your cause - the helm will be removed from your inventory, and a small notice in the bottom left will appear, saying "Army has Increased." Although this is true, you won't see additions in Brighthelm.

Before leaving the ruins, there is some treasure to be gotten. First of all, there are several urns and gold bags, and two treasure chests. One of the chests contains the Hugin gem, which is a major requirement for defeating Hel's forces on Niflberg. To get the Hugin gem, head to the leystone, and head around the ruins on that side. The first ruin corner you come to will have a stairway you can run up. If you go down, you'll find two bags of gold. Head up the stairs, then climb the bushes on the wall (just walk up to it). When you get to the next large flat area, climb over to the edge and touch the ground to dismount off the wall. Open the chest, then continue exploring the area if you wish. If you don't want to waste time, come back here after you've acquired the three maps for locating treasure, otherwise you can save money, although there's no reason to because if you acquire it all you'll have excess.

You have three choices now: you can walk down to the arena and unlock a new ability (your best bet is to unlock one of the rage moves, because you'll have access to powerful combo attacks that are also useful in destroying shielded foes), return to Brighthelm via the leystone and purchase a rune if you haven't done so already (ice or fire is the most useful) as well as return the Niflberg Mead, or head to your next objective. Since the game is somewhat open, you're free to explore any time. When you're ready, head up into the hills to take on the forces stationed at Hilltop Farm.

Hilltop Farm
When you arrive at Hilltop Farm, head to the west side (since it's closest to the cage of vikings). Slay the minimum number of grunts as necessary, and then break open the cage when you can. Retreat if too many forces come after you. This area can be fairly hard or easy, depending on where you walk and which enemies you kill.

After opening the cage and control has been returned to Freya's forces, talk to the main guy here (the green dot on your minimap). He'll tell you that he needs resources that shopkeeper Osgood has back in Brighthelm, however Osgood won't deliver them until the supplies that were promised from Hilltop Farm fall into Osgood's hands.

Retrieving the Lost Supplies
The supplies were part of a caravan that got ransacked by Hel's Legion - you'll find it just south of Hilltop Farm, near the road, and in the forest. Kill the three grunts here, then open the chest to receive the supplies. Run back (or teleport from Hilltop) to Brighthelm, and speak with Osgood on the western side, one terrace above the blacksmith. Osgood will tell you he'll be glad to stock the farm, and also open his wares to you.

Take this time to purchase all of the loot maps (you probably will only be able to afford the gold sacks and urns at the moment), then run around Brighthelm, the beach, the ruins, Hilltop, and all of the ground in-between for all of the treasure you missed. When you're looking at the yellow dots on your minimap, even though they may seem close, they are much farther than you think. If a dot is on you, in reality it could still be the distance of several men away from Skarin.

The Battle Horn
Your objective is to take down a Legion Champion - a mighty soldier who cannot be taken down by just normal means - who holds your father's Battle Horn, a powerful artifact capable of calling your allies into battle. This item is actually a requirement to continue the game, so you'll have to retrieve it if you wish to push Hel's forces back. When you're ready to take him and his minions on, head up the path to the gorge and he'll be waiting near the upraised drawbridge, east of Hilltop Farm. Make sure you pay attention, as his attacks can kill Skarin quite quickly. Keep your distance and wait for an opening (the best time to strike is just after he has swung his sword around and around and gotten tired). Champions have infinite health, so beating on him will only weaken him to where you can initialize a quick time event. In order to fully defeat him, you will have to wait for the cue to hit, and then follow the other cues as they appear.

Drawbridge
You can either take this part on mostly in stealth, or just charge in and crack some skulls. If you prefer to be slightly more stealthy, then from atop the hill that looks down on the drawbridge, jump to the edge of the left tower and shimmy until you reach the smaller bridge connecting both towers. there will be one legion minion on this bridge; dispose of him quickly. Yyou may hear more legion minions within the room to your left, you will fight them soon. Continue to the second floor room in the left tower, and drop down the hole to the northeast of the room. There will be two minions sleeping. Just press to execute them in their sleep. While killing one, the other may awake. If you're quick, you can get him before he stands up.

When you leave that room and walk around the right tower, you will see three minions feeding on your once-fellow viking. Take them all out. Right next to the vikings corps' there will be moss/vines on the wall. Climb these to the very top of the drawbridge. You will fight two minions before dropping down twice where the drawbridge wheel is, along with two minions guarded with shield. Use your shield and, until their shields are smashed. After you dispose of the minions, just tap to let down the drawbridge, and a cutscene will show your men running across to meet you. You now have control of the drawbridge.

The Quarry
There is a beach next to the quarry. To the west of the beach, there will be four minions, take them out and free the vikings to the far east of the beach.

The Monastery
First head northwest from the quarry. The only way up is to head around the northern side of the mountain along a path. Notice that the side here is open, and it's possible to fall into the water to your death, so try not to do any execution moves if they're teetering on the edge. You'll first come to a rock, and behind it you'll see two grunts walking in your direction. Hide behind the rock, and slowly walk around the backside of it as the grunts walk past. If you can perform Fenrir's bite on the first one, you can probably get away with a second follow-up execution if you press quickly enough.

Behind the next rock is another two grunts, however the one on the right will body check the other, killing him. Slay the grunt, then move forward towards the boxes up ahead. Behind the box is an archer, and beyond that some additional legion soldiers around a campfire. Take them out, then head down the path towards the monastery's underside. As you approach, an archer will throw a viking out of the window, killing him. You can't strike the soldier, so continue between the stone pillars.

Underneath the monastery, you'll want to first take out the horn blower slightly to your right (he's quite close). There are two or three archers along the right side, and three grunts in this area. After slaying them, grab all the gold and continue down the hill. Up ahead is the leystone, so you won't have to worry about dying.

Kill the last grunt on the right side of the path, and head up to mark Brisingamen with the monastery leystone. Kill the remaining forces outside, grab the gold (there's a bag around the corner on the right), and head inside.

Once you are in, stop for a second and check out your surroundings. There's a campfire straight ahead with several enemies, and on either side of you are tied up vikings. Sneak over to the right, and wait a bit to make sure no forces are patrolling or saw you. When the coast is clear, go back and untie the three guys, and then attack with your allies to slay the forces in the area. Head back to untie the other three men, and then grab the gold bag and the urn in the room to the southwest of the entrance. When you're ready to continue onward, there's a staircase northwest of the entrance.

After that you have to go and kill some people, then follow the guy who has a red light around him sometimes. He will lead you to a big guy and a ton of normal Vikings. They are hard to kill, but after that you have to kill the reddish guy. There are angry supporters who are red: destroy them then you can kill the red guy. You'll obtain the Dragon Amulet in this manner.

Building An Army
Before you can take on Dark Water, you'll have to rescue additional men who are being held hostage. Check Brisingamen for a listing of the locations (caves) - you'll find them in the area between Darkwater, the mountain to the east, and somewhat south.

Powering the Dragon Amulet
Your final task before taking on Darkwater is to summon a dragon to aid you. The problem here is that the energy source for the Dragon Amulet lies within Darkwater itself (a large red/pink portal similar to the leystone at Brighthelm), guarded by an infinite horde of enemies. This part of the game requires the best use of Skarin's ability to sneak past enemies undetected - although you will be forced to slay several (or many) as well. For the Xbox 360 version, you can find 6 red skulls in this area to unlock an achievement - know that if you ignore these and then conquer Darkwater, you won't be able to come back and get them.

First of all, head to the eastern side of Darkwater. In the middle of the fence you'll notice a section that is lower, and has a tapestry on it with the emblem of a tree. Jump over it to enter the camp. Before continuing, you need to know how to escape this place if you attract too much attention or if your life is getting low. You have two options, depending on where you're situated. The first, and most dangerous, is to run back to the tapestry/fence and jump over it. Know, however, that if there are enemies there they will attempt to strike you (with a very high chance of success) as you jump on the wall. Your best bet is to retreat to the fence, then slay all your enemies or knock them down, then jump over. Dealing with this situation will take some practice. The second option is if you are at the southern part of the camp (the front gate) - you can simply run up the ramp and jump the fence at many locations (again, your best bet is to the east where no forces patrol, nor have a gate to empty through). If enemies chase you, continue to keep as much distance between you and them as possible. If you're on the east side, run away from the camp and stand by the trees to heal (or any location with a similar distance from the fence).

Inside the camp, you're going to want to head to your left (south) and make your way to the ramp. There will be two grunts just around a fence eating people. Using Fenrir's bite, slay them, then fall back to the fence to get rid of any additional enemies you may have attracted.

Sneak up the boxes to the upper terrace (a Red Skull will be here), and slay the possible grunts located next to the cooking fire, and then the one at the kegs. Walk (slowly) up the wooden ramp, behind the archers. Don't attack anyone, and don't move too fast. Walk across the gate, and grab the gold there (it won't attract attention). Head down the other ramp (you're now on the west side of the camp) and kill the grunt who is close by. You should now be able to head over to the portal to power the amulet.

Darkwater
All you really have to do is work your way through the legion's army with yours and make sure to make your way to the Shaman who have the totems around them. Destroy the totems and press to finish off the Shaman. Also, you can use your Dragon now, so be sure to down the Big Red Legion Guards to grab runes and you can use the dragon you acquired in the previous mission to kill shaman areas that are ahead and much harder to get to.

The easiest way to destroy a totem near a shaman in one shot is to hold down twice for the double rage move. Again very easy and once you kill three Shamans, a cutscene will play and then you will fight Drakan.

This brute is simple; he's just a slightly upgraded form of a champion. Dodge his moves as you would with a champion, keeping distance when he's using horizontal strikes (as he will often take three steps forward). Strike at him in between attacks, remembering to utilize Slow Rage attacks, and wait for his sword to get stuck in the ground and the quick time event notice to appear.
 * Drakan

Initialize the quick time event, and then tap either (whichever the screen tells you to press) right away and you win the fight.

With victory over Darkwater, another cutscene ensues showing Freya and Hel talking - Hel wishes the fight to the end and saves Drakan from being killed. When it ends, another cinematic narration will take place before you appear in the next region in the game.