Walkthrough for the favor Scent of Survival in God of War Ragnarok.
How to Start Scent of Survival¶
Immediately after you finish the main quest Creatures of Prophecy you’ll find yourself back in Freyr’s Camp. When all the end-of-quest chatter is over, exit the camp by heading west and you’ll find Helka - a hound - waiting for you. Atreus will suggest following the dog, who seems to have found the scent of something interesting, and since you can’t leave any other way, you don’t really have another option right now. This starts the favor Scent of Survival.
How to Follow Helka¶
Leap across some gaps using previously-placed Draupnir Spears and examine some tracks on the shore of the river. Helka seems to have supernatural means of getting around Vanaheim, but at least its tracks are easy enough to follow!
Get in the boat and turn north, northwest and sail through the passage you took earlier with Freya, under the Yggdrasil drop. Land the boat at a beach to the northwest, then continue north to find some more blue-glowing Helka tracks. Continue following Helka tracks north, squeezing through two caves before turning west, jumping a gap, then lifting a boulder out of your path.
Follow the path until you encounter a pair of Draugr - destroy them, then follow Helka to a ledge to the southwest, where you’ll find that a root is blocking your ascent. Take a side path to the west and climb another, lower ledge and you’ll eventually reach a Celestial Altar. Use it to transition night to day, which will cause the root on the other ledge to retract, allowing you to climb up.
Do so and follow the linear path ahead to find Helka barking at the edge of a cliff where, in the distance, you’ll spot a flare. A flare similar to the ones used by Freyr’s companions. Interact with the astral disturbance next to Helka to summon Freyr’s flying boat, which will ultimately complete this favor and, after some scenes, take you to a new region of Vanaheim - The Crater, more specifically, The Plains subregion.
This location is entirely optional, but well worth exploring, as it houses roughly half of the collectibles in Vanaheim, and you can obtain much loot and power here. From where you make an unceremonious landing, make your way up a ledge to the north, turn west and climb some stairs then vault another ledge before turning east and ascending another flight of stairs. A Mystic Gateway looms ahead, and it’s the key to your egress from this area, not to mention a safer return route. As we said earlier, this location is well worth exploring, but there’s no need to do so now if you don’t wish to.
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