God of War Ragnarok - How to get back to the Applecore

God of War Ragnarok is packed full of content, and it’s helpful enough to show you your completion rate for each area. By looking at the map, you can discern the rough locations of things like Lore, Ravens, Chests and Berserkers you may have missed.

The Applecore is a fairly early-game location that must be revisited in order to claim everything on offer in Svartalfheim. If you are looking to achieve 100% completion, or simply wish to fight all of the Berserkers, you have to return to the Applecore and then Jarnsmida Pitmines.

The problem? Your original route to the Applecore will not be available again, meaning you have to find another way. It’s not spelled out how to backtrack here, so we’ve got it all covered below.

Here’s our guide of how to get back to the Applecore in God of War Ragnarok, and how to get through it to get back to Jarnsmida Pitmines.

Can you return to the Applecore in God of War Ragnarok?

Yes. Despite your original route being blocked, you can indeed get back to the Applecore later in the game. However, you will not be able to make it all the way until you have unlocked the Draupnir Spear, which is the third weapon obtained by Kratos.

This weapon is unmissable, so keep progressing the main story until you get it. When Draupnir is finally in your arsenal, you can return to the Applecore and clear up anything you missed, and also find some new items that weren’t available last time.

How to get back to the Applecore in God of War Ragnarok

After you have got Draupnir, fast travel to the Mystic Gateway in Aurvangar Wetlands, which is in the south area of Svartalfheim.

Go forwards and turn left, where you’ll find the ferry to take you to Sverd Sands. You can’t really miss it – this is the same ferry you took after freeing Tyr the first time, but now goes in the other direction. Get on the ferry and use the central mechanism, which will slowly pull you towards Sverd Sands.

Once you reach Sverd Sands, walk to the northern part of the island where you will find a wooden elevator. Interact with it and you will descend back into the Applecore.

NOTE: If you have an Undiscovered item on Sverd Sands, this will not be available until you have completed the game. It’s a big spoiler relating to an optional hidden ending, so I will discuss it no further here.

How to get back to Jarnsmida Pitmines in God of War Ragnarok

After you have got to the Applecore, there’s still a bit of navigation to be done in order to reach Jarnsmida Pitmines, where a Berserker Gravestone can be found. If you are in the post-game, the Applecore Descent Mystic Gateway will have appeared at the bottom of the elevator which will make a return much easier next time.

It’s very easy to get lost in the labyrinth of the Applecore so it’s best to follow the step-by-step instructions without exploring elsewhere. Backtrack as required once you have unlocked a new Mystic Gateway at the end.

Head straight down and defeat the two tricky level 7 Revenants in the next area. Keep going all the way to find a wall that has a hole in the wall for Draupnir. Climb the spear up to a new area where you must use the spear again to blow up some rocks on the left. Snag Kvasir’s poem and open the large chest before swinging across a gap and climbing up to the next area, which leads to a tunnel.

Defeat Miklimunnr to proceed

At the end of the tunnel, climb down a chain to the lower chamber where you freed Tyr earlier in the story. This time you will be ambushed by a miniboss called Miklimunnr.

Miklimunnr is a troll, and isn’t much different to the other trolls you have encountered so far. He can set you on fire, but comes with some pretty awesome music to accompany the battle. Take him down and earn the Hind of the Four Winds attachment for the Draupnir Spear.

Escape the chamber via a hole in the wall (don’t go back up the chain). Crawl all the way through and open the door leading you back to the rock-and-crane puzzle room. Thankfully, you won’t have to do anything with it this time and you can bypass it by going along the nearby ledge on the right (pictured above).

Open the gate at the end of the tunnel to get back into the spiral section of the mine. Swing through the waterfall and across the gap towards your left-hand side. Follow the wooden platform about half way around before dropping to a lower platform.

Golden rocks will block your path, but you can easily destroy this obstacle by heading west and spotting the exploding red vase behind it (you can also hit it from the upper wooden platform).

Hop across and duck through the gap, before turning left and swinging across the next gap with the Blades of Chaos. Kill or ignore the enemies here and grapple up to the top, where you’ll find the next door.

Inside this room is another hole that must be plugged with a Draupnir Spear, which can be done from the lower part of the room (pictured above). Climb onto the spear and up towards another Mystic Gateway.

Here, you’ll find a Lindwyrm rift and a Nornir Chest (see below for the solution), but most importantly there is another gate just beyond the Mystic Gateway. Open this gate and follow the tracks on the floor to finally get back to Jarnsmida Pitmines.

What is in the Applecore and Jarnsmida Pitmines?

There are numerous things of interest within the Applecore and Jarnsmida Pitmines. Some of the enemies are difficult, so it might be best to leave this backtracking until you are nearly at the endgame, or even in the post-game. There is a lot to be found here, but the main things that weren’t accessible the first time are:

As well as the Miklimunnr miniboss we discussed above, there is the Berserker Gravestone in Jarnsmida Pitmines. This is found just after you get out of the open and it’s right in the middle of the wide outer area.
Beware: this will entail two level 8 Berserkers at once, Bodvar The Fierce and Starolfr The Troublesome. Needless to say, you’ll need to be significantly powered up and well-equipped to get the better of them.

Near the Applecore Mystic Gateway, there’s a rift containing a Lindwyrm. Don’t worry about being ambushed by this rift, you can reach right in and grab the critter to zap it back to Ratatoskr.
On your way out of the Applecore, just before you reach Jarnsmida Pitmines, there is a Legendary Chest hiding behind a wall. You can easily miss it on the way out, but it’s easy to spot on the way back. Use the magic chisel to carve a mystic rune on the seal and the wall will disappear, revealing a chest that contains the Banahogg Knob attachment for the Leviathan Axe.
There’s a final objective in Jarnsmida Pitmines that will show as Undiscovered unless you have beaten the main quest. This is a Remnant of Asgard, relating to a quest unavailable until the main quest is finished.

Applecore Nornir Chest solution

There is also a Nornir chest near the Mystic Gateway within the Applecore, which – again – will require Draupnir. The three seals must be hit at the same time, so you have to throw a spear at each of them and detonate them together.

The first seal is found by throwing a weapon at the red explosive vase near the rift

A second seal is directly opposite the Mystic Gateway
The third seal is in a lower inaccessible area at the dead end on the right-hand side of the chest (pictured above). It’s hard to see this one without aiming at it.

Getting back across Jarnsmida Pitmines

If you have already beaten the game, the Remnants of Asgard objective is on the other side of the Pitmines. You will only be able to backtrack there by finding a hole for Draupnir, allowing you to get back across and make your way down (pictured above). Interacting with the block puzzle again will not allow you to get across, so ignore this altogether. Once you swing over the gap, there’s another place you can use Draupnir to throw a rope and zip-line across to the other part of the Pitmines.

There is another Mystic Gateway on this side of the Pitmines that can be unlocked by detonating a Sigil arrow. Even if you still have things to do in the Applecore and Jarnsmida Pitmines, this is the best way out.

That’s everything you need to know about how to return to the Applecore and how to get back to Jarnsmida Pitmines in God of War Ragnarok. You should be able to find your way through to defeat the Berserkers and more. Check out some of our other God of War Ragnarok content below: