The Return of the River favor in God of War Ragnarök is an important side quest. Completing it opens up the rest of The Crater region in Vanaheim, allowing you to access previously unavailable locations, quests, and items.
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How to Start to Return of the River Favor
If you haven’t reached the Jungle region in The Crater yet, that’s the first thing you’ll need to do.
Start from the Western Plains Mystic Gateway. Head to the Celestial Altar and make sure it’s nighttime if it isn’t yet. Head east and jump down. Immediately take the path to the right, climb up the ledge, and continue forward while sticking to the wall on the right. Keep going forward while following the right wall. After running past a tree to the right, followed by a boulder to the left, follow the path on the left ahead. Jump down and continue heading forward.
You’ll eventually arrive at a tunnel. Pass through this tunnel until the area where you’ll need to climb on the wall to get past a gap. Once on the other side, look over to the eastern side of the tunnel to see a wooden barricade. Destroy this to open up the path ahead.
Climb on and continue onwards. Once you exit the tunnel, you’ll be in The Jungle region. You’ll also find the Jungle Entrance Mystic Gateway ahead.
From the Mystic Gateway, follow the main path to the west and drop down to the lower ground. Face south and freeze the Seidr totem here to pass through. Be wary of the Wulvers here. At the end of this path, you’ll find a wall you can climb on. Do so to get back on the upper ground. When you surface, you’ll be facing the dam directly and the Return of the River favor will begin.
Approaching the Dam
Continue forward to approach the base of the dam from where you are. You’ll encounter a couple of Gulons along the way, so be sure to deal with them first. After clearing the area of enemies, continue marching southwest. After climbing a higher ledge, look to the right to see a path blocked by brambles.
Destroy the brambles with a Runic Arrow hex and the Blades of Chaos. Make your way inside to find an elevator. This will take you to the dam. Once on the top, clear the dam of enemies first. You’ll find a couple of Seidr warriors and Gulons here. Once they’ve been eliminated, observe the boxes against the wall on the northern side of the dam. Destroy them to reveal a gold crack on the wall.
Throw a spear at the gold crack and explode it to create a path. Enter it to get to the other side of the wall. You’ll see a dreki on the other side but pay no mind to it for now.
Opening the Dam
Look over to the dam to see it plagued by brambles. There are also Seidr warriors ahead, but they’re enchanted by the song of a Nokken. As long as an enemy is linked to a Nokken’s song, you can’t damage them.
The Nokken is clinging to the brambles on the dam. It will be difficult to get rid of the brambles while there are enemies here that will constantly slash at you. The best way to eliminate them for now is to either push them over the ledge to instantly kill them, or to lure them away from the Nokken.
After defeating the enemies, burn the brambles using the Runic Arrows and the Blades of Chaos. You’ll need to burn two sets of brambles before you can completely clear up the dam. Start with the one on the left first. You’ll be able to reach these with your Blades of Chaos.
You will now be able to open up a portion of the dam, but not completely. Do so as this will help you clear up the rest of the brambles. As soon as the dam is stuck, throw your axe at the wheel on the right to freeze it.
To clear up the second set of brambles, fire a hex on the pillar under the left end of the bramble. Fire another hex on the dam next to it. Finally, fire a final hex on the tip of the chipped-off ledge closest to you. Make sure all the circular hexes of all three runic arrows are linked with each other.
Fire two more runic arrows at the hex under the bramble to enlarge it. Quickly, burn the hex closest to you and the hex explosions will reach the bramble, burning it.
Return to the wheel. Now, you’ll be able to fully open the dam, thus returning the waters back to The Crater. You’ve now completed the Return of the River favor and you can now explore the region by boat, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas.
