Looking for a Secret of the Sands walkthrough for God of War Ragnarok? Secret of the Sands is a Favour, which are Ragnarok's equivalent of side-quests. As part of our God of War Ragnarok guide, we're going to share our full Secret of the Sands walkthrough, which includes puzzle solutions, combat strategies, and any other key areas of interest.

God of War Ragnarok: Secret of the Sands Walkthrough

Towards the end of Groa's Secret, as you're about to enter the Mystic Gateway, a Dark Elf will smash through a wall, opening up a path to The Canyons in Alfheim. Once you speak with Sindri, this will trigger the Favour named Secrets of the Sands, and you can choose to tackle this straight away or at a later point. If you're returning, take the Mystic Gateway to The Canyons. Follow the path forwards, and you'll find new Lore in the form of a Lore Marker named U-natur-liker just to your right. Continue the path forward a little further to find some Gulon, pulling a sled. You can climb aboard, so ride them forward along the main path, smashing barrels for Shattered Runes. There's a yellow chest just to the left you can open for Hacksilver if you want to. You'll end up in The Barrens.

Travel to the south until you find a cave entrance, and head inside out of the elements. Climb down to head underground, and begin your pursuit of the pained creature. You'll end up in an area called The Below. Hookshot across the gap and follow the path down. You need to throw your Leviathan Axe at the afflicted root, so you can climb over the pillar and continue onwards. A single Dark Elf will ambush you, so deal with it and continue onwards. Over the side, use the Twilight Zone to bounce the Leviathan Axe through more roots. Deal with more Dark Elves directly ahead, and open the yellow chest for Hacksilver.

In the next room are a ton more Dark Elves, so take care of them. There's a Nornir Chest in this area that you can open if you want to. Climb up the wall and destroy the roots just behind you to the right and you'll also find more Lore in the form of a Rune Reads named Patience, as well as a red chest with Hacksilver, Rawhide, and Dwarven Steel inside. Once you reach the rope, abseil down. Where you get off, there's a yellow chest, just behind. Climb across the walls, as you can't get the right angle to destroy the roots with the Twilight Stone just yet. Drop down and open the gate, so you can get back to the area where you fought the Dark Elves previously. From here you can get the right angle on the Twilight Stone to clear it. Now navigate across the wall to drop into the building that was previously locked. You'll be able to open that previously mentioned Nornir Chest now, for an Idunn Apple.

Back in the room you access by clearing the rotten roots, drop the gold chain so you can climb down. There's a Dark Elf Lord down here, so take care of it. Remember, you can bounce your Leviathan Axe off the Twilight Stone in the room to stun these foes. Squeeze through the hole in the wall. Drop down to the right, and just over the edge, destroy some debris to reveal more Twilight Stone. Climb back up and this will give you the angle you need to bounce your Leviathan Axe through the rotten roots. This will reveal a red chest with Rawhide, Hacksilver, and Dwarven Steel inside. Follow the main path forwards now.

There are a lot of rotten root puzzles in this area. To the right, throw your axe through the closest root, and angle it so that it bounces off the Twilight Stone behind and hits the other two. Jump across the gap and throw your axe at the explosive pot, clearing away the debris. Opposite the gap, you'll also find a yellow chest with Hacksilver inside. Go back to where you destroyed the debris and bounce your axe off two Twilight Stones to clear away more rotten roots. Climb up and open the red chest on your right. Ahead is a hanging Twilight Stone which can be rotated by throwing your Leviathan Axe at the switches. Line it up so you can bounce your axe through all of the rotten roots ahead. This will clear the path ahead, and attract a bunch of Nightmares to your position. Take care of them, and then hookshot across the gap with your Blades of Chaos.

Climb up the wall once you've dealt with all the enemies. Finally, you've found the source of the pained creature. Destroy the debris just to your left, and then look opposite. Again, you need to bounce your axe off the Twilight Zone to clear away the bindings. Then climb back up, and just to the left get the angle to destroy more bindings. Unfortunately, while the situation is improved, Hafgufa's still not fully free.

Take the main path out, opposite Hafgufa, and open the red chest on the way. Climb up the wall and blast through the cracked concrete at the top. As you surface, there's a Legendary Chest directly ahead. Open it for Whispering Slabs as well as the Shoulder Straps of Radiance. Destroy the root to the right so you can climb back out to the surface, and board the sled from earlier.

Follow the quest marker forward to a tendril, and freeze it. This will free the Hafgufa, and complete the Favour named Secrets of the Sands and contribute towards the Trophy named Full Gufa.

God of War Ragnarok: Secret of the Sands Objectives

  • Find a way to reach the pained creature
  • Pursue the pained creature underground
  • Destroy the Hafgufa's bindings
  • Open the hive cage on the surface

God of War Ragnarok: Secret of the Sands Rewards

  • Kratos: 1,500 XP
  • Atreus: 375 XP

Did you find our Secret of the Sands walkthrough for God of War Ragnarok useful? Refer to our God of War Ragnarok guide for more information, and let us know in the comments section below.