What Are Levels and What Do They Do in God of War?

God of War introduced so many new and great mechanics into the franchise that it's no surprise that it can be a bit confusing for both newcomers and series veterans alike. On my first playthrough of the game, I not only played it on the hardest difficulty but spent the entire run unsure of how the level system worked and what it entailed. So, let's ensure that doesn't happen to you too!

What are levels?

The LVL beside "STRENGTH" is the item's level, whilst the one on the top right is Kratos'.

Unlike most games, God of War doesn't increase your level according to how many battles you fight; despite actually being awarded XP for these battles, it's used for the skill tree present in the game and has nothing to do with Kratos' overall level.

Kratos' level depends on his gear rather than the XP earned through combat, how many skills you have acquired through the skill tree, or how much you've upgraded your runic attacks. That means that to level up Kratos, you will need to attain a lot of hacksilver to upgrade or purchase new pieces of equipment constantly.

What do levels affect?

You see the two flying guys? Yup, lower level than me!

Levels dictate a lot in each battle. Fighting an enemy that is the same level as you, one lower or one higher, feels dramatically different due to these systems in place.

How much you can stagger an enemy heavily depends on their level in contrast to yours; staggering and launching enemies that are one level below you is significantly easier than doing the same to those equal to you. Meanwhile, whenever an enemy is at a higher level than you, staggering and launching them become nigh impossible: simple tasks such as pushing them over the abyss require far heavier attacks than it would usually take.

Aside from how much you can stagger a foe, levels also affect how much damage you deal and receive. You will deal more damage to enemies that are lower levels than you, whilst enemies that have a higher level will have significantly higher resistances and deal obscene amounts of damage.

Whether you level up through defensive stats, such as Vitality or Defense, or do it through offensive stats, like Runic or Strength, you will find that you deal significantly more damage, and battles and enemies that were once tough are easier.

The level disparity has visual cues to assist you in differentiating them easily. Green bars mean that you are a higher level, and thus you will deal more damage and have a higher staggering capability; yellow bars mean that you are equal to them, and everything is at its basics; and purple bars mean that you are a lower level, meaning you won't be able to deal much damage at all and it will require much heavier attacks to stagger them.

Purple means that it's a no-no zone, and if you get hit you go bye-bye.

The bar colours are the more substantial indicator — even when taking into account the raw numbers — because how far into a level you are will affect the disparity as well, and as such, the colours will indicate this more concisely than the numbers. 

For instance, having three-quarters of the way into level five will mean that level five foes will sport a yellow bar, whilst some — if not all — level four enemies will have a green one, allowing you to stagger them heavily and deal more damage despite having their same level. This information will be crucial moving forward whenever playing in the harder difficulties since it will facilitate differentiating the threat levels that each enemy possesses.

I hope this guide has come in handy. Understanding this took me a while, and it was the determining factor of many of my defeats. As such, I hope it prevents you some! Feel free to talk to me in the comments; I'm eager to speak more about the game! And don't forget to stay awesome!