In God of War, three Idunn Apple are needed to upgrade your health and three Horns of Blood Mead are needed upgrade your rage bar. You’ll find most of these as you go from point to point on the main story path. But some are more hidden.
There are nine Idunn Apples and nine Horns of Blood Mead to be found in the world. Most of them are on the main questline. But if you want to upgrade to that top tier, you’ll have to venture into the side areas.
We’ll tackle each of these in chronological order, so you won’t miss any as you play through the game. We’ll keep this mostly spoiler free, but there are mentions of locations below, and so get ready for a spoiler warning…
The following article contains spoilers for God of War. Don’t proceed if you don’t want to accidentally read about future locations.
Idunn Apple Locations
In the Wild Woods, close to the very start of the game, you’ll come across a circle in the ground with paths going in all directions. Going straight leads you to the first temple area with three rune pots to destroy, giving you access to the chest and first Idunn Apple.
In the Wild Woods, shortly after fighting the first Revenant, there’s a puzzle in which you have to lower two sides of a bridge before you can see all of the pots to smash.
In Midgard, towards the end of the River Pass, there is an area where you first encounter a fire troll. Atreus will go slightly nuts after this encounter. You’ll find another Idunn Apple chest here. There will be rune pots on timers — sprinting around the corner is enough to get all three in time.
In Midgard, Near one of the first lookout towers you’ll come across, you’ll find another chest with an Idunn Apple inside. You have to throw the Leviathan Axe at a nearby switch that lowers the spikes on the timed pots. Afterwards, hit the timed pots before the spikes go back up. The spikes add additional time pressure, but since you need to hit the runes within a time window anyway, it doesn’t change much.
In Midgard, in The Mountain, there will be another Idunn Apple chest in the spot where you find the first Heavy Viken. At this point, you’ll be on the “Inside the Mountain” quest. There’s one runepot in a room a few metres back (you have to throw the shatter crystal at the wall and then use a shock arrow to open it), one rune pot in a rock wall up the ramp, and then after raising the ramp back up there’ll be a pot up top.
In Alfheim, when you lower the platform in the middle of the lake to go underneath, you’ll make your way towards the temple of light. Shortly after going underneath the lake, you’ll come across a rune chest. This one is all about the elevator, controlled by the nearby switch. Notice that it has different levels, according to how far you pull it. Two pots can be seen when you freeze the elevator partway down. The last is found in the alcove behind the switch, after the elevator is let back up.
In Tyr’s Vault, after you start going into the side passages with all the traps. The pots will be quite close, not as far as the next room. One is very close to the chest. One is on the way to the next room, the pot sits in one of the traps coming from the ceiling.
In the Forgotten Caverns, as you’re exploring around the Lake of the Nine, there’s another Idunn Apple to be found. Just after you kill/free the first Helwalkers. All three rune pots are on a pole that spins around as you hit them. They’re on a timer, so it’ll take a few skillshots to hit them when they’re spinning.
In the Light Elf Outpost, another area as you explore the lake. Pots are hidden around the walls, one is halfway up the tower on the outside.
Horn of Blood Mead Locations
In Midgard, right after meeting Brok for the first time, there will be an elevator puzzle. You have to stand on top of the elevator, and raise it to see the rune pots.
At the very beginning of The Foothills, right after meeting Sindri, still in his area. Here, you must make the symbols on the switches match that of the chest. One of the switches is covered in poison, so you’ll have to freeze the poison pot to see the rune.
In Alfheim, when you step up to the door of the temple of light, there will be a Horn of Blood Mead chest nearby. To the left of the temple entrance, down the stairs, you’ll find it in a room. All of the rune pots should be nearby. If you’ve found the blacksmith, you’re on the wrong side.
In Alfheim, this time on the other side of the temple entrance, you’ll find another chest with a Horn of Blood Mead. This will be after getting the light of Alfheim on the bifrost, and onto Atreus’ bow. The rune pots will be around that last room. For one of them, you’ll have to thread an axe throw through tight gaps, while standing on the platform.
In Midgard, after ascending The Mountain and dispelling the black smoke, there is a place where the giants test you. There will be two switches with runes leading up to a light bridge, and one afterwards. After that, a room with a chest with runes written in blood on the walls. Make sure the switches match the runes.
In Midgard, in the Witch’s Caves below her house, there will be a chest with a Horn of Blood Mead waiting for you after you’ve acquired the shock arrows. When you’re back from the summit of The Mountain, come back and grab it.
In Helheim, you’ll have just completed an important fight. In the middle of your Helheim trip, right before you get onto a large boat, you’ll be able to push a large box into a gap to reach a small, open area where a Horn of Blood Mead chest is. There’s a box nearby, and one of the rune pots is inside the box (climb to its other side to see it). One of them is out on the water nearby – you’ll have to push the box all the way back and climb to see it. The last is visible from an upper ledge.
In Fafnir’s Hoard, you’ll find another sealed chest outside of the entrance. All three are visible and can be hit from where the chest is. This is another timed challenge — keep in mind each rune pot has its own timer with its own smaller or larger window.
As you explore the Lake of the Nine, you’ll come across the Isle of the Dead. There will be a lot of stuff to get through here, some puzzles to get higher and some enemies to kill. At the top, you’ll be rewarded with a Horn of Blood Mead.
