Reykjanesta

Reykjanesta (or Reykjanestá) is the first chapter in Hellblade 2, and it’s fairly linear with little room for exploration. Most of the chapter follows Senua as she looks for survivors along the shore during a storm. Reykjanestá feels like somewhat of a tutorial, and this walkthrough will guide you through it.

This chapter helps you get used to Hellblade’s puzzles while easing you into the combat with a few slow one-on-one fights. It also contains a recap of the first game while reintroducing you to the effects of Senua’s psychosis.

Reykjanesta Walkthrough

Senua narrowly survives a shipwreck after her plan to get captured by the Northmen goes wrong. Climb up the stone steps as the opening credits roll, and follow the linear path after Senua is once again haunted by her father’s words.

Eventually, you’ll come across your first collectible – a Lorestangir. Lorestangirs are pillars surrounded by a glowing light and symbols that help track your progress. There are 18 symbols on each of these pillars – one for each Lorestangir. As you collect them, the symbols will glow red one by one.

Use Senua’s focus ability by pressing LT or RT on Xbox (or E on mouse and keyboard) to collect each Lorestangir.

Continue along the path toward the lone Northman slaver who is walking into an encampment. Walk through the area while following the straight path as Senua tries to get her bearings.

Your goal here is to get through this maze of rocks and reach the shore as Senua struggles with hearing her father’s voice again. Walk through the path next to the tall sticks in the screenshot below. The path will mysteriously close up as soon as you pass the sticks, preventing you from turning back.

The way forward will close up as you approach the beach, so use your focus ability on the red symbol to start the first real puzzle in Hellblade 2. These shape puzzles appear in the first game as well. You need to find the symbol again in nature and focus on it to clear the path.

Walk back to where you entered this clearing and line up the red symbol on the rock with the floating debris to solve this puzzle. Here’s the angle you’re looking for:

Make your way toward the lone boat on the shore to find out if there are any survivors from the shipwrecks. Follow the dark shadows that appear along the shoreline until another slaver attacks.

Now that you have a sword, it’s time to use it in combat. The main tip to remember for combat is that there’s no HUD at all, so you need to rely on visual cues on enemies to win. You can use your heavy attack to break the enemy’s guard, and a parry will trigger if you block right before an enemy attack lands. Also, if you get grabbed, mash the attack button to break away.

Climb over the wooden ledge to the left of the rock in the image below to proceed after you’ve won the fight. Then, prepare to fight again right away. The wood looks like it has white chalk on it, which is often an indicator of where to go in Hellblade 2.

The third fight on the beach will teach you about unblockable enemy attacks. You can parry or block safely when an enemy’s weapon shines white, right before an attack. When the weapon shines red right before landing, it’ll stagger you when blocked. When an enemy glows dark, fiery red, their attack is unblockable – you need to dodge.

Run over to the next shipwrecked boat as soon as this fight ends. Crawl under the boat to get another scene focused on Senua’s psychosis and guilt. When you crawl out on the other side, three Northmen are waiting for you followed by a boss fight.

This is the main slaver whom Senua planned to confront from the beginning. Use heavy attacks to break his guard, and prepare to parry, block, or dodge while you get your hits in. The slaver will quickly counterattack after you land a few hits, so be ready.

He’ll often end his combos with unblockable attacks, so don’t get too comfortable blocking during his strings. With that said, a well-timed parry will stop his combos completely. You’ll know you’re making progress when Senua gets knocked down in scripted scenes.

This section ends with another cutscene as Senua plans to free the remaining slaves with the help of the injured slaver. From here, Senua and the slaver make their way to Freyslaug.