God of War - Daudi Kaupmaor boss fight and the Stranger
A walkthrough for the end of God of War's first mission and its key moments.
The Daudi Kaupmaor boss fight, and your encounter with the Stranger are the second part of The Marked Trees quest, taking place in Midgard, in God of War on PS4.
Here on this page, we'll take you through everything you need to know about this section of your quest, including how to solve any puzzles, take down any bosses and find any useful loot along the way.
For guides to specific collectibles we also have pages on Valkyrie locations and how to open Hidden Chambers, Lost and Found locations and Faces of Magic locations, too.
You can always cycle back to our main God of War walkthrough and guide hub, or our guide to God of War Valkyrie locations and how to open Hidden Chambers, too.
Daudi Kaupmaor boss fight
There's no real knack to this fight, dispite it seeming like there should be. You just need to chip away at the big troll-thing's health by whatever means necessary, until he eventually succumbs to a quick time event.
The main thing to do is try and time Atreus arrows - pressing Square while aiming at something to make Atreus shoot an arrow at it - in such a way that it pulls Daudi Kaupmaor's attention away from you. Then you can run up behind him and give him a good old whack with your axe as many times as possible before he turns towards you.
His attacks are quite well-telegraphed - you'll be able to tell when they're coming - but because a lot of your abilities, like dodging, aren't actually unlocked yet, it takes some time to get out of the way, so watch out.
Otherwise, poke him from distance with some throws of your axe, attack him in melee when he's distracted, and eventually you'll be prompted to press R3 and start a nice little cinematic of you bludgeoning him to death. Done! You'll also unlock a new Labour - Troll's Toll - in defeating him, too.
After you're all healed up head over to the wooden palisade where Atreus is, and climb over it. Soon on the other side you'll find some more Draugr in your way. You can now stun them, by whacking them repeatedly until the red bar under their health bar fills up, and perform a grisly finisher with R3 when you do so.
Nearby you might notice a door with a big blue-ish glass-mirrored diamond on it. This is a Hidden Chamber - another Labour-maker - but there's nothing you can do here now. You'll be spotting these along your journey, but not coming back to them for some time, so make a note and move on.
Watch out for the blue, ice-man enemy who spawns here. It can't be damaged with your axe - it's seemingly immune to frost damage - so you'll have to just batter it with your fists instead. Kratos probably enjoys that even more anyway so it's not too much trouble.
After you've crunched up that enemy, look for a rope and wood contraption that's holding up a bundle of planks. Hit the glowing metal disc in the middle of the rope with your axe and it'll fall, allowing you to progress.
Hop down off the ledge, and you're near enough back at your house. When you reach it though, something strange begins to happen. Follow the cutscene and its prompts.
Looking for more help? Our God of War walkthrough and guide helps with the main story progress, including The Witch's Cave puzzle solutions. We also have articles on God of War Valkyrie locations and how to open Hidden Chambers, plus collectables including God of War Faces of Magic locations,God of War Lost and Found locations, God of War Treasure Map locations and God of War Nornir chest locations.
The Stranger
After some touching father-son moments, a Stranger appears at your door.
Turns out he's really quite keen on having a fight, so it's time to oblige him!
This can be a tricky one, but it's actually a great test of - and training for - your reactions, as good timing here will absolutely be your most useful weapon, above anything else.
Try to learn when the Stranger telegraphs his attacks, and when in doubt hide behind your shield. If you attack immediately after blocking, you can knock him up in the air for a chance to land a decent combo. For now, rinse and repeat that - note that he will normally dodge any attempts to poke him with some long-range axe throws - until the next little cutscene.
When you're on top of your house, just mash R1 to punch him, until the next mini cutscene has you wedge inside some rocks... and Spartan Rage becomes available.
Press L3 and R3 to activate it, and get pummelling with your fists, langing combos where possible. After that his attacks will progress a little - watch out for the one where he causes a kind of shockwave to pulse through the ground towards you, stepping asside when he begins his wind up to attacking so as to avoid it, and keep blocking and countering when he dashes you.
When he's down to no health you get another cutscene, even more taunting and bludgeoning and fighting, and his attacks progress again. This time he'll add a move that sees him jump up in the air and smash into the ground - a classic! - so be sure to clear the nearby area when he jumps up, and try to immediately attack him on landing.
You can actually get a proper counter in, too, by timing a block exactly right when he does his zig-zagging dash towards you for a punch. Try to do it just after he starts the dash, as late as possible, and it'll whack him backwards and, again, open him up to some counter attacks.
Next up: God of War - Path to the Mountain, the Revenant and Reavers
After a real war of attrition, you'll eventually have seen him off, so stagger back towards the house to collect Atreus, and get out of there.