How do I help all the wayward spirits?

God of War’s “Unfinished Business” Favor helps you survey all there is to do in the Lake of Nine. You and Atreus might run across several braziers throughout the lake. Lighting them up will send a wave of enemies your way, but the fight is worth it as each of the four you encounter will free a Wayward Spirit. Each will give you a little bit of backstory about what has gone on recently as well as reward you handsomely for freeing them.

Whichever spirit you free first, you’ll receive a Versatile Warrior’s Handle, an axe pommel that increases your Strength, Defense and Luck. Every subsequent spirit will give you a Corrupted Remnant, which you can use to upgrade your axe pommel. The order doesn’t matter as long as you defeat all the enemies that appear.

There are four sites you can easily get to and complete as soon as you end up at the Lake of Nine. Doing so early will give you an axe pommel that grants a lot of different buffs and this quest is worth doing early as soon as you can paddle around.

Grid View

How do I help all the wayward spirits?
Iron Cove SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • How do I help all the wayward spirits?
    SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • How do I help all the wayward spirits?
    Forgotten Cavners SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • How do I help all the wayward spirits?
    Cliffs of Raven SIE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
  • The Iron Cove is a great place to start this quest. It’s located just southwest of Tyr’s Temple. Lighting the brazier here will unleash some Nightmares and Reavers.

    From there, the Isle of Death is directly north. Climbing up the platform to get to the higher area of the isle where the brazier is. Once lit, you’ll face off against some ice-throwing foes.

    From there, you can sail northeast to the Forgotten Caverns. Before you even light the brazier, you’ll see several enemies there. Defeat them then light the brazier to unleash some Reavers.

    Finally you can head to Cliffs of the Raven which is on the right of Tyr’s Tower. Getting the brazier fired up will set loose some Tatzelwurms and Viken.

    By the time you’re done tackling this Favor, not only will you have a new axe pommel but several resources to upgrade it. This is good to tackle in the early game as it’ll give you upgrades for a decent amount of effort.

    God of War guide and walkthrough

    • Beginner’s guides 6

      • God of War beginner’s guide
      • How to find two of the best talismans in God of War super early
      • God of War combat guide
      • Understanding God of War’s vast new concepts
      • God of War’s biggest changes, explained
      • How to fix the black border on your screen

    • Hidden collectibles, weapons, items and secrets 5

      • How to find the Avengers: Infinity War gauntlet
      • How to find the hidden Realm Tear get the Forbidden Grip of the Ages
      • Every Odin’s raven location
      • All Jotnar shrine locations
      • God of War Trophies guide

    • Walkthroughs and collectibles 17

      • The Wildwoods
      • River Pass
      • Foothills and Mountain’s Base
      • Veithurgard and Stone Falls
      • Alfheim
      • The Mountain
      • A New Destination
      • The Magic Chisel
      • Behind the Lock
      • The Sickness
      • The Black Rune
      • Return to the Summit
      • Escape from Helheim
      • A Path to Jotunheim
      • Between Realms (Gauntlet of Realms)
      • Jotunheim in Reach
      • Mother’s Ashes

      Show More

    • Lake of Nine guides 21

      • Everything you need to know about the Lake of Nine, explained
      • Alfheim Tower
      • Asgard Tower
      • Buri’s Storeroom
      • Cliffs of the Raven
      • Fafnir’s Storeroom
      • Forgotten Caverns
      • Helheim Tower
      • Iron Cove
      • Isle of Death
      • Light Elf Outpost
      • Lookout Tower
      • The Mason’s Channel
      • Muspelheim Tower
      • Niflheim Tower
      • Ruins of the Ancient
      • Stone Falls
      • Svartalfheim Tower 
      • Vanaheim Tower
      • Volunder Mines
      • Witch’s Cave

      Show More

    • Favors (side quests) 10

      • Anatomy of Hope
      • Dead Freight
      • Deus Ex Malachite
      • Family Business
      • The Flight of Fafnir
      • Hammer Fall
      • Hail to the King
      • The Imprisonment of Otr
      • Second Hand Soul
      • Time Heals All

    • Realms 1

      • Niflheim guide, walkthrough and map

    • Valkyries 9

      • Eir (The Mountain)
      • Geirdriful (Foothills)
      • Gondul (Muspelheim)
      • Gunnr (Thamur’s Corpse)
      • Hildr (Niflheim)
      • Kara (River Pass)
      • Olrun (Alfheim)
      • Rota (Helheim)
      • Sigrun (Council of Valkyries)

    • Treasure maps 12

      • The Boat Captain’s Key treasure location
      • Creation Island treasure location
      • Dead and Bloated treasure location
      • Don’t Blink treasure location
      • Finder’s Fee treasure location
      • Island of Light treasure location
      • The Historian treasure location
      • Hunter’s Kingdom treasure location
      • Kneel Before Thor! treasure location
      • The Last Place They’d Look treasure location
      • Njord’s Oarsmen treasure location
      • The Turtle’s Tribute treasure location

      Show More

    • Artifacts 8

      • Every God of War artifact location
      • Abandon Ship artifact locations (Lake of Nine/Shores of Nine)
      • Bottoms Up artifact locations (The Mountain)
      • Faces of Magic artifact locations (River Pass)
      • Family Heirloom artifact locations (Helheim)
      • Horns of Veithurgard artifact locations (Veithurgard)
      • Lost and Found artifact locations (Wildwoods)
      • Spoils of War artifact locations (Alfheim)

    Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

    A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

    Just one more thing!

    Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

    Email (required)

    Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

    By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. You can opt out at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Subscribe

    Most Read

    1. Cyber Monday board game deals: Amazon cuts hundreds of titles up to 75% Gloomhaven, Descent, Arkham Horror, Dixit, Catan, Pandemic, and more at the best prices we’ve seen this year

      How do you find the spirits crew in God of War?

      You'll find the crew in three different locations across the map at the Isle of Death, the top of Niflheim Tower and the Iron Cove. Depending on your level when you attempt this, you may have trouble with fighting the crews.

      How many lake spirits are there?

      There are five spirits required for the achievement, all located around the Lake of Nine and the Shores of Nine, but one part does involve lighting four braziers and helping four spirits, though it only counts as one part of the quest.

      How do you get Tyr's Shard?

      Return to Fafnir's Storeroom Clear out the Draugr and head back to the final chamber where the spirit was and give him the note. He'll reward you for this by giving you Tyr's Shard, and Epic Enchantment.