Kratos and Atreus have a lot going on in God of War Ragnarök, including the alleged end of the Norse world, the looming prophecy of Kratos' death, and the consequences of killing Baldur and the sons of Thor. These lead to more epic battles with the gods, and properly preparing for these battles is crucial. Acquiring new weapons and armor is key to Kratos and Atreus surviving all the intense trials and monsters that lie within the nine realms. Unfortunately, most things in life aren't free, and none of the stuff they need comes cheap. In order for this father and son duo to pay for all their fancy new equipment, they need to find as much hacksilver as they can.
The main currency of both 2018's God of War and God of War Ragnarök is very easy to find when players are exploring the nine realms. And just like everything else within the two games, hacksilver is something that is directly taken from Norse history.
Hacksilver Comes From Norse History
Hacksilver, sometimes called hacksilber, consists of pieces of silver that have been cut and bent up into various shapes and sizes. These pieces, used for trading, could range in shape from disks to necklaces and even forms of tableware, with their value measured by their weight. Hacksilver was used by ancient Viking tribes and Norsemen as part of their bullion economy, which consisted of trading refined precious metals like gold and silver rather than any official form of currency like coins. Eventually, once the Vikings began trading with other countries and performing raids, the bartering system that they used went away in favor of making their own coins.
Since the franchise made the jump from Greek mythology to Norse mythology back in 2018 -- with the games taking place in ancient Scandinavia -- the inclusion of hacksilver is just another product of that change.
How To Find & Farm Hacksilver in God of War Ragnarök
Players are going to need a lot of hacksilver to both purchase and upgrade their arsenal in God of War Ragnarök. Finding hacksilver is as easy as simply exploring the semi-open world, as bags of it will usually be lying around dead bodies or in treasure chests that are hidden within each realm, which can also grant the player valuable crafting material to upgrade their weapons. Though they don't yield as much as chests or bags, destroying breakable furniture like tables and pots, ramming into barrels while riding the boat and defeating enemies can also net some hacksilver.
Completing the game's side-quests, known as favors, is also a great way to make money, and there are many favors to complete in the game. Favors are just another way to show that simply exploring can get players rich. Exploring can also lead to the discovery of artifacts scattered throughout some of the most obscure areas. Selling these artifacts (along with armor and weapon attachments that go unused) to the game's merchants Brok and Sindri for hacksilver is way better than letting them waste away in the inventory menus. When it comes to the armor itself, increasing Kratos' luck stat as much as possible means that once bigger enemies are defeated, they will drop more hacksilver, crafting materials and XP boosts for players to enjoy.