15. The Garden of the Gods

Fun Fact: While walking toward the first Red Chest mentioned below, look past
the gate to see a man running to the right hall after seeing Kratos.

Walk through the pathway ahead and open the --RED CHEST-- in the left corner
when entering the new area. Enter the statue room at the top of the long
stairway for a slight cutscene. Walk over to the left side and find the --RED
CHEST-- and the --UNMARKED CHEST-- containing a ++PHOENIX FEATHER (20/?)++
within the spaces along the wall. You can break the statue of Athena for some
extra red orbs - you can actually break it before she finishes talking. Attack
the cracked wall to the left of the statue of Ares to reveal a new pathway.

There is a bottomless pit below the gap between the wall with the gate and the
platform you enter the room from. Move toward the gap and hug the right wall
then move along the ledge that extends along the wall. Once you move past the
second wall, jump to the floor in the below (there is no gap here) and run
through the doorway then climb the ladder. Kratos will emerge in the room with
a --RED CHEST-- and an --UNMARKED CHEST-- containing a ++GORGON EYE (27/?)++
that you most likely saw while moving along the ledge. Slide back down the
ladder and run back outside. Double jump and grab back onto the ledge then
move further to the right. Step out onto the platform when you reach the other
side and save your game at the save point.

Enter the room to the side and open the --GREEN CHEST-- if needed. Jump to the
chain up ahead and it will automatically break and Kratos will fall to the room
below. Walk up to the big door and examine it to find out that the sisters of
fate require a sacrifice by fire in order for the door to be opened. Luckily,
a Siren will surface from the ground after examining the door. Weaken the
Siren to where she is stunned with the icon over her head. Try to weaken her
while she is on one side. Quickly rush to the opposite side while she is daze
and pull the switch on that side to burn the Siren and please the sisters. The
meter on the door will fill up for each sacrifice and you will need a total of
three sacrifices. The Head of Euryale works rather nicely for this area. When
the Sirens dodge to one side, quickly turn them to stone then run over and pull
the opposite side's switch.

Enter the room ahead when the door opens then open the --GREEN CHEST -- if
needed. Jump into the red water and descend. You'll notice quite a few dead
bodies while swimming in this area. Swim through the hole and look out for the
spikes. You'll find some pots on the bottom, but be sure to watch where you're
going when performing a speed boost to break them. Surface to the top at the
end of the area to enter a dark room. Don't walk toward the back just yet.
Move toward the screen to discover --2 RED CHESTS-- against the wall.

Walk to the middle of the room ahead to find a stone bird frozen in ice. Look
around the room to see several alcoves with ice around them as well.

1. Drop into the center circular area of the room and pull the switch on the
   back of the frozen stone bird. This will cause the bird to breathe fire out of
   its mouth and melt the ice wall that it is facing. A mirror will be revealed
   on the other side of the ice. Don't mess with the mirror just yet.
2. Ignore the levers on the side of the room for the moment and find one of the
   many climbable walls on the sides of this area. Climb up the wall and
   transition to the ceiling. Move along the ceiling and destroy all the ice
   pieces. After all of the ice pieces have been destroyed, drop back down to the
   bottom and approach the three levers.
3. Rotate the three levers so that the image of the last quarter (half) moon is
   shown below the middle switch. By rotating it this way the full moon (mirror)
   will be in front of the bird statue.
4. Walk over to the mirror that we previously left alone in step 1 and grab it
   then move it toward the camera angle and place it up under the beam of light in
   the middle portion of that side. This will reflect light toward the mirror on
   the bottom wall and melt the ice around the stone bird.

Drop to the circular area and rotate the stone bird with the lever in front of
it and melt the ice around the area by pulling the switch on the back of the
bird. All alcoves will house some sort of treasure chests. There is a total
of --2 UNMARKED CHESTS-- one of which contains a ++PHOENIX FEATHER (21/?)++,
--2 RED CHESTS--, and --1 BLUE CHEST--. Two of the alcoves will also have a
Minotaur in them along with the chest. Open the door with the helmet that was
behind the ice to continue.

Move down the corridor ahead. Drop to the area with the lever inside. You'll
find a bunch of Fire Nymphs in the room with a few nests around the area. You
need to get rid of all the nests around the area. There are only three nests,
one of which is on the bottom floor and the other two are on the ceiling. Find
the climbable wall with the broken ladder leaning against it then climb it and
hop to the next area. Transition to the ceiling while climbing up the wall and
destroy the two nests at the top. You'll have to constantly fight off the Fire
Nymphs, but they shouldn't be much of a problem.

Once all of the enemies have been taken care of, rotate the lever in the middle
of the room to make the helmet emblem rotate and lower a grapple point.
Quickly let go of the lever once the grapple point reaches the bottom of its
descent then grapple to the grapple point. Kratos will ride the grapple piece
all the way up to the top above the ceiling. Find the --GREEN CHEST-- and
--BLUE CHEST-- along the side of the framework up above and replenish yourself
fully since a big battle is ahead. Walk down the corridor ahead and move into
the middle of the room.

BOSS: CERBERUS BREEDERS

Attacks (Cerberus Breeders):

Paw Combo: The Cerberus steps forward with a paw slap them hits Kratos with
both paws.

How to avoid: Block, roll, or deflect.

Fireballs: The Cerberus shoots a fireball from each head very quickly toward
Kratos.

How to avoid: Block, roll, or deflect.

Pup Breeding: The Cerberus will vomit up a smaller Cerberus.

How to avoid: N/A

Attack (Cerberus Seeds):

Spinning Lunge: The Cerberus Pup jumps and spins in the air then shoots toward
Kratos.

How to avoid: Block, roll, or deflect.

Attacks (Juggernaut):

Shoulder Ram: The Juggernaut will run toward Kratos and ram him then perform an
upward strike with his mace.

How to avoid: Block, roll, or deflect.

Mace Combo: The Juggernaut will move toward Kratos with two Mace strikes

How to avoid: Block, roll, or deflect.

If you've played the first God of War then you should know how deadly these
Cerberus Breeders can be. The adult Cerberuses will literally vomit Cerberus
Seeds (pups) into the area. The little ones are probably the most deadly of
them all since they can turn into big ones if left alive for too long. The
attacks of the adult Cerberuses are very limited (two moves actually; three if
you count the pup breeding), but they make up for it with shear aggressiveness.
These things are just as agile as the Dark Cerberus fought earlier in the game.
Make sure that you defeat the Cerberus Pups along with the large Cerberuses.
It's more vital to destroy the pups than the adults. Two Juggernauts will
appear toward the end of the battle once the Cerberuses are almost gone and
they are just as hard as the Cerberus adults. The Juggernauts have a bunch of
life compared to the ones you have fought thus far.

I would highly recommend that you use Atlas Quake and Rage of the Titans often
during this battle. Atlas Quake is excellent for getting rid of a whole crowd
of Cerberus Pups and Rage of the Titans will help to defeat the Green
Cerberuses much faster. The adult Cerberus will have two icons to appear over
them while fighting them: one at half life and one near death. One really good
aspect of this battle is that the adult Cerberuses will release yellow orbs to
charge your Rage of the Titans meter once killed. Make sure to activate some
heavy attacks once the Juggernauts enter the area since they can be very deadly
with a Cerberus. The first icon kill will finish the Juggernauts like normal.
There's not really much of a strategy for the Juggernauts other than to attack
them as you roll away from their attacks (while they recover).

All of this carnage can be avoided with a few Gorgon Rage (L1 + O [charge])
from a Level 3 Head of Euryale. Just stand in the middle of crowd, stone them,
equip the hammer, and use /\ attacks to break them. Plume of Prometheus with
the Athena's Blades works well to break them also.

Keep in mind that a --GREEN CHEST-- is lying off to the side during this
battle.

Once the madness has settled down, walk over to the bars in the back and find
the ladder on the left side of the wall. Climb the ladder and save your game
at the save point up above. Jump across to the platform on the right side,
across from the save point, to find a --RED CHEST--. Another --RED CHEST-- and
an --UNMARKED CHEST-- containing a ++GORGON EYE (28/?)++ are against the back
wall. Fall down on the middle left side of that platform to fall in between
the barred areas where --2 RED CHESTS-- lie. Use the ledges to escape from the
middle area - jump to the first then glide across to the second on the opposite
side and glide back to the platform from the second. Jump back to the left
platform and lift the gate with the --GREEN CHEST-- behind it. Slide down the
ladder to the side.

Auditorium of Atropos

You will notice there is a Fate Statue with a flashing green stone on it.
Break the pots in front of it and let's go ahead and push it with us just in
case - you never know when these may come in handy! You'll notice a distortion
behind statue upon moving it. That is not a glitch and we will get back to
that in just a moment! Push the Fate Statue down the hall ahead. Move the
statue to the side once you reach the gate. Walk toward the gate and watch the
cutscene as the man plummets over the edge. That was actually the man that ran
from you while approaching the red chest with the bars behind it while in the
Garden of the Gods if you remember that.

Pull the switch to the left in order to raise the gate. Place the statue over
to the side of the open gate. This will keep the gate from closing. Walk into
the auditorium and look on the left wall to see a distortion that makes a time
portal. Go through the time portal to find that it transports you back to the
few seconds before the translator from earlier jumped to his death. As you can
see, the statue will hold up the gate as it tries to close if you pushed it far
enough. There is one thing you should do before worrying about the translator
though. Keep in mind that you go through the time portal as many times as
needed to complete this part. Right when you first step through the portal,
slow time using the Amulet of the Fates and run all the way back to the
distortion behind the area where the Fate Statue was and you will find a ++MEGA
GREEN CHEST++. This chest will give Kratos so many green orbs that it will
extend his life gauge. The chest will only stay there until the translator
falls to his death, so be quick!

In order to get the translator, step back through the time portal then slow
time once again with the Amulet of the Fates and run then grab the translator
with the R1 button before he commits suicide.

Fun Fact: After grabbing the translator try a few different things with him.
Wherever you take him, he will automatically run back to the ledge and jump
off. You can actually toss him off the ledge with Kratos! Also, you can
attack him while he runs to help build up your Rage of the Titans gauge. The
only thing you can't do is take him through the time portal with you.

Place the translator in front of the book and an action sequence much like the
first translator event will occur where you must tap the O button to encourage
the translator to read the book. A cutscene will play once the translator is
tired out from deciphering. Walk over to the door on the right side and
collect the **WARRIOR'S SKULL** from the door.

Open the door and step up to the lever in the back. Rotate the lever to make
the updraft travel further up. Jump into the draft while gliding in place and
this allow Kratos to float up to the alcove against the wall. Grab the ledge
of the alcove and pull yourself up. Pull the switch to make the draft reach
higher. Rotate the lever once again and glide up to the ceiling to have Kratos
grapple to it. Keep in mind that all of this is timed (the lever and the
switch). Climb across the top of the ceiling and move to the right as you pass
by the set of broken pillars. The camera angle will rotate to show you a
hidden --RED CHEST-- on the ledge below. Drop down to it and open it then jump
back to the ceiling. Destroy the top of the shiny column in the way while
climbing across. Fall to the platform near the wall on the other side or
transition to the wall and slide down.

Walk toward the lift through the doorway and rotate the lever to lower it.
Step through the doorway and jump to the platform ahead. The exits will all
seal off and two Cyclops will appear to challenge you. These Cyclops are
pretty tough compared to what you're used to. Use the Head of Euryale to stone
them and defeat them quickly if needed. Other than that, Rage of the Titans
works well. They attack many times in a row with their front strikes so be
sure to roll away and stay away while they attack. Keep in mind that a roll to
the side is much better at avoiding their attacks then a backwards roll. Four
of them will appear.

Place the Warrior's Skull on the door with the Cerberus heads to unlock it.
Open the door to see a --GREEN CHEST--, --BLUE CHEST--, and a save point. Make
sure that the Head of Euryale is powered up to at least level 2 before stepping
onto the lift in the back. Have Kratos grab onto the front of the middle
column on the lift. Tap the O button to have him push the elevator down. The
spiked ceiling will start to move down upon Kratos eventually and the bones
around the area will form into Skeletons and attack.

Keep moving the lift down until they attack you or one of them gets stuck in a
gear. You will have to attack the one that gets stuck to knock him out of the
gear. Use the Head of Euryale to quickly turn them to stone then shatter them.
This will quickly destroy them and keep them from reforming. The normal Gorgon
stare works well when they are spread out and the Gorgon Flash is good for when
they are grouped. Stone all the Skeletons on the screen before attempting to
break them. When you reach the bottom the last group of Skeletons will attack
and you will have to quickly lift open a door. Make sure to defeat the
Skeletons before attempting to lift the door.