JOLLY GOOD SHOW
You don't need Odin’s Sight to understand why most gamers (probably) never finished Ubisoft’s epic RPG-lite game: it’s IMPROBABLY HUGE, even for their modern AC games.
A little background:
Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs (until Legion, ooooof) are three of my favourite game series. I’m an unabashed Ubisoft fanboy. Their games and figurines and strategy guides and graphic novels are displayed all around my home office.
YET... I didn’t have much hype for VALHALLA.
In fact, I had no intention of playing it right away at all, until I received the PS4 disc as a Christmas present back in December 2020.
BUT WHY?
One hundred and sixty hours.
That’s how much time I spent 100%-ing the previous game (Odyssey, set in Rome) and while I have no regrets, I honestly didn’t see myself doing that again anytime soon.
A little bird (Senu?) told me that Valhalla was EVEN LARGER than Odyssey, and I’m not a young gamer anymore (I’ll be 48 this fall).
But the stars aligned, I had a copy of the game, I had cleared off a lot of my gaming backlog in 2020, I had some extra free time last Spring because of the pandemic... and deep into an Atlantic Canadian winter I went deep into AC Valhalla.
Now that the game’s first promised DLC expansion (“Wrath Of The Druids”) is threatening to suck me back in, I wanted to relay some tips to make your experience in Valhalla as fun as possible regardless if you plan to spend 20 hours or 40 hours or 140 hours.
NOTCHED AND LOADED
- DON’T leave Norway without finding a Predator bow! Early on I was told to "get out of Norway as quickly as possible", and this is a mistake. The "Recurve Bow" (which is a Predator bow, the one that lets you zoom in first-person style), can be found in Norway in the northwestern part of Rygjafylke. A Predator Bow is your single most useful weapon for further adventuring.
IF you don't grab it here (like I failed to do) you may go a long time before seeing another one. - DO get the Incendiary Powder Trap Ranged Ability which can be found in the Walden Monastery in Grantebridgescires. It will let you shoot out walls with a Predator bow!
Otherwise, you’ll be wasting time trying to find and carry fire pots over difficult terrain (or through enemy encampments), placing them by a destructable wall that's blocking your path, and blowing it up. With the bow + trap combo (+ a little adrenalin) you can shoot out this wall instead! BOOM! - REMEMBER that you need ADRENALIN to use this ability! Find someone to fight or find a blackish purple mushroom to get adrenaline slots first!
CHARACTER ASSASSINATION
- DON’T get too attached to the characters you meet outside of Ravensthorpe. Unlike previous AC games, you’ll be concentrating on mini-stories within each region, instead of an over-arching plot. It will take a lonnnnng time to get to the over-arching plot. You'll meet a tonnnnnne of characters and have a hard time remembering them all.
There’s are 5 regions (3 known, 2 hidden) and overall 21 different "Territories" to explore, and there’s a mini-plot associated with each one. England alone has 16 individual territories that you will need to pledge to and win to get to the final story.
- DON’T expect to finish this game’s main story in anything less than 100+ hours. Around 40-ish hours in you’ll reach a pivotal story part of the game and think you’re close to the end game.
Heh. You’re not even close.
YOU CAN’T A-FJORD IT
- DON’T sell the animal resources you find (fish, animal bone, skins) for some paltry silver. INSTEAD, trade these animal resources at the Ravensthorpe Fishing Hut and Hunter's hut (once you've built them) for more useful ingots and tattoos and runes.
List of rewards you can get at the Fishing Hut:
Fishing Hut | Assassin's Creed Wiki | Fandom
List of rewards you can get at the Hunter's Hut:Hunter's Hut | Assassin's Creed Wiki | Fandom
- DO find and loot EVERY CHEST when you do a Raid! You’ll want those resources later as this is the only way to upgrade your Ravensthrope buildings. Inside each chest will be supplies and raw materials for building. (BTW once you've found every chest, Eivor will tell the crew it's time to go and that there's nothing more to do there).
- DO upgrade Ravensthorpe’s buildings as FAST as you can. Ravensthorpe has 6 levels of upgrades and the only way get resources to do this is by raiding Abbeys and pillaging their chests.
KEEL THEM ALL
- DO use your longship to travel quickly on rivers and unlock fast travel points (basically wharfs) while you do it. This will help you get around the map faster later in the game. I found that I barely used my longship later into the game, and stuck with my horse or just running (and using these fast travel points).
- FYI there is much less empty traversal in Valhalla, and FWIW I travelled over 500,000 kms less (!) than I did in Odyssey.
- DO get the “Heavy dual wield” skill ASAP (it’s on the far left of the red coloured branch of the skill tree).
- DO try different dual wielding combos. For example using two axes at a time gives you a special spinning axe attack, and wielding dual spears keeps enemies at a distance and is a deadly quick combo.
- DON’T be stingy about upgrading the gear you do find! Unlike in Odyssey, you won’t be regularly finding new weapons and armour. Upgrade the ones you do find, and don’t worry about finding a better version of what you have. Every piece of armor and weapon is unique and can be heavily upgraded (and should be!)
NORSE CODE
- DO install the UBI CONNECT app on your phone and desktop!
https://ubisoftconnect.com
The app makes completing the game a little more fun. It tracks your progress and gives you challenges to compete for opals. And it’ll tell you how many Cairn Stones you’ve completed, Drinking Games won, etc. And it sends you encouraging notes when you have the app open as you start the game.
- DO get the “Blinding Rush” ability to slow down time BEFORE doing all the Flying Paper challenges. Usually you can trigger this ability right before you are going to gran the flying paper, slowing down time so that you can grab it before it flies off! Sometimes you won’t be able to trigger the ability until you’re already chasing the paper because the These unlock a random tattoo scheme for Eivor.
- DO regularly reset your skill tree and try new things. It doesn’t cost you anything, and early on I found that I wanted a certain set of skills from the “left” side of the skill tree but to get those I had to remove skills from the “right” side to have enough points to get to them. Don’t be afraid to specialize, reset, and then respec. I did this a lot early on.
Here are some basic tips for upgrading Ravensthorpe:
- At LEVEL 1:
Level 1 buildings cost 400 Supplies and 30 Raw Materials.
Build the Blacksmith and Stable and Aviary. This will let you upgrade your weapons, train your horses to run faster and swim, and change the look of your bird. - At LEVEL 2:
Level 2 buildings cost 600 Supplies and 45 Raw Materials.
Build the Hidden Ones Bureau, Fishing Hut and Shipyard. This will let you trade fish for items you actually want (ingots, runes, tattoos) and change the appearance of your ship.
- At LEVEL 3+:
Level 3 buildings cost 800 Supplies and 60 Raw Materials.
Build the Seers Hut (which gives access to an alternative story arc that’s fantastic) and the Cartographer’s hut (so that you can buy maps to find treasures easier).
After this, most of the Building upgrades you do will apply to the FEAST BUFF. The Feast Buff is a dinner bell that’s hanging near the door of your longhouse at Ravensthorpe, and you ring the bell to trigger a lavish feast that will apply any buffs from the buildings you’ve made.FEAST BUFFS FOR EACH BUILDING YOU UPGRADE:
🍰 Bakery = +Health
🍺 Brewery = +Health
🐄 Cattle Farm = +Ranged Damage
🐔 Fowl Farm = +Melee Damage
🌾 Grain Farm = +Armor
🪓 Alvis and Holger’s House = +Assassination Damage
🗡️ Hunwald and Swanburrow’s House = +Assassination Damage
- DO return to Ravensthorpe often and use its free resources! Arrows and berries are scattered around Ravensthorpe, and early on you’ll want quick access to these all the time.
Berries give you health.
Arrows are for shooting enemies (duh) but also for shooting out windows and shooting hidden spots that let you sneak into buildings (and find treasures!). And once you have a Predator bow plus the Incendiary Powder Trap Ranged Ability, every area should be accessible to you. - DO remember to always visit the Hidden Bureau at Ravensthorpe (once you’ve built it). It will be surrounded by dummies that you can stab to get instant adrenaline boosts.
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DO always leave Ravensthorpe with as many berries in your belly, arrows in your inventory, and adrenaline slots filled as you can! It's like your own little prepper stash.
JAPE AND PILLAGE
- DO "Flyting" challenges until you get to Charisma level 3 or 4! Higher charisma will let you pick some better dialogue options and often save you time by talking your way out of a possibly bad situation.
- DO save most of the very tough enemies — Legendary Animals, Zealots, Order of the Ancients, etc. — until you’re at least level 200.
- Level 409 is the current max skill level now (until the DLC is released).
- DO the “Treasures of Britain” to collect several tablets that will eventually lead you to the most special item in the game! To get each treasure you have to navigate a challenge cave, and they’re some of the best content in the game.
IT ALL HENGES ON YOU
Releasing tomorrow (Thursday, May 13th) is the first DLC expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, “Wrath Of The Druids” that will see you to traveling back and forth from 9th-Century Ireland, and it promises to add at least 18 more hours of Valhalla — 13 hours in “Main” storyline quests, and another 5 hours in “Side” activities.
FYI to get started in “Wrath”, you will need to have completed the first story arc in England, and establish an alliance with either Ledecestrescire or Grantebridgescire (these are the first two regions available to you upon Eivor's arrival to jolly ole England).
Head to Ravensthorpe, and a horn will sound that signals a new visitor has arrived on the docks. Meet this new character at the docks, help them with a short introductory mission in England, and then you will have access to Ireland! You can travel back and forth anytime using your Atlas.
FYI Ireland has been set at power level 55, and it’s generally a good idea to at least match the skill level of the area before attempting it, unless you’re very good at combat.
BTW, HERE IS THE OFFICIAL SHACKNEWS REVIEW OF THE GAME
(from November 9th, 2020):
