Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla’s next major expansion, Dawn of Ragnarök, will be releasing March 10.

Dawn of Ragnarök will be available as a separate purchase for $59.95 by all owners of the main game.

With development led by Ubisoft Sofia, Dawn of Ragnarök is the next major expansion fpor the game. It continues Year 2 of post-launch support for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

In this expansion, Eivor must embrace their destiny as Odin, the Norse god of Battle and Wisdom. The dwarven kingdom of Svartalfheim is crumbling, and amid the chaos, Odin’s beloved son, Baldr, has been taken prisoner by the unkillable fire giant, Surtr. In Dawn of Ragnarök, players will be able to unleash new divine powers as they continue their legendary Viking saga. They will by embarking on a desperate rescue quest through a mythological world of contrasts.

All players purchasing Dawn of Ragnarök between now and April 9, 2022 will receive the Twilight Pack and will have immediate access to the main game

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Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories featuring Eivor and Kassandra are available now.

Both stories are available for free for owners of the respective base games. One story features Eivor and Kassandra available in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The other features Kassandra or Alexios available in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories is the first cross-game project on the franchise. The content aims at answering the question “What happens when two Assassin’s Creed heroes meet?”. This allows fans to explore the ties between the heroes of the two games. It also features new environments to explore as well as a rich storyline.

Check out the Dev Diary here for more info:

For the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla crossover story, A Fated Encounter, players must have reached Settlement Level 4 and completed the quest “A Wise Friend,” where Eivor helps Valka establish herself in Ravensthorpe.

For the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey crossover story, Those Who Are Treasured, players will need to have completed Chapter 1 and reached Megaris to access the content, but it’s recommended that players finish the main game’s three story arcs (Family, Cult of Kosmos and Mythology) to avoid spoilers.

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I know what you’re thinking. You’ve sieged the UK, you’ve sieged Ireland, where else can one seige? Well now it is Frances turn. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s latest expansion/DLC package is The Siege of Paris.

Looking at the latest trailer below I can confirm…it still looks awesome!

Set in Francia, this new adventure will set Eivor on a dangerous path full of gripping questlines across the Frankish countryside, towards one of the most infamous conquest battles in Viking history.

Players will get their hands on new weapons, abilities, gear, and skills to take on new enemy types. The Siege of Paris will also mark the return of Infiltration Missions, directly inherited from long-time, fan-favorite Black Box Missions. 

Here, players will have the liberty to choose the best way to eliminate their designated target. The Siege of Paris will be available for all Season Pass owners or as a separate purchase for $49.95 NZD.

Along with the Expansion 2, the “The Siege of Paris” music album will release on August 13th, giving all fans the chance to fully enjoy the complete soundtrack. From today, they can discover “Hásæti”, the first track of the album composed by Stephanie Economou. With this song, she wanted to evoke a sense of spirituality and depth in the music and vocals. The lyrics are in Old Norse, with “Hásæti” translating to “Seat of Honor.”

You can listen to the single here:  

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You’ve sieged the UK, you’ve sieged Ireland, Now it is Frances turn. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s latest expansion/DLC package is The Siege of Paris.

Looking at the trailer below I can confirm…it looks awesome!

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s second expansion, The Siege of Paris, will release on August 13.

Set in Francia, this new adventure will set Eivor on a dangerous path full of gripping questlines across the Frankish countryside, towards one of the most infamous conquest battles in Viking history.

Players will get their hands on new weapons, abilities, gear, and skills to take on new enemy types. The Siege of Paris will also mark the return of Infiltration Missions, directly inherited from long-time, fan-favorite Black Box Missions. 

Here, players will have the liberty to choose the best way to eliminate their designated target. The Siege of Paris will be available for all Season Pass owners or as a separate purchase for $49.95 NZD.

Along with the Expansion 2, the “The Siege of Paris” music album will release on August 13th, giving all fans the chance to fully enjoy the complete soundtrack. From today, they can discover “Hásæti”, the first track of the album composed by Stephanie Economou. With this song, she wanted to evoke a sense of spirituality and depth in the music and vocals. The lyrics are in Old Norse, with “Hásæti” translating to “Seat of Honor.” To listen the single, please visit:  

Sigrblot Festival

Starting Thursday, July 29, players can celebrate Summer in the time limited Sigrblot Festival, a traditional Viking festival celebrating the start of the Raiding season.

Until August 19, various festive activities will be available in the Ravensthorpe settlement around the traditional bonfire, including:

• Flyting, Fight Tournament, and Dice Game mini-games
• Three new quests available
• Exclusive rewards including settlement decorations, customization items, and weapons. Notably, the one-handed sword Skrofnung can be acquired with Sigrblot tokens in the festival shop for a limited time before the festival ends

To experience the Sigrblot Festival, players must reach England and complete one of the first narrative arcs – either Grantebridgescire or Ledecestrescire – and have their settlement reach Level 2.

An additional update is planned for later this season and will bring a new River Raids map pack, with destinations scattered along the rivers of Francia and Ireland.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One , PS5, PS4, the Epic Games Store and PC.

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If the end of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was a little underwhelming, maybe the first DLC package will start answering your questions. Even if it doesn’t it has a whole lot of druids anyway so that’s a thing….

Check out the trailer below to see if you want to join Eivor on his/her journey to Ireland.

Eivor’s new adventure will have players journey to bewitching and beautiful Ireland and unravel the mysteries of an ancient druidic cult, the Children of Danu.

The story starts as Eivor is summoned to Ireland by their long-lost cousin Barid. Quickly they are drafted by the High–King of Ireland Flann Sinna to embark on a perilous journey and unite the warring factions.

The intriguing but treacherous Celtic Ireland is a whole new region to explore, including three provinces and the city of Dublin.

The expansion also features famous historical landmarks such as the Giant’s Causeway, Tara Hill, Black Pig’s Dyke, Ben Bulben and more.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is available on Xbox Series X | S, XB1, PS5, PS4, PC, and Stadia.

The Wrath of the Druids expansion can be purchased as a standalone or as part of the Season Pass. You don’t need to have completed the main story to five into the Wrath of the Druids.

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s first Season named “Yule Season” is available.

It will last for three months with exclusive narrative content and in-game events accessible to all players for free.

Seasons are coming to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to extend the post-launch experience throughout 2021, delivering a variety of new free content for all players focused on gameplay and world evolution, with updates coming in at different points during the Season.

The first Seasonal content of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the Yule Season, invites players to discover the Yule Festival, an in-game event active until January 7 in a dedicated area of the settlement.

During the Yuletide celebration, players can join in the festivities with a new Drinking game, an Archery mini-game, a Fist Fight tournament, and two new character quests available in the settlement.

In addition, players can earn exclusive rewards including a new gear set, settlement decorations, and more.

To experience the Yule Festival, players must reach England and complete one of the first narrative arcs, either Grantebridgescire or Ledecestrescire. The festival will then be triggered automatically when players visit the settlement.

The real-life Ravensthorpe (population 498*) is also celebrating the in-game Season 1 launch, with the Lord of the Manor, Charlie Reeve, declaring a week-long Valhalliday.

From now until December 24, the local Chequers Pub & Village Shop, the village hub, will offer an Assassin’s Creed Valhalla-themed takeway menu to patrons.

Finally, a donation of $5,000 from Ubisoft will go towards supporting Ravensthorpe’s playground project, as well as other community projects.

A second update will add more content for the Yule Season in February:

• River Raids: a new game mode building on the core raiding mechanic will be introduced, delivering a dynamic, challenging, and highly replayable raid experience. As the River Raids rely heavily on the Jomsviking recruits, players can hire Jomsviking from their friends online to take on an entire crew. The River Raids game mode features raids with higher stakes and different difficulty levels. 
• Ranks for Jomsviking: In the Yule Season, an update to the Jomsviking feature will allow players’ Jomsviking to earn XP and rank up – the higher the rank, the more silver players can earn when their Jomsviking are recruited by other players
• Additional new abilities and rewards

Make sure you check out our review for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla!

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There’s always been an issue with finding Vikings and Norse mythology cool; at least, ever since a few bad eggs went and ruined it for everyone. Symbols corrupted, myths manipulated, and even now Gods are consistently reduced to one dimensional caricatures or pop culture himbos.

Assassin’s Creed is the best series to deal with this subject matter without veering into dodgy territory. And, luckily, it’s come out well; we have a Norse Assassin’s Creed game.

Valhallelujah, Eivor is boss

Our protagonist Eivor is a freakin’ legend. She fights well, fucks better, and is an oddly temperate voice in an otherwise bloodthirsty world. Not that she’s a pushover; again, she can be an absolute beast when she wants to.

Storywise, AC has Yggdrastill got it. Family murdered in front of you, quest for vengeance resolved fast but leads into wider conspiracy, meeting some cool history friends along the way; it’s ll par for the course, but if it ain’t brokedon’t fix it right?

This time, we don’t have a Piece of Eden in our back pocket, so Eivor is a much more grounded protagonist. Unfortunately, she’s also not as interesting as Odyssey’s Kassandra. That’s a high bar, granted, and in terms of AC Eivor is definitely more interesting than Altair or Bayek. Just that the Greeks are a hard act to follow, ya know?

As a side note, the mini story inserted via partaking in some recreational herbs is also pretty damn entertaining. Incongrous and ridiculous, yes, but still fun. Seems Ubisoft has taken the more outlandish elemnts from older games to heart, and that’s always nice.

Fighting like a Viking

In contract, combat doesn’t feel quite so fantastic this time around. Eivor is, for all intents and purposes, just a human, and as a result the rough and tumble is a lot more, well, rough. Even the fastest weapons feel sluggish, while the enemy timing windows for parry and dodge are razor sharp. Admittedly I was fiddling around in the difficulty settings (which allow fine tuning of various aspects of difficulty independently), so mileage may indeed vary.

The pacing also leaves something to be desired. Level scaling has been removed, for some reason, so engaging in the sidequests that litter England can make your character a little overpowered. Not enough to be gamebreaking, mind, but enough that the challenge gets dwindled a bit below what you were aiming for with those nice sliders.

Furthermore naval combat is gone, even though the game still wants you to spend a lot of time in a boat. After a while, there’s no real reason to get on the water, except to see your cat.

I got a boat cat. She is vicious and chonky. I love her.

Njord a bad looking game

But hey, onto the techy stuff. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla makes England actually look like a green and pleasant land; the water especially is pretty damn nice, seeing all the little fishies flapping their flappers in the rivers and lakes. The soundtrack is also mostly Ragnarockin’, fusing drums and chanting with church bells and some good old AC indecipherable vocals. I like it, but then again, I’ve never disliked an Assassin’s Creed soundtrack. So, ya know, hope you like cool junk like this.

As an aside, there’s a shameful joy in invading a country that spend a millenia invading others. Yeah, the Vikings weren’t exactly nice to the Irish either, but damned if it isn’t satisfying to be the one setting torch to someone rather than the other way around. 800 years, friends. And although the DLC promises I’ll get to invade my own homeland in early 2021, I’m still enjoying a bit of turnabout and fair play.

(No, obviously I’m being facetious, but c’mon let me have this).

Asgard as it gets

All in all, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a huge, unwieldy, but very enjoyable experience. You may not like what happens (pour some out for best pupper Fenrir), but the whole package is a Helheim of a good time.

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The day has finally arrived.

You can explore the Norse world in this Viking epic with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla now.

Players can also embark on more adventures with the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Season Pass. Included in the Gold, Ultimate and Collector’s Editions.

• The Legend of Beowulf quest – In this exclusive quest, players will uncover the monstrous truth behind the legend of Beowulf, available on launch day.
• Expansion 1 – Wrath of the Druids (Spring 2021) – In this new adventure, players will journey to Ireland and unravel the secrets of an ancient and mysterious druidic cult, tracking and discovering their members. Diving into Gaelic myths and folklores, they’ll need to fight their way through haunted forests and dazzling landscapes while gaining influence among Gaelic kings.
• Expansion 2 – The Siege of Paris (Summer 2021) – In The Siege of Paris, players will have the chance to relive the most ambitious battle in Viking history with key historical figures of war-torn Frankia. During this key moment in history, players will infiltrate the fortified city of Paris and the River Seine under a prolonged siege, uncover enemy secrets and form strategic alliances to safeguard their clan’s future.

In addition, all players will have access to an extensive lineup of free seasonal content, including new narrative content and in-game events available after launch. Each season will last three months and will be accessible to all player types and levels of progression, focusing on gameplay, world evolution, and other exciting content. Season 1 will launch in December and includes:

• A new settlement area, allowing players to continue to grow and evolve their settlement.
• The Yule Festival, a traditional Viking festival for players to experience in their settlement.
• River Raids, a new game mode building on the game’s core raiding mechanic to deliver a dynamic, challenging and highly replayable raid experience.
• The addition of the Ranks for Jomsviking where players can not only create their lieutenant to be part of their raiding crew, but also recruit from their friends and the community. In Season 1, players will see an update to the Jomsviking feature, which will allow their Jomsviking to earn XP and rank up. The higher the rank of the lieutenant, the more silver players will earn when recruited by other players.
• Season 1 will also come with new player skills, abilities, weapons and gear, along with new cosmetic items for their settlement, longship, horse and raven.

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I far cry from the infamous Gameplay trailer from a few months ago, There is now a trailer with more information than you can shake a sword at.

Check it out:

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Ubisoft has announced Echoes of Valhalla, a podcast documentary series that is starting today.

The podcast will unveils the historical background of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

In Echoes of Valhalla, Vikings tell their very own story to give a new voice to the warriors who have travelled and shaped the world.

It can be listened to on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/32D0s4zdgKVDplzPf8GZBO?si=YXZV_5tSRJi5DA2yaC1MEg

A new trailer for the game has also been released:

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