Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update Improves Stealth, Prepares Game For Dawn Of Ragnarok

The latest update for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla arrives on February 22, bringing a number of tweaks and fixes to the Nordic sandbox and preparing the game for March’s huge Dawn of Ragnarok expansion. The good news is that even if you’re not planning to hop into the new DLC, there’ll still be plenty of content available that will benefit your overall gameplay experience.

One area of the game where you can expect a more fine-tuned experience is in the stealth department, as Ubisoft has addressed a number of issues. After the game has been updated, expect an improved enemy reaction to Eivor’s whistle, enemies detecting Eivor when they place an environmental trap, and wild animals apparently having an infinite range of vision that results in NPCs being alerted to your shenanigans.

If you’re finding Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to be too difficult even on its lowest difficulty setting, a more accessible option will make the game much easier. Saga difficulty is a mode that focuses on the story of Valhalla, buffing Eivor’s resistance to damage, increasing the window of opportunity for assassinations, and keeping enemies at a fixed level that doesn’t scale with your own progress.

You can expect the update to roll out from 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET, with the following file sizes according to platform:

• Xbox Series X|S: 12.27 GB
• Xbox One: 9.84 GB
• PS5: 3.60 GB
• PS4: 7.94 GB
• PC: 15.09 GB

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has done particularly good business for Ubisoft, as the company reported that net bookings and Player Recurring Investment AKA microtransactions grew by 70% and 80% when compared to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

You can read the full patch notes below:

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Title Update 1.5.0 Patch Notes

Expansion 3: Dawn of Ragnarok

• Added support for the new expansion Dawn of Ragnarök, available on March 10.
• New players can start the expansion at any time from the main menu with player boost. You will start your journey at Power Level 340 with a predefined selection of gear and weapons.
• New Divine Quality for gear and weapons.
• 3 new tiers of upgrade
• A new special rune slot
• Expand your progression with 4 new abilities and 6 new skills.
• Unlock new weapons and armor sets.

Stealth Fixes

• AI reaction to whistle improved.
• Players get detected by enemies when using environmental traps.
• Wild animals detecting Eivor regardless of distance/angle and alerting nearby NPCs.
• NPCs disengaging from conflicts extremely quickly.
• Enemy detection cones reducing when using a bow.
• Monks having difficulty to leave the music crowd stations in the quest Taken (Kidnap Estrid).

Gameplay

• Added a Saga Difficulty Mode: Write your own Viking Saga without having to worry about the challenges of stealth and combat.
• Combat: Enemies inflict less damage and don’t scale with players.
• Stealth: More time allowed to perform actions when being detected (assassinating, shooting, disengaging, etc.).

Added new combat settings.

• Damage Eivor Takes
• Eivor Damage Output
• Ration Healing Ratio
• Adrenaline Regeneration
• Enemy Health Modifier
• Added support for more controllers on PC (Nintendo Switch Pro & Stadia)

Addressed Issues

• Eivor gets teleported randomly in some instances.
• Headshots are blocked by the NPC’s shield when shooting from behind while undetected.
• Players can remain stuck in any Boss fight if Dive of the Valkyries is used as last hit while having the Night Rogue Set equipped.
• PC players losing all input after pressing the ; key on their keyboard.
• Light Fingered skill not activating when dodging through a lootable body.
• Cannot defeat the Black Shuck Alpha Animal as the end QTE is not appearing.
• Enemy’s attacks become weaker if Combat Difficulty value was set to Custom.
• Unable to use the fishing line.
• Unable to use rations.
• Several option changes made from the pause menu were not applied.
• Hero stats not updated correctly upon equipping the Arenhare’ko:wa Gear Set.
• Feign death ability not working properly when used on specific terrain or objects.
• Eivor’s bow disappearing when using the Goule Breath.
• Mouse and keyboard icons remain visible despite adding a controller.
• Wrath of the Druids: Enemies in Dublin and Meath territories do not scale with Eivor’s Power Level after changing Level scaling options.
• The Siege of Paris: Keyboard input being displayed while using a controller in some instances.

Main quests, world events, and side activities

• Dag is not present near the longhouse making it impossible to complete A Brewing Storm.
• Cannot progress The Prodigal Prince as the assassination prompts are not showing up during the training sequence.
• Cannot collect the Offchurch Key during the Tilting the Balance quest.
• Cannot assassinate Gorm in Hunter of Beasts.
• Missing quest marker in Closing the Vault after following Ljufvina.
• Unable to complete The Forge and the Flame quest as a cutscene would not be triggered.
• Unable to complete Pilgrimage to St. Albanes as players cannot interact with Fulke.
• Unable to kill the Pict Chief during the quest Old Friends.
• Unable to proceed in Road to Hamartia as Beonton the dog is stuck.
• Unable to interact with Ivarr during King Killer.
• Unable to complete A Feast to Remember after defeating Suttungr.
• Unable to proceed in Abbots Gambit with the objective Find Fulke and Sigurd.
• Unable to complete This Son of Jorvik as Faravid does not get on his horse.
• Old Wounds cannot be completed as Rollo is stuck outside his camp.
• Guards are stuck in the brothel in Old Wounds.
• Cannot complete King of Shitsby World Event due to NPC spawning outside of the church.
• Deviled Water world event cannot be completed as NPC is stuck in the river.
• Haunting of Neist Point and The Drink of the Picts world events cannot be completed if a meditation is performed during the Dialogue Scene.
• The NPC does not show up in the camp in the World Event The Twit Saga Part 2.
• The Siege of Paris: Siegfried does not move in Warlord of Melun.
• Wrath of the Druids: Barid and Ciara will not go to the coronation for Flann over Ireland.

Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories

• A Fated Encounter does not update upon completing A Wise Friend and building Valka’s Hut.
• The Temple could be opened by throwing a fire pot at the door in What Dream May Come.
• What Dreams May Come quest does not update after exploring the Cave of Gold if the objective is reached after entering a conflict state.
• Enemy villagers can be found again at the light puzzle in the Cave of Gold after completing What Dreams May Come.
• Two of the five shards remain marked on the map upon collecting them in Counting Sheep.
• Kassandra’s voice does not match in a segment of the Dialogue Scene in Night and Day.

River Raids, Jomsvikings, Raids

• Extensive loading times when transitioning from River Raids to the Ravensthorpe.

Mastery Challenges

• Unable to progress in A Challenge From the Gods after the first cutscene.
• Enemies are not highlighted when using Odin Sight in Odin Mine Hideout.
• Goliath NPC can throw the boar outside of the arena making it impossible to complete the Outpost Fight Challenge.
• NPC fall to their death in Lolingestone bandit camp.

Tombs of the Fallen

• Platforms descending before the push/pull object is on them.
• Carriable snaps in Eivor’s hands if thrown behind the spike wall in Swamp tomb.
• Various issues where Eivor would remain stuck in a free fall animation and/or get desynchronized.

Miscellaneous

• Wrong gameplay options present in the Discovery Tour: Viking Age menu.
• Online Service Error (0x20100302) when viewing photos on world map.
• Assassination cutscenes are still playing when activating Photo Mode.
• Horses can photobomb dialogues scenes.
• Achievements / Trophies are not unlocking after playing AC Crossover stories when sharing progression on multiple platforms.

Graphics, animation, and audio

• Meteorites not being spawned in England.
• Store items disappearing from the inventory or not being visible on Eivor.
• Smoke Bombs not exploding when returned to the enemy with the missile reversal skill.
• Instances of misplaced or floating objects or textures.
• Numerous clipping issues.
• Numerous graphics, texture, animation, or lighting issues.
• Various issues with missing SFX.
• Numerous Menu Narration issues.

User Interface and HUD

• Numerous UI/HUD issues.
• Added various improvements to the Codex menu.