Completionists who have unearthed every ability and leveled up to find every extra ability bar in Assassin's Creed Valhalla still have a tough choice to make. With so much variety, there are still only eight slots for which to equip these fine moves. Therefore, there will be serious competition for every player's toolbar. This circumstance begs the question, "Which ability is most worth the player's time?"
Adding to the difficulty in the decision-making, only four melee abilities and four ranged abilities can be equipped in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, so players that want to be predominantly archers or swordsmen will have to decide which alternate skills help bolster their primary fighting style the most. For gamers that have settled on their favorites, stick with what works. For the rest who need some more debate before making a decision, here are some of the top contenders to consider.
Updated on July 6th, 2022 by Hodey Johns: Since this article was first published, Siege of Paris, Wrath of the Druids, and Dawn of Ragnarok DLCs have all been released, each introducing new abilities. When this list was updated, it grew from ten to sixteen skills and now another few entries are proving they belong. With only eight skill slots (four melee and four ranged), this many skills were not exactly helpful. Now, the list is back down to ten with only the best of the best skills included. Never fear, all of the quality skills from every piece of content have been included. Players may still prefer another skill, but these provide the most utility and damage for the adrenaline they cost.
10 Kick Of Tyr
Anybody trying to beat all the games without taking any damage will need to rely heavily on instant death and stun abilities. Kick of Tyr can potentially be a little bit of both, so it's a must-have on a survivalist's toolbar.
This kick will put most bosses on their backs and set Eivor up for a free finishing blow. But even bosses that have tons of health can be killed in a single strike with this by sending them off a cliff. It has the potential to put most hard encounters on easy mode.
9 Rage Axe
With a big mystery still left to uncover, the closing chapter could introduce some incredible skills. But can it introduce one that stuns, deals damage, and pushes all in one go? To compete with Rage Axe for a spot on this list, it would have to.
Rage Axe does, admittedly, cost an extra bar of adrenaline when the move is executed properly. It's worth the investment. Many veterans of the game save Eivor's bars for bosses and this is a boss-killer at its core. The knockback can potentially put the enemy into a very dangerous predicament, similar to Kick Of Tyr.
8 Smoke Bomb Arrow
Disabling an entire group sets them up for easy assassinations and that's just what the Smoke Bomb Arrow brings to the table. The radius is huge, much larger than the radius on other fire and poison effects tied to arrows on other abilities.
At level two, this ability gets really hilarious. The smoke cloud is now flammable, so after stunning a group, pull out a free torch, toss it in, and watch the hilarity ensue. On tough groups, this sequence is repeatable because the stun will keep them from seeing Eivor.
7 Poisonous Powder Trap
It's no secret that Ubisoft has been abandoning stealth in favor of open worlds. Some players will resist this change. Others will embrace the chaos and accept that dishing out large quantities of damage is more important than some hidden stealth rating, so they'll use Poisonous Powder Trap.
Not only will striking the boss make it poisoned, but the arrow will release toxic fumes a second time after the upgrade, increasing the duration of poison effects. The skill description makes it seem advantageous to use it on patrolling mobs, and that's also an efficient use of this skill, making it versatile enough to regularly keep on Eivor's wheel.
6 Goule Breath
By the time players have gotten to the Siege of Paris DLC, they'll likely have put in hundreds of hours into this RPG. That time won't be wasted after getting ahold of this unorthodox stun, Goule Breath.
Stun is a nice way of putting it. It makes enemies keel over and start vomiting in a large area. The damage on this move isn't necessarily incredible in terms of damage but it doesn't have to be; while they are throwing up, Eivor can get nice, easy, clean headshots.
5 Knockback Arrow
Although the DLC of the game has a big problem, learning new abilities is still an exciting moment during these extra campaigns. This list is dominated by stun effects for a good reason; they set up free attacks and allow targets to be killed before they can sound an alarm.
Knockback Arrow is a new skill that provides two area stuns. The first happens when the arrow is initially fired. At level two, when the target hits the ground, enemies around the target are, once again, stunned. That's plenty of time for even an amateur sniper to wipe out a large patrol.
4 Piercing Shot
The tooltip states that this allows Eivor to shoot through "nearly any obstacle." Go ahead and put this to the test and find out why this skill is widely regarded as overpowered and game-breaking.
Thick marble, solid floors, reinforced roofing, none of it can stand against the piercing arrow. What's more, this allows Eivor to stay out of the enemy's line of sight. Opponents that watch others get killed by the arrow will fruitlessly run around without any clue as to where the arrows are coming from.
3 Irish Wolfhound
The wolf summon from Man's Best Friend unquestionably does more damage than the Irish Wolfhound. But damage is such a small part of the game and this ability gets the nod over that because of how it synergizes with Eivor.
The Irish Wolfhound is a disabling machine, knocking over enemies left and right. The rate at which this attack occurs is ridiculous and, on a single target, will essentially keep them knocked over for as long as the hound is on the field.
2 Mark Of Death
This ability gives Eivor a few seconds to look at any enemies near and far. After that timer ends, Eivor will fire a volley of arrows that instantly kills almost anyone that Eivor saw during that time. It wipes out large groups of enemies with ease.
And somehow, even this isn't the extent of the ability's power. By scrolling over a single enemy multiple times, Eivor can fire this same volley at the same target, with each arrow guaranteed to strike. It wipes out mobs and bosses alike.
1 Incendiary Powder Trap
This is the best ability in the game and it's not close. The fire damage is incredible and the explosion will easily destroy most targets. The upgrade allows the trigger to go off twice, so striking a boss with this arrow will deal huge damage and then set them on fire for a long time.
And there's more. This move can break through walls that ordinarily require explosive jars. Sometimes jars aren't available or don't spawn correctly in the puzzles, so this allows players to bypass all that nasty business and just bulldoze their way to the end.