Highlights
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla offers players hours of gameplay with its base game and DLCs, providing open-world exploration and non-linear progression.
- The Raven Skill Tree in Valhalla focuses on stealth and assassination abilities, offering benefits to character stats and equipment associated with that playstyle.
- Skills like Advanced Assassination, Auto Loot, and Backstab provide valuable advantages in combat, allowing players to take down enemies quickly and efficiently.
Although it has been several years since its original release, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla offers players hundreds of hours of playable content with the base game alone and several DLCs (downloadable content) like The Siege of Paris and Wrath of the Druids. With a focus on open-world exploration and non-linear progression like its predecessor AC: Odyssey, AC: Valhalla presents gamers with a trio of unlockable skill trees with different player techniques and preferences in mind.
The Raven Skill Tree favors stealth, dodging, deflecting, and encouraging and improving the use of the game title's assassination abilities, improving character stats, and providing statistical benefits to equipment associated with that skill tree. For those who prefer to take down targets at range, use poison as a classic tool in the assassin's arsenal, or simply want to get in and out cleanly without alerting the guards, the Raven Skill Tree has much to offer.
10 Advanced Assassination
As the name implies, Advanced Assassination gives Eivor the option to instantly take down higher-leveled opponents (or at least cause significant damage) by correctly completing a button press within the proper window of time. This can be exceptionally valuable when dealing with boss fights from mini to major, assuming players can successfully get the jump on their target.
Rather than having to spend time slugging it out toe-to-toe with a more difficult enemy and risk get spotted by other guards, Advanced Assassination can either allow Eivor to kill or at least deal massive amounts of damage in a devastating sneak attack.
9 Auto Loot
While this skill is buried further towards the rear of the Raven Skill Tree, the convenience of this skill cannot be overstated. Once acquired, every time the player kills an enemy via assassination or melee combat, the loot said character would drop instead goes into Eivor's inventory.
Not only does this save gamers a great deal of time, but it is also unintentionally useful as an accessibility feature for players with dexterity issues. This skill remains useful throughout the course of both the main storyline, endgame, and DLC content, particularly when it comes to sorting salvageable gear, crafting materials, and so on.
8 Backstab
Despite this skill's name possibly leading a player to think it would be related to assassination, Backstab provides the most utility during the inevitable one-on-one or mass melee combats present throughout AC: Valhalla. Backstab will cause opponents attacked directly from the rear to be staggered and receive additional damage not mitigated by their defense.
This skill can be further enhanced through the use of various weaponry, runes, and armor sets, but it should also be noted that unlike some other skills present in AC:Valhalla, the Backstab perk applies to damage dealt before the battle starts as well as any damage dealt from behind in combat.
7 Breakfall
As all too many players exploring new games have discovered to their dismay and frustration, the distance between a survivable jump and an accidentally deadly plummet can be razor-thin.
Considering this fact in a game that revolves around repeatedly climbing then rapidly descending tall structures of various kinds, Breakfall automatically makes Eivor roll when falling from damaging heights, instantly reducing damage taken. While some fall heights are too great even for Breakfall to make them survivable, it can save players a lot of grief.
6 Brush With Death
Any fans longing for the perfect insta-kill counters and assassination chains of prior games in the AC franchise will likely find themselves very happy by adding Brush With Death to Eivor's repertoire. By appropriately timing Eivor's dodge to avoid incoming enemy attacks, gamers essentially enter "bullet-time" for a few seconds, allowing for vital tactical repositioning like circling behind foes to put Backstab to maximum advantage.
Not only can players give Eivor the opportunity to stun and deal additional damage, it can also be an extremely advantageous pause mid-combat to down some rations and restore much-needed health during long encounters.
5 Chain Assassination
While not quite as useful as AC: Odyssey Rush Assassination, the Chain Assassination ability is a much more realistic and devastating practical ability to pick off groups of foes quickly and quietly. Once acquired, Chain Assassination allows Eivor to perform an instantaneous secondary ranged assassination within range by silently hurling an ax plucked from the first target. Players can use this ability to pick off multiple enemies without alerting nearby guards or whittle down group melees before they even begin.
Chain Assassination is especially useful during missions that involve tailing targets without raising the alarm and clearing out groups of rooftop archers before going for an aerial kill.
4 Counter Roll
In the spirit of high-risk, high-reward strategies favored by assassins throughout the franchise, Counter Roll can pay enormous dividends to players willing to gamble with Eivor's safety. After acquiring Counter Roll, players can activate this ability by dodging into incoming Rune Attack attacks right before they impact. Similarly to Brush With Death, Counter Roll synergizes perfectly with Backstab while also helping to neutralize what are usually unblockable attacks that players must avoid.
It must be noted that Brush With Death will only specifically work when an enemy is specifically using a Charged Rune Attack as opposed to a regular Rune Attack, so be pay attention to the color of the enemy attack to avoid damage and disappointment,
3 Miasma
This Raven Skill Tree ability might not be considered stealthy in the traditional sense, but in terms of putting down literal crowds of enemies without lifting a finger, Miasma is a stealth build utilizing Eivor's best friend. Given that poison and assassination have been intertwined throughout history and the franchise itself, Miasma encourages players to throw themselves into the use of poison weapons with lethal effects.
Once any enemy affected by Eivor's poison DOT (damage over time) expires, they release a bright green cloud of poisonous gas, which can quickly turn a cluster of tightly packed enemies into the tools of their own destruction. Few enemies are immune to poison other than Templars, making this ability well worth picking up.
2 Missile Reversal
Mastering the timing of countering enemy attacks is pivotal in AC: Valhalla as it is in many games, but Missile Reversal can be a true game changer, especially when it comes to engaging with some of the most formidable enemies Eivor will face on their epic saga. After purchasing Missile Reversal, whether it be an arrow, cannonball, incendiary mine, poison flask, or javelin, Eivor can send it rocketing back towards the ranged enemy.
Although not every single projectile is subject to the power of Missile Reversal, the sheer satisfaction of repeatedly downing foes with their own weaponry makes this too good to pass up, not to mention the added benefit of silencing any archer who gets too nosy for their own good. Players can even use Missile Reversal to defeat tough enemies without getting too close, so long as they are willing to continually provoke powerful ranged attacks themselves.
1 Predator Bow Combo
As the most potent bow type in AC: Valhalla compared to light bows and hunter bows, The Raven Skill Tree rewards players who know that the best kind shot on an opponent is a headshot. While it is worth noting that some more powerful enemies will be able to block or avoid arrow attacks entirely, the Predator Bow Combo rewards players who like to aim for the head.
It does so by providing increasing damage bonuses to enemies with each successful headshot in rapid succession. If a player enjoys sniping distant enemies with headshots and getting increasing damage in return, the Predator Bow Combo is well worth purchasing.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is available on Amazon Luna, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Ubisoft Connect, Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox X/S.