Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s The Siege of Paris DLC introduces new quests, locations, and weapons to the open-world game. One of the biggest additions is one-handed swords, with a total of six new blades in the DLC, each offering impressive stats to battle the many enemies of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Being one-handed weapons, short swords can be used in tandem with a shield or a second one-handed weapon, making them a versatile choice.
Four of the short swords can be found in the world through quests or during exploration. With the introduction of these weapons, players looking for a weapon between daggers and axes can wield something that might better suit their style. As with other weapons, the different short swords benefit from different skill trees.
One-Handed Swords
The Egbert Short Sword can be found by completing the “Ulfberht’s trail” world event. It has a unique perk that increases the stun following each hit and boasts well-balanced base stats. Meanwhile, the Ring-sword is perfect for mobility builds as it improves the Critical Chance when dodging and has a high base speed stat. It can be located by completing the quest “Skal” in the DLC’s main storyline.
Durendal is found in a chest inside a well in Aquila, and has arguably one of the best perks in the game. Whenever the wielder’s health is over 85 percent it increases Critical Chance. Finally, Joyeuse is found in a chest within the Hidden Ones Bureau in Paris. Obtaining this short sword may be the most time-consuming, as that chest requires three keys scattered across Francia.
Two additional swords are not obtainable through world exploration or missions. The Coil Sword can only be bought from the Ubisoft Store, while Skrofnung is available only during the Sigrblot event from one of the vendors. Skrofnung’s perk will increase Ability Damage while dodging, making it effective for activities like Assassins Creed Valhalla's raids.
Daggers
In comparison to daggers, short swords have lower mobility but dish out more damage. Yet the key difference between daggers and short swords is stun damage. While legendary daggers do have perks that can help players during a battle, the perks available on most short swords have better effects that can improve certain stats of the weapon. Daggers are by far the fastest weapons in the game, but the short sword offers a good balance of both speed and damage.
Hammers
One-handed hammers are not a very common weapon in the game, but the legendary hammer Mjolnir is one of the best weapons players can get their hands on. In terms of damage, stun, and critical chance, hammers far outclass the short sword. Even with the short sword’s higher speed, the hammer can still deal out more damage per second when stun and critical hits are taken under consideration. The pair function well together in a dual-wield setup with the sword in the off-hand. Using a sword such as Joyeuse can improve damage by assisting the hammer’s attack with their perks.
One-handed Axes
One-handed axes are the most comparable weapon to the short sword. Both weapons have good stun and critical chance, and while the axes edge ahead in terms of damage, swords are a bit faster. However, the swords come out on top thanks to the boost provided by the unique perks. The poison damage perk from the Joyeuse, for example, gives swords the edge over even the higher-end axes.
One-handed Axes are a good pairing for short swords since both types of weapons have complementary stats. The axe offers good damage and critical chance while the short sword’s speed and unique perks can assist the axe in off-hand hits.
Flails
Flails are a unique weapon type with solid animations and fun mechanics. They boast high damage and critical chance, as well as decent perks to improve stats during combat. The one pitfall to using a flail is slow swing speed. While certain perks improve this, they are still unable to match the damage-per-second capabilities of the short sword. For beginners, flails are not the best option, and the short sword is far more reliable throughout a fight.
Shields
While shields can be used as a one-handed weapon, they are not as effective as any of the other weapon types. They offer great critical chance and stun, but are slow and do not have the damage numbers of other weapons. However, the shield is a perfect companion weapon for the short sword, as it improves the stun and critical chance of attacks following a shield hit. However, a combination of a short sword with a hammer or axe is far more reliable.
Two-Handed Weapons
The spear has similar stats to the short sword in both speed and critical chance. Unfortunately, the lower damage and stun are not enough for longer fights. This is where the short sword shines through by giving players the chance to deal more damage and giving them a higher chance to stun enemies to create space.
The two-handed axes far outclass the short sword in terms of stun, critical chance, and power. Even with their slow speed, certain styles will benefit much more by using the two-handed axes. The one area where the short sword is more effective would be raids, since players will be fighting off multiple enemies.
Great swords are much faster than the two-handed axes and deal more damage than spears. In terms of comparing them to the short sword, the only stat they fall short on is speed. However, this also means they deal around the same damage per second as the short sword. The great sword would benefit more as a primary weapon with the short sword being a secondary weapon.
The short sword was something that players wanted since the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Ubisoft managed to ensure that the short swords are not too overpowered. The versatility of these swords is what sets them apart from the other one-handed weapons, but by no means do the swords replace them. Instead, using the short sword in tandem with more powerful one-handed weapons like hammers is the most effective strategy.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
