Assassin's Creed Valhalla Has A New 23GB Update Today, Here's What's Included

The latest update arrives tomorrow for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and it's a big one, clocking in at 23.79GB on Xbox Series X and Series S, and 17.2GB on Xbox One. But what's included? A lot, actually!

Firstly, we've got confirmation that the second expansion, The Siege of Paris, will be dropping on August 12, and this update adds support for that DLC, "preparing the game for the expansion's release".

Elsewhere, the update introduces level scaling so you can "adjust NPC levels to your liking", a limited-time event called the Sigrblot Festival, new skills, a skill tree update and much more. Here are the full patch notes:

Title Update 1.3.0 will be deployed on all supported platforms:

July 27, 2021, at 2 PM CEST, 8 AM ET, 5 AM PT, and 10 PM AEST.

New Content

The Siege of Paris – Expansion 2

Added support for The Siege of Paris, preparing the game for the expansion release on August 12. (a separate download is required on release day.)

Sigrblot Festival

  • Sigrblot Festival is a new time-limited event from July 29-August 19.
  • Partake in new festivities and quests to receive exclusive festival rewards (including a one-handed sword!!)
  • Players must reach England and complete one of the first two narrative arcs (Grantebridgescire OR Ledecestrescire) and be at least Settlement Level 2 to participate in the Sigrblot Festival.

Level Scaling

  • We added a new menu option to the game to adjust NPC levels to your liking. You may choose from the following options:
    • Off = Scaling is turned off; enemies appear exactly as prescribed in the region description.
    • Default = Lower enemies are brought up to 30 power levels under the player’s level (How the game is intended to be played).
    • Constant = Enemies will be at least the same power level of the player.
    • Harder = Enemies will be 20+ power levels above the player.
    • Nightmarish = Enemies will be 50+ power levels above the player.
  • Note: Boss encounters and game modes will not be impacted by this as they have their own intended difficulty settings.

Skill Tree Update

  • The Skill Tree has improved visibility for new skills added throughout the post-launch.
  • We’ve added an option that will auto-acquire all the skill nodes required to reach the currently highlighted node (if you have enough skill points available).

New Skills

RAVEN

Light Fingered: Eivor will now automatically pick up nearby loot with a quick flick of the wrist (without having to press the interact button). • Thrill of War: Gain adrenaline as long as you remain in conflict.

BEAR

Heidrun Slam: Press R2 while sprinting to knock enemies back with a powerful knee slam. Idunn's Heart: Passively regenerate recent health loss after a short delay

WOLF

Survival Instinct: When at less than a third of health, hold -> for partial healing (Exchange adrenaline for health). • Wolf Warrior: Your damage increases the lower your health.

Game Improvements

Wrath of the Druids - Expansion 1

Addressed:

  • Priest's body would be missing in Flann Over Ireland.
  • Cage cannot be opened to free the prisoners in Tuam caves.
  • Only minor runes inside chests in Ireland.
  • Shelf not movable in Cashelore.
  • Cutscene didn’t start when sieging the church in The Scourging of Snakes.
  • Couldn’t confirm kill on The Ash.
  • Missing sound and subtitles within Wrath of the Druids.
  • King's Pass not collectible if the Raid is not also completed at the same time.
  • Couldn’t collect the prison key in Courting the Kings.
  • Barid vanished in Flann Over Ireland.
  • Thorstein teleported back to the cave in the Snaring Thorstein.
  • Couldn't progress when the Puca was killed in Into the Fog.

Main Game

Quests, World Events, and Side Activities

Addressed:

  • Infinite Loading screens during various quests.
  • Couldn’t complete War of the Collectors, Aelfred’s Jewels, Saint Faith, The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok, Lamb Chops, Splitting Hares world events.
  • Faravid wouldn’t get on the horse in This Son of Jorvik *This Son of Jorvik indeed*
  • Catching the fish with weapons wouldn’t count towards quest objective in Bloody Path to Peace.
  • Couldn’t fight Leofrith in Heavy is the Head.
  • Sigurd didn’t follow Eivor in A Brother’s Keeper. *More like A Brother’s Leaver*
  • Objective didn’t appear in Twists and Turns *this is how the turn tables*
  • Issues interacting with Petra in the settlement.
  • Eivor died upon arrival in Hordafylke in The Road to Valhalla.
  • Hunter House world event didn’t trigger.
  • Hunter & Warlock NPCs missing for The Plight of the Warlock.
  • The Banshee world event couldn’t be started or completed.
  • Couldn’t progress in the Mistress of the Iron Wood world event.
  • Couldn’t interact with the seer in Of Blood and Gods.
  • Reaching Hunwald’s house didn’t update the Homecoming quest objective.
  • The boss didn’t take damage at the start of Extended Family.
  • Hunwald was un-interactable during the Salve for a Fresh Wound.
  • Map marker appeared out of bounds in Fiery Ambush.
  • Couldn’t interact with Soma or Guthrum in Holy Day.
  • Players desynced at the start of the fight in King Killer.
  • Couldn’t confirm kill in the Reaver of the South.
  • Couldn’t complete The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok.
  • Guthrum didn’t move in Kingdom’s End.
  • Couldn’t collect the key from a body during Pilgrimage to St. Albanes.
  • Edmund was missing in Puppets and Prisoners.
  • Couldn’t confirm kill against Gotafrid Fair-Robes & Nokkfylla Shine-Eye.
  • NPC with the coin didn’t spawn or targets didn’t appear for the arrow challenge in Firing the Arrow.
  • Stuck between Binding Fate and Of Blood and Gods. *A Binding Fate, indeed*
  • Black screen during Baker’s Plaint.
  • Couldn’t interact with Halfdan in War in the North.

Graphics, Audio, and Animation

Addressed:

  • Various graphics and lighting issues.
  • Various animation and clipping issues.
  • Various issues with missing SFX.
  • Various issues relating to Audio Menu Narration.

River Raids, Jomsvikings, Raids

Addressed:

  • Appropriate rewards not being provided after completing a Raid.
  • Rations not healing the proper amount of health for Jomsviking.

Mastery Challenge

Addressed:

  • Ability to access restricted areas in Mastery Challenge.
  • Guards could be unreachable in Mastery Challenge.
  • Player being detected from a stealth bush in the Wenlocan Raven trial.
  • Reduced the possibility of doubling Armor sets that were acquired from the Store after completing the Mastery Challenge onboarding quest.
  • Unlocked medals remaining after loading an older save game.
  • Trouble entering stealth mode in some bushes.

Gameplay, Combat, and AI

Addressed:

  • Fire weapons not setting NPCs or combustibles on fire.
  • Enemies not taking proper damage from level 2 Incendiary Powder Trap ability.
  • NPCs no longer attacking if they were ambushed by a snake. Snake 1, Human 0
  • Extended flail combo dealt more damage than intended.
  • Sickle Combo Attacks didn't register properly.
  • Various issues with the Viking Salute ability.
  • Various issues causing the extended flail combo to do more damage than intended.
  • Ostara items missing following Title Update 1.2.2.1.

World

Addressed:

  • Instances where Eivor, NPCs, or the long ship would get stuck.
  • Instances with misplaced or floating objects or textures.

User Interface/HUD

Addressed:

  • Numerous UI/HUD issues.
  • Numerous localization issues.
  • Trouble exiting Photo mode using the ESC button.
  • Some icons not adapting for color-blind modes.
  • Silver Booster not applying correctly when looting low value items.

System

  • Benchmark is not functional when the game path contains non-ASCII symbols.

Performance and Stability

  • Improved performance and stability.

Which of these new features / changes are you most excited or? Let us know down in the comments below.