Assassin's Creed Valhalla puts you in the boots of Eivor Varinsdottir, a Norse raider who leaves Rygjafylke in Norway in the year 873 and rebuilds a clan settlement called Ravensthorpe on English soil. Unlike Origins in Egypt or Odyssey in Greece, the spine of this game is a settlement you grow through six levels, a raiding economy that feeds it supplies and raw materials, and a skill constellation of star nodes instead of a perk menu.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Ravensthorpe settlement building
Ravensthorpe climbs six named levels, Encampment, Colony, Hamlet, Borough, Village and Town, and every level is bought with buildings rather than with time. Tier one covers the Blacksmith, Barracks, Hidden Ones Bureau, Stable and Aviary and Trading Post. Tier two adds the Fishing Hut, Brewery, Bakery, Shipyard, Tattoo Shop and Museum. Tier three brings the Cartographer and the farms that feed the longhouse.
Raids and River Raids
Blowing the horn on the longship sends your crew at a monastery or riverside camp, and the chests they break open are the main source of supplies and raw materials. Without raiding, settlement construction simply stops. The free River Raids mode added in 2021 runs three rivers, the Exe, the Severn and the Dee, with randomised layouts and a separate reward track.
The skill constellation
Skill points buy nodes on a star map split by colour. Red Bear nodes cover melee, blue Wolf nodes cover ranged, yellow Raven nodes cover stealth and assassination. Most nodes are flat stat increases and the named ones are the reason to push a branch: Heavy Dual Wield and Sprint Bash in Bear, Charged Shot and Arrow Reinforcement in Wolf, Chain Assassination and Counter Roll in Raven. Gear carries the same three tags, so a Raven weapon rewards a Raven-heavy tree.
Jomsviking barracks
The Barracks lets you design a Jomsviking who then goes online for other players to hire. When another player recruits yours you collect 100 silver from the quartermaster. You can hire other players' Jomsvikings from docks for 100 silver each and take up to six warriors along on a raid, and unlike your named allies they can die permanently.
Alliance map and pledges
Randvi's alliance map inside the longhouse is the quest hub. You pledge to a region, play its arc, and bring an alliance back to the map. Regions carry a suggested power number, from 20 in Ledecestrescire and Grantebridgescire up to 55 in East Anglia, 90 in Oxenefordscire and 130 in Sciropescire, and going more than about 30 above your own power turns every fight into chip damage.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Assassin's Creed Valhalla combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear branch melee | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Wolf branch ranged | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Raven branch stealth | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Dual wield hybrid | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Raid captain | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Assassin's Creed Valhalla builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Varin's Axe | Eivor's inherited axe and the first weapon in the game. | The whole of the early game, and as a dual wield partner long after you have better main-hand options. |
| Hidden Blade | Kept from the earlier games and upgradeable at Gunnar's Blacksmith, where each rank raises its assassination damage multiplier. | Any Raven build, and specifically for Chain Assassination clearing a camp before an alarm sounds. |
| Fyrd Spear | A Raven-aligned spear with long reach that keeps you outside most enemy swing arcs. | Raven builds that need a melee answer without abandoning the stealth tree. |
| Excalibur | A mythical greatsword locked behind collecting all 11 Treasures of Britain tablets, each guarded by a Lost Drengr, then placing them in the pillars of a hidden underground chamber. | Late game heavy builds fighting large groups, where blinded enemies stop blocking entirely. |
| Mjolnir | Thor's hammer, and the reward for assembling the full Thor armour set, which means killing all three Daughters of Lerion and clearing the Order of the Ancients Zealots before digging it up in Hordafylke in Norway. | A completed save where the stun chance turns crowd fights into a formality. |
Varin's Axe: Eivor's inherited axe and the first weapon in the game. Its perk stacks attack speed every time you land a hit, which makes it a strong permanent off-hand once Heavy Dual Wield opens up in the Bear branch.
Hidden Blade: Kept from the earlier games and upgradeable at Gunnar's Blacksmith, where each rank raises its assassination damage multiplier. The gameplay options also let you decide whether assassinations always kill or run a skill check against high-level targets.
Fyrd Spear: A Raven-aligned spear with long reach that keeps you outside most enemy swing arcs. Spears in Valhalla favour poke-and-retreat, which suits a stealth build that got caught rather than one that planned to fight.
Excalibur: A mythical greatsword locked behind collecting all 11 Treasures of Britain tablets, each guarded by a Lost Drengr, then placing them in the pillars of a hidden underground chamber. It blinds surrounding enemies after heavy finishers and criticals.
Mjolnir: Thor's hammer, and the reward for assembling the full Thor armour set, which means killing all three Daughters of Lerion and clearing the Order of the Ancients Zealots before digging it up in Hordafylke in Norway. It carries a chance to stun every nearby enemy on any hit.
Full breakdowns in our Assassin's Creed Valhalla weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Ravensthorpe | Available from the start of the England arc | Gear upgrades, the Order of the Ancients tracker, feast buffs from the farms and brewery |
| Rygjafylke | Suggested power 1 to 20 | Rage of Helheim, the longship, and the first raids |
| Ledecestrescire | Suggested power 20 | First alliance, early Order targets, settlement supplies from nearby monasteries |
| East Anglia | Suggested power 55 | Dive of the Valkyries, alliance progress, heavier raid targets |
| Vinland | Late game, and you arrive stripped of gear on purpose | Trade tokens, unique gear, and the Vinland arc's story payoff |
Ravensthorpe: The Raven clan's settlement in England and the hub for everything. Hytham runs the Hidden Ones Bureau and the Order tracker, Valka reads the visions in the Seer's Hut, Gunnar works the Blacksmith, Randvi keeps the alliance map in the longhouse and Reda's stall arrives once the settlement grows.
Rygjafylke: The Norwegian home region and the opening act. It teaches raiding, longship travel and the Bear and Raven basics before England opens, and it holds Kjotve's Fortress where the Rage of Helheim book sits behind an ice wall.
Ledecestrescire: The first English region on the alliance map and the natural companion to Grantebridgescire. Both sit at suggested power 20, which makes them the correct pair to clear before touching anything else.
East Anglia: The next step up the alliance map, and a noticeable jump. The Isle of Ely Monastery here hides the Dive of the Valkyries book in a cellar reached through a waterside cave.
Vinland: The North American arc, reached by ship from Ravensthorpe. Eivor arrives with no equipment at all and has to work with what the land provides, which turns it into a survival detour rather than another region of camps to clear.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Supplies and raw materials only come from raiding in useful quantities. If your settlement build queue has stalled, the fix is a raid loop rather than another hour of exploring.
- Follow the suggested power numbers on the alliance map in order: 20 for Ledecestrescire and Grantebridgescire, 55 for East Anglia, 90 for Oxenefordscire, 130 for Sciropescire. More than about 30 points above your own power and enemies stop taking meaningful damage.
- Build the Hidden Ones Bureau in the first tier. It unlocks the Order tab that tracks which members of the Order of the Ancients you have identified, and without it you are hunting 45 targets with no list.
- Customise your Jomsviking's appearance rather than accepting the default. Other players browse them at docks, and every recruitment pays you 100 silver collected from your own quartermaster.
- Books of Knowledge are the abilities. Rage of Helheim is behind an ice wall in Kjotve's Fortress, Dive of the Valkyries is in a cellar at the Isle of Ely Monastery, and Thorn of Slumber sits in the middle tower at Gryttirsand.
- Man's Best Friend is not in a Book of Knowledge at all. Talk to Knud at Ravensthorpe, free the wolf he asks about near the settlement, and the ability is the quest reward.
- Gear in Valhalla is upgraded rather than replaced. Take one Bear set and one Raven set to Gunnar and keep upgrading them instead of swapping to every drop, because the rune slots and set bonuses only pay off at high rank.
- Excalibur needs all 11 Treasures of Britain tablets, each held by a Lost Drengr. Those fights punish button mashing badly, so a Wolf bow build clears them long before a melee build can.
- River Raids came free in 2021 and the three rivers, the Exe, the Severn and the Dee, generate randomised layouts. It is the most efficient supplies and raw materials loop in the game once the story raids are exhausted.
- Feast buffs from the settlement stack and last a long time. The Cattle Farm, Grain Farm and Fowl Farm add ranged damage, armour and melee damage respectively, so eating before a Zealot hunt is free stats.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Pledging to Sciropescire at suggested power 130 while sitting at power 60, then concluding the combat is broken.
- Spending every skill point on flat stat nodes and never reaching Chain Assassination, Heavy Dual Wield or Charged Shot.
- Hoarding supplies and raw materials instead of building, which leaves Ravensthorpe at Encampment and locks the Cartographer, Museum and farms behind a level you never bought.
- Chasing every new weapon drop instead of upgrading two sets, so nothing ever reaches a useful rank.
- Sailing to Vinland expecting to bring the endgame arsenal, then panicking when the game takes all of it at the shore.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Valhalla different from Odyssey and Origins?
The settlement. Ravensthorpe grows through six levels, Encampment to Town, and buildings are paid for with supplies and raw materials that only raiding produces. Origins and Odyssey had no equivalent economy. Valhalla also replaces the ability menu with a skill constellation of star nodes and adds the Jomsviking system, where players design warriors other players hire.
Which skill branch should I pick first?
Bear if you want to fight in the open, because Heavy Dual Wield is the standout node and Valhalla's melee is generous. Raven if you want the classic Assassin's Creed loop, since Chain Assassination is the branch's real payoff. Wolf is the specialist pick and shines against Lost Drengr and Zealots.
How do Jomsvikings work?
Build the Barracks, design a warrior at the quartermaster, and yours goes online for other players. Every time someone recruits yours you collect 100 silver from your own quartermaster. You hire other players' Jomsvikings at docks for 100 silver and take up to six warriors raiding, and they can be killed for good.
How do I get Excalibur and Mjolnir?
Excalibur needs all 11 Treasures of Britain tablets, each guarded by a Lost Drengr, placed in pillars in a hidden chamber. Mjolnir needs the complete Thor armour set, which means defeating the three Daughters of Lerion and the Order of the Ancients Zealots, then recovering the hammer in Hordafylke in Norway.
Where is Ravensthorpe and can I move it?
Ravensthorpe sits on a river in England, established after Eivor leaves Rygjafylke in Norway, and it cannot be relocated. What you control is which buildings go up and in what order, and each new building pushes the settlement toward the next of its six levels.
More Assassin's Creed Valhalla Guides
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Best Builds
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Tier List
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Walkthrough
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Beginner's Guide
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Tips & Tricks
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Weapons Guide
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Combat Guide
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Boss Guide
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Maps & Locations
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Crafting Guide
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla Classes & Characters
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