Assassin's Creed Valhalla Equipment Guide: Best Equipment Ranked

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Complete Assassin's Creed Valhalla equipment guide. Every equipment option ranked with stats, best builds, and how to get them.

EarlyGuides Editorial Team

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated August 12, 2026.

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.

Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.

Equipment Rankings

Equipment	Tier	Best For	Notes
Varin's Axe	S	The whole of the early game, and as a dual wield partner long after you have better main-hand options.	Eivor's inherited axe and the first weapon in the game.
Hidden Blade	A	Any Raven build, and specifically for Chain Assassination clearing a camp before an alarm sounds.	Kept from the earlier games and upgradeable at Gunnar's Blacksmith, where each rank raises its assassination damage multiplier.
Fyrd Spear	A	Raven builds that need a melee answer without abandoning the stealth tree.	A Raven-aligned spear with long reach that keeps you outside most enemy swing arcs.
Excalibur	B	Late game heavy builds fighting large groups, where blinded enemies stop blocking entirely.	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.
Mjolnir	B	A completed save where the stun chance turns crowd fights into a formality.	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.

S-Tier: 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.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	S
Best For	The whole of the early game, and as a dual wield partner long after you have better main-hand options.
Key Mechanic	Ravensthorpe settlement building
Recommended Build	Bear branch melee

How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.

Best builds using Varin's Axe: Pairs naturally with Bear branch melee thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: 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.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Any Raven build, and specifically for Chain Assassination clearing a camp before an alarm sounds.
Key Mechanic	Raids and River Raids
Recommended Build	Wolf branch ranged

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Hidden Blade: Pairs naturally with Wolf branch ranged thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

A-Tier: 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.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	A
Best For	Raven builds that need a melee answer without abandoning the stealth tree.
Key Mechanic	The skill constellation
Recommended Build	Raven branch stealth

How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.

Best builds using Fyrd Spear: Pairs naturally with Raven branch stealth thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: 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.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	Late game heavy builds fighting large groups, where blinded enemies stop blocking entirely.
Key Mechanic	Jomsviking barracks
Recommended Build	Dual wield hybrid

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Excalibur: Pairs naturally with Dual wield hybrid thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

B-Tier: 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.

Attribute	Detail
Tier	B
Best For	A completed save where the stun chance turns crowd fights into a formality.
Key Mechanic	Alliance map and pledges
Recommended Build	Raid captain

How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.

Best builds using Mjolnir: Pairs naturally with Raid captain thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.

Equipment Progression Path

The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:

Starting gear → Enough to clear Ravensthorpe
Hidden Blade → Your first real upgrade, available early
Fyrd Spear → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
Varin's Axe → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous

Equipment Tips

Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
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.
Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.

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