Today [16/02] marks the release of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’s 1.1.2 update.
The update will be applicable to all platforms that run Valhalla, including; Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Amazon Luna, and Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store.
So, if you have Valhalla on any of those platforms, here’s what you can look forward to today.
River Raids
The main, new feature is the River Raids game mode. A brand new gameplay mode that will allow you to take your Jomsviking crew to “unexplored regions of England, … full of raiding opportunites”. These new areas will also bring new loot, new rewards, and new challenges.
Furthermore, the River Raids is actually a part of the Yule Season content. The Yule Seasons content is free for all Valhalla players, meaning you get this new gameplay mode free of charge.
New Abilities
Alongside new loot and rewards, your Viking Assassin can also look forward to three brand new abilities, including;
- The Berserker Trap. Attaches a trap to your arrow which spreads hallucinatory powder around. Any movement detected near the trap will cause it to trigger. Which, in turn, will spring on hallucinations aplenty for anyone in the blast radius
- Battle Cry. Following a “blood-curdling scream”, Eivor gains additional strength and causes nearby enemies to stumble backwards. This also disrupts their attacks
- And the Shoulder Bash. Eivor deploys a shoulder bash that is strong enough to push back enemies and destroys objects
New Skills
Additionally, players will have access to the following six new skills;
- The Assassin Carry. Grants you the ability to automatically carry a body following a successful assassination
- Assassin Slide. Whilst sprinting, Eivor can slip into a full-force slide that will knock enemies off-balance
- Arrow Looter. This grants Eivor an increased chance of looting arrows from downed archers
- Fight Ready. Eivor will always start a fight off with a full adrenaline slot
- The Longship Brace. Whenever you are in command of your longship, your crew will raise their shields up with you
- And the Power Stroke. This triggers a speed boost whilst manning the longship, at the cost of stamina
Quests, Side Activities, and World Events
The following plethora of improvements have been made to the game’s various missions;
- During “Storming the Walls“. An issue that prevented players from completing the quest has been patched. Gunnar will join the festivities during The First Night of Samhain. This will allow the quest to be completed
- “The Good Men of Sherwood” world event. NPC will no longer randomly be killed
- On the customisation page, Jomsviking gear will now display their gear’s quality correctly. Also, a glitch that caused Jomsviking crew members to change shape and size in the menu when being recruited is patched
- During the Sciropescire Arc, Randvi is ready to hear the news, allowing the completion of the alliance
- After completing “Carrying the Torch“, players can now interact with Tove successfully
- When using the God Favour to give three additional dice, an issue where some of your dice would be reused has been patched
- As part of the Fishmonger encounter, an issue that prevented you from completing the quest after confirming the kill has been fixed
- During “The Devil Has All the Best Tunes“, if you escape before fighting the Bard, Eivor will no longer be ashen
- During “Clues and Riddles“, players who load a save that was created after knocking will now be able to complete the objective
- In “Extended Family“, the boss will now deal damage during underground attacks. Also, The boss will no longer get stuck near walls, stay underground, or not engage in combat altogether.
- The final Order member can now be revealed after the patch
- During “Binding Fate“, players can complete the quest after talking to Tyr
- After having defeated all of the NPCs outside during “War Weary“, players can now complete the quest
- An issue that caused all Order members to be killed after killing a Zealot has been fixed
- During “The Big Finish“, an issue that prevented players from completing the quest when the hideout was visited before starting the quest
- An issue that prevented players from being able to move a stack of cargo in “Blood from a Stone” has been rectified
- If Eivor assassinates the first training dummy before reaching the checkpoint in “The Prodigal Prince“, the objective would remain stuck. This has since been patched
- An issue that would occur where players would not be able to interact with Gotafrid Fair-Robes post-fight if you threw them in the river. However, this has been rectified with 1.1.2
- During “The Twit Saga Part 1“, the house will now always catch fire, enabling players to complete the world event
- The kid in “Degolas the Beautiful” will now remain the same size. Also, Degolas can and will now leave the water during the same quest
- Players can now interact with Settlement NPCs
- During “Crushed Dreams“. players would be prevented from completing the world event as the wife would be in a dead state
- An issue that would occur that caused the world map to become unavailable after speaking to Ceolwulf has now been patched
Gameplay, Combat, and AI
What’s a Viking without a little combat? The following improvements have been made;
- Several NPC behaviour issues amended
- Mounts will respond to Eivor’s call from the Quick Actions wheel
- An issue where NPCs would die before being hit has been fixed
- Another issue where Eivor would stand on their tip-toes after being idle for too long has also been patched
- Decorative elements that used to spawn in miniature have been rescaled
- A glitch using save/load actions that allowed players to obtain Noden’s Arc has also been removed
Overall Game Improvements
The following is an exhaustive list of all various quality-of-life improvements update 1.1.2 will bring to Valhalla;
Balancing
- Ubisoft has “removed diamond rune slots from gear set pieces other than torsos”. Additionally, all “runes that were slotted into these will be returned to the player inventory”.
Graphics, Audio, Animation
Ubisoft has also;
- Addressed various issues, including
- graphics and/or lighting issues,
- various texture issues,
- and addressed an issue that caused explosion VFX to be absent when oil jars exploded.
- Addressed various graphical issues, such as
- character/NPC animation issues,
- various clipping issues,
- issues that caused arrows to disappear from quiver after re-equipping bow,
- and addressed an issue preventing visual effects of Draugr.
- PlayStation 4/5 exclusive-problem: The “Muspell Warg” mount will now feature a burning animation
- Spilt enemy blood will now soil all clothing
Audio
The following issues involving audio have also been addressed;
- PlayStation 4-exclusive issue: An issue that caused crackling sounds to be heard as been addressed
- An issue that caused dead swarm animals to make idle sounds has also been patched
Photo Mode
For the photogenically inclined, the following improvements have been made;
- An issue that caused Photo Mode frames to not scale to window-size correctly has been patched
- Terrain rendering issues encountered whilst moving the camera have been stabilised
User-interface/HUD
Ubisoft took a look at the following complaints and rectified them;
- Various User-interface/HUD issues addressed
- Premium Start Pack items that appeared as “Fine” rather than “Mythic” quality is rebuffed
- Cola’s appropriate icon will be shown on the “Order” tab
- Acquired Reda contracts that appeared under the “Cent” quest log section has been amended, along with contracts not counting towards “Vikings for Hire” progression
- All of Reda’s shop items can now be interacted with when “Focused Navigation” is enabled
- PC Players issue exclusive: Players can now switch between targets with the mouse wheel and by using M and K keys. Conversely, when switching back to M&K method from using a controller, the mouse cursor icon will now be displayed correctly
- An issue involving stuck stick inputs following “Swap Sticks” option during Cairns has been addressed
- A problem where the Call Mount prompt would appear whenever Eivor whistled to attract enemies has been rectified
- Daily Concept Art will disappear after a while following the corresponding button press on the D-Pad. Additionally, Daily Concept Art that was displayed over the world map has also been removed
- Colourblind settings will now effect “Order of Ancient” icons correctly
- Control conflicts found whilst using Swap Sticks option in Photo Mode is now set to “On”
- Subtitle background will be reset to default value through the use of the slider
- Adrenaline bar will be filled after a second successful assassination using chain assassinations
- A previous glitch where Odin’s Sight would highlight props that it shouldn’t have been addressed
- “Data corrupt” errors after entering save menu patched
- Ingots looted off Hamptun Blockade will now be counted towards wealth completion
- Fly Agar mysteries will now be highlighted with their appropriate mystery icons
- A “quit fishing” button has been added during the aiming state
Miscellaneous Improvements
The following miscellaneous improvements will also be made visible from today;
- Runes and used resources to upgrade Berserker gear will be returned to the player inventory when an item is lost.
- Improved vibration feedback during fishing.
- An issue that caused players to leave disguise mode whilst performing any attack while riding has been addressed
- Players can now catch fish in the sea or on coastlines
- Addressed an issue that caused schools of fish to take a long time to respawn after one was caught
- Items purchased at the Animus Store will only be given to players after returning to England from Vinland
- Changed predator charge attack animations to give players a little more time to react
- Addressed an issue that prevented fabrics from being available
- Added date of purchase to items listed in the owned section of the store
SYSTEM 
Finally, we have some system updates for Valhalla;
- PC exclusive issue: Issues with various Ubisoft Connect achievements not unlocking correctly addressed. These include;
- “Take My Hand
- “The Enemy of My Enemy”
- “Disorder of the Ancients”
- “Completionist All the Way”
- PC: An issue with the unlock condition of the “Equine Attack” achievement addressed
- Addressed an issue that caused online service errors to be displayed when creating or hovering over photos
- Addressed an issue causing the game to remain stuck during loading after entering the save/load menu
- An issue that caused the MSI voice command feature to stop working after save/load has been patched
ABG’s Senior Editor (News), YouTube content creator/streamer.