I’ve not actually gotten around to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla yet, but I’m sure I will. Thankfully, it looks like my choice to hold off until it’s patched and in better condition, which is often a good choice with Ubisoft titles, has actually started to pay off. Today sees Ubisoft release Title Update 1.5.1 for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Clocking in at 12GB, this patch will be live at 12 PM UTC/GMT and the full changelog has now been revealed also, and it’s fairly extensive.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
The big parts of this update are clear, adding the new Mastery Challenge Pack 2 (Mastery Challenge: The Reckoning) to the game. There’s now also support for the Ostara Festival, which is set to start on the 21st of April and will run through till the 12th of May. Of course, there’s a sweeping list of tweaks and fixes for the base game and the more recent Dawn of Ragnarok Expansion.
When starting a new game, you’ll now be able to change the combat difficulty, some weapons now have added perks, and the power level scaling in certain boss fights has been rebalanced. Of course, it’s not all combat, as many graphics, textures, animation issues, and lighting problems have been addressed also.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Title Update 1.5.1 Release Notes
NEW CONTENT
MASTERY CHALLENGE PACK 2
Added Mastery Challenge Pack 2 (Mastery Challenge: The Reckoning) to the game.
Mastery Challenge offers the ultimate test of skill for combat, range, and stealth.
Pack 2 introduces 3 new shrines and culminates in a boss fight which tests your abilities in each aspect of combat.
Unlock unique rewards, including the Valkyrie Armor set, all-new weapons, a tattoo set, and new settlement cosmetics.
Access requirements: To access Mastery Challenge Pack 2, players must be at least Power Level 221, have completed the Uninvited Guests main quest after reporting on Grantebridgescire and Ledecestrescire, and have completed the narrative quest from Mastery Challenge Pack 1.
OSTARA FESTIVAL
Added in-game support for the Ostara Festival to the game.
Available from April 21 through May 12.
Complete various activities to earn all-new weapons, available only during the festival.
Rewards include all-new weapons at Norvid’s shop and 50 free Opals via Ubisoft Connect.
Access requirements: Players must reach England and complete one of the first two narrative arcs (Grantebridgescire or Ledecestrescire) and have a settlement at Level 2 to participate in the Ostara Festival.
BUG FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
EXPANSION 3 – DAWN OF RAGNARÖK
GAMEPLAY
Addressed
Runes equipped on Gear disappeared after TU 1.5.0.1. – We reached into the depths of Helheim to bring them back!
Unable to upgrade Legendary and other gear to Divine.
No silver required to downgrade Divine quality gear.
Failed to save game progress pop-up appears when any kind of save is made on Xbox consoles.
Losing player boost after using the Exit the Simulation option.
Losing player boost gear/weapon loadout upon Waking Up and reaching England.
Improved the activation of Powers to avoid accidentally consuming both Hugr bars.
Save/Load issues while collecting runes.
Save/Load issues while in shelters.
COMBAT
Addressed
Added perks to certain weapons.
Unbalanced power level scaling during certain boss fights.
Surtr’s power level not scaling with player difficulty.
Improved hitbox and balancing during certain boss fights.
Missing hitbox on certain attacks when wielding two Atgeir weapons.
Dual wielding two Atgeir weapons deals too little damage.
Jomsviking not using any of the Atgeir type weapons during raids.
Allies and enemies both gaining the electric shield buff during raids.
Unable to use the left hand’s special attack on some weapons. – Run AnimusAmbidexterity.exe
Unable to harm some enemies in Svartalfheim as they’re recognized as friendly. Not your buddy, friend.
MAIN QUESTS, WORLD EVENTS, AND SIDE ACTIVITIES
Addressed
No world limit barrier is present when exploring the cave in the quest Gift to the God.
Gift to the God quest does not update if players died during the fight with Sinmara.
Sinmara Boss Fight does not start if players enter boss fight area post using the Power of Jotunheim to Teleport-Assassinate.
Players could get stuck when using fast travel after defeating Sinmara.
In Gift to the God, saving and loading at the stable shop would cause Brudd to stop moving.
In Gift to the God, players are unable to return to the quest area if they rush out of the cave while Sigrun and Halstein are jumping over the boulder.
Cannot use Teleport-Assassination on Sinmara in Gift to the God.
Players could block Surtr’s heavy attacks during the boss fight in The Rescue.
Cannot open the door to face Surtr in The Reckoning if players engaged in combat with giant raven.
Using teleport-assassinate on Surtr will cause him to stay idle in The Reckoning.
Last adrenaline bar keeps being refilled by killing Muspel exploders during the boss fight against Surtr.
Cannot collect any of the consumables during the Boss fight with Malvigr.
Malvigr stays in invincible state if player uses teleport assassination on her while she is cloning during the Crystal Cave quest.
Malvigr’s clone would be immune to damage after performing a teleport assassination on her.
Calder can be killed during the ritual in Cold Embers, preventing any progression.
The Masters quest is not active if players go to the shelter before talking to Ivaldi.
Not receiving any XP upon completing The Masters.
In The Warlord’s Daughter, defeating Eysa with the ice infusion power will cause multiple black screens.
Quest is stuck after the fight with Eysa in The Warlord’s Daughter.
Players can speak to Durrigor twice by performing a Save/Load in The Warlord’s Daughter.
Using the fast travel option right after defeating Eysa would break the quest flow.
Waking up during the investigation in Finding Fritjof can cause the clues to not be interactable anymore.
Tyra will remain stuck in the water if the boat is destroyed in Finding Fritjof.
The Fornama Dig Site is missing arrows during the quest Finding Fritjof, blocking player progression.
Missing quest marker for the objective Light the Ceremonial Torches in the quest Forging Bonds.
Cinematic is not triggered in Cold Embers if players started a fight with the cultists before interacting with the cinematic.
Players remain stuck at the Untie Yourself objective in Beyond Fear if they fast travel to the longship or a port location after interacting with the fire.
Cutscene does not play and the objective does not update if players Wake up during letter interact in The Rescue.
Performing a save-load action before crossing the river by boat will lead Tyra to jump in the water and break the quest flow.
Players can escape the fog by activating the Blinding Rush ability in Beyond Fear.
Dialogue scene does not start upon lighting the beacon in the quest Pride of the Aesir.
Players’ mount would vanish upon lighting the beacon while on mount.
Sinmara does not disappear after being defeated using the Power of Winter in the quest Pride of the Aesir.
Waking up while reading the letter in Pride of the Aesir causes the quest to remain stuck. – “You know when you wake up in an interesting dream and can’t go back?” – Eivor, 885CE
None of the shapeshifters react to ranged attacks in Dwarf in Distress.
Players can attack Surtr from a distance during phase 2 of the boss fight.
Investigation progress can fail to register in some cases.
Cannot complete Under the Skin if Vili falls into the water. – Vili is aquaphobic.
Improved balancing during Glod’s boss fight.
Gullinbursti’s mount disappears during the world event A Beast’s Burden.
Exiting the simulation during investigation phases would break the quest flow in certain quests.
Burning the schematics before starting the quest Warpath blocked completion of the objective.
Missing quest marker in the Old City after fast traveling during The Vault of the Ancients.
The Protect the Dwarves objective won’t update in The Vault of the Ancients if enemies are resurrected during the first wave.
Saving/loading while having the two light beam projectors pointed to the Sunstone would result in objective remaining stuck in The Vault of the Ancients.
Travel to the Jordeygr Shelter objective does not update during Malvigr if players perform a leap of faith into the shelter while in conflict.
Loading a save before completing the Love Conquers world event would result in seeing dead bodies of dwarves on the ground.
Saving/loading next to the Dwarf in Distress mystery with Carr will cause the number of enemies to triple.
Clues are not marked as completed if players were detected during the investigation in Blazing a Trail.
Bo comes to life permanently after being resurrected in the World Event Carpe Diem.
Bo’s body flies up in the air if players remove FPS limit from the option menu and approaches the body.
When rescuing the Dwarf in Distress, Ylva, attacking the wolves with ranged attacks causes them to flee.
Bo comes to life permanently after being resurrected in the World Event Carpe Diem.
Dwarf in Distress mysteries are not reset by exiting the location if players killed enemies with the Power of Jotunheim.
Unable to complete the Jotun Blights locations despite destroying the totems.
Players could fast travel out of the cave before Banski dropped the oil jar in Not Today, Jotun!
Cannot use the Hugr-Rip in the prison in the world event The Seed of Travi.
World Mysteries will restart if players fly above 100m in elevation with the Raven form.
VALKYRIE ARENA
Addressed
Completing, exiting, or restarting a challenge will leave players stuck in the arena with no control over Havi.
Resurrected NPCs attacking players in the arena.
Arena Icon is not visible on the map before reaching the location.
Tweaked damage dealt to bosses when using certain abilities.
Steinnbjorn’s attacks would push players out of the arena’s boundaries.
Players would lose control over Havi upon touching the lava area during any Muspel Arena Challenge if he was previously defeated while the Power of Muspelheim was active.
Sinmara does not attack resurrected NPCs in the tale Double Trouble.
Players are unable to use their third Power slot after dying in the arena.
Some bosses could be thrown out of the arena by using certain abilities.
Eysa not attacking players when her health is low. – Eysa has left the match
Unable to deal damage to Surtr in the Warlord of the Muspelheim tale when he is killing resurrected enemies.
Teleport Assassination not dealing any damage under certain circumstances.
Sinmara cannot absorb her allies to refill her HP when the Enemy Stun Resistance boast is active.
Stored Power Timeout boast does not reset after completing a tale.
SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND POWERS
Addressed
Balanced the effects of various powers and abilities.
Improved Raven control.
Freezing or shattering effects not applying in certain instances.
Raven not looting enemies that were defeated using Powers.
Entering certain caves with the Raven form could prevent quests from being triggered.
Not receiving a skill point upon buying a scroll of knowledge from a Shelter Vendor.
The Rage Axe ability doesn’t do damage to Surtr. – Decreased Surtr’s resistance to Rage.
The Hugr-Rip menu cannot be opened from the Blacksmith in the Crystal Cave shelter.
Raven form cannot be triggered while on mount in certain circumstances.
Unable to resurrect certain NPCs with the Power of Rebirth.
Geri’s Howl and Freki’s Charge Runes can be reactivated before the 30s cooldown timer.
Using Explosive Retreat against enemies deals damage to Havi. – A little TOO explosive.
Various malfunctioning perks on gear/weapons.
Resurrecting a corpse while placing a trap will cause Havi to remain idle for a few seconds.
Knockback arrows do not stun enemies when players are on fire.
Auto-loot not working when defeating enemies bare-handed with the Power of Winter.
Unable to perform a teleport assassination when Jotnar enemies are healing themselves.
Enemy attacks interrupt player attacks despite activating the Shield of the Draugr.
Find a way inside objective does not update in Malvigr if players opened the house’s door before starting the quest.
Hitting two weak points at once on bosses with the Split Shot ability would result in the boss not being stunned properly.
Disguise suddenly disappearing when interacting with something while having a Power activated.
Jotnar Cleaver and Frostruin’s perk icon disappear if one weapon finishes its cooldown before the other one.
Enemies are not impacted correctly by certain abilities.
GRAPHICS, ANIMATION, AND AUDIO
Addressed
Graphic issues during various cutscenes.
Facial animation sync issues in certain dialogue scenes.
Investigation poses not triggered when players are detected while interacting with a clue.
Reduced flashing light in certain dialogue scenes.
Havi’s hair and beard change color when swimming underwater with the Power of Muspelheim active.
Atgeir weapons misplaced when equipped on the left arm.
Weapons disappearing from players’ hand when dodging while using the Jotun form.
Havi can be briefly seen teleporting under the world map after interacting with the Mythical Memory.
Missing world icons when using the raven.
Instances of misplaced or floating objects or textures.
Numerous issues with dialogue lines.
Numerous clipping issues.
Numerous Colorblind mode issues.
Numerous Menu Narration issues.
Various issues with missing music or SFX.
Numerous graphics, texture, animation, or lighting issues.
WORLD
Addressed
Time of day remaining stuck upon completing the quest Seeking Shelter and loading latest save.
Cannot fast travel while in Ey Mylna Raid location.
Havi remains stuck when exploring various areas near the border during the introduction quest.
Some Muspels not spawning from lava.
Players could get stuck in certain walls/rocks.
Wolfpack enemies disappearing when shapeshifting from wolves to Jotnar.
Various issues where Havi would remain stuck in a free fall animation and/or get desynchronized.
Cases where players could access off-limits areas.
Wrong lava damage in certain instances.
Unable to call the longship from certain locations.
Resurrected enemies during a raid would follow Havi everywhere on the map. – Best friends forever!
Various NPC spawning issues.
Various wrong AI behaviors.
MISCELLANEOUS
Addressed
Starting a new Dawn of Ragnarök playthrough from the main menu prevents players from redeeming any new ULC (unlockable content).
Flying Fortress Trophy does not unlock when using cross-progression, despite performing the same countable action.
Acquired contracts from the Black Market disappear from the quest log after performing a save-load action.
Player getting stuck in blocking stance when performing a synchronization while maintaining the blocking button with an Atgeir weapon equipped.
Kara’s Challenge is missing from Reda’s quest in Hodda’s shelter.
Flamekeeper cannot resurrect enemies if they were defeated with bare hands and then assassinated. – Unable to resurrect due to being overwhelmingly rekt
UI/HUD
Addressed
Numerous UI/HUD issues.
NPCs health and defense bar disappearing when there is fire FX nearby.
Numerous weapons changing name upon being upgraded to Divine quality.
Various camera issues.
PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
Addressed
The game freezes when players equip/unequip the Forceful Rune on the new expansion weapons.
A “Failed to Save Game Progress” message is displayed upon resuming the game via Quick Resume on Xbox consoles.
Performance and stability improvements.
Various FPS drops during some scenes.
ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA
GAMEPLAY
Addressed
Combat difficulty changes to custom when starting a new game.
Players losing character control over Eivor if an ability is removed from the ability wheel during combat.
MAIN QUESTS, WORLD EVENTS, AND SIDE ACTIVITIES
Addressed
Crash into Burgh Castle objective does not update in A Fury from the Sea after skipping cinematic on Low and Middle Graphic Quality.
Havi will be thrown out of the boss arena in Binding Fate, if Fenrir is binded while he is falling off the platform.
Old Cellar mystery cannot be completed because the tablet is not there.
Audumbla will no longer move if players push the large stone over some pieces of wood during the Milk of Humankind world event.
Unable to confirm the kill after defeating the Lost Drengr, Nokkfylla Shine-Eye.
Multiple quest NPCs being dead in Brewing Rebellion. – Was like that when I got there.
Hytham will remain stuck with no boat in To Serve the Light if players started the Cow Catcher quest at the same time.
NPCs could follow Eivor during the dialogue scene in Taken for Granted.
THE SIEGE OF PARIS
Addressed
Snow being present around Epernay.
Raven Distraction ability can be used during the fight with Barn Bull.
UI/HUD
Addressed
Preview for multiple shields is missing when recruiting a Jomsviking.
MASTERY CHALLENGE
Addressed
Completing, exiting, or restarting a challenge will leave players stuck in the arena with no control over Eivor.
Hildiran doesn’t hit Eivor during the first duel. – Kindness reduced
MISCELLANEOUS
Addressed
Certain Ubisoft Connect Rewards being received at Mythical quality instead of Superior quality.
PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
Added performance and stability improvements.
Peter Donnell
As a child still in my 30's (but not for long), I spend my day combining my love of music and movies with a life-long passion for gaming, from arcade classics and retro consoles to the latest high-end PC and console games. So it's no wonder I write about tech and test the latest hardware while I enjoy my hobbies!