Assassin's Creed Valhalla adds new river raid maps, rewards

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is being updated today with a bunch of new additions to its fun if repetitive river raiding mode.

Title Update 1.3.1 launches this afternoon for all platforms, and weighs in at 26-34GB (or a more slender 14GB on PlayStation 5).

River raids get the most attention today, with a sizable helping of fresh content. Three new maps, set in countries visited in Valhalla's expansions, effectively double the mode's size. There's also new cosmetics and abilities to unlock.

The three new locations are the Erriff, Berbha and Rhine rivers. These hide new champions to defeat in return for swanky weapons, and lots more supplies to trade back at Ravensthorpe for a fresh armour set and more gear.

Your settlement's Jomsviking Hall building can also now be upgraded to level five, boosting the power of recruits you can hire from within.

Finally, the three maps hide a trio of new abilities for Eivor: Spinning Harpoon, which knocks back enemies; Percussion Arrow, which creates a shockwave that staggers and damages nearby enemies when you hit a foe's shield; and Precision Axe Throw, which targets an enemy's weak point.

Other changes include the addition of a new Nightmare (Aesir) mode to Valhalla, which increases damage received by 200 percent while cutting the amount of health you'll gain back from rations and your window to parry attacks.

A set of free community-designed tattoos is available on Ubisoft Connect, and another long list of bugs have been fixed.

Valhalla is rapidly approaching its first anniversary, following the launch of three free seasonal festivals, two big paid expansions and a handful of other modes. What's next? Well, the game will likely soon celebrate Halloween, or Samhain, before turning its attention to a second year of post-launch support. Signs point to a fiery return for Valhalla's mystical realms, as well as the unexpected return of a past Assassin's Creed fan-favourite.

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