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Assassin's Creed Valhalla XP: Tips and tricks to level Eivor quickly
Levelling up and gaining power in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla may take you a while if you aren’t familiar with the game, so here’s what you need to know about making Eivor as powerful as possible.
If you’ve not played an Assassin’s Creed game for a while, you may enter Ubisoft’s latest title – Valhalla – and feel a little lost. Long gone are the days of simply wandering around an open world, assassinating targets and upgrading a set selection of weapons to become more deadly. Ever since the soft reboot that was Assassin’s Creed Origins, the series has been more in line with an RPG than a standard action game.
That means skill trees, XP points and branching narratives are all in the game now, and whilst many players agree it’s made the series more enjoyable, it’s also made it more complicated. Luckily, pretty much every single thing you do in Norway and England will increase your XP and help you level up… but some things will grow Eivor quicker than others. Here’s what you need to know about filling up that precious XP bar and earning yourself those essential skill points.
01
Focus on Story
Story missions reward lots of XP
© Ubisoft
At least in the early game, you’re going to want to focus on Story missions and unlock the various different mechanics and map icons that will help you quickly and efficiently level up. While it may be tempting to head into the Norwegian woods and hunt deer for four hours to get an early level up or two, it’s going to be far more beneficial for you to clear the opening crawl first. As well as loading you with massive XP drops per quest completed, you’ll also start to unlock more gear.
Once you hit England, you will be able to go off and complete more non-main mission objectives. We recommend you first focus on the side missions that you’re available to take on (just don’t stray into 150 Power territory when you’re only 20 Power yourself!) Polishing off all the side missions you unlock in Ravensthorpe as soon as they’re available will set you in good stead for the rest of the game’s story.
02
Hunt for Skill Points
Comb the map for interesting areas
© Ubisoft
Levelling up isn’t the only way to unlock those lovely skill points that will slowly but surely increase your power level. Certain world events and tasks will reward you will boosts, too. For example, you can locate Standing Stones and solve a puzzle – that will give you one skill point. Completing the hallucinogenic Fly Agaric missions will typically reward you with a skill point, too. If you see Offering Altar locations on your map, head to those and bring everything requested and you’ll also be able to upgrade via a single skill point. Bear these locations in mind if you’re after an ability, or if you want to unlock a single node in the skill tree without having to commit to a whole level up.
03
Synchronize as many viewpoints as possible
Viewpoints let you scope out distant objectives
© Ubisoft
Aside from being a super cool gimmick, synchronization in Assassin’s Creed has always been essential for players looking to get the lay of the land. In Valhalla, climbing to a lookout and scanning the horizon is more essential than ever – as well as plonking a ton of icons on your map whenever you syncronize, you’ll also scout locations of treasure, artifacts and mysteries. All of these will help you level something up – whether it’s yourself, your gear or your settlement.
Also, if you’re playing on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, you’re going to want to have as many fast travel options as possible. You can quickly jump to any viewpoint you’ve cleared, and with practically no loading times, this makes navigating around the world and chasing down missions quicker and easier than ever before! Truly, next-gen’s biggest feature is time-saving.
04
Upgrade your horse
Your noble steed will be essential when traversing
© Ubisoft
Speaking of time-saving, the first thing you’re going to want to do when you set about upgrading Ravensthorpe is improve your stables. Even if you’re one of the fast-travelling, no-loading next-gen elite, you’re still going to be spending a decent amount of your time on horseback – and your initial horse’s stats are pretty rubbish. Collect enough materials to upgrade your stables and you’ll be able to teach your horse to run longer and swim, apparently.
This makes all the difference, and means you can cut down on travelling time something chronic. The faster you travel, the more objectives you can complete, and the more objectives you complete, the more XP you’ll earn. The secret to this speedier state of play is all in the Stables; neglect them at your peril.
05
Actually be an Assassin
Don't forget to be the stealthy Assassin you were born to be
© Ubisoft
Narratively, the actual Assassination aspect of things takes something of a backseat in Valhalla as more emphasis is placed on simply being a viking and settling a new country. Don’t let that dissuade you from going out and being the Assassin you were born to be, though. Once you unlock the skill tree, follow the Assassination route until you unlock Advanced Assassination (head south west on the skill tree screen and you’ll get there quite quickly).
This skill allows you to take down more powerful and named enemies via a short, easy QTE – this will be very handy if you’re straying into areas with enemies that are more powerful than you, or if you’re stalking Zealots and so on. It can make trickier battles more trivial, and let you drink up XP that should maybe be meant for higher-level players. Nice.
