Set Up Ubisoft Connect
Before you even start jumping into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, you’ll want to make sure you’re all registered and signed into Ubisoft Connect, a next-gen version of UPlay.
Here, you’ll be able to unlock additional in-game rewards and track your progress. Most importantly, though, Ubisoft Connect is what you’ll need to be signed into in order to play your save game on any platform.
That means you can start on PS4, carry on your save on PC, and then finally finish the game on PS5 if you so desired. Granted, you’d have to buy a copy of the game for each platform you play on, but given Assassin’s Creed Valhalla launches right on the eve of next-gen consoles, this is going to be a welcome addition for fans as they move from current to next-gen over the next year or so.
Raid a Nearby Island on Your Way to Homeland
Things to Do First in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
After completing the opening section of the Valhalla, you’ll be tasked with returning to your homeland. This is the first time you’ll climb aboard your longship, too.
On the way, not too far along on your journey to the mission waypoint, you’ll notice a small island. Make your way over here towards the yellow circles in the water. When you approach these you’ll be able to start a raid, resulting in your crew charging off your ship and straight into a melee with the enemies guarding the island.
While you’ll have plenty of opportunities to raid later on, this opening island has a fair few items and crafting materials that can be helpful for the early hours. Make sure to stop and pillage anywhere you see when sailing on the high seas to stock up on helpful supplies.
Invest in Some Skills
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s skill tree sprawls far out from the initial few nodes you can see at the beginning of the game. The further you progress, the more of it is cleared away, allowing you to make Eivor a truly formidable Viking warrior by the end of the game.
Alas, the really cool things you can invest your skill points in don’t come until further into the skill tree as you might expect, but that doesn’t mean you should sit there twiddling your thumbs in the meantime. Get investing those skill points!
You’ll rack up a fair few of these in the opening area of Norway, and these can help you unlock the opening few skills, which are passive abilities or stat boosts.
They might not be the most exciting, but they’re particularly useful during these early moments when Eivor’s particularly weak.
Down Some Horns of Mead
Things to Do First in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Now we’ve got all that boring mumbo jumbo out the way, it’s onto the fun stuff, and what better place to start than a big barrel of mead, horn in hand?
None, that’s what! You’ll be able to take part in what’s essentially a drinking competition. You’ll need to rhythmically press X/A as Eivor downs horns of mead. Finish off all three before your opponent and you’ll reign victorious.
The more you drink, though, the more Eivor will struggle to keep their balance, so you’ll need to keep correcting this, while pressing that button to keep Eivor chugging.
It’s basic, but it’s fun. Not to mention watching Eivor slurring their words will be sure to put a smile on your face.
Get to Grips with Flyting
Fancy yourself the Kendrick Lamar of the 9th century? Well good news, because flyting is more or less the Viking equivalent of rap battles, where you’ll need to rhyme your line with your opponent’s and put them down with a witty remark in the process.
You’ll get to grips with this when you return home, but there are plenty of other opportunities to wax lyrical when you reach England. Flyting isn’t just a nice side activity to give you a break from all the slashing and assassinating though, it can also help increase Eivor’s Charisma stat.
Charisma will unlock occasional dialog exchanges that can open up new possibilities or means of approaching a mission. They’re well worth checking out and using when you’ve got the opportunity, so get Flyting and make K-Dot proud.
Explore Norway for Orbs
Things to Do First in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Remember hunting down hundreds of ‘?’s’ on your map in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey? Well good news, they’re gone! Bad news, they’ve been replaced with equally vague orbs that mark locations of ‘wealth items’ or ‘world events.’
The problem is, you don’t know exactly what each orb on your map is marking outside of these general categories until you’re standing right on top of them. It encourages you to explore the map more thoroughly and uncover all the cool secrets Ubisoft’s put into the game.
While we don’t advise spending a ton of time in Norway, a quick hour or so checking out some orbs will give you a good idea of what to expect and helps get you acquainted with some of the game’s other mechanics.
Don’t spend too long here, though, Norway pales in comparison to the Valhalla’s epic map of England.
Play Around in Photo Mode
You’ll come across some stunning views in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and while our example image above isn’t the prettiest, we’re sure you can do a lot better in photo mode.
Photo mode has become commonplace in AAA titles, offering players a veritable selection of ways to edit and finetune their screenshot before capturing it.
Given the amount of synchronization points you’ll be clambering up to, and the stunning scenery of both Norway and England, Valhalla’s photo mode will come in particularly handy.
Once you reach that first synchronization point, or a moment where you just have to stop and appreciate the view, open up photo mode with L3 and R3 and get experimenting with all the options available to you.
Play Some Orlog
Things to Do First in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Even assassins need to take a break every once in a while, and there’s no better way to do just that in Valhalla than by playing a game of Orlog.
It’s a complex game involving dice, god powers and little stones. Simply put, you need to roll your dice and see what comes up. Some sides of the dice will allow you to attack your opponents, others will block enemy attacks, and some will allow you to use god powers (or snatch the summoning tiles of your opponent) to deal even more damage.
It takes a little bit of time to get your head around, but much like Witcher 3’s Gwent, it’s quite the compelling little distraction once you get to grips with it. Give the tutorial a try in your homeland so you’re prepared for all the challengers to come.
Don Some Fancy Tattoos & a New Haircut
While you can’t go nuts customizing every last aspect of Eivor’s look, you are able to customize their tattoos and haircut.
This is all done by speaking to a tattooist at a settlement and there’s conveniently one in your homeland settlement, too!
Their options are a little limited to begin with, but the more time you put into the game and the more of those orbs you find, the more tattoo designs and customization options you can unlock.
Before you set sail for England, spend some time getting Eivor all tatt’ed up and give her a fancy new hairstyle or color. You want to arrive in ol’ Blighty in style, after all.
Push Through the Opening Chapter
Things to Do First in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Yes, yes, we know we told you to go and explore Norway and you still should to an extent, but don’t spend too long pottering around its snow-capped mountains and other icy terrain.
While Norway does have a fair few secrets of its own to uncover, you won’t be able to access all of these at the beginning of the game, and to be quite honest, Norway doesn’t hold a candle to the England map in Valhalla.
As such, do a bit of exploring, but then push through the story chapters until Eivor sets sail for England with her crew. This will end the opening chapter and throw you into the proper assassination experience that lies in wait.
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