Unleash the Shadows: Mastering Raven Skills for Ultimate Stealth in Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Highlights

Assassin's Creed Valhalla offers players hours of gameplay with its base game and DLCs, providing open-world exploration and non-linear progression.

The Raven Skill Tree in Valhalla is designed to enhance stealth and assassination skills, providing various benefits to character stats and equipment aligned with this playstyle. With skills such as Advanced Assassination, Auto Loot, and Backstab, players gain significant advantages in combat by swiftly and effectively eliminating enemies.

Despite being released several years ago, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla provides players with an extensive amount of playable content. Along with the base game, there are also additional downloadable content (DLCs) such as The Siege of Paris and Wrath of the Druids. Similar to its predecessor AC: Odyssey, AC: Valhalla focuses on open-world exploration and non-linear progression. It introduces players to three unlockable skill trees, each catering to different player techniques and preferences.

The Raven Skill Tree emphasizes stealth, evasion, and the enhancement of assassination abilities. By upgrading character stats and equipping gear associated with this skill tree, players can improve their ability to dodge and deflect attacks. Additionally, the Raven Skill Tree provides various benefits for those who prefer ranged takedowns, utilizing poison as a strategic tool, or executing missions undetected by guards.

10 Advanced Assassination

Advanced Assassination allows Eivor to swiftly eliminate or severely harm formidable adversaries by executing precise button presses within a designated time frame. This skill proves exceptionally advantageous in challenging encounters, be it with minor or significant bosses, provided the player manages to catch their target by surprise. Instead of engaging in lengthy face-to-face battles and risking detection by nearby guards, Advanced Assassination empowers Eivor to effortlessly dispatch enemies or inflict substantial devastation through stealthy ambushes.

9 Auto Loot

Located towards the end of the Raven Skill Tree, this particular skill is remarkably convenient. Upon acquisition, whenever the player eliminates an enemy through assassination or close combat, the loot that would have been dropped by the defeated character is instead automatically added to Eivor's inventory.

This not only saves considerable time for gamers, but it also unintentionally serves as an accessibility feature for players who struggle with dexterity. The usefulness of this skill extends throughout the main storyline, the endgame, and even the additional DLC content, especially when it comes to organizing salvageable gear, crafting materials, and more.

8 Backstab

Despite the misleading name, Backstab proves to be highly valuable during one-on-one or large-scale melee encounters in AC: Valhalla. This skill causes opponents who are attacked from behind to stagger and receive extra damage that is not reduced by their defenses. Additionally, Backstab can be augmented through the utilization of different weapons, runes, and armor sets. It is important to mention that unlike certain skills in AC: Valhalla, the Backstab ability applies to damage inflicted both prior to and during combat from the rear.

7 Breakfall

The margin between a jump that leaves players unharmed and one that leads to instant death is often incredibly small, as countless explorers of new games sadly come to realize.

In a game where the primary objective involves scaling towering structures followed by swift descents, Breakfall is a feature that triggers an automatic roll for Eivor upon falling from perilous heights. This instinctive maneuver significantly mitigates the damage incurred. Although there are certain falls that even Breakfall cannot render survivable, it offers players substantial relief from potential distress.

6 Brush With Death

Fans nostalgic for the satisfyingly precise insta-kill moves and continuous takedowns of previous games in the AC series will undoubtedly be delighted with the addition of the Brush With Death ability to Eivor's repertoire. By skillfully timing Eivor's dodge to evade incoming enemy attacks, players are able to enter a temporary state of "bullet-time," allowing for strategic repositioning such as maneuvering behind enemies to fully unleash the devastating Backstab ability.

Not only does this technique grant players the opportunity to stun and inflict extra damage, it also serves as a valuable intermission during intense combat, providing a moment to consume rations and replenish much-needed health in protracted engagements.

5 Chain Assassination

The Chain Assassination ability, although not as powerful as AC: Odyssey Rush Assassination, is a highly effective and practical skill for swiftly and silently eliminating groups of enemies. Unlike Rush Assassination, Chain Assassination is more grounded and devastating. Upon acquisition, Eivor can instantly perform a secondary ranged assassination by throwing a silently retrieved axe from the initial target. This skill enables players to eliminate multiple foes without alerting nearby guards or weaken group encounters before they even commence. Chain Assassination proves particularly valuable in missions requiring stealthy pursuit of targets and eliminating clusters of archers on rooftops before executing an aerial kill.

4 Counter Roll

In line with the risk-taking strategies commonly employed by assassins in the franchise, Counter Roll offers substantial rewards to players who are willing to take chances with Eivor's safety. By acquiring Counter Roll, players can activate this ability by evading into incoming Rune Attacks just before they land. Similar to the effectiveness of Brush With Death, Counter Roll complements Backstab perfectly and also serves to counter unblockable attacks that players typically need to avoid.

It is important to note that Brush With Death only works when an enemy utilizes a specific Charged Rune Attack, rather than a regular Rune Attack. Therefore, it is crucial to pay attention to the color of the enemy's attack in order to minimize damage and avoid disappointment.

3 Miasma

The Miasma ability in the Raven Skill Tree may not align with traditional notions of stealth, but it allows Eivor to effortlessly eliminate large groups of enemies. By utilizing poison, Miasma taps into the historical and franchise connection between poison and assassination. Players are encouraged to embrace poison weapons and their deadly effects.

When an enemy affected by Eivor's poison DOT expires, they unleash a vibrant green cloud of toxic gas. This cloud has the potential to swiftly render a concentrated group of enemies into instruments of their own demise. With the exception of Templars, very few enemies are immune to poison, making this ability a valuable choice.

2 Missile Reversal

Mastering the timing of countering enemy attacks is crucial in AC: Valhalla, as it is in many games. However, Missile Reversal can be a game changer, particularly when facing formidable enemies on Eivor's epic journey. Purchasing Missile Reversal allows Eivor to send back arrows, cannonballs, incendiary mines, poison flasks, or javelins towards ranged enemies.

While not all projectiles can be reversed, the satisfaction of repeatedly defeating foes with their own weapons is too good to miss. Additionally, silencing nosy archers becomes an added advantage. Players can even defeat tough enemies from a distance by continually provoking powerful ranged attacks.

1 Predator Bow Combo

In AC: Valhalla, the Raven Skill Tree offers rewards to players who understand that a headshot is the most effective way to take down opponents, making it the strongest bow type compared to light and hunter bows. Although it should be mentioned that certain powerful enemies may be able to block or evade arrow attacks completely, the Predator Bow Combo is specifically designed for players who prefer targeting the head. This combo grants escalating damage bonuses for each consecutive successful headshot, making it a worthwhile purchase for those who enjoy long-range sniping and an increase in damage output.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is available on Amazon Luna, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Ubisoft Connect, Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox X/S.