Assassin's Creed: Valhalla skills list and best skill recommendations explained
What's available to unlock and our picks on which skills to choose first.
Skills are your main reward for levelling up in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
Skill points - earned every time you level up - not only increase your Power Level when applied, but also can be spent to upgrade stats, introduce buffs, and perhaps best of all, unlock new skills.
From the outset, the skills available aren't visible from the start of the tree, so it's difficult to know which direction to go in and what skills you can find.
This page provides a list of all skills in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, as well as our best skill recommendations if you're stuck for things to unlock.
On this page:
For more help with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, we have pages on changing Eivor's appearance, returning to Norway with the Atlas and some flyting tips.
How skills and the skill tree works in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
You gain two skill points every time Eivor gains enough XP to level up, and one for each Standing Stone puzzle and Offering Altar completed, or Excalibur-related Treasures of Britain tablet found. Here's a dedicated page on Power Level and how to get XP fast, if you're keen on grinding these out quickly.
These skill points go into the Skills Tree, and the amount of sections filled in the Skills Tree - available in the main menu - is shown by Eivor's Power Level. Each Raid, Order Member, and Region will have a suggested Power Level, and venturing there while Eivor is massively underpowered is a recipe for disaster and bloodshed.
Most of these slots along the Skills Tree aren't actually skills at all, but instead minor buffs to Eivor's all-around strength.
A little bit more health here, some increased Heavy Attack power there, a sprinkling of fire resistance... you get the idea. These minor buffs are evenly sprinkled throughout the Tree, so aren't included in this page.
Instead, we're focusing on the Skills themselves: for every cluster of these buffs together in a single branch, you get one Skill, which unlocks a specific move.
This might be stomping on an enemy's face, hurling their spears back at them, or the chance to chain your assassinations together.
(Note - these are different from Abilities, which unleash superpowered attacks, must be learned from hidden books, and cost adrenaline. Skills just become part of your regular combat makeup.)
The skills are split into three different sections:
- Bear (red, or the top branch), orientated mainly towards face-to-face combat
- Wolf (blue, or the right branch) oriented mainly towards range
- Raven (yellow, or the left branch) orientated mainly towards ingenuity and inventiveness in battle
These categories are by no means absolute though, as red does include a bow skill, blue has a low health saving skill more suited to a brawler, and yellow has bow and brawler skills mixed in with a lot of other weird ones - like making dead bodies explode.
It's worth noting Valhalla armour sets align with these three types also - with certain skill nodes giving you a stats boost if you equip a matching set.
What follows is a skills list to see which ones suits you, as well as their location within the tree.
Finally, these skill points can be reset and reapplied as much as you like, meaning you can rejig the more combat heavy red skills before a boss battle, but go for the stealth and area based skills of the blue and yellow tree when you want to take a camp without raising the alarm.
Skills list in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
What follows is a list of all available skills in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla in alphabetical order, including their description and location within the skill tree to help you find where to unlock it.
| Skill | Skill description | Skill location | Branch image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenaline Fiend | When 1 or more Adrenaline Slots are filled, you gain a damage boost and attack speed boost. This effect augments with each slot filled | Red (top) branch; To the right of Parry Damage | 
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| Adrenaline Upgrade | Plus 1 Adrenaline Shot | Red (top) branch; Same branch as Berserker's Mettle | 
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| Adrenaline Upgrade | Plus 1 Adrenaline Shot | Blue (right) branch; To the left of Last Chance Healing | 
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| Adrenaline Upgrade | Plus 1 Adrenaline Shot | Yellow (left) branch; Down from Guided Arrow | 
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| Advanced Assassination | Unlocks the ability to assassinate high-level targets with a timing based attack | Yellow (left) branch; Down from Backstab | 
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| Arrow Reinforcement | With this skill, loosed arrows will never break and may be collected from fallen enemies | Blue (right) branch; To the right of Hunter Bow Combo | 
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| Arrow Volley | Discharge all loaded arrows at once by holding and releasing RB with a Light Bow. Each volley has a stamina cost | Red (top) branch; To the right of Sprint Bash | 
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| Assassin's Cantrip | Following a successful parry, quickly press Y to throw a smoke bomb at your feet and disappear | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Adrenaline Upgrade | 
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| Auto Loot | Loot an enemy automatically after a melee kill or stealth takedown | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Breakfall | 
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| Backstab | Landing a blow directly on an enemy's back will infllict increased defense damage and cause them to stagger | Yellow (left) branch; The first yellow skill | 
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| Battlefield Crematorium | Enemies who perish from a fire attack will continue to burn, dealing fire damage to enemies nearby | Red (top) branch; To the left of Warrior Takedown | 
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| Battleground Bolt | Press Y to pick up the nearest discarded weapon and automatically throw it at an enemy in sight | Blue (right) branch; Down from Melee Bow Link | 
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| Berserker's Mettle | Fight with reckless abandon. A partially filled Adrenaline Slot will not be affected by an enemy's first strike | Red (top) branch; To the left of Dual Swap | 
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| Bow Stun Finisher | Press right stick when aiming at a stunned enemy's head to trigger a Bow Stun Finisher | Blue (right) branch; To the right of Stealth Adrenaline | 
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| Bow To Melee Link | Alternating between bow and melee attacks deals extra damage for a short time | Blue (right) branch; Down from Emergency Aim | 
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| Breakfall | Eivor automatically performs a roll when landing from a dangerous height, reducing the amount of damage taken | Yellow (left) branch; Down from Advanced Assassination | 
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| Brush With Death | Dodging just before an attack lands grants you heightened senses, making others around you appear to move slower for a time | Yellow (left) branch; Up and to the left of Backstab | 
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| Chain Assassination | After performing a successful assassination, throw an axe at a second NPC standing in close proximity | Yellow (left) branch; Same branch as Adrenaline Upgrade | 
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| Charged Shot | Fire two fully charged arrows by press RB with the Hunter Bow. This attack cannot be cancelled | Blue (right) branch; To the right of Battleground Bolt | 
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| Counter Roll | Dodge towards an enemy's Rune Attack just before it lands to vault directly behind them | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Predator Bow Combo | 
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| Dual Swap | When dual wielding, hold RT+right stick to swap weapon hands | Red (top) branch; To the left of Stomp | 
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| Emergency Aim | Holding LT will snap your aim to an enemy as they detect you, giving you and opportunity to kill them and remain undetected | Blue (right) branch; To the right of Stealth Recon | 
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| Explosive Corpse | Booby trap a dead body to damage anyone who investigates it. Hold right stick neat a dead body to load it with explosive powder | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Guided Arrow | 
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| Grit | Regain the "red portion" of your health bat when landing succesful melee hits on enemies | Blue (right) branch; In front of Battleground Bolt | 
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| Guided Arrow | Your mastery with the Predator Bow allows you to perform unbelievable feats of accuracy. Press RB to adjust the arrow's trajectory as it flies | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Backstab | 
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| Heavy Dual Wield | You can dual wield heavy weapons. This will alter the stats and handling of each weapon | Red (top) branch; To the left of Adrenaline Upgrade | 
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| Hunter Bow Combo | Release your arrow as you finish drawing it to make the next one draw faster | Blue (right) branch; To the right of Emergency Aim | 
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| Last Chance Healing | When your health reaches a critical state in conflict, everything around you will appear to move slower, giving you time to heal or flee | Blue (right) branch; Down from Sprint Attack | 
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| Light Bow Combo | Consecutive shots with a Light Bow deals extra damage | Red (top) branch; To the left of Perfect Attack | 
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| Miasma | Enemies who die from one of your poison attacks will release a toxic cloud around them, infecting those who enter | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Explosive Corpse |
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| Missile Reversal | Send it right back at 'em. Catch and throw back virtually any projectile to its sender by pressing LB just before it hits you | Yellow (left) branch; Down from Breakfall | 
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| Parry Damage | Successful parries also deal damage to the attacker | Red (top) branch; To the right of Stomp | 
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| Perfect Attack | Press RB again during a weapon swing to do more damage on the next hit | Red (top) branch; Above Stomp | 
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| Predator Bow Combo | Consecutive headshots with a Predator Bow deal extra damage | Yellow (left) branch; To the left of Brush With Death | 
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| Sprint Attack | Press RB when sprinting to do a sprint attack | Blue (right) branch; Down from Stealth Recon | 
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| Sprint Bash | Unlocks the ability to bash through breakable objects and push NPCs to the ground while sprinting | Red (top) branch; To the right of Warrior Takedown | 
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| Stealth Adrenaline | While in stealth, gain Adrenaline by looting a chest or pick-pocketing in a restricted area | Blue (right) branch; Down from Hunter Bow Combo | 
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| Stealth Recon | Automatically highlight enemies when crouched and undetected | Blue (right) branch; The first blue skill | 
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| Stomp | When an enemy falls to the ground, press right stick to stomp on their face | Red (top) branch; The first red skill | 
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| Terror | After a Stun Finisher, weak enemies nearby may cower in fear | Red (top) branch; To the left of Light Bow combo | 
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| Warrior Takedown | Attempt an RT takedown on an unaware enemy with your melee weapon. It will alter all enemies around you but fill your Adrenaline for every one of them | Red (top) branch; Above Perfect Attack | 
|
DLC skills added post-release in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
As if the above list of skills wasn't enough, more are being introduced over time through patches and updates.
What follows is a chronological list of new skills introduced to the game, copied verbatim from official patch notes:
Skills added in update 1.1.2 (alongside February 2021's River Raids update):
- Arrow Looter: Eivor has a greater chance of looting arrows from archers.
- Assassin Carry: Automatically carry a body after a successful assassination.
- Assassin Slide: Slide into enemies and knock them off balance while sprinting.
- Fight Ready: Always start a fight with an adrenaline-filled slot.
- Long Ship Brace: When you are in command of the long ship, the crew will raise their shield with you.
- Power Stroke: Trigger a speed boost on the long ship at the cost of stamina.
Skills added in update 1.2.0 (alongside March 2021's transmog and Easter update):
- Fearless Leaper: When activated, the leap attack damage has a larger area of effect and can be done at any height.
- Loot Food: Eivor now has a higher chance of looting food from dead bodies.
- Raven's Loot: Your raven gathers loot from targets killed with ranged attacks.
Skills added in update 1.2.1 (alongside April 2021's balancing and bug fixing update):
- Cold Rage: When activated, the leap attack damage has a larger area of effect and can be done at any height.
- Eye of the North: Eivor now has a higher chance of looting food from dead bodies.
- Intense Rage: Your raven gathers loot from targets killed with ranged attacks.
Skills added in update 1.2.2 (alongside June 2021's Mastery Challenge update):
- Mounted Archer: Eivor can use their bow ability while mounted.
- Shield Master: Eivor automatically rotates to block incoming attacks by holding up their shield.
- Unstoppable: While in combat, Eivor's sprint becomes unblockable and knocks enemies back at the cost of stamina.
Skills added in update 1.3.0 (alongside July 2021's level scaling update):
- Light Fingered: Eivor will now automatically pick up nearby loot with a quick flick of the wrist (without having to press the interact button). (Raven)
- Thrill of War: Gain adrenaline as long as you remain in conflict. (Raven)
- Heidrun Slam: Press R2 while sprinting to knock enemies back with a powerful knee slam. (Bear)
- Idunn's Heart: Passively regenerate recent health loss after a short delay. (Bear)
- Survival Instinct: When at less than a third of health, hold -> for partial healing (Exchange adrenaline for health). (Wolf)
- Wolf Warrior: Your damage increases the lower your health. (Wolf)
The new DLC is here - and we explain how to start The Siege of Paris, as well as new romance options and Treasure Hoard locations. If you're after end game activities in the full game, we can explain how to get Nodens' Arc, Excalibur, Thor gear and other Valhalla armour sets, Power Level and how to get XP fast, Order of the Ancients locations and all Assassin's Creed Valhalla story choices. If you're looking for things to collect and upgrade, we have lists on best skills and Book of Knowledge locations.
Our best skill recommendations in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla explained
Unsure where to begin? What follows is some of our recommendations to get you started - or if you have a few skill points burning a hole in your pocket.
As each branch reflects Eivor's playstyle, you might find it more beneficial to use the red tree than the blue tree, or vice versa, but overall, these are the skills you'll want to grab when you can:
Stomp - found in the red / top branch
You will knock enemies down a lot, and having Stomp can quickly clear the battlefield.
Warrior Takedown - found in the red / top branch
If you also have a lot of Abilities and have extended your Adrenaline bar, this is a great skill to give you a headstart in battles.
Stealth Recon - found in the blue / right branch
You can get this early and it will see a lot of use, even if you aren't playing too stealthily.
Grit - found in the blue / right branch
Can literally be a life saver in battle, recovering health by going on the offensive.
Backstab - found in the yellow / right branch
Makes attacks from behind more potent, which is very helpful in the carnage of a raid.
Guided Arrow - found in the yellow / right branch
This gives you more control when using your bow, and is crucial for anyone looking to rely on archery.
Explosive Corpse - found in the yellow / right branch
A fantastic set piece, and a very useful trap when scurrying around a camp you're trying to take.
For more help with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, we have pages on changing Eivor's appearance, returning to Norway with the Atlas and some flyting tips.