Assassin’s Creed Valhalla aims to handle things a bit differently than the past two entries in the series, the reintroduction of social stealth alongside the potential to focus more on this aspect counting among its changes.
But although this staple of early Assassin’s Creed games is making a comeback, stealth as a whole won’t be forced on Valhalla’s players, even if it comes with some rather enticing benefits.
“We never wanted stealth to be mandatory. It’s a strategy that you can choose to use. What is interesting though, is that the more you progress, the more important things like social stealth and assassination with the hidden blade become for bypassing challenges.” Game Director Eric Baptizat told PCGamesN.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stealth Not Mandatory
“For example, killing enemies in stealth will grant adrenaline tokens, which will allow you to trigger very powerful abilities. You can take the full frontal approach, but this will be very, very difficult for certain [set pieces]. If you have a stealth approach, though, you can collect adrenaline tokens as you eliminate enemies, and then when you enter a fight, you can trigger those very powerful abilities.”
Aside from boosting Eivor’s combat ability, stealth also weaves into how players will once again be able to assassinate targets in one hit, provided they unlock the proper skill.
“We also have a mechanic that enables you to assassinate even the hardest enemies in the game, but you need to unlock a skill, which triggers a timing-based mini-game during assassinations. If you succeed, you can kill even the most powerful enemies in one hit. The timing will be very difficult to master with them, but good players that love the stealth approach can kill enemies that they would never be able to fight, and thereby enter very difficult areas and steal the loot.” Baptizat explained.
The lack of one-hit assassinations was one complaint brought up by players discussing Odyssey. Its return is sure to please at least a portion of the player base.
Set during the Dark Ages, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla tells the tale of Eivor, a Viking seeking to leave Norway for England’s comparatively greener pastures.
We’ll get to raid, battle and grow our Viking settlement on November 10, when Assassin’s Creed Valhalla arrives on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4 and Google Stadia. The PS5 version will follow on November 12 (NA, AU) and November 19 (EU).
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