14 DAY TRIAL // The work of Ubisoft Sofia, Dawn of Ragnarök is a brand-new expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla that will take players to the realm of the dwarves, also known in the Norse mythology as Svartalfheim. In search of his son, Baldr, the expansion has Odin (aka Havi) right and center, so if you loved the Asgard storyline in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla like I did, you’ll most likely be impressed by what’s coming next month.
This isn’t just a simple expansion that dives deep into Odin’s struggles in a realms conquered by fire giants, but a full-fledged game in itself. It takes around 35 hours to fully complete Dawn of Ragnarök, but much less if you’re only following the main story. Also, your character must have a power level of 340 to efficiently tackle the challenges in the upcoming expansion, but you’ll be able to boost your character to the required power level within Dawn of Ragnarök if you need to.
In case you’re wondering how the new expansion fits into the Assassin’s Creed universe, here is the short version. Dawn of Ragnarök is set thousands of years before the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and it is experienced as a vision by Eivor.
Svartalfheim is just one of the nine realms branching from Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Originally controlled by the dwarves, Svartalfheim has been occupied by Surtr, the fearful fire giant, and his Muspels, who’ve allied with the Jotnar frost giants to hunt for powerful relics hidden throughout the realm.
More importantly, Dawn of Ragnarök introduces new game mechanics. The first one comes from a mythical item that Odin wears, which is called Hugr-Rip. This is a bracer that allows Odin to steal powers from certain marked enemies. These powers use a new resource called Hugr, which can be either drawn from giant flowers or gained by sacrificing part of Odin’s health at special shrines. It’s also important to note that Odin’s newly acquired abilities last for short bursts of time.
One of these new abilities lets Odin turn into a white raven and explore the world from above. Another one lets him disguise as a fire giant and makes him immune to heat and magma. Also, with the Power of Rebirth active, Odin raises any defeated enemies from the dead to fight for him. All these new abilities can be upgraded permanently at dwarven blacksmiths, but they can only be used while in Svartalfheim.
Dawn of Ragnarök will be available on March 10 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna. It’s also included with a Ubisoft+ subscription.
