Set, primarily, to the backdrop of Saxon England in 873AD—Assassin's Creed Valhalla is Ubisoft's latest installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise. The franchise's biggest launch to date; it has hours of gameplay, fun easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans, and plenty of fun characters to get to know throughout. The game follows Eivor as they travel across the map of England, gaining allies and discovering new parts of the Saxon-controlled country.
There are many side quests and fun missions available to players throughout the course of the game. In true Assassin's Creed fashion: some of these are optional, and some are required to carry on the main storyline. Alliances are a key aspect of Valhalla and getting the Berserker on-side is one important ally you'll want to add to your home camp. Whilst it's relatively easy to get him to join you; there are several different things you must do before he'll agree to join you.
How To Start The Quest
The Berserker mission is a pretty fun one with three distinct sections, so in order to play it and gain yourself another ally: you'll need to pick up the quest. To do this, you'll need to travel back to your home base and enter the longhouse. You'll find a new letter waiting for you from Norvid the Scout. He informs Eivor that Bjorn The Berserker—otherwise known as Bjorn Bloodtooth—has been spotted in a cave near Northwic.
Eivor comments that Berserkers make fierce foes but can make invaluable, powerful allies and it would be a great asset to have his help.
After this, the mission 'The Mysterious Berserker' will become available in your quest log.
The Mysterious Berserker
You'll want to head towards East Anglia on the map and select the Mysterious Berserker quest icon, located towards the southeast of the area. Once you've selected this, it will bring up the objective: speak to Bjorn.
You can either fast travel to a spot close, or you'll need to travel into East Anglia and towards your map pointer. Once you're close enough, use Synin to locate the area, and Bjorn the Berserker. You'll know you're in the right spot when you see a small waterfall and several dead bodies by the shore of the lake.
Upon finding him, Eivor and Bjorn have a short conversation where you learn about Bjorn's wife's death and how he is out to seek revenge on those that killed her; primarily a Mercian Lord with many men on his side. Eivor offers to help exact this revenge but Bjorn first sets you a task in order to gain your trust: feeding his white bear, Njal.
After the conversation, a new task will appear—speak to Njal—and you'll follow her down towards the river. You'll need to feed her fish from the water so you'll either want to shoot them from the shore and then collect them, or you can wade into the water and kill them by hand; although the former is certainly easier. Once you've collected them, head back to Njal on the river bank and feed her the fish.
Shortly after feeding Njal, you'll be set upon by four Mercian soldiers; so be prepared and make sure that you have your weapons fully stocked and equipped. Keep Njal safe and kill the four soldiers before heading back to Bjorn.
Once you arrive back to Bjorn he, too, is under attack. The leader of the attack is Gedriht, who has relatively decent power, so be sure to dodge incoming attacks and perform counterattacks to kill him efficiently. You'll need to kill all of his men and him before you can continue. Once they're all defeated, talk to Bjorn again.
This will kickstart another cut scene, explaining how The Berserker came to England for a quieter life but his reputation preceded him, leading to the death of his wife. He accepts Eivor's help and gives him a secondary task: collecting nightshade in order to complete his Berserker Brew.
Nightshade often grows near graveyards that are, obviously, found near churches. Bjorn informs you that once you've gathered the nightshade you're to meet him by The Gallows Tree, south of Beodoricsworth.
This concludes the first part of the mission and awards you two skill points.
The Ritual Of The Berserker
The Ritual Of The Berserker is the second section of the Berserker mission and your first job is to collect and harvest Nightshade. This means finding Saxon churches—you can technically try any church on the map but the easiest location is probably King's Bury, located in East Anglia, near the river.
Once you're near your location you can use Synin again to locate the Nightshade. Be sure to stay quiet and use your Odin Sight to keep an eye on where your enemies are in the area. You'll only need to collect one source of Nightshade.
Return to Bjorn by The Gallow's Tree; this can be located south of Beodricsworth, near the Stout River. You can use Synin again to find the right spot and locate Bjorn once you're close enough. Once you've found him, there'll be a short cut-scene where he prepares the Berserker Brew and invites you to drink it with him.
After drinking the Berserker Brew, Eivor will enter a sort of trance-like state. In this, Bjorn will seemingly turn into a bear and you'll have to fight him off. You can't use weapons during this scene, so it's just your fists against the bear—and remember that dodging is your friend.
After you've defeated the bear, and once Eivor wakes, you'll need to talk to Bjorn again. Now that you have the Berserker Brew coursing through your veins—it's time to take on the Mercian Lord who killed his wife.
The Vengeance Of The Berserker
All you need to do for this next section is follow Bjorn into the attack.
Once you're engaged in battle, you'll need to kill as many Mercian soldiers as you can in order to draw out the Lord, Housecarl. There'll be a taskbar located at the top lefthand corner of your screen that will tell you how close you are. Keep in mind that only your attacks/kills count towards this, so don't just rely on Bjorn's kills to get you through.
Eventually, once you've killed enough foot soldiers, Housecarl will appear—he's identifiable by the green task icon above his head. You'll now need to help Bjorn to bring him down, but make sure you keep an eye on your surroundings as there are still Merican soldiers around to attack, too.
If Bjorn is hit too many times, you'll need to either kill the Housecarl on your own or try to revive him in between attacks. He's quite fast at attacking and his blows deal quite a heavy hit to your health; so make sure to take advantage of the moments just after he's landed a hit to counterattack.
Once Housecarl is dead you'll need to escape the area. Simply leave the conflict area and Bjorn will follow with Njal. Be prepared for the next section—because it sure tugs at the heartstrings! Bjorn will tend to Njal at the Gallows Tree and asks you to collect some of her favorite flowers.
There are some growing near the Gallows Tree, so you won't need to travel far. Once there, you'll locate the flowers with ease and return them to Bjorn. Unfortunately, Njal doesn't make it through and Eivor and Bjorn hold a funeral-of-sorts for her.
It is after this that Bjorn agrees to join Eivor's clan; now that he has avenged his wife and has lost Njal—and this concludes the mission and gains you the Berserker as an ally.
Following the completion of this mission, you'll gain another two skill points. Be sure you return to your home base and reorganize your crew in order to equip Bjorn to your longboat and crew.