As an epic Viking raider of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, your gear setup is important. There are a lot of weapon and armor choices in this amazing game. Some look better than they appear, and others are majorly underrated. Your best bet is to pick gear that most closely aligns with your fighting style.
Do you like to dance around your enemies and perform a bunch of light attacks to take them down? Or would you rather just charge in with your giant Dane axe? If you're a brazen fighter, then you should definitely run with a heavy weapon. And you might want to wear more damage-resistant armor too. It's always fun to make those little enemy archers shake in their chainmail boots.
10 Best: Attack Range
One of the best things about choosing a heavier build is your attack range, with both melee weapons and bows. Predator Bows are by far the most accurate ranged weapon in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. You can quickly snipe your enemies from far away, taking a major chunk out of their health before they can get to you. And the reach of your broadswords and battle-axes is just ridiculous. You can strike an enemy that's at least an entire Eivor body-length away. Those double-knife guys won't stand a chance.
9 Worst: Stamina Drain
Big weapons are heavy. And heavy items are harder to move. Shocking, right? Besides the obvious weight disadvantage, it's important to remember that each combat movement with these weapons will cost more stamina. Three quick dodges with a heavy build will drain a larger portion of your stamina than the same moves with a light build. And you really don't want to run out.
During a fight, if your stamina bar is empty, you won't be able to dodge or parry any attacks until the bar completely refills. This will leave Eivor extremely vulnerable. If your enemy decides to take advantage of the opening with a heavy attack, you will lose a significant portion of your health. Players with heavy equipment must carefully plan their combat movement to send their stamina wisely.
8 Best: Well-Protected
In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, as in any other combat-centric game, heavier armor provides more protection. Steel is stronger than chainmail, chainmail is stronger than leather, and leather is stronger than cloth. That's the way the medieval world works. Many players prefer this "tank" gear setup because it gives them the freedom to make mistakes in combat without taking too much damage. For heavy armor with a high protection rating, each hit that Eivor takes will drain significantly less health.
If you're looking to take on a large group of enemies, you should consider one of the best heavy armor sets in the game: the Brigandine Armor Set. Players love this armor because it shields them well from damage and it also increases Eivor's melee attack strength for each additional enemy in combat. So don't be afraid to charge into battle.
7 Worst: Slower Movement
In addition to quick stamina drain, heavier armor and weapons will slow you down both in and out of combat. Whether you're trekking through the English countryside or jumping across Lunden rooftops, you will move noticeably slower. This isn't too much of an inconvenience if Eivor is away from conflict. However, players with less mobility can face additional challenges when attacking enemies.
Heavier gear will decrease your speed stat, which can be a disadvantage in battle. Less speed means that players will have a smaller window to defend against incoming attacks. If you plan to dodge or parry in combat, you'll need to react a lot more quickly. Keep that in mind when facing a Zealot or other powerful enemy.
6 Best: Weapon Variety
Assassin's Creed Valhalla offers some epic heavy weapon choices. And each of them aligns with a different fighting style. Players of this game can wield spears, flails, battle axes, predator bows, war hammers, and greatswords. One of the most popular heavy weapons of the game is King Arthur's giant sword, Excalibur. These types of swords favor a simple attack style and they're ideal for beginners. But more seasoned Vikings should opt for the flail; its unique spinning feature allows players to hit any nearby enemies, regardless of their exact location. This can be a major advantage against larger groups. Plus, it'll make you look awesome.
5 Worst: Common Weapon Appearance
Though this Assassin's Creed title features a variety of heavy weapons, their cosmetics aren't as impressive. Most of the game's attainable greatswords are a bit drab; it looks like Eivor picked them up at the Viking flea market. The spears aren't anything to write home about either. But, to be fair, there's only so much style that Ubisoft can add to a weaponized stick.
The overall appearance of most heavy weapons and armor is fairly dull if they're in the grey Fine category. This is probably meant to encourage players to upgrade all of their equipment. Unfortunately, the more unique cosmetic features aren't displayed until these items reach the blue Flawless level, which requires a lot of materials.
4 Best: Shields
Need protection from most damage types? Use a shield. Want to bash your enemy's head in? Use a shield. Prefer to stun your attackers into submission? Yep, you can use a shield for that too. In addition to looking amazing (seriously; some of these things feature skulls and other crazy decorations), the shields of Assassin's Creed Valhalla are very handy in combat. They add some weight to your character but the extra armor and stun perks are worth it. Also, a lot of them have unique abilities. A cool example is the Bloodwulf shield; upon a successful parry, there's a chance that it will light your main hand weapon on fire. Enemies tend to get distracted if they're engulfed in flames.
3 Worst: Increased Combat Difficulty
The combination of quick stamina drain, slowed movement speed, and reduced defense timing can make overall combat encounters a bit more difficult. You'll need to calculate your attacks much more carefully. This may not be ideal for novice players. However, if you're a battle-hardened Viking who has seen their fair share of raiding and pillaging, you can dominate almost any melee situation with a heavy build. Players should be especially cautious when facing a powerful enemy. In those situations, the fight becomes less of a rush and more of a dance. It doesn't hurt to practice either way.
2 Best: High Damage
Players with heavy weapons won't attack as quickly, but when they land a hit, it'll hurt. And there's something weirdly satisfying about slicing through a large group of enemies in only a few moves. Most big weapons in Assassin's Creed Valhalla have a very high damage rating, despite their possible weight and speed disadvantages. This can be especially useful when fighting a scary boss or Zealot. Picture this: you're dodging and parrying your way around an elite enemy, hitting them with an insane flurry of quick attacks, then you take a quick look at their health bar. And it's still almost completely full. Make each hit count by equipping Eivor with an epic heavy weapon.
1 Worst: Single Perk Tree
In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, players are able to unlock two new perks on the skill tree each time they level up. The tree branches in three main directions based on fighting style: the Way of the Wolf, Raven, and Bear. The Wolf and Raven branches both favor a lighter, faster character build. They provide the best (and most varied) advantages for ranged and stealthy playstyles. Unfortunately, only the Bear section of the perk tree is truly beneficial for players with a heavy equipment setup. The other paths favor Assassination damage, light attack damage, mobile special abilities, and ranged attacks. If you want to take advantage of the Way of the Bear, you simply won't have as many perks to choose from. But that shouldn't matter if you're a battle-hardened Viking.