River Raids - What You Need to Know
Welcome to the River Raids - What You Need to Know page of the official IGN Wiki Guide and Walkthrough for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Here, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the River Raids gameplay mode, including how it works, things to know, and strategies to get the most out of your raids.
What Is It
River Raids is a new gameplay mode centered around raiding locations from your longship. It is free content added with Update 1.1.2. It can be played any time after Eivor has settled in England. The recommended power level will adjust to be slightly higher than your power level plus any unused skill points you have.
How It Works
River Raids begins with the quest A River to Raid. In this quest you will build the River Raid Dock, make a tutorial river raid, and construct the Jomsviking Hall. Check out the River Raids DLC Guide for a list of all the quests available, and links to their walkthroughs.
To start a river raid, speak to Vagn at the River Raid Dock and tell him "Let's go raiding." You can then select which river to raid, and select a crew for the raid. You will then be transported to the selected river, in your new River Raid Longship. Now start raiding!
To exit a river raid and return to Ravensthorpe, use the Quick Actions Wheel and select Return to Settlement, while in command of the longship.
River raids work much the same as they do in the main game. Approach a location along the riverbank while in your longship and select the Raid command when it lights up. Your Jomsvikings will charge the location in search of loot, and they will engage any enemies they encounter. The objective is to locate and collect Wealth and resources.
There are four types of Wealth that you are looking for.
- Crew Rations - Found in civilian locations. One Crew Ration will add a ration to you and to each of your crew members.
- Foreign Supplies - Found in military locations, druid locations, and monasteries. Foreign Supplies are the resource used in River Raids to upgrade the longhsip and the Jomsviking Hall, and to purchase goods from Vagn.
- Gear - There are many weapons and armor pieces scattered throughout the rivers of River Raids. Follow the quest arcs to obtain all the available gear.
- Books of Knowledge - Found in monasteries and druid locations. There are six new abilities to acquire in River Raids. They are:
The Rivers
The River Raids mode offers six river systems to raid and plunder. Each river has its own map, separate from the maps in the main game. To access a river, speak to Vagn at the River Raids Dock. Each river consists of a meandering main course with islands, loops, and interconnecting side channels. Scattered along the riverbanks are civilian settlements, military compounds, monasteries, and druid camps. Each of these location types offer different challenges and rewards. There is not a lot of solid ground to explore. The map boundaries are fairly close to the riverbanks and settlement walls. The maps are intended for longship travel only.
River Exe
- 5 Civilian Locations
- 8 Military Locations
- 1 Monastery
- 1 River Map Clue
- 2 Gear and Weapons
River Severn
- 7 Civilian Locations
- 8 Military Locations
- 2 Monasteries
- 1 River Map Clue
- 3 Gear and Weapons
- 1 Book of Knowledge
River Dee
- 8 Civilian Locations
- 8 Military Locations
- 2 Monasteries
- 3 Gear and Weapons
- 2 Books of Knowledge
River Berbha
- 4 Civilian Locations
- 4 Military Locations
- 4 Druid Locations
- 1 River Map Clue
- 3 Gear and Weapons
- 1 Book of Knowledge
River Erriff
- 4 Civilian Locations
- 4 Military Locations
- 4 Druid Locations
- 3 Gear and Weapons
- 1 Book of Knowledge
River Rhine
- 3 Civilian Locations
- 4 Military Locations
- 1 Monastery
- 2 Gear and Weapons
- 1 Book of Knowledge
Things to Know
River Raids offers several unique features, including:
- When a location is raided, it is abandoned and can't be raided for a short time afterward. It will be rebuilt, however, and new loot will be available. Gear and Books of Knowledge will not respawn, but Crew Rations and Foreign Supplies will.
- Each location has multiple spawn locations for Wealth chests, so loot in a rebuilt location will most likely be in a different spot than the last time you raided that location.
- River defenses will vary, depending on the frequency and extent of your raids. Increased defenses include ambushes and blockades along the rivers, and more soldiers in each location.
- When you start River Raids, all crew members will have a rank of 1. You can upgrade the Jomsviking Hall up to four times. Each upgrade increases the rank of available Jomsvikings that can be recruited. Each increase in rank adds one ration slot to that crew member, which means they will last longer in a fight. You can exchange crew members, just like in the main game.
- Your personal Jomsviking, or Lieutenant, is a permanent member of the crew. They will rank up as they gain raid experience.
- You will have a new longship for river raids. You can customize it with cosmetic items, just like the longship in the main game. You can also increase its cargo capacity.
- Each time you start a river raid sequence your rations will be reset to zero. Your main game rations will be restored when you exit the river raid.
- Keys can be found scattered amongst river locations. A key found in one location may open a chest in another location.
- There is a section for River Raids in the Tutorial section of the Codex. Check it out for more information.
Most of the gameplay mechanics of River Raids are the same as in the main game. There are some significant differences. These include:
- The raven is not available, so you cannot scout ahead to see what you may be facing.
- There is no fast traveling in River Raids.
- There are no horses in River Raids. You cannot call your mount.
- The entire map of each river is a restricted area, so meditating is not available.
- Wealth chests for Crew Rations, Foreign Supplies, and Gear require two men to open. They are all shown on maps and the HUD as barrels.
- Saves and autosaves are not available during a river raid. If you die, or the game crashes, all progress and loot collected during that river raid is lost.
Tips and Strategies
Since you start each River Raid with zero rations, and each crew member will have one empty ration slot, the first location you raid should be a civilian location. The Crew Ration you collect will give each crew member a ration, and fill one of your slots as well. Don't stop with just the Crew Ration, though. There are plenty of normal ration sources, like berries, mushrooms, and food pots, to add to your personal ration supply. Loot fallen enemies too, since some of them will drop a ration. Wildlife and livestock is another source of rations. You will need as much as you can gather, to heal yourself during raids and also to revive wounded crew members.
When you start River Raids, you will have access to two rivers. Alternate the rivers that you raid to allow the river defenses to cool down. More rivers will unlock as you progress through the quest arcs. Alternating between more rivers should add to the cool down time.
Keep your eyes open for a red spot as shown in the image above. This indicates that one of your Jomsvikings are wounded and need help. You can revive them by giving them one of your rations. The red spot has a timer. If time runs out before you can revive them, the Jomsviking will be out of commission for a period of time. A similar white spot indicates that one of your crew has found a chest and needs help opening it.
River raids are replayable. Hone your combat skills, try different strategies, use different weapons and abilities, or increase the difficulty level to create new challenges.
If playing as a silent assassin is your style, try taking on a location by yourself. Once a location is cleared of enemies, call in your crew to help you open the two-man chests.