Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Which Difficulty Should You Choose?

Which difficulty should you choose in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla? Ubisoft’s open-world Viking adventure has separate difficulty levels for all aspects of the game, allowing you to set your own difficulty for exploration, combat, and stealth. You can fine-tune the game to your liking. If you want a challenging combat experience but want to breeze through stealth sections, you can do that, and vice versa. You can also change difficulty levels at any time. If you’re unsure of which settings you should choose, this guide will walk you through each step of difficulty selection in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and explain what each difficulty level actually does.

Exploration Difficulty

This setting is similar to the exploration difficulty setting in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, only with one more option this time around. The Explorer setting is what you’d expect from any open-world video game – map markers, objectives on your compass, and other helpful HUD elements. Some things won’t be marked for you like puzzle solutions or quests solutions you’re meant to search for. The Adventurer difficult has all the HUD elements from the Explorer difficulty plus some additional assistance – you can see things from further away and you will be guided more heavily than normal. Finally, the Pathfinder difficulty gets rid of nearly all HUD elements and map information, leaving you to your own devices while exploring.

• Adventurer – More icons will guide you toward your rewards. Opportunities are visible from further away.
• Explorer (Default) – Feedback on world map opportunities and regular information on the compass.
• Pathfinder – Minimal HUD and World Map information for a more immersive experience.

Most people should select Explorer for their first playthrough. This is the standard difficulty and it’s the most similar to other games. If you’re looking for a challenge or you played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Exploration Mode, you should select Pathfinder. If you’re new to games like this or don’t want to spend a lot of time looking around, choose Adventurer. There’s no best choice for this setting. It’s purely up to your preference. You can change this setting at any time in the options menu if you want a different experience.

Combat Difficulty

This setting governs the difficulty of all combat encounters (not including stealth). Skeld is the equivalent of Easy, reducing enemy damage output and making foes more susceptible to damage. Vikingr is this game’s version of Normal, and it’s the standard mode intended for the average player. Berserkr is the equivalent of Hard, making enemies more proficient in combat. Drengr is the equivalent of Very Hard, increasing the damage output and total health of enemies.

• Skeld (Easy) – For those who prefer a good narrative experience over intense combat challenges, this setting is for you. Enemy damage output and resistances are reduced.
• Vikingr (Default) – A balanced combat experience for those who wish to immerse themselves in the Viking ethos.
• Berserkr (Hard) – For players who want a solid but fair combat challenge, the Berserkr setting is for you.
• Drengr (Very Hard) – An intense combat setting for the ultimate warrior. Enemy health and damage output are increased.

Most people should choose the Vikingr difficulty, as it’s the default setting. If you just want to see the game’s story and don’t want to worry too much about fighting, choose Skeld. If you want a bit of a challenge, choose Berserkr. If you have played Assassin’s Creed games before and really want to challenge yourself, choose Drengr. You can adjust the difficulty setting at any time if you feel the game is too easy or too hard.

Stealth Difficulty

This setting affects the overall difficulty of stealth, determining guards’ perception and viewing distances. Apprentice is the Easy difficulty, lowering guards’ visibility so you can sneak around easily. Assassin is the Normal difficulty with standard guard awareness. Master Assassin is the equivalent of Hard and gives guards more realistic viewing distances and perception, making you much easier to spot.

• Apprentice (Easy) – Guards’ perception has been reduced for a less challenging experience.
• Assassin (Default) – Regular guard perception and awareness settings.
• Master Assassin (Hard) – Guards’ perception is increased for enhanced realism, thus adding significant challenges.

If you hate stealth or want to be the ultimate ghost, choose Apprentice. If you want stealth to be challenging but not too punishing, choose Assassin. If you enjoy realism and want stealth to be difficult, you should choose Master Assassin. Like the other difficulty settings, you can change this setting at any time if you find stealth too easy or too hard.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Google Stadia.