Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s new update means you don’t have to watch finishing moves anymore

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is full of close-ups on gory, Viking violence, but after the game’s latest patch, it doesn’t have to be. In a patch released on Monday, Ubisoft gave players the option to turn off the cinematic camera for finishing moves.

Valhalla’s cinematic camera zooms in extra-close for certain special finishing moves in the game. That means, if you’re winning a fight and about to chop off your opponents hands, head, or leg, the game gives you a nice, close-up view of the grisly details.

Of course, the game already gave players the option to turn off gore so it didn’t have to be so bloody. But the finishing-move camera could get a bit tiresome after seeing the same animation for the 40th time. So it’s nice to be able to save some time and avoid them.

The new setting is part of a larger patch focusing on quality of life updates and squashing bugs. Not everything in this latest patch is about fixing old content, though. The patch adds three new skills, Cold Rage, Eye of the North, and Intense Rage, which all help prevent enemies from interrupting you while in combat. The patch also gets the game ready for its upcoming expansion, which is set to release on May 13.

For everything that changes with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla patch 1.2.1, here are the full patch notes.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla patch 1.2.1 notes

Patch size and deployment timing

Xbox Series X|S: ~16GB
Xbox One: ~12.8GB
PlayStation®5: ~5.5 GB
PlayStation®4: 5-8 GB (depending on region)
PC: ~14 GB

Deployment timing for all platforms: 1 PM CEST, 8 AM ET, 5 AM PT, and 10 PM AEST.

Please note that these times are estimates and are subject to change.

New Content

Added support for Wrath of the Druids, preparing the game for the expansion release on May 13. (a separate download is required on release day.)

New Skills

Cold Rage – Ignore hit interruptions while performing successive regular melee attacks. This effect recharges after a few seconds.
Eye of the North – Prevents flinching from hits while aiming with your bow. This effect recharges after a few seconds.
Intense Rage – Ignore hit interruptions while performing your next off-hand parry or special attack. This effect recharges after a few seconds.

Game Improvements

Miscellaneous

Added an option to the gameplay menu to toggle the cinematic camera on/off during finisher moves.
Addressed an issue preventing the duel with Dag from triggering after sleeping in A Brewing Storm.
Started populating the game with missing fish species: halibut small, sturgeon small, flat fish big, and mackerel big. Check out our forum post for the exact locations.
Allowed Bayek’s and Altair’s outfit appearance to apply to other armor when using Transmog.
Addressed an issue that prevented horse galloping sound from playing.

Balancing

Extended the duration of the Battlecry ability.
Tweaked Fearless Leaper to make it easier to jump from greater heights.
Addressed an issue with the Spinning-Death and Vordr Bite perk that caused the Chance percentage to be higher than intended.

Quests, World Events, and Side Activities

Addressed several issues preventing completion in the Pig of Prophecy World Event in Cent.
Addressed an issue where various Fly Agaric mushrooms were missing the Mystery highlight.
Addressed an issue in In the Absence of an Ealdorman that prevented players from completing the quest when they had already collected the brooch before the start of the quest.
Addressed an instance when returning to Ravensthorpe, and the quest intro dialogue would replay.
In the Stench of Treachery, Soma will now kill the traitor Eivor chooses.
Addressed several issues when fighting Fenrir.
Addressed an instance where players were unable to move the cargo to complete the Blood from a Stone quest.
Addressed an issue preventing Eivor from interacting with NPCs and building owners in Ravensthorpe.
Addressed an issue where the Man’s Best Friend ability remained locked after completing the quest, A Little Problem.
Addressed an issue with the Builder in the Defensive Measures quest preventing players from progressing.
Addressed an issue preventing some NPCs from acting as bodyguards after loading a save during the Breach the Second Gate objective in The Sons of Ragnar quest.
Addressed an issue after completing the East Anglia Arc, preventing players from progressing and unable to speak with Randvi.
Addressed an issue preventing the Lost Glory quest from triggering if players found Halfdan before going to the Royal Hall.
Addressed an issue, which misplaced the objectives for the Kingmaker quest.
Addressed an issue preventing the River Raids quest from updating if a player leaves the raid before completing the tutorial.
Addressed an issue keeping Eivor from speaking to Vagn after returning from a River Raid with all the River Dee clues.
Addressed an issue preventing the Unwelcome quest from updating when fighting bandits upon arriving to England.
Addressed an issue in the Lost Cauldron that prevented players from investigating the last spot after being attacked during the investigation.
Addressed an issue that prevented players from continuing after agreeing to pledge to Hamtunscire.
Addressed an issue that caused Gungnir to go AWOL and thus, couldn’t be acquired or used.
Addressed an issue in Adorning the Adorned that allowed players to kill Sunniva.
Addressed an issue in Thieves Warren in Glowecestrescire, which prevented players from moving a shelf and obtaining wealth.
Addressed an issue preventing the next objective to trigger after fighting with Rikiwulf in Honor Bound.
Addressed an issue that prevented players from interacting with Randvi after completing The Burning of the Wicker Man.
Addressed an issue, which would not allow NPCs to interact with Eivor after completing the Grantebridgescire Arc.
Addressed an issue in Reap What Was Sown that prevented players from progressing as the quest NPC was in a dead state.
Addressed an issue preventing The First Night of Samhain quest from updating after speaking to Gunnar.
Addressed an issue allowing the Uninvited Guests cutscene to trigger during the attack.
Addressed an issue allowing Eivor to interact with the old lady during the Uninvited Guests attack.
Addressed a looped dialogue issue in Mysterious Berserker preventing quest completion.
Addressed an issue with the Spinning-Death and Vordr Bite perk that caused the Chance percentage to be higher than intended.
Addressed an issue preventing quest completion as Vili would not follow Eivor after killing bandits in The Price of Wisdom.
Addressed an issue with the A Skald’s Lament riddle due to the NPC running away.
Addressed an issue preventing players from speaking to Orwig Neverdeath in Hordafylke.

Graphics, Audio, and Animation

Addressed various graphics, lighting, or texture issues.
Addressed various instances of incorrect sound effects.

River Raids, Jomsvikings, Raids

Addressed various clipping issues in River Raid maps.
Addressed various text anomalies during River Raids.
Addressed various character or NPC animation issues during River Raids.
Addressed an issue on the Dee River causing the Champion to remain inactive until Eivor steps foot into the Champion Room.
Addressed an instance where if unequipped, the Jomsviking helmet slot would be black.
Jomsvikings will no longer call for assistance before it’s necessary. They make their own luck now!
Addressed an issue where Foreign Cargo would not be in the inventory after returning from a River Raid.
Improved the landing points and camp boundaries on the Dee River.
Increased the depth of the Dee River so players don’t bottom out.
Addressed an issue where Jomsvikings stand around after the drawbridge is lowered on the Dee River. What is their deal?!
Addressed an audio issue causing Vagn to repeat his recruitment line. Practice makes perfect. Roll it again!
Addressed issues causing the long ship to pop into the Severn River if summoned. Raids are popping, but that’s a little excessive.
Addressed a few issues preventing players from continuing down the Severn River.
Addressed a few issues with the Map Alert Meter during River Raids.
Addressed an issue preventing Jomsvikings from occasionally joining a raid if Eivor started it while on land.
Addressed an issue preventing raiders from fighting guards. Who hires these people?!
Addressed an instance keeping the long ship from entering stealth mode in certain areas during River Raids.
Addressed several issues preventing unmasting near certain bridges during River Raids.
Addressed an issue causing the Revive marker to disappear from Jomsvikings if Eivor was too far away. Now their watch has ended…
Naval blockades will no longer respawn on the Severn River during a River Raid until the player has left the raid.
Addressed several issues preventing players from looting multiple chests during River Raids.
Addressed an issue where the River Raid Dock building was missing its construction.
Addressed an issue preventing icons from being revealed on the maps during River Raids.
Addressed an issue preventing enemies from spawning during River Raids on the Severn River.
Addressed an issue causing the music to end abruptly after looting a large chest during Raids.
Corrected an instance where Saint George’s Holy Sword was an axe. Got ‘eeeeem!
Addressed an issue preventing players from completing the objective to collect foreign cargo if military camps were raided before villages for rations.
Addressed an issue where foreign supplies were set to a 1/1 limit.

Gameplay, Combat, and AI

Animals will remain on camera once dialogue has begun. Look who’s photobombing!
Addressed several issues with Odin Sight.
Addressed several camera issues.
Addressed an issue where the Berserker Trap and Shoulder bash previewed as the Dive of Valkyries ability.
Addressed several automatic long ship navigational issues.
All animals will be reacting accordingly to the Bash ability.
Addressed several issues preventing some wild animals from attacking each other when under the influence of the Berserker Trap.
Addressed an issue causing the combo status effect to remain active on the Light Bow under certain conditions.
Addressed an issue that caused Raven’s loot not to work.
Addressed an issue preventing the Mans’s Best Friend ability from working against Zealots. Even Dwolfg feared them…

World

Fixed several instances of floating objects.
Addressed several issues with objects preventing Eivor from entering buildings.
Addressed various issues where Eivor, NPCs, or the long ship would get stuck.

User Interface/HUD

Addressed various UI/HUD issues
Addressed a variety of inexact text.
Addressed an issue where pop-ups did not occur when purchasing Store items.
Corrected several Photo Mode frame issues.
Corrected an issue where the Long Ship Boost icon was missing from the stamina bar.
Addressed an issue causing the Long Ship Boost skill’s stamina to deplete if used twice without pause.
Addressed an issue that prevented players from acquiring the Berserker-themed items from the Animus Store or read if they already owned them on another platform.
Addressed an issue preventing the Colorful Raven skin to be applied to Synin.

System

The game will now display a notification if it’s unable to save progress.
(PC) Addressed an issue causing Vsync to remain on while in a locked state in Windowed Mode.
(PS5) All trophies achieved on PS4 will now be unlocked on PS5. (Trophies including Viking Legend, Calling in a Favor, As It Was Foretold, Disorder of the Ancients, Skadi’s Hobby, Silent Viking, and Orlog Champion. should now unlock retroactively when conditions were met previously.)
(PS4/PS5) Corrected a very high sensitivity issue when playing with M&K.

Performance and Stability

Improved performance and stability.

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