Ubisoft launches free Assassin’s Creed Valhalla update With New Game+ and PS5 Pro PSSR

Ubisoft released the free Assassin’s Creed Valhalla update called The Most Requested Update on November 5, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro.

The free patch adds New Game+, letting players restart the game after completing the main story. Every New Game+ run gets progressively harder, giving players new challenges on repeat playthroughs. Players reach the mode through the Holy Day Quest, Hamtunscire’s final quest before the true ending; Ubisoft opened it sooner because the game is large.

Divine gear maxes out at upgrade level 27, up from 13, and every upgrade needs the new Mithril resource. Getting a gear piece or Book of Knowledge already owned in New Game+ grants a piece of Mithril. Mithril is also available in Niflheim shops, Mastery shops and River Raid shops.

Carbon, Nickel and Tungsten looted from a Wealth Chest now give Platinum, which was once limited to the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC, so Divine upgrades work without that expansion. Extended Progression Mode is optional and lets gear upgrades and runes add 1 Power point, while Masteries add Power every 5 skill points. The Rune Forge gains a tab for rune upgrades paid in silver, leading to a Superior tier that takes Mithril rather than silver. A newly installed Stash in Ravensthorpe stores any gear and rune from inventory.

Players gain more than 300 engravable runes. They can engrave every perk added after launch, including DLC and Helix Store purchases, onto one rune for 450 silver.

PlayStation 5 Pro now defaults to Quality Mode at 60 FPS, giving sharper 4K image quality and cleaner details. The upgraded PSSR support works only on PlayStation 5 Pro and improves visual quality for Viking adventures set in England. Ubisoft added the upgraded PSSR to the current engine and rendering pipeline instead of redoing the game’s content or visual assets.

Priscilla Nguyen, the Engineering Studio Manager, explained the technical advantages to PlayStation.Blog. “The upgraded PSSR is more efficient than the original, and easier to implement in the game source code.” It also makes a crisper, more stable image than the current Temporal Upscaler.

Ubisoft brought the upgraded PSSR to Valhalla since it already worked in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and the company aims to stay at the forefront of technological innovation. The biggest development challenge was balancing image quality, performance, and integration in a game made years before the PS5 Pro existed.

Players receive the free Master Assassin Naoe outfit, based on the character Naoe from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, in their inventory. The update also brings three utility bundles and three premium character packs called Return from Niflheim, Muspelheim’s Flight, and Champion of Alfheim. On November 5, 2026, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla joins the Animus Hub Synchronization feature, letting players track engagement, work through gameplay objectives, and claim Hub rewards.

Players can get the game on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store, or with Ubisoft+. General changes cover bug fixes, pop-up news reactivation, and store improvements. Update 1.8.0 takes up exactly 5,26 GB on PlayStation 5.

The patch reworks damage values and animation speeds across many weapon types such as Bearded Axe, Dagger, Spear, Hammer, Greatsword, Dane Axe, Flail, Heavy Shield, Light Shield, Fist, Sickle, Shortsword, Scythe, and Atgeir. Skill payouts changed too: Assassination Damage now gives 5.3 per point rather than 5.26, Stealth Damage 1.7 rather than 1.67, Melee Damage 2.3 rather than 2.33, Ranged Damage 2.3 rather than 2.33, Health 5.2 rather than 5.17, and Evasion 4.2 rather than 4.17.

Way of the X Evasion skills now give 0.6 per point rather than 0.62. Poison Damage Resistance, Poison Buildup Resistance, Fire Damage Resistance, and Fire Buildup Resistance now give 5.6 per point rather than 5.56. Two nodes in the Dawn of Ragnarok Wolf tree changed from Range Critical Damage to Light Attack Damage. One sits south of Combat Dive and one east of Cunning Shot.

Raven Mastery now grants +0.2 Assassination Damage, +0.2 Evasion, and +0.1 Health per level, while dropping Stealth Damage and Ability Damage increases. Bear Mastery now grants +0.2 Melee Damage, +0.2 Melee Resistance, and +0.1 Health per level, while dropping Ability Damage increases. Wolf Mastery now grants +0.2 Ranged Damage, +0.2 Ranged Resistance, and +0.1 Health per level, while dropping Stealth Damage and Ability Damage increases.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla launched on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One in November 2020. More than three years passed between the final patch and this update. In a 2022 blog post, Ubisoft said the game would not get New Game Plus because its depth left few ways to make replayability feel unique and rewarding.

Valhalla was the only recent Assassin’s Creed game without New Game Plus before this update; Origins, Odyssey, Mirage, Shadows, and Black Flag Resynced all got the mode after launch. It also got more DLC than any other series entry by a wide margin, with two regular-sized premium expansions, one massive premium expansion, and free updates.

Seeing everything in the game takes well over 200 hours. Over 40 million people have played it, it ranked as Ubisoft’s second-most profitable game two years after launch, and it broke records at release.

Push Square and PlayStation Universe list Ivaldi’s Heir and Circle of Renewal. Ubisoft’s news post names New New Adventure and Upgrademaxxing.