It’s been impossible to play story content in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla since the River Raid update dropped. every time I load up the game, I try to think about the story, but I always end up going on just one more raid. That then turns into an entire evening. I’ve already gushed about how much I love these river raids, and why they’re the perfect addition to the game, but what I haven’t discussed is the level of challenge you find in each raid. It’s part of what makes them so enjoyable, and for those who aren’t up for a challenge, I still think that there’s something great to be found here.
Each time you raid a river, the level of enemies in the area will increase. It means that every location you can raid will have more enemies, and stronger enemies, based on how much raiding you’ve done downstream. It makes sense to swap between the rivers you’re raiding, but sometimes you just have to take on one with a higher level of reinforcements.
The challenge you find is never too much to handle. Your crew is great, much better than the one you take out in the main game. However, the enemies can still take you down if you’re not careful. I found myself inside a locked building with a group of enemies. They tore me apart, and I lost everything I’d gained up until that point in the raid. This is a brutal way to punish players for being cocky, but it taught me an important lesson.
The next raid I did, I got into that same locked building, but I opened the doors and got my crew to help me take down the enemies. This is a process I have followed now in multiple locations, and it always pays off. Even when landing and immediately being attacked by a huge soldier, I know my crew and I can handle it. No matter how daunting the challenge may seem, as long as you approach the raid with an eye for where to focus your efforts first, you’ll come out of it with all of the loot you can carry.