Assassin’s Creed Valhalla patch brings Performance and Quality modes to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S

VG24/7 October 6, 2022

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The first big patch for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla drops today.

Ubisoft has detailed patch 1.0.4 for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Outside of the day one patch, this is the game’s first major post-launch update, and it’s full of fixes and several new features.

For starters, 1.0.4 will arrive today at 4am PT, 7am ET, 12pm UK on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia. Its size varies; anywhere from 2.5GB on the low end to 4.3GB on the high.

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The biggest new addition in today’s update is the ability to choose between Performance and Quality in two separate modes. Those will be available on PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Since launch, Valhalla only offered a single option for players on these platforms, which was fine on PS5 and Xbox Series X, since they ran at fairly stable 60fps, but not so good on Series S, which was locked to 30fps.

With the new modes, even Series S owners will be able to pick which area to prioritise. In Performance mode, the game will always try to hit 60fps by starting at a lower base graphic settings, and upping/lowering the resolution to maintain the target. Quality mode, on the other hand, should offer an upgrade over what’s currently available – in terms of visuals. The mode will instead target 30fps.

Speaking of technical upgrades, you should no longer see screen tearing on Xbox Series X/S, and the framerate should be more stable now. On PC, the patch fixes a memory leak issue that occurs when alt-tabbing.

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Getting into gameplay, Ubisoft has made it so players don’t struggle with fabrics anymore. The fabric limit has been increased to 82, and anyone whose settlement has reached level 6 will now be able to buy fabric from traders.

1.0.4 includes some nice quality of life additions, too, such as the option to automatically assign all nodes on the path when unlocking a central skill. The rune menu now splits the available rules by categories. You’ll also note that the offering altar requirements are clearly laid out on the world map.

Read on below for the full change log.

Content

Graphics/Performance modes

Added an option to the game that allows players to choose between Performance or Visual quality. Available for Xbox Series X|S & PlayStation 5.
Choosing Performance allows the game to adapt the resolution and graphic settings to maintain 60 FPS.
Choosing Quality enables the game to run maximum resolution and graphic settings while maintaining 30 FPS.

Balancing

Updated gear quality and gear to their correct values.
Added Assassination damage stats on the character stats page.
Removed duplicate gear from inventory.
Heavy and light attack stats will now adjust correctly based on acquired skill nodes.
Heavy attack modifiers will no longer be applied to range attacks.

Miscellaneous

Added a new background image to the title screen.
Added various VFX to enhance visuals.
Added an option that will automatically assign all nodes on the path when acquiring a central skill.
Added rune categories to the rune menu. All runes are now categorized in Weapon & Armor runes.
Added a warning when switching from a language that supports TTS to one that doesn’t.
Sliders can now be moved with left/right arrows on M&K and controllers.
Increased fabric limit to 82.
Added fabric to traders once the settlement has reached Level 6.
Added offering altar requirements to the world map.

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Game improvements

Performance and stability

Improved stability and performance.
(Xbox Series) Improved experience on Xbox Series S | X consoles including screen tearing
(PC) Addressed a VRAM/RAM leakage issue when alt tabbing to desktop.

Save games

Corrected some instances where Load Game would not display save games correctly.
Renamed Cloud saves to make them more distinguishable from regular saves. Previously the cloud save was only highlighted with a Cloud icon. Now they’ll be called, for example, “Manual Save Cloud”
Removed Cloud saves from the Save menu. This will ensure that it cannot be overwritten unintentionally.
Added a notification when a cloud save retrieval has failed.

Graphics, audio, animation

Addressed various graphical issues across the board.
Addressed various FX issues.
Addressed various instances of clipping issues.
Addressed various visual issues with Eivor’s cloak.
Addressed various instances of player or NPC animation issues.
Addressed various audio issues.
Addressed various lighting issues.
Shadow resolution on High will now use correct values.

World

Addressed various texture or object placement issues.
Addressed some instances where the player could become stuck in specific locations.
Fish in Norway will now spawn in bad weather. Yeah, we had to read this one twice too.
Crows will no longer randomly fall from the sky in Asgard.

Gameplay, combat, AI

Addressed various bow-aiming issues.
Improved NPC and Boss behavior across the board.
NPCs will now react to the player stealing…so think twice before stealing!
Addressed an issue where dogs would start levitating when Eivor starts to pet them.
Blocking Springald projectiles will now consume stamina, as intended.
Zealots that were hit with a sleep dart can now be stun attacked. Sleep tight.
Zealots will no longer heal themselves while in player vicinity.
Guards who clearly saw Eivor shoot their ally will now turn hostile.
Guards will now hear the impact of dead bodies dropping to the ground.
Improved guard reactions to whistling.
Improved disguise behavior in distrust zones.
Shooting bows from the Longship now consumes arrows.
Players will now be able to air-assassinate sleeping NPCs.
Improved fish-reeling behavior.
Addressed an issue where the horse wouldn’t use the gallop animation in combat.
The crowd will now cheer during drinking games.
Reworked sliding mechanic.

Quests, world events, side activities

Addressed an issue where the assassination sequence wouldn’t play for some targets.
Addressed various texture issues during cutscenes.
Addressed various issues with quests or world events that prevented players from completing them.
Players can no longer use the fishing tool or the horn during the drunk walk with Tewdr –
Sub quests will now display the correct “Part of” parent quest.
The memory stream can now be chosen when starting a New Game if Hold Alternative option is set to ON.
Increased frequency of experienced travelers.

User interface / HUD

Addressed various issues with the User Interface/HUD.
Addressed various localization issues.
Addressed various Mouse- and Keyboard-related input issues
Secrets will now be discovered when synchronizing a Viewpoint. (This does not apply to Pathfinder difficulty)
Experienced travelers are now highlighted on the world map and on the compass when in proximity.
Addressed an issue where the map wouldn’t update once players got intel from an experienced traveller.
Increased Odin’s Sight radius and enemies will now be highlighted for longer.
Improved radius in which Synin reveals keys.
Reduced Synin’s view distance of materials.
Improved the objective beam behavior.
Settlement building beams can now be seen using Odin’s Sight.
Improved enemy target-lock mechanic.
“Sell all trinkets” will now be greyed out after all trinkets were sold.
Bosses’ power levels will now be displayed on their health gauge. This does not apply to regular enemies.
Regular brightness settings will no longer apply to HDR exposure settings.
The Codex will no longer foreshadow or spoil some events.
(A11y) Desktop entries and content on Layla’s laptop are now narrated when Menu Narration is ON.
(A11y) Colorblind filters are now applied correctly to mini-quest log and raid tutorial.

Abilities and Skills

Addressed an issue where players couldn’t use any abilities anymore when the Dive of the Valkyries ability was interrupted.
Ally NPCs or horses can no longer trigger body traps.
Addressed a display issue where the poisonous powder trap could become invisible after using Synin.
Adjusted chain-assassination behavior. Players will no longer be able to assassinate a target who was tackled to the ground.
The Secondary hand slot will no longer be available when a two-handed weapon is equipped (pre-heavy dual-wield skill).
Flaming powder traps will now explode when walking over the arrow.

Raids

“Force Open” will now be displayed correctly even if nearby allies are in combat.
Addressed an issue where allies would not help Eivor to open a door during Raids.
Allies will now return to the longship once a raid is complete.
Added a timer until players can restart a raid that was just completed.

Photo mode

Effect values can now be adjusted with arrow keys or WASD.
The no-filter option will now work correctly.
The Territory panel is no longer displayed in Photo Mode.
Changing filters will now work as intended.
Addressed an issue where an Online Service Error could occur temporarily when looking at photos on the world map.
Snow FX will now center to the camera instead of the player in Photo Mode.

System

(PC) Updated readme files to show correct PC specifications.
Added additional checkpoints to some boss fights.
Addressed an issue that led controllers to vibrate constantly.
Addressed an issue where players could become stuck in a black screen after closing the menu with start.
(PC) Updated the autodetect config for Nvidia Geforce 1650 S.

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