Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is already reevaluating much of the Origins legacy. The game is bringing back social stealth, and placing much less of an emphasis on player levels, particularly when it comes to stealth takedowns. The Hidden Blade is once again capable of one-hit kills, even on bosses, but not always. By default, the Hidden Blade works exactly as it does in Origins and Odyssey: give a bonus to your damage that, depending on your level, could result in the death of your target in a single hit. The compromise this time around, however, is that when attempting that on bosses, you’ll get a quick-time event. When executed successfully, you get to take out the boss in a single hit. If you fail, you still deal the level-appropriate amount of damage and start the fight off at an advantage. In the video below from PrestigeIsKey, you can see him get the QTE right and end the raid boss in a single hit.
This should be welcome news to longtime fans of the series. The push to turn Assassin’s Creed into an RPG has left a number of long-standing mechanics and features behind, and neutered a few of the others. The new Hidden Blade not only made assassinations awkward, it upset players who come to Assassin’s Creed for the fantasy of being an ultra-deadly, undetectable assassin. Read up our hands-on impressions of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at the link, or check out these videos of a full raid and the one rap battle we came across if you’re looking for some raw gameplay. Valhalla releases November 17 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Stadia.
