How to level up in Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Easy to understand guide on how Leveling works in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Learn how to earn XP fast and how Power affects your experience!

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has a slightly different approach when it comes to Leveling up your character and gaining Experience to become more powerful as you progress through the story.

This guide details the many options you have to gain experience and explains how leveling up works, what Power Level means, why it’s important, but not a requirement or limitation and how to earn Experience faster in the early game!

This guide does NOT contain any spoilers from the Assassin’s Creed storyline. It is safe to read if you are a new player and want to learn a bit before you jump in without ruining your fun.

How to level up in AC Valhalla
- What are Experience Points
- What is Power Level
How to earn Experience in AC Valhalla
How Power and Gear are related
- How gear affects your Power Level
- How Power Level affects your gameplay

How to level up in AC Valhalla

Assassin’s Cred leveling system is quite different in comparison to the previous two games from the series AC Origins and AC Odyssey.

In AC Valhalla you do not gain levels as you progress through the storylines and explore the vast open world of Norway, England and… wherever else the game may take you.

What are Experience Points

Experience in AC Valhalla is exactly the same thing as in any other game. You earn XP points from performing various actions. Further down in this guide I have an overview of what you can do and the mount of XP you can get from each activity.

level up fast in Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Open the Skills screen from the game menu to see your current XP progress towards the next Power Level. It is represented by an empty square rotated to a 45 degree angle, located in the top right corner of the screen.

As you gain XP, that figure starts filling up in a light blue color. It pops in the top right corner as you play the game each time you earn XP from something, but is only constantly visible in the Skills screen. When the figure fills up, you gain +2 Skill Points.

In the lower left corner on the Skills screen you will see the amount of Skill Points you have not yet spent to learn Skills and Passives.

Evedry time you gain a Skill Point, you can see it in the top right corner as you play the game. It looks like this.

I have a very detailed guide on how Skills and Abilities work in AC Valhalla. Take a look to better understand the Skill Trees in the game and how to build your character to make it as strong as possible and which Skills and Passives are the most important and will give you great benefits from getting them early on.

What is Power Level

You earn Experience Points to increase your Power Level, which makes you character stronger and allows you to earn more Skills.

Each time you gain enough XP to fill up the square figure , you gain +2 Skill Points. Power Level is the total amount of points you have earned. Your Power Level rises as you spent Skill Points. Earning these points without spending them, will not increase your Power Level.

You can see your current Power Level by opening the Inventory or the Skills screens, as shown below:

Some special activities, like exploring the world and finding super secret places involving puzzles will reward you with +1 Skill Point. These points are directly added to your pool for solving a puzzle to obtain a unique item.

A great example are the “Treasures of Britain” locations that you have to visit in order to get Excalibur, the biggest and strongest Great Sword in AC Valhalla. Visiting each one of these places and getting the Tablets, will grant you +1 Skill Point for doing so. This is true for solving other Mysteries scattered all over the map.

How to earn Experience in AC Valhalla

Nearly everything you do in the game rewards you with Experience Points. Based on the actions you perform, you earn different amounts of XP. Some activities bring you a lot more than others.

In the next few paragraphs I will list some of the most popular ways to earn XP, but they are NOT the only ones available. I will order the activities based on that how much XP you get and the level of entertainment you gain from doing them.

Story Quests

The main story arcs for each region of England will grant you the most XP for sure. They are usually structured in a few quests linked up in a chain. You earn XP for each one of them, of course and for completing the Story Arc and reporting to Randvi at the Alliance Table back in your Settlement you gain a ton more.

Story quests are also the most entertaining for probably the vast majority of players. You do not play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for the “kill count”, you play it for the story and for the exploration, of course! More on that latter thing in a moment!

Reda’s Contracts

Reda’s Shop arrives to your Settlement as part of the main story of the game at one point. I wont reveal when exactly and spoil your fun.

To everyone coming from AC Origins, Reda will sound a little too familiar. This is the exact same black market merchant, who sold you unique and rare items in Ancient Egypt. Not he somehow reappears centuries later in England.

I have an in-depth guide to Reda’s Shop, but what is important to mention here in relation to XP earned is that the Daily and Weekly Contracts you get from Reda and his associates in every major town and city, will also reward you a healthy amount of XP for completing them. And they are usually quite quick and simple.

Explore the world

Although I said earlier that the story of the game is its best feature, I personally absolutely loved the exploration element. The previous two games had good exploration features as well, but here I had the most fun.

This has to be related to the fact that the best treasures, special items and gear in AC Valhalla come from exploring hidden caves, old ruins and mysterious ancient places.

AC Valhalla still offers traditional for the series Sync points, placed in high places across the map, but here the sailing is very very involved as well. Just sailing through the rivers from one spot to another, helps you uncover large parts of the surrounding lands as well and every new region or place discovered brings you XP.

Defeat enemies

Would you believe it if I told you that defeating enemies does not reward XP? Strangely enough this is true in AC Valhalla. In some cases…

While bashing the heads of random soldiers as you walk or sail across England and Norway is fun, it is the least rewarding in terms of Experience Points.

Defeating Zealots rewards you XP in AC Valhalla — Defeating one of the most challenging opponents, the Order’s Zealots, rewards you with a lot of XP, among other things

Normal Soldiers will grant you a very small XP boost while the “yellow” ones, known as Elites, will reward you five times that amount. It doesn’t matter what Power Level you are and what your opponents are. They will always reward you static amount of XP based on the type and tier of the enemy you defeat.

Defeating soldiers during a Raid in AC Valhalla

Now the annoying part! In certain moments such as during Sieges and Story-related Raids (not the normal ones) you will not earn XP from defeating soldiers. This is because opponents will keep spawning over and over.

During story quests and story raids where you have a specific objective which does not involve killing enemies, you will not earn XP per kill.

You can very easily determine if defeating opponents will grant you XP during a quest. Simply fight and beat someone and notice if a +XP notification appears in the top right corner of your screen as soon as you defeat the soldier.

Please note that similarly to previous games you do not earn XP by killing civilians in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. If you do it too many times in a short span, you will even desynchronize.

Best way to earn XP and Power Levels in AC Valhalla

In case you are skipping through this guide, I wanted to make sure you are not missing the most important part of it – what is the best and quickest way to earn XP and Power Levels in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla!

The most effective and rewarding method is to do the story arcs for each region on your map. Visit Randvi at the Alliance Table in Ravensthorpe, pledge to a region and go do its main quests chain.

A perfect and very rewarding alternative is to explore the world of the game. AC Valhalla has a vast beautiful and full of wonders map just waiting for you to explore it.

The most valuable items in this game are hidden in many locations and not available as loot from defeated enemies. Of course, a healthy amount of gear is rewarded to you through quests and from the shops, but the best items are left for you to explore the world and find them on your own.

I have a lot of guides detailing the locations of Armor Sets, Weapons and Shields and other interesting places.

There is a connection between Power Level and Gear in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It works both ways. None of them are a limiting factor, though. Just a recommendation. You can always create an additional level of challenge for yourself by venturing into a High Power Level region with decent gear, visit a Low Power Level Region with weak gear equipped or take the worst of both and go fight much stronger enemies than you with a set of gear that don’t match the few Skill Points you have earned and spent.

More on how Gear and Power affect and alter your gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in the following few paragraphs!

How gear affects your Power Level

As you progress through the game, you will earn or find unique gear pieces. Every armor part, weapon or shield in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has a unique name. You cannot get a random loot drop form a poor soldier you have just defeated.

Each gear piece has up to four Tiers of quality and can be leveled up to ten times in total. Some items you will find in a higher Tier and Level than others. This depends on the place and method you obtained them.

Gear in AC Valhalla does not directly influence your Power Level. However, if you are a high Power Level and attempt to fight a Zealot (members of the Order of the Ancients) naked, you will most likely fail quickly and spectacularly.

You should always strive to match your Power Level to your gear equipment. It’s of vital importance to use your Skill Points properly based on the gear you have equipped.

If you are a lower Power Level, but have taken the time to obtain a rare and higher tier Armor Set and Weapon/Shield, you will still have a decent chance at defeating tough opponents.

It would not make much sense to have the Hidden Ones armor set and, say, Odin’s Spear Gungnir as your weapon and invest only in the Way of the Wolf Skill Tree. The armor I gave as an example is a Raven category gear (yellow), while the Spear is Bear (red). Many Passives from the three Skill Trees will increase your stats for gear that matches this category. If you spend Skill Points primarily in the Way of the Wold (blue), you are wasting a number of them benefiting Wolf gear, which you do not ware in this example.

How Power Level affects your gameplay

Power Level directly affects your gameplay. This is even more true on the higher combat difficulties. The higher your Power Level is, the more Skills and Passives you have and the better performance you will show in combat.

The example I gave with unmatched gear and Skill Points spent is valid here as well. To maximize the potential of your build, it has to be selected of items that benefit each other.

Furthermore you need to properly choose the benefits of each item. If you are going for an Assassin Build that relies on stealth and speed, it would make sense to compliment your gear with the Speed Runes.

To check the recommended Power Level of a region, hover over it while on the World Map to see this info box in the lower right corner

There is another aspect of the Power Level and how it may prevent you from enjoying your gameplay. If you are too low and venture into a high Power Level region, enemies will be able to defeat you with far less effort than originally intended.

This doesn’t mean you cannot and should not visit higher Power Level regions earlier than intended. Just be careful what your purpose and goals are. The game gives you plenty of tools from the Skill Trees and Abilities, to proper gear choices that you can overcome what may seem like an impossible foe on a first glimpse. Just be wise and develop a strategy before you go head-t-head with an enemy with a Red Skull next to its health bar (notification that he may be too strong for you).

I hope you found this guide to Leveling and Experience in AC Valhalla easy to understand, useful and entertaining. There are a lot more like this in the AC Valhalla Guides section here on VULKK.com. If you are a new player, I suggest you take a look at one of these next:

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gear Locations Guides List

This is a full list of all in-depth walkthroughs and guides to the many special armor pieces and weapons available in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The list contains both special unique items and full sets with set bonuses to further diversify your Eivor build!