A step-by-step guide explaining how to access the new content and map of Svartalfheim available in Dawn of Ragnarok expansion to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla!
The Dawn of Ragnarok expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla releases on March 10th, 2022. It brings a whole new map for you to explore along with a brand new story and tons of new weapons and gear to collect and upgrade. It also introduces a few new mechanics and game systems. But, first, let’s learn how to get to Svartalfheim.
This guide will help you get started with Dawn of Ragnarok either as a new game or through gameplay in the base game of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I’ve also got a detailed walkthrough of the starter quest including a guide within the guide to help you defeat Surtr – a boss you meat in the starter quest leading up to Svartalfheim.
Note: The original spelling of the expansion’s name is, of course, “Dawn of Ragnarök”. For simplicity (and because I don’t have the “o-umlaut” letter in my keyboard setup, I will type it as “Dawn of Ragnarok”.
Requirements to access Dawn of Ragnarok and Svartalfheim
The first and most important requirement to access Dawn of Ragnarok expansion in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is to purchase the DLC. This expansion is not part of the Year One Season Pass. You need to buy it separately and you also need the base game, of course.
From this point on you have a choice – start Dawn of Ragnarok right away as a new game or start the new story as part of your existing game. I will explain in more detail how to start it as a new game in the next segment. Skip to it if you decide to choose it as the next few requirements will not apply to you.
The story of the new expansion begins in Ravensthorpe, so you will need to establish your settlement in England as well. This happens pretty early in the game.
Dawn of Ragnarok is designed as an EndGame experience. You could tweak the difficulty of the game to make it more approachable, but to fully enjoy it, I recommend you to bring a character that has completed at least the main story of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The default difficulty Dawn of Ragnarok is designed for is Power Level 340 or higher. From playing the game for hundreds of hours already, I can safely say that these numbers mean little, but they do point to something important – it’s better to be very well versed with all mechanics and gameplay systems in the game before you start the expansion.
The new map is accessed through Valka’s hut in Ravensthorpe. This means that you will also need to build it before you can access Svartalfheim (and the other mythological worlds).
Lastly, you need to have your game updated to Patch 1.5.0 or higher to access the expansion’s content.
How to start Dawn of Ragnarok as a new game
After you have purchased Dawn of Ragnarok, you can start this story and experience right away, without completing any of the standard requirements to unlock the story by playing the base game.
To start the expansion directly as a new game, click on “New Game” in the main menu screen of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
On the next screen, you have to select what type of new game you want to select. If you do not own Dawn of Ragnarok, you will not see this step at all.
Even here the game warns you with a red text that reads: ” Your Experience will be severely limited”.
If you opt to take the quick path to Svartalfheim, the game will create a character for you and boost it to the appropriate level of Power Level 340. It will also give you a predefined set of weapons and gear to use. You will not be able to earn or loot any of the abilities and gear from the base game. You will also not be allowed to go anywhere but Svartalfheim.
This step is only really designed for veteran players or for players who only care to see the ending of the mythological narrative and Eivor’s final adventure as Havi.
From this point on, you will be doing the same thing everyone else, so keep reading below. In the next segments of the guide I have a detailed walkthrough of the starter quest, including how to beat Surtr – the first major boss you encounter so very early in the expansion.
How to unlock the Svartalfheim map through gameplay
This segment of the guide contains some story spoilers from the introduction to the new expansion.
Getting the Restless Dreams starter quest
As soon as you have built Valka’s hut in Ravensthorpe, you should be able to access the new map, available in Dawn of Ragnarok.
When you log into the game, you will receive a new quest called “Restless Dreams”. Eivor will mumble a few lines under their nose about being tired and how they want to rest under their favorite tree to gather their strengths and get rid of the visions.
The visions Eivor mentions are a reference to a brief clip that you may have seen in-game shortly before the release of Dawn of Ragnarok. I don’t know if you can still see them after the release of the expansion. These visions were just a short collection of semi-still flashes from the new story.
To start the intro to Dawn fo Ragnarok, head to the big tree. It’s on the east side of Ravensthorpe, just on a small hill overlooking the festival grounds.
Sit under the tree. Eivor will drop into a slumber and their dream will begin.
If you want to change your game difficulty, do it before you click on the tree and fall asleep. You will not be able to change it for the duration of the next mission and you will have to fight a tough boss that you may not be ready to fight on high difficulty (depending on how you chose to start the expansion).
In Eivor’s dream, you take control of Havi, which is one of the names of Odin. Once again you are playing as Odin himself.
In the dream Havi talks with Frigga, who informs him that their child, the god Baldr has been taken by the Muspels.
After the short cinematic, follow Frigg up the hill as she investigates the clues while trying to find where the Muslepp took Baldr. This is where you actually start the Svartalheim ark in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The next quest you get is “The Rescue” as the two of you will look for your son Baldr. While following Frigg, don’t forget to click on “Focus” when you approach this cliff. It’s a breath-stopping vista of the village below with the lava river crossing through the middle of it. It’s optional. The story will continue without you doing so.
Continue following Frigg as she explores house after house. When you enter the big house, you will have to help Frigg a little bit. Click to examine the bloodstain at the bottom of the stairs. Then head up to the second floor to investigate.
Upstairs, on your left, go to the table with mistletoe and click it to get an optional comment from Eivor.
Next, investigate the letter on the wooden table next to the wall on your right. This is what will trigger the continuation of the narrative.
Frigg is suddenly under attack from Muspels downstairs. Head down to help her. From this point on you will have to defeat a bunch of Muspels enemy NPCs while traveling southeast towards the next objective – the throne room.
As soon as you click to interact with the giant stone door, you will trigger another cinematic. You see Baldr hanging from a rope in the middle of the room. As soon as Frigg attempts to approach your son, Surtr will appear. This is the tough boss I mentioned earlier. But, fear not, I have a quick guide on how to defeat him.
How to defeat Surtr in Dawn of Ragnarok starter mission
Surtr is the major boss you will meet during the starter mission to get to Svartalfheim. He has a few key moves that you need to learn if you want to beat him. There is no way around him, so you will have to fight the giant.
Time your dodges as perfectly as possible to get the slow-time effect. This will allow you to maneuver around Surtr a bit more freely as she swings, bashes and stomps. Pick up the Winter Chanterelle around when you need to heal.
Below is an overview of Surtr’s special attacks and moveset and tips on how to avoid incoming damage from them. The images you see below are on “very hard” difficulty. That’s why the boss is Power Level 539.
Multiple swings and pokes
Surtr will swing and poke you with his giant sword all the time. Evading these attacks by dodging and dancing around him is key in the whole fight. Never stay in one spot for more than a couple of seconds.
Lava surroundings
The safe area for this arena is kind of on the small size. Do not step onto the lave that is on the sides of the room. This will burn you.
V-shaped fire mark
Surtr will lift up his foot and smash it into the ground to create a V-shaped burning mark on the ground.
Crossing these lines while they are on fire, will hurt you. I recommend you always step/dodge back when you see this attack coming.
Fire circles
Surtr will rise his left hand and smash the ground with it, leaving a fire circle on the spot where you were at the moment his hand hits the ground. You have to constantly move around the area to avoid taking damage from this attack.
The circle acts like an eruption of a volcano. The fire stays active for a few seconds after the explosion, so don’t go to that spot until it clears.
Getting saved by the dwarves
After you defeat Surtr, a cinematic plays out and, as Surtr warned you earlier, this is not the time for him to die.
After he reappears, he grabs Havi by his head and forces him to watch as Sinmara destroys Frigg.
The cinematic ends as Havi wakes up barely alive and is saved by someone. At this moment Eivor wakes up under the big tree in Ravensthorpe, holding a mistletoe.
Bringing the mistletoe to Valka and starting the ritual
Next, you have to go to Valka’s hut, which is located behind the stables in the western end of Ravensthorpe. To trigger the next cinematic, place the mistletoe on the table I the back end of the hut.
During the cinematic scene that follows you talk to Valka and she gives you specific instructions for a ritual involving the mistletoe. Pick up the mistletoe sitting on top of a wooden barrel just on the side of the hut and do the ritual.
Interact with the four corners of the symbol made of stones to place mistletoe on each corner. Then click on the middle to start the ritual.
A cinematic will start where Eivor is engulfed by flames. Valka teaches them to be calm and accept the flames instead of fear them.
Back to the dream and in Svartalfheim
Eivor travels back to Svartalfheim, where you meet the two dwarves that saved you earlier – Sigrun and Halstein. A new mission starts here for you called “Gift to the God”.
Follow the two NPCs and help them out to defeat the Muspels inside the cave. Shortly after that Halstein finds what the dwarves have been looking for – a gift for you – a special bracer that introduces one of the new gameplay systems, part of Dawn of Ragnarok. This bracer is part of a new game system called “Hugr-Rip”.
From this point on, you will be able to interact with bodies of defeated enemies to steal “their power”. This will unlock a brand new ability for you.
You can use the Hugr-Rip to obtain special Powers from certain defeated enemies. To do that, stay next to the body and press the corresponding keybind (R on PC).
Aid the dwareves: unlock doors and move heavy objects
Follow the dwarves a bit until you reach the lava river. From it, a few Muspels will spawn. Defeat them and take their essence to charge up the Hugr-Rip meter (located in the bottom right of your screen).
At this point, the Hugr-Rip should be fully charged. Click the corresponding shortcut (5 on PC) to activate the Power of Muspelheim ability, which will make you invincible to lava for 25 seconds.
Note: Even if you are not using this new ability Power of Muspelheim, you can still step into the lava and even roll through it taking an acceptable amount of damage. It will not one-shot you.
The two dwarves will stand in front of a locked door. You need to go around to the other side through the lava river to break the locking mechanism of the door.
Sneak through the crack in the stone wall and drop down through the big hole in the floor at the end of the stairs. At the end of the corridor, take left.
On the way to the locked door, make sure to stop by the Yggdrasil Shrine to experience its effect. It will trade some of your Health in exchange for filling up your Hugr-Rip meter.
Break the locking mechanism in the old-fashioned way – with a bow. Then let the dwarves in.
Go back to the middle and take the right corridor now. There’s another locked door there. On the right side of the door, there is a hole in the wall. Roll through the lava to get to the other side or use Hugr-Rip to activate the Power of Muspelheim and walk freely on lava for 25 seconds.
Break the door’s locking mechanism and let the dwarves pass.
In this area you will see for the first time some strange glowing big flowers. From them you can charge up your Hugr-Rip meter as well. Simply walk to them and interact with them as if you pick up berries or anything else off the ground.
Follow the dwarves until you reach the gap and the large movable object. Activate Power of Muspelheim and drop down to move the object closer to the edge, so the dwarves can jump through it to the other side.
Fighting Sinmara
Follow the dwarves and at the end of the saves, defeat the Muspel enemies and face Sinmara once again. She acts as a mini-boss here, though her attacks are nothing compared to Surtr’s.
After you beat her, she will escape to the middle of the lava lake again and taunt you, then disappear (for now).
Lead the dwarves to the Shelter and reveal the map of Svartalfheim
The first Shelter and the reveal of the map of Svartalfheim is your next and final objective. After you follow the dwarves to the first dwarven sign for a shelter (a golden arrow painted on the side of a wooden barrel, placed in a wooden cart).
The dwarves will ask for your help finding the next sign. Move up the pathway until you find it. You can also use your Sight to mark its location and see it from further away.
From here on follow the dwarves and listen to their banter. They will eventually lead you to the Shelter, where you will meet their chief Brudd, who will introduce you to the Blacksmith.
As a parting gift the dwarves will give you Silica. This is a new resource in Dawn of Ragnarok, which is used to unlock and upgrade your Hugr-Rip.
After you talk to the Blacksmith, you will be free to begin your open roam around the map. You have plenty of things to discover, including new raid locations for new resources, new gear to hunt and discover and sights to see and admire.
I’d suggest that you get the Dwarven Blacksmith set and Fire Giant set as well as all new Books of Knowledge to learn the new abilities and their upgrades. All those are available here in Svartalfheim. You can take these home with you when you travel back to the other parts of the game.
How to get back to the regular game
If at any point you wish to return back to Ravensthorpe, you could do that by clicking on the eye-shaped icon on the map of Svartalfheim. It’s located a bit to the north from the middle of the map.
Note that you can only return to Ravensthorpe if you are playing Dawn of Ragnarok by unlocking it through the storyline from the base game. You will wake up in your bed in the Longhouse and be able to return to the dwarven kingdom at any point to continue the story.
Regarding the “Legendary Hoard” quest
When you return to Ravensthorpe, you can do the quest called “Legendary Hoard”. Go back to the big tree where you started Dawn of Ragnarok and sit by the fire.
Listen to what your townsfolk and friends have to tell you. At the end you will get maps for places to visit in Svartalfheim – the places from each one of the stories you heard.
To go back to Dawn of Ragnarok, go to Valka’s hut and drink the special potion she has prepared for you.
I hope you found my step-by-step guide on how to get to Svartalfheim helpful and entertaining. Lots more to come!
