This guide shows you how to get to all eight Books of Knowledge and pick up the four new abilities and their upgrades in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Dawn of Ragnarok expansion!
The four new abilities available with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update 1.5.0 can be picked up and learned if you have purchased Dawn of Ragnarok Expansion. I have a guide to help you get to Svartalfheim and start the new story.
Each of the four new abilities has an upgrade, resulting in a total of eight Books of Knowledge. They can be yours if you follow this step-by-step guide to unlocking all of them.
What are the new Abilities in Dawn of Ragnarok
Before we begin with the exploration, here is a quick list of all four new abilities and their upgrades:
Explosive Retreat (Melee)
- Leve 1: Jump backwards and cause lightning to strike the ground, dealing damage to all in range.
- Level 2 Upgrade: Gain a protective electric shield for 10 seconds, having damage sustained.
Rage Axe (Melee)
- Level 1: Perform a series of strong axe hits which stun the enemy. Press SHIFT+LMB (on PC) at the right time to perform a finishing uppercut. Doing so will consume an additional Adrenaline bar.
- Level 2 Upgrade: After the uppercut finisher, the enemy is struk by chain lightning and pushed back.
Knockback Arrow (Ranged)
- Level 1: Shoot a lightning arrow that stuns enemies around the target and strikes them with chain lightning.
- Level 2 Upgrade: When the target falls to the ground, enemies surrounding it are stunned.
Split Shot (Ranged)
- Level 1: Shoot ten electrified arrows in a cone-shaped radius in fron of you. Hit enemies are staggered and struck by chain lightning.
- Level 2 Upgrade: Hit enemies will be interrupted and knocked back.
How to get all new abilities and their upgrades in Svartalfheim
It is important to note that it does not matter in which order you pick up the books of knowledge. The first one you discover will always unlock the Level 1 ability and the second one will give you the upgrade. I am labeling them in a way that will help me sort things easily and conveniently. You can collect the books in whatever order you wish to.
Table of Contents:
- How to get the Explosive Retreat Ability Level 2 Upgrade
- How to get the Rage Axe Ability Level 1
- How to get the Rage Axe Ability Level 2 Upgrade
- How to get the Split Shot Ability Level 1
- How to get the Split Shot Ability Level 2 Upgrade
- How to get the Knockback Arrow Ability Level 1
- How to get the Knockback Arrow Ability Level 2 Upgrade
How to get the Explosive Retreat Ability Level 1
The Explosive Retreat Ability Book of Knowledge is located in Sol-ok-Mani Vault in Svaladal.
Find the entrance to the vault hidden away in the rocky mountains terrain.
As you enter, look down. Ahead of you, in the other end of the area, there will be a Light Pillar.
Use Power of Muspelheim, step into the lava and interact with the Pillar. Turn it to power up the node at the far top of the wall in front of you.
Shoot at the pedals when the cursor turns red to rotate this light pillar. Shoot it until it faces the direction shown in the image below.
This will unlock the door where the Book of Knowledge for Explosive Retreat ability is hidden. You can roll through the lava or use the Power of Muspelheim once again. There’s a Yggdrassil statue nearby.
How to get the Explosive Retreat Ability Level 2 Upgrade
The second location for the Explosive Retreat ability is in the southern tower of the Hreidmar Palace, in Gullnamar.
The Book of Knowledge is in the stone tower on the south side of the platform. Break the wooden boxes to clear path for the light to pass through the mechanism in the middle of the area.
Pick up the light ball and carry it to the empty pillar sitting in front of the gate.
Go to the north side of the platform and turn the light pillar to target the reflecting mechanism on your left.
Enter the room and pick up your ability Book of Knowledge.
How to get the Rage Axe Ability Level 1
The entrance is in Uldar. On the northern side of the city, look for a door
Activate Power of Muspelheim and go to the light pillar. Turn it to face the reflecting mechanism above one of the doors. This will create a network of reflects and unlock a few doors for you.
Climb up the stairs and find the last open door on the right side with the Book of Knowledge stand inside.
How to get the Rage Axe Ability Level 2 Upgrade
The second location for the Rage Axe Ability is at Alethorp, in the Vanngrinn region.
The Book of Knowledge is inside this house and now you can unlock its door with the key.
You will a key to unlock the door to the house. Find and defeat Brann to get the key.
At the far end of the house, there’s a hole in the ground. Break the wooden floor.
Downstairs you will have to play around with the light pillars to unlock the door with the book of knowledge.
Turn around and enter through the window into the room with the light pillar that emits light. Interact with it to bring the light to target the node above the door on the other side in the middle room where you landed from the ground floor.
Go through that door. In the room on the other side, there’s another light-emitting pillar. Point it to the node above the door.
Pick up the heavy ball from the adjacent room you just opened and bring it to the middle room. Place it on top of the pillar there. Then interact with it to points its green projection to the node above the door.
Go to the room on your left, through the small window. Point the light towards the node on the door facing northeast.
In that small adjacent from that just opened, you will find a light pillar that needs to be powered on. Push that pillar to the next room and point the beam of light to it.
The light will reflect the right and go in the middle room, where it will reflect from the pillar in the middle and go to the node above the door to unlock it.
How to get the Split Shot Ability Level 1
The Split Shot ability book of knowledge is in Tjarnar Mylna, in Svaldal. This is one of the locations you can raid with your Jomsvikings in Svartalfheim.
On the northern icy wall, look for an entrance to the cave.
Climb up the stairs. When you reach the room with the light pillars, turn the one that emits the light to point towards the reflecting mechanism in the adjacent room.
Behind it, through a narrow corridor and some stairs, you will reach the room with the Boof of Knowledge.
How to get the Split Shot Ability Level 2 Upgrade
The second location for the Split Shot ability is at Hvithus, in Vangrinn.
For this one, you will need the Power of Jotunheim. You can pick it up from a corpse in this location. Very convenient, right.
You’ll also need the Power of Muspelheim, to walk through fire.
You need to go to the light-emitting pillar (1). Turn it to face the lithe pillar in the middle of the lava below (2). Then go into the building to pick up a ball (3) and place it in the empty pillar (4). Here’s a quick image from a raven’s perspective:
Now, the details.
Point the light-emitting beam towards the middle node.
Shoot the pedals of the node in the lava to point the light towards the locked door of the two-story building.
Enter the building’s second floor through the west window (above the entrance). To do this you need to pick up the Power of Jotunheim and teleport yourself inside.
Break the lock on the door and open it.
Next, pick up the ball and carry it to the pillar down on the ground, the empty one. Shoot the pedals of the rotating pillar in the lava to point the light to go through the ball you just placed. Finally, interact with the pillar to point the beam of light to the node above the door.
You can now enter and pick up the Book of Knowledge for the Split Shot ability.
How to get the Knockback Arrow Ability Level 1
The first location with a Book of Knowledge for the Knockback Arrow ability is soth from Uldar, in the Old City.
On the south wall, look for the pillar that emits light. Point it towards the node above the door.
Pick up the ball to your right and carry it inside. Place it on the empty pillar.
As you enter the room, look to your left. There are two doors. The Book of Knowledge is behind the right one. Point the light to unlock it.
Enter and get your Knockback Arrow ability.
How to get the Knockback Arrow Ability Level 2 Upgrade
The second Knockback Arrow ability book of knowledge location is at Fidsthorp in Svaladal.
Climb up the window on the west side of the building and enter inside on the second floor.
Break the weak wooden floor and climb up to the third floor.
Turn the light to point at the node above the door on the west wall.
In this small room you will find a ball. Carry it downstairs. Place it on the pillar.
Turn the pillar with the light to the other side and power up the node outside of the house, on the east side.
Shoot the pedals of the pillar on top of the east building. Make the light bounce off as shown below:
Note: this is the only different step in the process between getting the book of knowledge and getting the Dwarven Blacksmith Bracers from the chest in the room on the ground floor of the same building.
If you have aligned the light beams properly, all you have to do now is turn the last pillar to point the light to the node above the locked door on the ground floor to unlock the room with the Book of Knowledge.
