Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update Adds New Game+, 300 Runes and PS5 Pro PSSR

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s latest update gives longtime players a reason to return: New Game+ arrives alongside a deeper gear system, more than 300 engravable runes and a PS5 Pro graphics upgrade. Ubisoft released the free patch on November 5 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. The additions address two different kinds of return visit: players can carry more progression into another campaign, while PS5 Pro owners get an image quality improvement. Neither changes the basic shape of Valhalla, but together they give the late-life update a clearer purpose than a handful of cosmetic extras.

The update lands years after Valhalla’s final post-launch content, and its biggest additions center on replaying the campaign with more room to build Eivor’s endgame loadout. New Game+ gives players a reason to revisit familiar missions with progression systems still in play, while the PS5 Pro changes target a smoother presentation. That combination matters because a replay feature is most appealing when the game offers new ways to use what players have already earned. The PS5 Pro changes also improve image quality while targeting 60 frames per second in Quality mode.

Replay progression gets a broader gear system

Players unlock New Game+ after completing the Holy Day quest. Each new run raises the difficulty, while a new resource, Mithril, gives players another way to upgrade divine gear. In New Game+, Mithril can come from duplicate equipment and books of knowledge; it’s also available in Niflheim and through the Mastery and River Raid shops. That spread of sources gives players several routes to the resource, rather than tying its acquisition to a single activity. It also makes duplicate equipment more useful: items that might otherwise feel redundant can contribute to future upgrades.

The gear level cap rises from 13 to 27. Extended Progression Mode also folds gear upgrades, runes and masteries into power level calculations, giving players more ways to develop Eivor. That change makes the character’s overall progression reflect more of the decisions players make about equipment and abilities. A new Ravensthorpe stash provides space for spare equipment and runes, which should help players keep alternate builds on hand instead of treating every unused item as clutter. More options, though, also mean more systems to track.

Ubisoft has also reworked the Rune Forge. Players can buy upgrades with silver from the menu, access a new Superior tier and engrave more than 300 additional runes. Lead game designer David Larouche said the expanded pool includes nearly every perk that has appeared on an item across the base game, expansions and store content. “I’m sure there are many overpowered combinations to be found!” he said. The expanded selection gives build-focused players a larger set of combinations to test, though the number alone doesn’t tell us how much each rune changes play in practice. This is more significant than it looks: a larger pool can make replaying progression feel different even when the campaign itself hasn’t changed.

Two new achievements, a Master Assassin Naoe outfit and an Animus Hub synchronisation update round out the patch. Larouche said the new progression systems are available outside New Game+ too, so players can use them without beginning another campaign. That flexibility matters for anyone who wants to experiment with gear but isn’t ready to commit to a full replay. It also means the update’s systems have a use for players who are still working through their existing save.

PS5 Pro gets upgraded PSSR support

On PS5 Pro, Valhalla now uses an upgraded version of Sony’s PSSR upscaler. Ubisoft has already brought the same upscaler to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Engineering studio manager Priscilla Nguyen told the PlayStation Blog that the change lets Quality mode run at 60fps while producing cleaner 4K image quality. The stated goal is a useful pairing: image quality associated with Quality mode and a 60fps target. That’s a claim about the mode’s output, not a promise that every scene will look identical or perform the same way.

Nguyen described the result as “much crisper and more visually stable” than the previous temporal upscaler. The team integrated the updated technology into Valhalla’s existing systems without rebuilding the game’s assets. That detail helps set expectations: the update changes how the game reconstructs its image, rather than supplying a new set of models or environments. The upgrade may be most apparent to players who notice image stability during movement, though the announcement doesn’t provide a technical comparison or independent performance measurements. A cleaner image is welcome; how visible the improvement feels will depend on the display and the player.

Ubisoft responds to a long-running request

New Game+ had been the community’s most requested feature for years, Larouche said. He pointed to continued player interest as the reason Ubisoft returned to the game: “Valhalla may have released its final content update years ago, but that doesn’t mean players stopped caring about the game, and neither did we.” The patch is a response to that request, but its timing also makes the scope notable: Ubisoft is adding a replay structure and progression changes after the game’s final post-launch content had already arrived. Here’s the thing: a late update can’t recreate the momentum of a new expansion, but it can give committed players a concrete reason to revisit a game they already own.

The update is available now on the listed PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Ubisoft’s announcements don’t mention a PC release, leaving Steam and Ubisoft Connect players without confirmation. That gap is relevant for anyone deciding whether to wait for platform news, since the announced availability only covers the listed consoles. For console players, the additions make another trip through England more appealing by carrying forward a wider set of progression options and gear builds. If you’re working through Valhalla now, the fact that the systems also apply outside New Game+ means you don’t have to finish the campaign again to try them.

What the update means for returning players

The patch’s strongest case is its combination of replay incentives and useful changes to existing progression. New Game+ gives completionists a fresh framework, while Mithril, the higher gear cap and the expanded Rune Forge give them more to do with equipment they collect. And yet, a larger set of systems doesn’t automatically make a replay compelling for every player. The campaign remains the same, and the announcement doesn’t describe new story content or missions. A new run will appeal most to people who still enjoy building Eivor and want another pass through the game’s existing campaign.

That’s a fairly focused update, and the focus is a strength. Ubisoft has answered a longstanding request while giving players who aren’t ready for another full run access to the progression changes. The PS5 Pro upgrade adds a separate reason to revisit the game, though its value will depend on how much players notice the image change. For those who’ve been waiting for a way to bring a developed character back into the campaign, there’s finally a route. For everyone else, the gear systems offer a smaller invitation. Worth a look.