I took a break from playing AC Valhalla for a bit. It’s such a large game, it is intimidating and there is a ton of filler in the game that adds even more time. I spent a ton of that time on side missions. Those bogged me down, but getting back to the AC Valhalla Oxenefordscire alliance sucked me back in.
AC Valhalla Side Missions Some Good, Some Filler
Mysteries (aka World Events)
After my time in Asgard, I decided to tackle the abundant mysteries and wealth mini side missions in AC Valhalla. Many were unique and fun, while others were mostly just filler content.
One of the better mysteries I dealt with started with carrying a man that can’t walk up to springs on a hilltop with rumored healing properties. A blind man wanted help up to that same spring.
They both believe the myth that the spring’s water would heal their ailments. It didn’t heal them, but their meeting led to an agreement between the men. The blind man agreed to keep them moving, while the other man agreed to lend his eyes to guide them.
On the other end of things, some world events were just a bit redundant. Several involved a quick fight. Either someone boasted about their fighting skill or wanted to die in one last battle (to Valhalla the Viking way). It’s not that those were horrible, just a bit meh and pretty obvious filler content. Good or bad, none of the mysteries were as strong as the main story or proper side missions.
Searching for Wealth in Mini Treasure Hunts
I found a ton of treasure throughout the AC Valhalla’s wealth missions. There’s a decent amount of variation, but the majority of these mini treasure hunts involve a combination of the same things: guarded camps or buildings, destructible doors or floors, destructible rock walls, sliding stone or wooden blockers, jumping puzzles, etc..
Hunting after the wealth is mostly fun, but there is just so much of it. I tried to gather as much as possible to upgrade my equipment. Wealth comes in the form of new equipment, weapons and valuables. The latter I traded for upgrades to existing equipment.
The upgrade potential provides an additional fun factor beyond just treasure hunting. After awhile though, repetition sets in and there’s a lot of deja vu feelings. That fact reduced my desire to play. I highly suggest anyone else playing only complete these smaller missions when convenient. Mostly working the main line missions keeps things interesting.
AC Valhalla Alliance Pledge to Oxenefordscire
Sowing the Seeds of Rebellion for the Oxenefordscire Alliance
Sigurd made a deal with a rebellious thegn called Geadric. He planned to install him as ealdorman in exchange for an oath of help. I was supposed to meet them at an alehouse in Oxenefordscire , but of course it was not that easy. He and Basim (his Assassin partner in crime) was not there. It took a bit of investigation to see where he went.
Soldiers ran him off and I had to ask around for which direction he went to. I like the light bit of investigation. It breaks up some of the fighting and is not too difficult. Odin sight highlights areas where evidence is found and areas to narrow searches.
Once I did eventually find them, they shared the plan to remove Lady Eadwyn and replace her with Geadric. To get started I rescued Geadric from captivity and then his fellow thegns from a mass execution. In between those rescues, I enjoyed the scenery on horseback. Sun shining through the trees, colorful countryside and ruins of old Roman structures.
The next step in the plan was annoying, trying to weaken Eadwyn’s hold on Oxenefordscire. It required a combination of activities including: helping Dane Fyrds fight Saxon soldiers, destroying supply carts, etc.. None are particularly hard, but there were no markers. I basically wandered around towns or forts until I received notice of the nearby activity.
In the end, I resorted to searching online for the last 2 locations and was pissed they were right across a river. I didn’t know that was even part of Oxenefordschire. I spent a good two hours looking before that bit, so it was especially infuriating to know how close I was several times.
The Growing Divide Between Eivor and Sigurd in the Oxenefordscire Alliance
After that annoying bit, we moved on to Sigurd’s unhealthy obsession with a supposed witch at Saint Albanes, named Fulke. She possessed a special stone that Sigurd and Basim wanted badly. The talk of help from a witch exposed the first signs of rift between Eivor and Sigurd.
Eivor wanted to focus on the growing alliance, but Sigurd was willing to risk it all for a witch and a stone. It reminded me of the prophecy from the beginning where Eivor would betray Sigurd, or vice versa. Despite their differences, we rescued Fulke and went looking for her Paladin stone.
Turns out Lady Eadwyn took the stone and furthered the divide by asking Sigurd to take out Geadric in exchange for the stone (she wanted his head to be exact). His obsession forced him to agree. I saw it was truly Sigurd that was likely to betray Eivor over a similar obsession. This AC Valhalla Oxenefordscire alliance went south.
A fight ensued when Eivor refused to betray Geadric’s trust. This action pushed Eivor and Sigurd further apart, but aligned their goals. When I first saw the prophecy about betraying Sigurd, I thought no way, but now his religious zealot ways are getting on my nerves.
Removing Lady Eadwyn from Cyne Belle Castle
Assaulting Cyne Belle castle was pretty standard compared to other sieges. This time, I performed a bit of sabotage before the assault. I set traps on the giant cross bows and oil reserves. It is great that I didn’t fail the mission simply because I got caught. I just ran out of there after I was caught setting my traps.
The main assault consisted of the usual killing soldiers before getting through the next gate. Things were surprising tough during the boss fight against Lady Eadwyn. She was more difficult than most of the others to this point. It took 3 or 4 attempts to defeat her.
There was no option to kill her, but I chose to keep her imprisoned by Geadric instead of exiling her. I figured exile leaves a chance at building an army. Some choices in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla matter, but not sure if that one will. Either way, I completed the AC Valhalla Oxenefordscire alliance.
With her defeated, Sigurd finally looked over the Paladin stone he was obsessed with. He pretended to know it’s meaning, but only Eivor experienced a vision and I think Basim could tell. Pretending to know is making Sigurd dangerous. That blind faith get’s people killed.
The celebration was short lived when Aelfred of Wessex crashed the party with his troops. To avoid all out war, he offered his War Chief in exchange for Sigurd, but only after that witch Fulke sold us out. She is a member of the Order of the Ancients. Good news there is she is now one of my targets. Bad news is I believe she will convince Sigurd to join their cause.
I’ll find out more next time. There’s also a little matter of spending quality time with Sigurd’s wife Randvi. I’m sure Sigurd will love when he hears about that.
Me personally I found the oxenefordscire alliance pretty dark compared to prior alliances like Lunden or others