Assassin's Creed Valhalla DLC Expansions: Which Is Best?
Assassin's Creed Valhalla has two expansions: Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris. With each offering different experiences, which is better?
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is a massive game on its own, but it also boasts two large DLC expansions in Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris. Both are quality packages, but also take many hours to complete. This may influence some fans to play only one out of the two, and with both providing unique Assassin's Creed stories, it may be difficult to decide which is best.
Before examining the two already released add-ons, it's important to note that even more DLC is coming soon for AC: Valhalla. AC Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök will feature Kassandra from Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and was recently confirmed to be releasing in March. Ubisoft has already stated that it will add almost 40 hours of gameplay to the already massive game. Dawn of Ragnarök is confirmed to be the largest DLC expansion in the series' history, so AC fans that want to see everything Valhalla has to offer would probably be wise to knock out the two current expansions before Dawn of Ragnarök comes for all their free time next year.
The previous two DLC expansions released earlier in 2021, with Wrath of the Druids launching on May 13th, and The Siege of Paris following a couple of months later on August 12th. Both Druids and AC Valhalla's Siege of Paris received mixed reviews, and while they mostly offer more of the same formula that the base game followed, they brought some interesting new ideas to the table as well. Each DLC provides something a little bit different though, meaning some AC Valhalla players may have a preference for either package.
Which AC: Valhalla Expansion Is Better - Wrath Of The Druids
Wrath of the Druids drops AC Valhalla's Eivor into the land of Ireland after they're summoned by their cousin Baríd, who happens to be king of Dublin. The story is straightforward enough, and mostly involves Eivor winning the favor of the king of Ireland by helping him to secure his throne. During his journey he encounters members of the druidic cult known as the Children of Danu, and in typical Assassin's Creed fashion must hunt down and kill all of them. Wrath of the Druids' Children of Danu are an intriguing faction, but they ultimately fail to live up to their potential and are eventually regulated to little more than replacements for The Order of the Ancients from the base game. Hunt them all down, get a cool reward, and then never think of them again.
The gameplay from Wrath of the Druids plays it similarly safe, but mixes things up from the main game just enough to still be interesting. While it still contains the wealth-gathering, viewpoint-finding, secret-discovering activities of the base game, it also adds trading posts, which players can claim and then upgrade to receive various trade materials. These materials help increase Dublin's renown, which leads to various rewards for the player. It's nothing drastically innovative, and it's very obviously just a re-skin of Asassin's Creed: Valhalla's settlement system, but it does enough differently to still be engaging, and helps provide a consistent sense of progress and reward to the Wrath of the Druids experience.
Where Wrath of the Druids really shines though, is in the land of Ireland itself. Ireland is full of luscious green hills and beautiful blue rivers. The bright, vibrant color palette is a welcome change of pace after spending hours and hours in the dreary, rain-soaked land of Valhalla's England. Better yet the map is quite large, and while the idea of significantly more land to explore after sinking so much time into the base game might sound daunting to some players, Ireland feels unique enough to make it much more of a treat than the slog it could be.
AC: Valhalla's Ireland expansion also leans into some of the more absurd, supernatural elements of the AC series, which might be a good or bad thing depending who is asked. Wrath of the Druids features werewolves, and allows the player to turn in their boring old horse mount and ride across the rolling hills of Ireland on the back of a Lynx. The DLC doesn't stop there though, as it also allows the player to eventually face off against Balor, champion of the Fomorians, who is said to be the embodiment of the sun's power itself. Defeating this monster gives the player the mythical spear Gae Bolg, which allows Eivor to summon lightning bolts from the sky to strike down enemies. Again, all of this is fairly absurd, especially when compared to some of Assassin's Creed more grounded content, but the extra layer of absurdity is a welcome change when the player has already spent 100+ hours in this world.
Which AC: Valhalla Expansion Is Better - The Siege Of Paris
Valhalla's Siege of Paris emulates real-life history, and sees Eivor travel to the kingdom of West Francia where they are tasked with overthrowing the reign of Charles the Fat. The story is fairly simple, and follows the base game's format of travel to a new area, form new alliances, and overthrow the land's ruler to a tee. This is one of the biggest indictments against The Siege of Paris - it completely fails to innovate.
Wrath of The Druids is far from a revolutionary expansion, but it at least had some unique ideas. The Siege of Paris doesn't bring anything fresh to the table in either its story or gameplay mechanics. In addition to the usual activities found in all of Valhalla's areas, Valhalla's Siege of Paris also introduces the disappointing Rebel Missions, which is meant to be its answer to Wrath of The Druids' trade outposts, and the base game's settlement mechanics. Rebel Missions see Eivor assisting a group of rebels with various tasks to build up their Infamy Rank. The issue is that the vast majority of these tasks are uninspired grinds that require little more than completing monotonous combat tasks. Clearing these missions allows Eivor to upgrade the rebel army, but the mechanic feels far less personal and rewarding than the similar mechanics found in other areas of Valhalla, and the rewards for clearing these missions are similarly underwhelming.
Prior to the release of The Siege of Paris, fans were excited to return to France in an Assassin's Creed game, an area that hadn't been explored in the series since Assassin's Creed: Unity, but this ultimately ends up being a disappointment as well. AC Valhalla's Paris isn't as detailed as Unity's. The map is small and uninspired compared to the map found in Wrath of the Druids, and it feels very similar in look and tone to England, which adds even more to the 'more of the same' vibe that the expansion gives off. The DLC does add some blackbox assassinations for the player to undertake, and while some fans might appreciate the series returning more to its roots in this regard, the feature is also too basic and barebones to leave a lasting impression. The Siege of Paris is also missing the over-the-top fun that Wrath of the Druids occasionally provides, as there are no sun gods to fight or lightning-summoning spears to wield here.
The one area where both of Valhalla's expansions shine is the sheer amount of content they provide; both tack on hours upon hours of playtime to Eivor's adventure. However, while Wrath of the Druids' unique map and exciting unlocks will probably appeal to even casual fans of the series, The Siege of Paris might only excite the most dedicated Assassin's Creed: Valhalla fans, who are starving for more content. Even then, they might be better off waiting for the Dawn of Ragnarök in March.
Next: AC Valhalla: How Long The Siege Of Paris DLC Takes To Beat
