Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Valhalla follows the Viking warrior Eivor as they join a force raiding England and creating settlements there. While the game focuses on Norse mythology as one major facet of the story, its real-world historical context is just as important. That will continue into its DLC, with more details about the Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids expansion, releasing April 29, being revealed in a recent interview.
This first DLC will take Eivor to nearby Ireland for further adventures, meanwhile The Siege of Paris expansion this summer will focus on Francia - a good many years prior to the French Revolution seen with 2014's Assassin's Creed Unity. While datamined leaks have suggested Assassin's Creed Valhalla will have a major third DLC, those two expansions are all the game's first Season Pass includes. According to Ubisoft's website, Wrath of the Druids will center around investigating an ancient druidic cult steeped in Gaelic myth and folklore.
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However, Ubisoft Bordeaux associate narrative director Hugo Sahuquet told The Gamer that Wrath of the Druids will also go deep into the emerging Norse-Gaels culture. Sahuquet said the DLC takes place about 40 years after Vikings first settled in Dublin, which quickly became "a very cosmopolitan city" due to the easier melding of Viking and Irish culture, including marriages meant to secure protection, land, and more.
By the time Assassin's Creed Valhalla enters Ireland, the Viking expansion there has already ended, with Norseman Barid mac Imair serving as the king of Dublin. Sahuquet said Ubisoft is imagining Barid is Norse-Gael as a way to explore the cultural blending, and the expansion's story begins as a result of Ireland's High King Flann Sinna hiring Viking mercenaries to join his war campaigns.
Based on descriptions provided to The Gamer, it sounds like Ubisoft has thought a lot about how it wants to portray this time period. Sahuquet said University of Liverpool Professor Clare Downham and Trinity College Dublin Professor Sean Duffy were brought in as experts on Viking and Irish history. Valhalla already dives into many cultural events, such as its still-ongoing Ostara Festival, so adding additional world perspectives is undoubtedly a boon to the formula.
How The Siege of Paris or a potential third expansion will add onto this exploration of early European history will have to be seen, but for now it sounds like fans have a lot of interesting story to look forward to this month. There are other issues Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Wrath of the Druids DLC could address from the base game, so hopefully Ubisoft takes the opportunity to polish its title more than ever.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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