Completionists who have unearthed every ability and leveled up to find every extra ability bar in Assassin's Creed Valhalla still have a tough choice to make. With so much variety, there are still only eight slots for which to equip these fine moves. Therefore, there will be serious competition for every player's toolbar. This circumstance begs the question, "Which ability is most worth the player's time?"

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Adding to the difficulty in the decision-making, only four melee abilities and four ranged abilities can be equipped in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, so players that want to be predominantly archers or swordsmen will have to decide which alternate skills help bolster their primary fighting style the most. For gamers that have settled on their favorites, stick with what works. For the rest who need some more debate before making a decision, here are some of the top contenders to consider.

Updated on August 13th, 2021 by Hodey Johns: With only eight ability slots, players will have a really difficult time selecting the best of the best. All of it comes down to player preference and taste. Wrath of the Druids added three abilities, all worthy of this list. Now that Siege of Paris is out, another three excellent abilities have joined in. There is an embarrassment of good choices to make when it comes to abilities and it would be a shame to leave any of these incredible moves off of the list, so the number has expanded from ten to sixteen abilities.

16 Vikingr Salute

All three of the new abilities in Wrath of the Druids involve a stun/disable. This one is the weakest of the bunch because it only stuns a single target while the others have the power to hit multiple targets.

Still, single target limitation aside, this is an incredible move that incapacitates an enemy for several seconds at level two, free Eivor up to do all kinds of devastating things while the target is regrouping. Free stomping and headshots are favorites.

15 Plague Of Rats

Players who really want to bring the taste of England into France while keeping it extremely historically accurate can bring the rats down with them. Maybe spreading the plague is in poor taste, but the damage and effects aren't bad.

Access to this will be early after starting the Siege of Paris DLC, it's only a few Books of Knowledge away. The upside is that the rats will disorient and damage enemies near the arrow's landing place. The downside is that enemies who move away from the arrow's landing zone will avoid being hurt. Still, it's a nifty trick against ranged opponents.

14 Throwing Axe Fury

Maybe it's a bit unrealistic to expect throwing axes to work as a standard offensive ability. Even real-life Vikings that weren't in the game didn't do that. But it's a video game, so why not do something unrealistically powerful?

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With the tap of a button, every enemy in front of Eivor is going to receive a heavy dose of damage. Each axe kills most enemies outright, but the tougher ones who barely survive will be staggered, setting Eivor up for a perfect opportunity to finish them off.

13 Rush & Bash

The game draws heavily upon characters who were real and gives players a taste of why they are famous. It's hard to imagine real people living and dying in such a brutal fashion, but such was the nature of the times.

This ability channels the viciousness of the era perfectly. It will kill almost any enemy in one hit when they get pinned to a wall and it works especially well on the smaller units that automatically dodge normal attacks because they can't dodge this one.

12 Harpoon Impalement

Because leaving Norway happens so early in the game, it's easy for gamers to miss many of the secrets and events there. There's also a Mortal Kombat Easter Egg that can also be missed for players that don't find the right Books of Knowledge.

Eivor all but yells out "Get over here!" as an unfortunate target gets stabbed by a harpoon and yanked in a direction of Eivor's choosing. After upgrading this skill, players get to instantly behead most enemies that are yanked toward Eivor.

11 Blinding Rush

Charging headlong into combat is one of many rookie errors new players make when first picking up the game. It's not that direct confrontation is bad, it's just that it can be made to be more effective with the right abilities.

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This ability allows for Eivor to run into battle undetected by using stamina. That's right, Eivor becomes invisible even when directly in front of a group of enemies in broad daylight. With the upgrade, Eivor can assassinate multiple combatants before they ever see it coming.

10 Kick Of Tyr

It's good for gamers to reflect on the little details they might have missed during the campaign of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. But players that missed the Kick of Tyr didn't miss a minor detail, they missed a major one.

This kick will put most bosses on their backs and set Eivor up for a free finishing blow. But even bosses that have tons of health can be killed in a single strike with this by sending them off a cliff. It has the potential to put most hard encounters on easy mode.

9 Golden Flame

Golden Flame is not only one of the most powerful moves in the game, it's one of the most hilarious. There are easier abilities to pull off, but those abilities don't throw a human bomb into a group of that enemy's friends.

At the second level, Eivor will strap a bomb to an enemy in melee range, then throw that enemy away from them and watch them explode. Melee abilities have very few area of effect abilities, so Golden Flame is a welcome addition to the lineup.

8 Man's Best Friend

The early game can be the toughest part because gamers won't have access to Eivor's fullest skillset yet. Thankfully, players can get started on the right foot by getting a wolf companion fairly early into the story.

This will completely delete one enemy of the wolf's choosing. In heated combat, the upgrade makes this ability a no-brainer as the wolf will continue to chomp down enemies throughout the battle. It does a much better job than any of Eivor's Viking companions. No offense to them, this ability is just that good.

7 Smoke Bomb Arrow

Disabling an entire groups sets them up for easy assassinations and that's just what the Smoke Bomb Arrow brings to the table. The radius is huge, much larger than the radius on other fire and poison effects tied to arrows on other abilities.

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At level two, this ability gets really hilarious. The smoke cloud is now flammable, so after stunning a group, pull out a free torch, toss it in, and watch the hilarity ensue. On tough groups, this sequence is repeatable because the stun will keep them from seeing Eivor.

6 Poisonous Powder Trap

Raw damage is still important, so getting a trusty bow like Petra's is still important, but damage over time effects are critical for bosses that can't be killed in one hit and this move fulfills this need perfectly.

Not only will striking the boss make it poisoned, but the arrow will release toxic fumes a second time after the upgrade, increasing the duration of poison effects. The skill description makes it seem advantageous to use it on patrolling mobs, and that's also an efficient use of this skill, making it versatile enough to regularly keep on Eivor's wheel.

5 Goule Breath

While going back and forth between England and Francia, Eivor will be pleasantly surprised that the knowledge gained in one country is usable in the other country as well. With two upgrades, Goule Breath is a stun.

Stun is a nice way of putting it. It makes enemies keel over and start vomiting in a large area. The damage on this move isn't necessarily incredible but it doesn't have to be; while they are throwing up, Eivor can get nice, easy, clean headshots.

4 Piercing Shot

The tooltip states that this allows Eivor to shoot through "nearly any obstacle." Go ahead and put this to the test and find out why this skill is widely regarded as overpowered and game-breaking.

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Thick marble, solid floors, reinforced roofing, none of it can stand against the piercing arrow. What's more, this allows Eivor to stay out of the enemy's line of sight. Opponents that watch others get killed by the arrow will fruitlessly run around without any clue as to where the arrows are coming from.

3 Irish Wolfhound

The wolf summon from Man's Best Friend unquestionably does more damage than the Irish Wolfhound. But damage is such a small part of the game and this ability gets the nod over that because of how it synergizes with Eivor.

The Irish Wolfhound is a disabling machine, knocking over enemies left and right. The rate at which this attack occurs is ridiculous and, on a single target, will essentially keep them knocked over for as long as the hound is on the field.

2 Mark Of Death

This ability gives Eivor a few seconds to look at any enemies near and far. After that timer ends, Eivor will fire a volley of arrows that instantly kills almost anyone that Eivor saw during that time. It wipes out large groups of enemies with ease.

And somehow, even this isn't the extent of the ability's power. By scrolling over a single enemy multiple times, Eivor can fire this same volley at the same target, with each arrow guaranteed to strike. It wipes out mobs and bosses alike.

1 Incendiary Powder Trap

This is the best ability in the game and it's not close. The fire damage is incredible and the explosion will easily destroy most targets. The upgrade allows the trigger to go off twice, so striking a boss with this arrow will deal huge damage and then set them on fire for a long time.

And there's more. This move can break through walls that ordinarily require explosive jars. Sometimes jars aren't available or don't spawn correctly in the puzzles, so this allows players to bypass all that nasty business and just bulldoze their way to the end.

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