Ubisoft's free Assassin's Creed Valhalla New Game Plus update adds NG+, Mithril progression, PS5 Pro PSSR support, and a sharper reason to return to Eivor's saga.
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Store links: Assassin's Creed Valhalla on Steam, Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök on Steam
Valhalla gets the update players thought had sailed away
Ubisoft has released Title Update 1.8.0 for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, a free patch branded “The Most Requested Update” that adds New Game Plus years after the game’s 2020 launch and pairs it with a PlayStation 5 Pro visual upgrade. According to Ubisoft’s post on the PlayStation Blog, the update is live today, November 5, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro, with New Game+, two new achievements, an Enhanced Progression Mode option, a new Power calculation, a Master Assassin Naoe outfit, upgraded PSSR optimizations, and an Animus Hub synchronization update.
That timing is the story. Push Square notes that Valhalla received what had been understood as its “final” patch more than three years ago, yet New Game+ remained the single most requested feature. Ubisoft’s patch now turns a game built around long regional arcs, raids, settlement growth, and gear chasing into something closer to a repeatable endgame loop. For a campaign that already asked players for a serious time investment, the question is whether this is a graceful return to England or simply another layer on top of an already enormous RPG.
The answer depends on what pulled you away. This Assassin’s Creed Valhalla New Game Plus update is strongest for players who wanted a reason to carry their built Eivor back through the main saga rather than start cold. It is less likely to convert anyone who bounced off Valhalla’s length, structure, or appetite for map-clearing. Ubisoft has added new incentives and technical improvements, but the rhythm is still Valhalla: long travel, heavy combat, regional pledges, and a saga that moves like a warband crossing a continent.
How New Game Plus changes the shape of Eivor’s return
The official patch notes excerpted by Push Square say New Game+ unlocks after completing “Holy Day,” the final quest of the Hamtunscire region. Ubisoft’s note adds an important caveat: this point arrives before the true ending, but because Valhalla is “a very big game,” the developer chose to let players start NG+ earlier. That matters for practical play. You do not need to exhaust every late-game thread before beginning a new run, but you do need to push through one of the main campaign’s final regional gates.
Once New Game+ is available, players can restart the Viking quest while carrying forward their established build. The patch notes also state that each New Game+ iteration becomes progressively harder, which turns repeat playthroughs into a scaling challenge rather than a victory lap through underleveled enemies. In action terms, that should keep Valhalla’s shield breaks, dual-wield exchanges, bow openings, and ability timing from flattening out immediately under late-game gear.
Ubisoft also changes what happens when the game hands you something you already own. In NG+, receiving a duplicate piece of gear or interacting with a Book of Knowledge you previously collected rewards Mithril, a new resource tied to the expanded upgrade economy. Push Square’s patch note excerpt says Mithril is also available through the Niflheim, Mastery, and River Raid shops, which gives endgame players other routes besides replaying the main path.
The two new achievement badges give the mode a defined finish line. PlayStation LifeStyle, citing Ubisoft, names them as Ivaldi’s Heir, awarded for fully upgrading Divine Gear, and Circle of Renewal, awarded for completing a New Game+ run. Those are clean goals for returning players who want something more concrete than wandering back into Ravensthorpe and asking where they left off.
The new progression layer is the real hook for committed builds
New Game+ is the headline, but the progression changes may be the part that keeps dedicated players moving. According to the patch notes published by Push Square, Ubisoft has raised the maximum upgrade level of Divine Gear from 13 to 27, with each additional upgrade requiring Mithril. That creates a longer runway for players who already pushed favorite weapons and armor to their previous ceiling.
The update also changes access to top-tier materials. Push Square’s official patch note excerpt says looting Carbon, Nickel, and Tungsten from Wealth Chests in New Game+ will instead grant Platinum. Ubisoft describes Platinum as an ingot previously available only through the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC and now available for free, which means upgrading gear to Divine quality is no longer locked behind that expansion.
The Enhanced Progression Mode option and new Power calculation are where the patch becomes more than a simple replay switch. VGTimes reports that the revised system makes each gear upgrade and slotted rune grant one point, while every five Mastery Points convert into one Power Point. Push Square’s excerpt confirms the broad shape of that system, stating that Gear upgrades and Runes increase Power by one point while Extended Progression is active. For players who like Valhalla as a build-crafting game, that gives smaller equipment decisions a visible place in Eivor’s overall strength.
Other reported quality-of-life changes point in the same direction. VGTimes says a storage chest has been added to Ravensthorpe for excess gear and runes, while PlayFront reports that the Rune Forge now has more than 300 new engraving options and that runes can be upgraded with Silver, with the highest tier still requiring Mithril. PlayFront also reports reworked damage values and animation speeds for almost all weapon types, from daggers and spears to scythes. PlayStation LifeStyle separately says Ubisoft made balancing changes for dual wielding, statistics, skill masteries, and their bonuses.
Taken together, the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla patch notes describe a late-game refit. The game’s combat has always lived in the space between weight and momentum: the crunch of a bearded axe, the interrupting bite of a shield, the long wind-up before a heavy hit lands. If the balance adjustments succeed, returning players may feel a slightly different combat cadence even before the new Power math starts to matter.
PS5 Pro PSSR support targets Valhalla’s strongest visual asset
The Assassin’s Creed Valhalla PS5 Pro update is exclusive to Sony’s upgraded console on the technical side. Ubisoft’s Engineering Studio Manager Priscilla Nguyen told the PlayStation Blog that the team integrated upgraded PSSR into the game to improve graphics when upscaling at a better framerate. She described the upgraded PSSR as more efficient than the original and “slightly more efficient” than Valhalla’s existing Temporal Upscaler, while also being crisper and more visually stable.
Nguyen said the result is sharper 4K image quality and smoothness at 60 frames per second on PS5 Pro. She also said Ubisoft did not need to overhaul the game’s content or visual assets. Instead, the team used the upgraded PSSR within Valhalla’s engine and rendering pipeline to enhance 4K image quality and deliver Quality mode at 60 FPS on PS5 Pro.
That distinction is important. This is not a remake-level visual pass, and the sources do not claim new assets, redesigned environments, or ray-tracing additions. The promise is cleaner presentation and stronger performance in the version of the game where Valhalla’s open-world art still does much of the heavy lifting. Nguyen specifically pointed to the variety of Norway and England, including snowy mountains, meadows, forests, and highlands, as the kind of scenery preserved and enhanced by the new PSSR optimizations.
Different outlets describe the technology with slightly different shorthand. The PlayStation Blog calls it “upgraded PSSR,” PlayStation LifeStyle refers to “PSSR 2 support,” and PlayFront also labels the feature PSSR 2. The consistent confirmed point across the supplied reporting is that PS5 Pro players get the upgraded PlayStation upscaling path, with Quality mode targeting 60 FPS and improved 4K image quality. Regular PS5 players receive the gameplay and progression content, but the PSSR enhancement is specifically for PS5 Pro.
Platforms, price, and the fine print around availability
Ubisoft’s PlayStation Blog post frames the update around PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro because it is published through Sony’s official channel and focuses on PSSR. PlayStation LifeStyle likewise says Ubisoft introduced the features for PS5 and PS5 Pro users. VGTimes and PlayFront report broader availability, stating that update 1.8.0 has rolled out across PC, PS5, PS5 Pro, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. Since the supplied official Sony source does not list every non-PlayStation platform in its excerpt, the safest reading is that the PlayStation details are directly confirmed by Ubisoft through PlayStation, while the all-platform rollout is reported by those outlets.
The update itself is free. For players who already own Valhalla, the practical upgrade path is simple: download the patch and, if you want New Game+, make sure you have completed “Holy Day” in Hamtunscire. PS5 Pro owners get the added visual benefit automatically through the new PSSR support, according to the PlayStation Blog’s description of the update.
For new buyers, PlayStation LifeStyle cites the PlayStation Store listing at $59.99 and notes that the game has a 4.08-star rating out of five on the store. That is a store snapshot, not a verdict on whether the game is worth full price in 2026. The relevant buyer question is whether you are coming for a vast action RPG with a newly extended endgame or for a shorter, tighter Assassin’s Creed experience. This patch favors the former audience without changing the game’s scale.
Whether lapsed players have a strong reason to return
If you left Valhalla after finishing the main story and wished you could take your preferred Eivor build through the saga again, this is the cleanest return point the game has had in years. New Game+ adds structure, escalating difficulty, new achievement goals, and a resource loop that rewards duplicate discoveries instead of making them feel wasted. The Naoe Master Assassin outfit, tied thematically to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, also gives the update a small bridge to the series’ newer era without asking players to buy a separate expansion.
If you are on PS5 Pro, the case is stronger. Valhalla’s best set-pieces often come from scale: longship approaches through mist, fortress assaults lit by fire, and the lonely contrast between Norway’s cold stone and England’s green sprawl. PSSR support does not rewrite those scenes, but Ubisoft’s stated goal of sharper 4K image quality and Quality mode at 60 FPS is exactly the kind of improvement that can make an old save feel newly present on modern hardware.
If your problem was fatigue, the patch is less of a cure. Ubisoft has added progression depth, inventory help, Rune Forge options, and combat rebalancing, but the sources do not describe cuts to campaign length, redesigned quest pacing, or major narrative additions. Valhalla remains a huge game with a deliberate march from region to region. The new update gives committed players more resistance under the blade and more reward at the end of the swing. It does not turn Eivor’s journey into a compact stealth campaign.
For lapsed players, the best advice is to return with a specific goal. Finish “Holy Day,” start New Game+, test the higher difficulty against your established build, and see whether the Mithril chase gives your favorite weapons a new arc. On PS5 Pro, also spend time in Quality mode and judge the PSSR improvement with your own eyes. This is a meaningful late patch because it answers long-standing player requests, but its value is tied to how much appetite you still have for Valhalla’s broad, bruising version of Assassin’s Creed.