Assassin's Creed fans uncover the astonishing official method of unlocking that hidden weapon
Bow down.
This week, Assassin's Creed fans glitched their way to a mythical bow that had been hiding in Valhalla ever since the game's release.
Ubisoft congratulated players on finally uncovering the powerful Isu weapon - but also teased there was a proper, non-glitch method to get the item as well.
This all ties in brilliantly to the genuinely astonishing work being undertaken by members of the Access the Animus fan community, which has been painstakingly translating Valhalla's secret Isu runes over the past couple of months.
That group's efforts had culminated in an attempt to crack the Isu language inscribed on Valhalla's collector's edition box - but with only partial success. However, this week's discovery of the bow and some more encouragement from Ubisoft developers behind the secret have now spurred Access the Animus over the finish line.
The video below goes through the thoroughly entertaining process undertaken to work out the where, when, how and why of unlocking the bow the proper way - and it's fascinating to see the amount of time and ingenuity put into the clues on Ubisoft's behalf.
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Not only did the developer create an entire language for this puzzle, it covered the collector's edition box in hints that players have only begun to understand now.
Isu runes on the collector's edition box read that "the sword is the key", while an image of the very specific (and spoilery) sword in question is hidden in plain sight. A set of numerical coordinates is also included, while artwork lithographs with runes spelling out "Now" when placed together in a certain way also show the icon of a sun you then hide.
The numerical coordinates are the only part of the puzzle still to be fully decoded, though the discovery of the glitch this week meant this part could be skipped - everyone knows where the Isu bow is. Still, fans have now realised that the island in the lake where the bow is hidden is, when viewed on the game's map, a reference to the location of Ubisoft Singapore's headquarters within Singapore itself - which the lake is shaped like. (Ubisoft Singapore made the game's region where the bow is hidden, and devised its Isu language.)
From all of this, Access the Animus devised the weapon needed to break open the rocks holding the bow, at the specific location, and at a specific time of day. We'll let the video itself give the spoilery solution.
In other Assassin's Creed Valhalla news this afternoon, players are dying on purpose to help fellow fans get a bugged achievement.