Assassin's Creed Valhalla adds level scaling this week
UPDATE: Summer festival starts this weekend, Paris expansion next month.
UPDATE 3pm UK: This season's event, the summer Sigrblot Festival, will run from 29th July to 19th August, Ubisoft has now announced.
Valhalla's The Siege of Paris expansion will land right in the middle of all that, on 12th August.
Preparations for the above will come as part of tomorrow's 1.3.0 patch, alongside a handful of new skills. These include Light Fingered (auto pickup nearby loot), Thrill of War (gain adrenaline while in conflict), Heidrun Slam (press R2 while sprinting to knock enemies back), Idunn's Heart (passively regenerate recent health loss after a short delay), Survival Instinct (when at less than a third of health, hold -> for partial healing in exchange for adrenaline) and Wolf Warrior (damage increases the lower your health).
UPDATE 10.50am UK: A new update for Assassin's Creed Valhalla will add a level scaling option to the game for the first time.
The feature arrives as part of tomorrow's upcoming Valhalla patch, and lets you override the game's difficulty settings for different territories.
As it stands, Valhalla offers a range of territories set to difficulties tied to your gear level. You'll want better gear equipped before venturing too far into its world, though players who have completed the game have said it now lacks challenge as they continue to play.
As you progress through the game, you are meant to become other-worldly powerful through the use of passive skills and unlockable abilities to chop various limbs off.
That's why, with level scaling disabled, Valhalla lets you "feel the evolution of their character and crush their enemies", as foes "spawn exactly as prescribed in the region description".
But new settings for "Constant", "Harder", and "Nightmarish" will make the game more challenging for those who want it.
This week's update also adds support for one-handed swords - a long-time fan request.
Ubisoft is due to release full patch notes for the update tomorrow, 27th July. We're expecting to hear word soon on when the game's summer festival is to take place, and when its second major expansion - The Siege of Paris - will unlock.
Beyond that, Valhalla has a second year of expansions coming - a first for the Assassin's Creed series.