Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Ravensthorpe Guide

After Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Norse prologue, you will set sail for England, ready to conquer and unite a new land. In order to do this, you'll land in Ravensthorpe, a settlement which initially consists of a collection of tents and not very much else. 

Across the game, you'll have to choose which buildings to invest in first in order to raise your Settlement Level to level 6. Each building offers different perks, some have extra missions attached, and after the first one, it's completely up to you which order you build them in. 

• Read our Assassin's Creed Valhalla review
• Play it on: Xbox Series X | Xbox Series S | PS5
• PS5 vs Xbox Series X: which next-gen console should you buy?

To build these sites, you'll need to complete raids, which are scattered around the map with red crossed axes. 

Make sure to check the power level of each raid too, as you likely won't be able to win a 280 level raid if your Eivor is only powered up to 30. This power level rises as Eivor levels up, and over time you should have more than enough resources to start making Ravensthorpe your own.

Here, we'll walk you through each building in Ravensthorpe, so you can decide which one is worth building first. 

Not had a chance to get Assassin's Creed Valhalla yet? You can pick it up today, and we've found the best deals available.

Build First

Which Building Should I Build First In Assassin's Creed Valhalla?

Blacksmith

• Unlocks: Weapon Upgrades & Runes

This is the first mandatory building, and collecting the materials comes during what is essentially a tutorial on how raids work, and how to claim supplies. You need to clear all of the gold spots in a camp during a raid to officially complete it, and each raid is guaranteed to have some supplies, as well as potentially Books of Knowledge and Roman artifacts. With the Blacksmith unlocked, you can upgrade and equip runes to your weapons, making them more powerful.

Hidden One's Bureau (Assassin's Hut)

• Unlocks: Leap Of Faith, Breaking The Order

The second mandatory building is the Assassin's Hut. You won't need to complete this building straight away, but the game will stop you expanding too far without it. After upgrading it, you will be taken to a high peak just outside Ravensthorpe, where you will learn the Leap Of Faith, a key tool in getting down from buildings quickly. You will also unlock the quest Breaking The Order, which involves killing every Templar in England. This is a long quest to be completed as the game goes on, not tackled immediately.

Reda's Shop

• Unlocks: Reda's Daily/Weekly Tasks

The final mandatory building is thankfully free, but will not unlock until you have claimed at least one region. Reda is a charming young boy who hands out daily and weekly quests to be completed in exchange for unique rewards.

Stables

• Unlocks: Mounts

We're now into the optional cabins, and while it's entirely your choice from here on out, the Stables will get by far the most use. Having this unlocked allows you to call your Mount wherever you are, which is crucial in such a huge open world. It also allows you to train your Mounts, giving them more stamina, the ability to swim, or a host of other handy features.

Barracks

• Unlocks: Jomsvikings

The Barracks is another building which should be heavily prioritized. It unlocks the ability to recruit Jomsvikings, who are special Vikings who will join you on raids. You can create and customize your first, while the others will be recruited from around other towns. These Jomsvikings will make raiding easier, and will occasionally offer you some silver; your cut from the raids they went on without you.

Seer's Hut

• Unlocks: Asgardian Storyline

Seer's Hut is another one you would do well to unlock earlier rather than later. It gives Valka a place to stay, and that allows you to drink her potions - after completing relatively simple quests to fetch plants - which lets you to travel to Asgard and play as Odin himself. This is a whole standalone chapter, and is well worth diving into if you want to see everything Assassin's Creed Valhalla has on offer.

Unlock Activities

Which Buildings Unlock Activities In Assassin's Creed Valhalla?

Fishing Hut

• Unlocks: Fishing

From here on out, it really is up to you which hut to build next; they each offer their own small rewards but none are as influential as the ones above. As you might expect, the Fishing Hut unlocks fishing. The fishermen here will also buy any fish off you that you catch throughout the game. 

Hunter's Lodge

• Unlocks: Legendary Hunting

You can hunt at any time in the game, but the Legendary Animals won't appear until the Hunter's Lodge has been constructed. This building also has a mini quest line involving drugs, talking animals, and - potentially - romance, so worth experiencing even if the Legendary Animals don't interest you.

Cartographer

• Unlocks: Collectible Map

While the game will highlight some valuables, collectibles, and resources on your general map, with the Cartographer unlocked, these will be more detailed and accurate. A handy hut for completionists.

Unlock Merchants

Which Buildings Unlock Merchants In Assassin's Creed Valhalla? 

Museum

• Unlocks: Merchant for Roman Artefacts

The Museum is a great building for collectors to have, but has limited use from a pure gameplay perspective. Here, the Roman loving curator will buy any Roman artifacts you collect, but they will ask you to retrieve their prize possession first. Once built, the path to the Museum becomes decorated with Roman statues, which looks quite cool.

Item Shop

• Unlocks: Shop in Ravensthorpe

The Item Shop is a handy hut for anyone planning on wheeling and dealing their way throughout Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Here, you can sell items you find, or buy runes, hairstyles, tattoos, post decorations, and longship blueprints. Be aware that the hair, tattoo, and ship designs cannot be used until you have their respective huts.

Shipyard

• Unlocks: Customizable Longships

The Shipyard doesn't unlock longship use - this is available automatically - but instead brings the entirely cosmetic opportunity to customize your longship. Worth doing if you plan on sailing and rowing everywhere, but no real impact on how the game is played.

Tattoo Hut

• Unlocks: Customizable Tattoos, Hairstyles

Much like the Shipyard, this one is purely cosmetic. It gives you the chance to change Eivor's hair and mix up their tattoos. At the start, you will have a slim range to choose from, but can buy more designs from the Ravensthorpe Item Shop.

Unlock Perks

Which Buildings Unlock Perks In Assassin's Creed Valhalla?

Before we get into the individual perks, what is constant across all of the perk based huts is that the perks will be active directly after you hold a Feast, and they can stack.

Bakery

• Unlocks: +25 Health

The Bakery has one of the more universal boosts, providing Eivor with a nice extra chunk of health. 

Brewery

• Unlocks: +25 Health

Perhaps Eivor feels less pain once they're drunk, because building the Brewery will also give them a health boost. With a Bakery and a Brewery in Ravensthorpe, Eivor gets a big boost in bulk.

Fowl Farm

• Unlocks: +3 Melee Damage

The sign for this one is a bit further away than you might expect, so if you find a tent right on the shore and you can't tell what it's supposed to be, walk back up the road. You'll find the sign there for the Fowl Farm. Anyway, powered by the awesome strength of chicken breast, Eivor will hit just a bit harder with the Fowl Farm in town.

Alvis & Holger's House

• Unlocks: +3.8 Assassination Damage

Presumably because you no longer need to listen to these two arguing out in the open, you will do more damage per assassination once their house has been built. Weaker enemies will still die in a single hit, but stronger enemies will only take damage if Eivor attempts an assassination.

Kari's House

• Unlocks: +3.8 Assassination Damage

We don't have a witty comment for Kari, but we do know that this building offers the same perk as upgrading Alvis & Holger's House. A great perk for stealthier players looking to take out the biggest guards in the game silently.

Mayda's House

• Unlocks: +3.8 Assassination Damage

Same as above. With all three built, Eivor's assassination skills are unrivaled. But also, in the menu you can enable a setting in Difficulty which lets you one-hit all enemies in the game with an assassination. It does say this isn't how the game is supposed to be played, but that doesn't have to stop you. If you enable this setting, the Assassination Damage boosting houses become a bit useless.

Grain Farm

• Unlocks: +3 Armor

We're not quite sure what this has to do with grain, but upgrading this gives Eivor slightly stronger armor. Perhaps they're putting wheat padding down the back of their armor plates?

Cattle Farm

• Unlocks: +3 Ranged Damage

No idea how this one translates either, but having cows in Ravensthorpe somehow makes Eivor a better shot with a bow. If you're making a more ranged Eivor in the skills build, the Cattle Farm is a very handy piece of that puzzle.

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla made me feel like a viking – and that's all I ever wanted