Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Transmog

It's time for a new spring look.

This week, Assassin's Creed Valhalla brought Transmog to the rolling hills of England with major changes to its cosmetic system. While not quite on the level Assassin Creed Odyssey cosmetic system, this update brings valuable features to players who have yet to finish or begin Valhalla.  

Logging in on 03/16, in addition to the Change Appearance features, many quality-of-life updates, a new festival, and a Godly Gift awaited players:

How does Transmog work?

Transmog in Valhalla is very straightforward: On your next trip to the friendly neighborhood blacksmith Gunnar (the core gear vendor in the game), you are greeting with a quick heads up:

The system itself is simple. Tab over to "Enhance gear", hover over your gear, then select it.

Below, you can see the UI for changing the appearance on the Huntsman Helm:

Next, you are brought to the Change Appearance view for that specific gear. Below the base view of the gear, you are able to select the appearance to change the armor piece too. The available appearances are the other armor (for that type) that you've already acquired.

It costs 50 Silver to change.

In context to Valhalla's in-game economy, 50 Silver is a very small material cost.

Silver is literally in every activity you do - obtainable most commonly from smashing crates, looting chests, and selling trinkets picked up along your travels. You can also obtain about 500 Silver each run in the side activity, River Raids.

Given that, it was surprising to the first reactions from articles and social media posts, like Skill Up's one below, hammering Ubisoft. 

They have a point though - Ubisoft has a history of pay-to-win in single-player games and directly has silver as a common material, available for purchase with real world dollars. This made me very curious what I would find logging in this week to check out the upgrades, new skills, transmog, and new Ostara festival.

As a player in Valhalla, I've had no reason to hop into the Animus Store in my 50 hours in the game so far. There's been virtually no pressure from the in-game economy to purchase Helix points to acquire Silver. I'm often low on the currency, but it's because I'm consciously choosing to invest it in one of many different areas. 

I gain Silver as frequently as I spend it.

Currently, I'm halfway through the core story quests and I'm very much looking forward to using Transmog for the remaining portion. There's a handful of awful looking armor pieces I can't wait to restyle. 

Anddd then smack-dab when I log in...Buy Helix Points!

Granted, this is likely tied to the free Ostara Festival event, but it's difficult to not tie narrative I'd seen online with what I was confronted with in-game. 

Single-player 'pay-to-win' monetization is absolutely something worth monitoring. As consumers, we consciously need to vote with our dollar, choosing to not spend money on practices that don't sit well. 

Frankly, it's beyond me why any player would actually purchase this Silver in Valhalla. In terms of cost, we're talking $10 for 1,500 Silver (one of many purchasing options). So, 30 transmog appearances changes. It's just hard to justify when it takes minutes to earn 50 Silver to make one appearance upgrade.

Sidebar: Silver is equivalent to Legendary Shards in Destiny 2...a resource that is both common and that you passively earn. 

Yet, Ubisoft isn't overtly pushing the purchase of Silver when you are actually playing. It's available in the Utilities tab of the store, but not front & center of current store's promotions. It hasn't crossed the line for me yet.

Truthfully, I'm more perturbed by them having more unique armor sets behind a paywall or that Opals (think Bright Dust in Destiny 2) take way too long to acquire via Contracts. 

Handy downgrading

One positive surprise to the Blacksmith is that in addition to Transmog, Downgrading gear was also introduced:

This too requires Silver, but grants back valuable resources that require more dedication to earn. 

Downgrade Costs

Godly Pack

One final noteworthy change was the free Godly Reward gift available in the Animus Store. This gifted the Altaïr's Outfit, Yule Festival rewards, and 300 Opals.

Those Opals are very, very much appreciated. However, the Yule Festival rewards were actually discouraging. These rewards are simply free versions of the ones I grinded for during the winter festival event. 

My motivation for the new Ostara Festival wasn't high, but this realization certainly tanked my interest in this one. If the Yule rewards are a precedent for seasonal events, I'm not sure I'm seeing the point playing more than a couple hours in each one.

For those that have already finished the game, these festivals certainly won't bring people back.

It's a bit of a mixed here - certainly positive that Transmog has returned, but still puzzling why this didn't launch with the game.

Monetization practices lurk in the shadows, yet don't fully encroach the single-player experience.

Regardless, I'm enjoying my play through of Valhalla and these Transmog features will improve that.