Bugs and glitches aside, the new River Raids is pretty good in terms of the improvements made to the game mode since this feature was introduced...

First, a nod to visual and level design. I appreciate that Ubisoft took time to make the regions for the new rivers (Erriff, Berbha, and Rhine) feel more like the rest of the world in AC Valhalla. There were real roads that connected various locations along the rivers, as opposed to the spattering of forts and settlements in the English rivers. Some of the locations in the new rivers actually felt like real towns, not just with a variety of structures, but regular people walking about. The structural and level design of some of the forts and settlements were also different from anything that we’ve previously seen, which helped in keeping the gameplay fresh.

Another positive note was the introduction of the Champions of the Faith. These opponents were fun to fight as they were the only ones who presented any real challenge to Eivor because they used unique abilities that other enemy types don’t utilize. The note to Eivor at the very end of the story arc was a nice touch as well, as it implied there may be future champions to fight. Ubisoft may be on to something here to create real replay value for the River Raids. It would be pretty cool if there were a Champion of the Faith every week with a new piece of gear, weapon, or diamond rune for the player to acquire. I know, it’s wishful thinking...

Last positive note is the refilling of chests for foreign supplies and the refilling of small chests that allow players to repeat raids for more leather and ore. I also noticed that when going back to a river more than once, I saw an uptick in the output of foreign supplies. At one point, I was banking 60 foreign supplies per chest. I don’t know yet if that is the cap, or if there is a higher number, but it was a nice upgrade by the developers to encourage repeat trips to the same rivers.

Okay... time for the complaints...

The rewards for this story arc were interesting, but not really that great. I’m not sure I’ll use Lugh’s armor set when I can get some of the effects with better values for Eivor by combining two other sets. It kind of comes down to play style in the end. And speaking of play style, I honestly have no inclination to use Lugh’s Spear or any of the other weapons acquired from the River Champions and the Champions of the Faith because they all felt a bit too focused in using particular abilities or actions to activate their effects. If Ubisoft were to have weekly Champions of the Faith, where there was a weapon that utilized a different ability, then eventually every player’s play style could be accommodated.

Also, the story here was kind of hum-drum compared to the previous River Raid storyline. We didn’t learn anything new about Vagn, and there was no real story behind the River Champions or the Champions of the Faith. Ubisoft had an opportunity to build on the development of the prelude towards the Templar Order, but squandered it for two-dimensional fighting. To give an analogy... Ubisoft could have given us Darth Maul from The Clone Wars, but instead we got Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace.

Alright, that’s my two cents... What do you think about the new River Raids?

@thenorfolkian

Last positive note is the refilling of chests for foreign supplies and the refilling of small chests that allow players to repeat raids for more leather and ore. I also noticed that when going back to a river more than once, I saw an uptick in the output of foreign supplies

it was implemented months ago as a hidden change. they added leather/ ore to small chests, than to big chests plus some runes. also in first map pack (eng) it was possible to loot 400-800 or even more silver/ loot to sell for silver.

now what about new packs. first it look beautiful, espesially ireland. but than i realised that they nerfed amount of barrels and baskets to get siler/ loot from. so comparing to england in ireland we got twice lower silver from raids. and in frankia there are no any loot barrels at all. its supposed to raid big castles/ cities, estates and all player got - just a small amount of leather/ ore (which is also twice lower than in eng rivers). so whats the reason for raids than?

new maps are much smaller than maps from pack 1. especially frankia river. theres actually twice less locations to raid.

and i havea feeling that ireland and frankia rivers were made by separate teams, because same as with dlcs, ireland locations are better and more beautiful. frankia both dlc and river just meh

so im dissapointed. waited too long from february for new maps and all we got just some nerfed small locations with still 0 replaybility since they nerfed even loot barrels.

it was implemented months ago as a hidden change. they added leather/ ore to small chests, than to big chests plus some runes. also in first map pack (eng) it was possible to loot 400-800 or even more silver/ loot to sell for silver.

Ah! I guess you now know I had not been playing River Raids every day... hahaha. It’s still nice that they implemented those changes. Were you able to determine what the absolute cap on big chest output was/is?

@thenorfolkian im big river raids fan) i got 9000 extra supplies before RR2)
if you mean cap for supplies so its same as ship 400/ 600, depends on the ship upgrade.

what about big chests with leater/ ore/ runes (when supplies not provided) so no cap - its possible to raid whole available locations in one map during one raid)

@afewscarsmore I wasn’t referring to the cap on the ship hold, but rather the output of supplies from the big chests themselves. Does the amount keep increasing as you return to the same river again and again, or does it finally cap out, like at 100 supplies or something?

@thenorfolkian it should be the same 100 supplies per one chest. after river reset its possible to raid same location again and to get 100 supplies per 1 big chest.
well it was like that till SoP, after I gave up RRs having too many supplies)