With the last biome that was announced so far inching closer to its release date, it’s as good a time as any to try this great Viking sandbox survival game.
Ever since it came out in 2021, Valheim has quickly become a staple of the open-world survival genre. The game offers a very immersive experience where you are thrown into a world between worlds where you will have to fight tooth and nail to make it across various biomes. Each of these biomes has its own resources to gather, as well as unique mobs that will try to hinder you every step of the way. So let me give you a few easy tips that might enhance your gaming experience if you’re a newcomer to the world of Valheim.
General Tips and Tricks
- Don’t underestimate how important stamina is – even though health is the one thing that will instantly spell your doom once it’s depleted, stamina is more often than not a culprit for that outcome. Without stamina, your character won’t be able to sprint/attack/block/jump, leaving you pretty much defenseless against whatever foe you’re dealing with. This means that you should always eat at least one portion of food that gives more stamina than health, as well as stamina meads that will give you a quick burst of stamina to get out of a messy situation. And do make sure that you’re always rested since without the rested status your stamina regen will be halved.
- Never leave home without a portal – after the early part of the game, you will gain the materials needed to start making portals. While these portals have limitations on what items you can pass through (ores/ingots), they are an indispensable tool when exploring a new biome. Never travel too far from your base without a portal that you can plop down before exploring, since death can mean a corpse run that could take far too long. Always have mats for a portal on you, while leaving a portal with a particular set name in base. If you think you’re about to come into danger, simply plop your portal down and rest assured that you at least have a quicker way of getting your corpse back.
- Practice your parries – while in combat, blocking will only get you so far. Everytime you block, your stagger meter will go up. If it fills up your character will be staggered for almost two seconds, giving your enemies ample time to hit you. A solution to this is learning how to parry from the start of the game. This isn’t Dark Souls so the parry window is pretty lenient, especially on earlier mobs. Plus, successfully parrying a hit will give you a lot of XP for your Blocking skill, which will, in turn, increase your blocking and parrying numbers.
Biome Specific Tips and Tricks
- Meadows – not much to say here, Meadows is a rather quaint and peaceful place since it’s the first biome you will be thrown into. The only aggressive enemies you will encounter are Boars and Greylings, both of which can be easily dealt with. Your main focus here should be to build a basic shelter in order to craft things at a Workbench. Then simply start hunting for boars and deer, since they’re a great source of food and leather that will be needed for various items further into the game.
- Black Forest – the first “real” biome of the game, Black Forests ramp up the difficulty with the full array of Greydwarf enemies, which include Greydwarf Shamans and Brutes. Shamans should always be a focus during combat, since they can inflict poison on you and also heal their Greydwarf buddies. And until you have Bronze Armor on, be wary of Greydwarf Brutes since they can deal an unexpected amount of damage with a single swing. Trolls will also be an issue, and until you’re used to parrying them you should stick to kiting them around with your bow. And keep in mind, hitting them in the head with your arrows will deal extra damage. And last but not least, Black Forests also have the first type of dungeon, the Burial Chambers. These will be infested with Skeletons and Ghosts, both of which will receive increased damage from Blunt weapons, so make sure you go in there wielding a Club or, ideally, a Bronze Mace.
- Swamp – if you thought Black Forests can be a pain, the Swamp is where Valheim truly shows its teeth for the first time. Countless types of vicious enemies will constantly try to end you, including Draugr (basically Viking zombies), Leeches, Oozes, Wraiths, and Abominations. Wraiths are ghostly beings that only come out at night, but they do drop chains which are an important crafting item. Abominations are giant treelike monsters that can seem scary at first. But parrying them is rather easy and they will receive extra damage if you wield an axe. The terrain is also obviously mostly covered in water, making traversal difficult. This is where stamina management becomes an important part of survival. Not panicking and understanding that you can mostly walk away from most fights is key. Save up your stamina and only use it when truly needed either to get away or make quick work of an annoying opponent. Crypts are the dungeons for this biome, and you will encounter plenty of Draugr and Oozes inside. Also, never go into a Swamp without a Poison Resistance Mead at the ready, since quite a few mobs will inflict poison that can and will slowly kill you.
- Mountain – brew up some stamina potions because you’re going to need them when climbing a mountain. This Biome is the first one that also requires potions or gear to stave off the freezing cold. Be sure to have plenty of Frost Resistance Potions on hand when you start exploring. Later on, you’ll be able to craft the Wolf Cape, which will make you impervious to the cold. Mobs in this area can be extremely dangerous, especially at night. Wolves attack very fast and will make short work of you if you’re not paying attention, and Drakes will start attacking you from the skies when you least expect it. Steer clear from Golems as well until you have full Silver Armor since they deal a ton of damage. Werewolves (called Fenring) only come out at night, so make sure to come prepared. There are also Frost Caves scattered across this biome which will net you materials for the Fenris Set. If you’re a fan of speedy builds that deal backstab damage, this might be a great set for you.
- Plains – don’t let the beauty of this biome fool you as it has some very dangerous enemies. Lox are big furry cows that can provide fur and meat for you unless you end up beneath their hooves. Fulings are goblin-like creatures that wander the plains in scouting parties or lounging around their villages. The Bonemass buff is extremely useful when raiding said villages, since Fuling Berserkers pack a punch while Fuling Shamans will try to fireball you to death. Deathsquitos are easy enough to handle, simply block their first attack and then kill them. Do keep in mind that since they can fly, they will attack any ship that gets too close to their biome, so beware. Last but not least, we have Growths, which are tar oozes. These little bastards will spew sticky and poisonous gunk your way, inflicting slow and poison at the same time. They can be extremely difficult to deal with in melee, so try to use your bows. Another great way of dealing with them is drawing other mobs in their direction, since all mobs from the Plains hate these critters as much as you do.
- Mistlands – lastly we’ve reached the Mistlands, the newest Biome to grace Valheim. The terrain alone is hell to deal with since it’s highly irregular and will go up and down at a moment’s notice. On top of that, you have the mist itself, which makes it impossible to see further than a few feet. This can be fixed with the help of Wisp Lights. Always make sure you have a few extra Wisp Lights in your base for corpse runs. The main mobs of this area are Seekers, which are bug-like creatures that can also fly, except for the Soldier type which is more of a walking tank. Gjall are flying mobs that cast fireballs and launch Ticks in your direction. Ticks are exactly as you’d imagine them. Oversized bugs that will leap and stick to you and slowly drain your HP until you kill them. Dodging with some Ticks attached to you will get them off you so instead of panicking simply dodge away. And finally, we have the Dvergr, which are a race of Dwarven-like creatures that have bases and towers spread throughout the Mistlands. They are friendly to you unless you attack. Sadly you will have to defeat at least a few of them since their bases are the only places to get Dvergr Extractors which are needed for Sap Extractors.
