Summary
- Valheim is a unique and enjoyable survival game with base building, monster killing, and Viking themes.
- The game allows players to explore freely and find their own strategies to succeed.
- Tips and tricks, such as creating safe spots and marking points of interest on the map, can greatly enhance the gameplay experience.
Few developers can say one of their early access games sold over a million copies in just eight days. If that alone doesn't show what Valheim has to offer, the sales since have been just as impressive. Those who love survival games, base building, monster killing, and thriving in what is essentially a Viking purgatory will love playing Valheim. It is truly a unique and enjoyable experience worth trying.
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One of the best things about Valheim is that the game does not hold your hand and allows players to explore freely in their own way. Nevertheless, to avoid getting stuck in endless death cycles and rise to the top of Midgard these Valheim tips and tricks are extremely useful to know.
Updated July 17, 2024, by Joe Grantham: Valheim is a game that is still in the early access stages of development and is thus constantly undergoing changes and receiving updates both large and small.
As more mechanics, features, and even biomes such as The Mistlands are added, players must adapt and find the latest and greatest strategies to succeed in Valheim. Additionally, with how big the game is, many secrets are yet to be found, and new Valheim tips and tricks have to be innovated by the most creative players in the community.
23 Label Chests
Signs Make Items & Crafting Materials Easier To Find
One thing that quickly becomes apparent in Valheim and many other survival games is just how much loot and crafting materials are obtained. Players will start out with one chest, which quickly becomes five, and before they know it they have a whole storage room full of chests, with other groups of chests scattered around their base by places such as the forge or the kitchen.
As on the outside, all chests look alike, it can be very hard to find what is needed when crafting or stocking up on supplies for an adventure. However, beyond aimlessly opening and closing chests until the desired item is found, players can utilize signs to label their chests or groups of chests. Signs are made out of 2 Wood and 1 Coal, making them very easy to place. The time spent organizing and setting them up beforehand will save players plenty of time down the line.
22 Carry The Materials For Ships Across Land Or Even Teleport Them
Walking Across Land Is Often Faster Than Sailing Around It
Although it might seem infeasible, the materials for ships in Valheim can be carried by one player quite comfortably. This means that players can carry the materials to the shore and construct the boat in the water, as long as they make a crafting table nearby. While this will always be done for the first construction, it is in fact a process that can be repeated over and over to save time.
This is because it is often faster to run across a thin spit of land than to sail around it. To do so, players will need to destroy their ship using a melee weapon and then pick up the materials. As all of these materials can be teleported, it is also much faster to make use of portals when visiting other islands that have already been colonized. Upon arriving, they can find the nearest coast to their next exploration point, and quickly assemble their boat once more. If they plan on returning with heavy plunder such as metal ores, they will have to sail home as ores cannot be taken through portals.
21 Use AOE Weapons To Harvest Crops More Efficiently
This Is Much Faster Than Handpicking Crops
Every fledgling farmer in Valheim has been there, running up and down a long field spamming the pickup button as they run along, hoping that they don't miss one and have to go back. However, an advanced farming tip for Valheim is to instead make square or circular fields, and to swing a two-handed weapon around to harvest many crops at once.
While two-handed axes can be used for this technique, the best tool for the job is the Bronze Atgeir, which isn't too dissimilar to a scythe. As a bronze weapon in Valheim, it is easy to make early on and has incredible reach for efficient farming.
20 Use A Hoe Or Pickaxe To Scale Mountains
Creating Safe Spots Allows Players To Recover Stamina
The biomes in Valheim get progressively more dangerous and some of them come with their own environmental hazards. In the Mountains, for example, players have to deal with the freezing cold as well as steep inclines on top of all the enemies.
While running away from a wolf only to fall off the edge of the mountain can be annoying, so can the experience of trying to climb back up. To combat this, players can use a hoe or pickaxe to create divots as they climb, these divots can then be stood on allowing the player to recover stamina.
19 Build Terrain In Combat To Rise To Safety
Players Will Be Safe From Most Melee Attacks
Sometimes in Valheim, it is easy to get overwhelmed by enemies especially when close to the border of two different biomes where mismatched melees tend to ensue. Thankfully a new pro tip for Valheim has been innovated in which players take out an unusual tool for combat: their hoe.
The hoe can then be used to quickly raise ground beneath the player's feet, creating a safe pillar from which most enemies can't harm them. With a bow in hand, they can then slowly whittle away at the masses beneath. To do this players must first quickly create a workbench, and have enough stone to raise the ground.
18 Mark Your Map
There Are Few Map Markers In Valheim, So Players Should Mark Points Of Interest
With a massive, procedurally generated world to explore, it’s safe to say that most players will spend a long time just wandering around Valheim’s beautiful biomes, getting the lay of the land. There’s no single right way to do this, but some methods make things easier than others.
One important tip is to mark important locations on the map. Crypts, burial chambers, copper deposits, troll caves, shipwrecks, and other sites of interest are worth noting if the player doesn’t intend to explore them right away. That makes returning to those locations in the future much easier. Crossing off completed areas also means players won't waste time exploring a cave they have already cleared.
17 Explore From The Outside In
Revealing The Coastline Of Islands Is More Efficient
Though this isn’t always possible depending upon the player’s starting location, it’s often useful to explore islands from the outside in. To start, players should navigate around the entire outside edge of the island, tracing its shoreline and establishing its general size and layout. They can then start pushing inwards, methodically revealing one area at a time.
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Planned exploration of this kind isn’t for everyone, but it has the benefit of reducing the amount of tedious backtracking that is sometimes necessary to lift the last fog of war from a location. Having to hike into the forest for the seventh time just to color in a tiny patch of the map is frustrating, and while it may only matter to completionists, perimeter mapping makes it easier for everyone.
16 Bring Base Supplies
Making Beds & Shelters On The Move Gives Players A Nearby Respawn
Valheim isn’t just big; it’s also dangerous. There’s no shortage of calamities that could befall the player as they explore their starting island, let alone the terrible things that can happen once they set out to chart new lands. In Valheim, as well as in many other underrated survival games, the player’s base is a refuge from the dangerous world, but it’s rooted in one spot.
For this reason, it’s wise to bring base-building supplies wherever one goes. If the player is just making a quick dash into the bush to farm some resources then it doesn’t matter, but the longer and farther the trip the more important this becomes. Having enough wood and stone with which to build a small home, bed, workbench, and fire gives the player the freedom to create a pop-up camp anywhere. With that ability, the world of Valheim truly opens up.
15 Tow In The Serpent For An Easy Kill
The Abyssal Harpoon Is A Niche Tool For Killing Serpents
Taking down the Serpent can seem like a tall order while out on the high seas. The creature has a total of 400 health and inflicts 70 damage per attack. Early in the game, it will take a lot of arrows to kill the beast in the ocean.
However, instead of fighting it while on a vessel, players can use the Abyssal Harpoon to capture it and tow it to shore. The massive Serpent will try to slither back into the water, but if pulled far enough inland, it will be easy to kill. Looting the creature is also far easier on land.
14 Chop Down Trees Faster
Falling Trees Take Down Others That They Collide With
In Valheim, there is an advanced trick to get wood even faster. Falling trees will knock over other trees like dominoes. By cutting at the right angle, survivors can knock down three or four trees at once. When cut down, trees will fall in the exact direction that a player is facing while chopping.
By just taking a few seconds to line up the cut, players can save a lot of time while farming. After the trees are chopped down, logs can be cut at the same time too as long as they are close enough together. Additionally, when players eventually choose to replant trees using the seeds they pick up, they can all be planted in long lines, making for easy domino falls in the future.