The new survival hit Valheim fascinates more and more players. MeinMMO author Florian Franck was also captivated and made some mistakes at the beginning of his adventure. What they were and why you shouldn’t make them is revealed here.
At first glance, Valheim seems like a typical survival game. We start naked in an unknown world and must survive in it. At the beginning, we receive valuable tips and hints from Odin’s ravens Hugin and Munin, which help us. I took the tips to heart and thought: ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ After all, I have gathered some experience in survival games in the past.
After just two hours, I realized that many mechanics in Valheim are different from what I was used to. What they are, you will find out in this article.
What fascinates him about survival games is the variety, from building bases to extensive exploration tours. Even after many hours, there’s always a new adventure.
Tip 1: Trees can be deadly
At the beginning of my adventure, I was full of eagerness and wanted to build a hut right away. Armed with a primitive stone axe, I ran toward a cluster of trees and chopped them down. Fascinated, I watched as the first tree brought down the rest of the tree group with it. The last thing I saw was a large tree trunk falling directly on me. The game mockingly informed me: ‘You are dead.’
What you can learn from my mistake: The damage and physics model in Valheim is sophisticated, and even a rolling tree trunk can kill the character. Since then, I make sure that I can flee in any direction when chopping down trees. I also no longer chop down trees near my own shelter because the tree trunks can cause significant damage to structures.
Tip 2: All resources can be used eventually
If you kill enemies, they drop loot. Additionally, there are plenty of resources you can collect. Resin, mushrooms, berries – I collected everything and carried it around. Inventory and carrying capacities are limited, so I eventually had to clean up and throw away what seemed to me at first glance “useless.” Who needs dandelions?
When I dared to ferment and wanted to brew mead, I was missing one ingredient: dandelion. If only I had collected a little and stored it in a chest.
What you can learn from my mistake: Items that seem unnecessary at first can become very important later. If you already have a shelter, place chests in it and ideally label them with signs. For signs, you need wood and charcoal.
Label your chests and store excess items in them. I label my chest in Valheim as follows:
- Wood & Stones: Space for flint, precious wood, and core wood
- Nature & Animals: Leather, feathers, raw meat, dandelions, seeds from plants and trees
- Valuable & Trophies: Trophies from animals and enemies, Surtling cores, coins, amber, bone fragments from skeletons
- Tools & Weapons: In addition to tools and weapons, I also store my armor here
- Ores & Bars: Two chests provide enough space for raw ores, smelted bars, and charcoal
Chests are inexpensive, and you can store a lot of resources in them. You can find them in the building menu under the “Decorations” section. Stones and regular wood can also be placed in stacks. You need 50 units of the resource for each. This saves space in the storage chests and makes both stacks visually appealing.
Tip 3: Balanced diet for more health points & stamina
When I first entered Valheim, I was surprised by my 25 health points. Only 25? How am I supposed to survive? My first thought was: I probably need to craft bandages or a first aid kit. Far from it. Health points vary in Valheim, and you gain them through food consumption. The more balanced and complex the food is, the more health points you get.
At first, I mainly ate red mushrooms, raspberries, and cooked meat. However, this isn’t satisfying in the long run.
What you can learn from my mistake: Experiment with different foods. Cook meat, neck tails, and make berry jam as soon as you unlock a cauldron. Eating yellow mushrooms and honey also gives a temporary boost to health points and, especially, stamina. However, yellow mushrooms and honey are used in mead production. Don’t waste these precious resources by eating them raw.
This food is valuable:
- Him- and blueberries: Used for berry jam
- Honey: Used for mead production
- Neck tails: Used in the potion for poison resistance
- Yellow mushrooms: For making stamina mead mixtures
Tip 4: Let food burn
While we’re on the subject of food: When I returned from hunting and wanted to roast wild boar over the campfire, I got briefly distracted and returned a moment too late to my food – I received a few pieces of charcoal. Charcoal is not suitable for consumption, so I had to go outside again and hunt wild boars.
What you can learn from my mistake: Once you hang meat over the fire, you will hear a loud sizzling sound. The same sizzling sound occurs when the meat is fully cooked. This happens after a short time, and you should always stay nearby so the meat doesn’t burn. Additionally, you can tame and breed wild boars instead of just hunting them.
Charcoal is important when smelting ores, but you produce charcoal much more easily later on and do not need to burn meat to get it.
Tip 5: Don’t work at night, sleep instead
As soon as the sun goes down and night begins, all work should stop, and you should go to sleep. At the beginning of my journey, I wandered around the area with a torch in the pitch-black night. It felt like there were more dangers lurking in the “Black Forest” biome at night, and the enemies seemed stronger. A debuff on your stats makes the dangers at night significantly greater than during the day.
What you can learn from my mistake: I try to avoid negative effects in Valheim as much as possible. At night, you get ‘cold,’ which causes your stamina and health to regenerate more slowly.
As soon as night falls, I go to sleep. This grants the additional bonus “Well Rested.” If you play together with friends, you can skip the night as soon as all players lie down to sleep.
Tip 6: Do not ignore the statics when building a house
In Valheim, statics play a big role. My first “house” deserves the designation “unstable” and more than once the roof collapsed.
What you can learn from my mistake: Before you build your own house, you should level the ground with a hoe. Place wooden poles and wooden beams for more stability. With a frame structure, you also have a rough idea from the beginning of how big your house will be in the end. This saves you a lot of frustration during construction and avoids improvised solutions for more stability.
If you are unsure whether an element is stable enough, you can check it with a hammer. The colors will tell you if the element is about to collapse.
The individual colors when building in Valheim mean:
- Blue: Foundation/stable
- Light to dark green: All ok!
- Yellow: Still okay
- Orange: Strong load – could collapse with more elements
- Red: The object is under very high stress and will collapse soon
Tip 7: Do not use the “Well Rested” bonus
The active effect “Well Rested” regenerates health by 50% and stamina by 100%. I often missed this effect during routine tasks. When chopping wood or mining ores, stamina quickly decreases, and I was forced to wait. When I further expanded my house and placed a deer hide rug, the effect “Well Rested” lasted longer.
What you can learn from my mistake: Once you have core wood and fine wood, you can build decorative objects that increase comfort. If you place these near the bed, you will receive a higher bonus on the “Well Rested” effect. Sit by the campfire in your home and take a moment to rest. Afterwards, you can return to work full of enthusiasm or continue exploring the world of Valheim.
Tip 8: Venture into too hard areas
After a few hours, I wanted to venture into new areas. I felt like I had seen everything in the meadows biome and longed for new biomes. The Black Forest quickly put me in my place, and I realized that I wouldn’t get far without the right equipment.
What you can learn from my mistake: Focus on a clear structure at the beginning, and don’t let the urge for adventure lure you too much. After defeating the first boss Eikthyr, you should first upgrade the workbench and then upgrade your armor and weapons.
Once you feel equipped, you can enter the “Black Forest” biome. The same goes for the Swamp biome, which you access after defeating the Ancients. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus explains in his guide how to defeat the Ancients and get to the Swamp. Moreover, a detailed guide on the Swamp and its dangers will be available soon.
Tip 9: Misjudge enemies
When I first encountered a skeleton, my knees were shaking. I only had a wooden club in hand, and the skeleton wielded a sword in its right hand, parrying my attacks with a wooden shield. In the fight, I lost almost all my health points and only survived with great effort.
With much respect, I later entered tombs and fled whenever I saw skeletons. At some point, I wanted to seize the treasures of the tombs and ventured back with armor and a bow, and was quite surprised to find that the skeletons were now a joke.
What you can learn from my mistake: Skeletons may be strong at the beginning. But once you upgrade your weapons and have armor, they only pose a real threat in large groups. With bow and arrow, most skeletons need two hits and then collapse.
Goblins and mosquitoes, on the other hand, are much, much stronger than one might think. When you encounter a new enemy for the first time, check their strength first and do not rush into battle with full force. Make sure you have a good respawn point nearby to respawn safely.
Once you master it, you will find it incredibly satisfying to defeat bosses in Valheim.
What mistakes did you make at the beginning in Valheim? Let us know in the comments.
