Valheim is currently popular among tens of thousands of players. The new survival game impresses with great content, a vast world, and there is plenty to do. But how big this world really is has somewhat surprised MeinMMO author and survival expert Benedict Grothaus …
Since the early access release of Valheim, I have now played almost 50 hours. I probably played “normally,” like most: gathering resources, improving my gear, exploring the world. Those who want to read more on this can find the reasons for its success in my preview of Valheim.
So, I wasn’t slacking off, and I was mainly on the move – or so I thought. It is important for me and certainly many other players in a survival game to explore everything. After all, you get a world in which you are supposed to survive.
However, Valheim surprised me. After I had already gotten used to relatively extensive maps from Fallout 76, Conan Exiles, and Rust, my expectations were quite high. But Valheim exceeded them.
How big is the Valheim map?
This is what the map looks like: At first, the map may seem relatively small. This is because you see it in a zoom when you open it at the beginning. When I looked at the map for the first time after a few hours, I thought: “Oh, I’ve achieved quite a bit already.”
I was pleased with that and continued. However, it eventually dawned on me that not all content really fits in this piece, so I took a closer look and found out that you can scroll out.
So, I opened the map again and checked. When seeing the entire map, I then noticed that not even a tenth of it is uncovered. I have discovered 5% – if at all:
How long does it take to explore? Just for fun, I measured the world. I am not a mathematician or surveyor, but I can still do basic calculations.
Using admin commands, I uncovered the entire world and traveled it through teleport commands. You can find a list of admin commands for Valheim at the colleagues at GameStar.
The world is a disk with a radius of 10,500 units. When running on a flat surface, you cover about 420 units per minute, not considering stamina. Let’s do a quick calculation:
- 10,500 units radius means 21,000 units diameter of the disk
- which equals 346,360,590 length units squared in area – already quite impressive
- with 420 units per minute, it would take about 13,744 hours to walk through everything
- the visibility is significantly wider – even if we calculate with ten times that, it still leaves 1,374 hours for the entire map
This is now a rough estimate and at most a guideline. After all, I assume that you can sprint over mountains and oceans and run permanently – which is certainly not possible. Moreover, the numbers are only rough estimates. But you can somewhat imagine how damn huge the map is.
What can I discover there?
The world of Valheim consists of different biomes. Currently, you can explore and actively engage with six of them:
- Meadows, where you usually start
- Darkwoods, a tougher area where you can get core wood for better weapons and tools
- more dangerous swamps with new enemies and plenty of poison – here you can get iron
- mountains that you can only climb with frost protection. You need mead that protects you from cold. In our guide, you can find out how to brew mead in Valheim.
- plains, barren deserts full of goblins
- the great oceans between the many islands of Valheim, where special materials and enemies can be found
Each biome (except the ocean) has its own characteristics, resources, and even its own boss, which serves as a kind of chapter conclusion. We have already listed all bosses with tactics and prerequisites in our guide.
Additionally, there are three more biomes, one of which the developers have already revealed in the roadmap: Mistlands. They are not yet available to explore. However, on a fully uncovered map, you can still see two more biomes: the Deep North and the Ashlands in the south. Currently, there is nothing to do there, although there is a new type of metal in the south. What it is used for, we do not know yet.
Special treat: Every world is different
What makes the Valheim map so special is not only its size. Each world is procedurally generated. This means: every world is different. Your “seed” decides how it looks.
The “seed” is the source of generating a map and determines how it is structured. You can start right next to a plains, surrounded by dangerous woods or right next to useful places like a merchant.
Even if you have explored your map at some point, you can discover entirely different worlds at a friend’s place. However, this system also makes it harder to communicate with others about where they can find which boss or resource.
There’s plenty to see in Valheim. If you keep an eye out, you might even spot the thunder god Thor in the sky.
