A patch at the end of June changed the AI of enemies in Valheim . Monsters were supposed to become more aggressive – and they did. Too aggressive for the taste of many players. Now the belligerent monsters are getting a nerf again.
Why were monsters too aggressive? The patch from June 23, 2021, made enemies more aggressive. The idea was to give monsters a greater focus on player-built structures (via GameStar.de).
This means: Enemies were supposed to be more likely to attack your base and destroy houses, huts, or palisades. This step was probably taken because players often lured enemies into traps or exploited their AI to shoot at them from high towers.
Since the update, that was no longer possible. However, the enemies developed a somewhat unhealthy focus on buildings. At times, they completely ignored players, even when standing right next to them:
It went so far that supposedly you could even use campfires to distract enemies from yourself, as they count as buildings (via Eurogamer.net). Some enemies even froze when trying to reach certain building parts, even though an easily defeat-able player stood in front of them.
As building is one of the favorite pastimes of many Vikings, many were of course not particularly happy about the new destructiveness of the monsters. The developers have noticed this as well.
What has been changed? With a new update from July 1, the AI of enemies has been adjusted again. Specifically, it says:
“Monsters should always focus on creatures (including players) when they have a clear path and only attack structures of low priority (such as walls) when they want to reach a player” (via Steam).
On Twitter, players reacted rather humorously. Some even found it amusing that enemies completely ignored them, even during larger attacks. The user @DickerMannFilme writes:
“‘FIGHT ME, YOU COWARDS,’ Erik shouted in their direction, but he was ignored in favor of the stone wall they were beating instead” (via Twitter.com).
Valheim adjusts the balance – When will new content come?
While the current patches mainly fix existing issues or polish the mechanics, the developers are already working on new content in the background. After the huge success of Valheim, the first major update “Hearth & Home” is already on the starting blocks.
“Hearth & Home” is expected to be released between July and September and brings a host of new building components and recipes. Especially for players who enjoy building houses and cities or focusing on the crafting aspect, there will be new content.
New biomes, meanwhile, are still pending. Next up are the rather nasty mist lands, of which it’s still unknown when they will appear. A new boss will also appear there, which many of you probably will not like.
As long as you wait for new content, you can soon occupy yourself with a new game that is likely to be similarly interesting. Tribes of Midgard will officially release on July 27 on PC, PlayStation 4, and PS5 and will be a survival RPG, a kind of mix between Valheim and Diablo.
