This article is part of a directory: Valheim Complete Guide for Tips, Tricks, and General Help
Table of contents

Highlights

  • 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 February 10, 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.

20 Use A Hoe Or Pickaxe To Scale Mountains

Creating Safe Spots Allows Players To Recover Stamina

Valheim Climbing Mountain With Pickaxe

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

Valheim Earth Pillar

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

Valheim - Shore Mapping

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

Valheim - Interior Mapping

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 - Base Supplies

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

Valheim-Sea-Serpent

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

valheim fine wood

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.

13 Get Near Infinite Berries

Setup A Portal To A Cluster Of Bushes

rust-red-berry-bush

Players are not able to plant berries in Valheim, this means that the only harvestable berries are in the wild. Each berry plant will not bear fruit for a total of 300 minutes after it is harvested. The timer will reset if a user comes within around 200 meters of the berries as well.

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To get around these farming barriers, players should look to the far ends of the map for clusters of three or more plants. Then, they can wall the area off and set up a portal to visit the locations every day. With these tips for Valheim and a few portals linked to clusters, players will have all the berries they need.

12 Turn A Base Into A Palace

Advanced Building Tips Can Make All The Difference

valheim community contributor castle
Made by @Zugzuglife.

Most players can create a safe base with enough space to house all of their important items and materials. However, the majority of bases could use some sprucing up. Below are a few advanced decoration tricks to improve the aesthetics of any build.

  • Create a diamond-shaped 2x2 window using four wooden beams in an X pattern.
  • Wood beams can act as crown molding.
  • Use 2m wood poles and stack benches to create a faux interior ladder.
  • Wood poles can serve as a headboard along with signs lining a bed to create a bed frame.
  • Stone pillars can serve as the base for a wood beam light stand with a hanging brazier.

11 Take Down Deathsquitos With The Bow

This Is The Safest Way To Take Down The Most Pesky Creatures

crude bow valheim

Deathsquitos are the most irritating enemies in the Plains biome. They do not have much health but can be difficult to hit with a melee weapon and seemingly impossible to kill with an arrow. A pro tip for taking down these creatures is to wait until they charge and shoot them with the bow.

As soon as a Deathsquito starts to close the distance, that is the time to strike. They will move in a completely straight line at the character's eye level. Once people get the timing down, dealing with these pests will be easy.

10 Only Eat Good Food

Meals Provide Varying Levels Of Health & Stamina

Cooking Food

People shouldn't eat too much junk food in real life, and it's the same in the world of Valheim. The better the quality of food that players consume with their character, the better bonuses they will receive.

Mushrooms, berries, and simple meats are fine, but cooked meals can do far more. Increasing one's health and stamina as well as the recovery of both is worth it, so become a master Viking chef. To unlock more advanced meals in Valheim, players will not only need to find rare ingredients, but they will also need to upgrade their cooking facilities. The best meals also last longer before the effects wear off and players must eat again.

9 Spend Coins Wisely

A Few Items From The Trader Are Much More Important

Trader Valheim

Players need to make sure that when they get coins they don't spend them thoughtlessly. It can take some work to find the Trader in the Black Forest, but it's worth doing so.

Players are recommended to pick up the fishing pole early on as seafood is an excellent way to fill up characters' bellies. Of course, there are plenty of other options for those who can't stand the relaxing yet monotonous nature of fishing. The Megingjord belt is also a must-buy for 950 coins as increases the carry weight by 150.

8 Understand Boss Summoning

Bosses Require Certain Sacrifices So Don't Discard Niche Loot

Where to get a Swamp Key in Valheim

No one wants to get their butts handed to them by a boss before they are ready to fight them. Summoning bosses is a straightforward process that usually requires placing related trophies at a specific altar. Once the boss is summoned, it's an all-out fight for survival.

Each boss requires a different summoning method, and there are even hidden bosses in the game that aren't easy to find. For example, those heavy dragon eggs no one wants to carry back to the base are needed to summon the Mountain boss, Moder.

7 Make A Fermentor Or Two As Soon As Possible

Meads Can Restore Health Or Stamina Or Provide Resistances To Poison Or The Cold

Mead Brewing Valheim

It takes Fine Wood to be able to craft a Fermentor, but it's worth doing so as soon as the ability is unlocked. In fact, it is one of the most worthwhile endeavors in the entire game, particularly for those who appreciate buffs.

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The various bonuses that Mead has to offer can make certain boss fights, or various resource-collecting missions, much easier. Everything from Frost resistance to massive stamina regeneration is possible with a bit of these honeyed drinks. To make mead, players must first make the correct mead base at their cooking station and then put the base into the fermentor.

6 Get Pets Early On For Resources & Help In Combat

Tame Animals By Trapping Them & Then Feeding Them

Wolf Tamed Valheim

Who doesn't want a pet Boar or Wolf? It's not only possible to tame a Boar in Valheim but tame a Wolf as well. It takes a little time and patience, but with a bit of work, these fluffy friends will stay by the sides of Viking adventurers.

Players should try to lure them into areas with makeshift cages as it makes feeding far easier. The only way to tame a beast, at this time, is to feed it, which can be a little tricky to do while they're still hostile. The trick is to sneak around and not be seen while feeding them. This will prevent the animal from becoming stressed. Tame animals can then be easily bred, meaning this tricky business need only happen once.

5 Stacking Storage

Chests On Top Of One Another Save Space

Stack Chests Valheim

Efficiency is key in any survival game, so players should make sure to use chests wisely. A lot of players never realize that they can stack chests in the game so their storage takes up much less space.

Inventories can fill up fast, so having loads of chests conveniently ready to put things in makes the game go much more smoothly. Getting the Megingjord Belt from Haldor (the trader) will help a lot too as players can carry more loot at once.

4 Craft Wolf Armor Or The Wolf Fur Cape

Wolf Fur Permanently Protects Players From The Cold

valheim stop freezing

Similar to Breath of the Wild, exploring the frozen mountains of Valheim can freeze players to death. Fortunately, there's an easy way to avoid this that players should look into early on. Players just need to craft Wolf Armor or even simply the Wolf Fur Cape.

Ironically, getting the wolf hides and other resources requires players to head up to the mountains where they will also face the cold, meaning Frost resistance mead is at least temporarily necessary. There are ways around this, but doing this as soon as possible makes things easier for further exploration. It's worth making it a top priority.

3 Harvest Honey

Honey Is A Renewable Resource & Can Eaten Or Used In Recipes

Bees Valgheim

"Not the bees!" Even Vikings trying to survive in some weird form of purgatory have to deal with bees. Getting beehives is worth figuring out early on to get the honey supplies flowing liquid gold.

It only takes ten wood and a queen bee to craft one, and players can get their queen by smashing beehives they find in the world. Bee-lovers may not like doing so, but it's definitely a means to an end as honey can be eaten on its own or used in various recipes.

2 Farm Greydwarf Nests

Players Can Farm Infinite Wood, Stone, Resin, & Greydwarf Eyes

Greydwarves Valheim

Greydwarves aren't always easy to take down, but doing so can offer players tons of resources that are even more of a pain to hunt down. Occasionally, nests of Greydwarves will appear at random in various spots of the game.

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While there's no way to control the spawn, players shouldn't destroy the next right away. Instead, they should take down as many waves of the creatures as possible to get things like stones, wood, resin, and rare Greydwarf Eyes.

1 Use Console Commands

Cheat Codes Make The Game Easier & More Fun For Some

Epic Base Valheim

Everyone has different feelings about cheat codes in games, but the console commands in Valheim give players countless options worth exploring. It's possible to use them to delete items, make events begin, or even just take pretty pictures.

Not to mention, teleporting is incredibly useful and can save the effort of a long and boring walk to get next to friends. Traditionalists may prefer the latter, but given how much there is to see and do in Valheim, most will be happy for the chance to speed things up a little.

valheim game
Valheim

Released
February 2, 2021
Developer(s)
Iron Gate AB
Genre(s)
Sandbox , Survival