Valheim offers an expansive randomly-generated world for you to explore, featuring gameplay aspects like basic survival mechanics, punishing enemies, and sandbox freedom for you to play the game however you want.

The primary gameplay loop is to survive your new environments, harvest resources, craft better gear, defeat the main baddy, and repeat the process in more dangerous regions around the globe. Almost everything in the game is randomized for every playthrough, except for a few things such as the order of The Forsaken that you will need to kill.

Here are the general guidelines for you to follow if you find yourself lost about what to do:

SURVIVE

Before you even think about fighting any fearsome Draugrs or horrific Fenrings, your will need to master your basic needs first. In Valheim, survival depends on three (3) major attributes:

● Health

● This determines your overall durability and endurance.

● You die when your Health drops to 0, leaving your entire inventory behind at the exact spot (designated by a tombstone).

● All your acquired skills since your last Sleep suffer a 5% reduction upon death, 

● Food

● Multiple different Food types exist in Valheim, with raw ones providing minimal buffs while properly cooked meals offer significantly better effects.

● Essentially, the Food that you eat increases your Health’s maximum value, and you can only eat up to three (3) different Foods at a time.

● There are three (3) categories of Food, indicated by the fork icon’s color, each being:

● Red

● Health-focused

● Yellow

● Stamina-focused

● Silver/ White

● Balanced

● Stamina

● Your Stamina controls how many actions you can do before tiring, requiring a few moments to recuperate before engaging your enemy again.

● Any physical action – even out of combat, such as jumping and dodging – burns your Stamina.

● Your Stamina can be buffed up by eating various Foods too, resulting in more Stamina to perform actions or reduced Stamina costs per action.

Besides that, Status Effects also affect you. Some are beneficial while others negatively impact your progress. Here are a few examples of such Status Effects:

● Poison

● You receive Poison damage over time.

● Wet

● Suffer many debuffs (-25% Health Regen, -15% Stamina Regen, etc.) but become resistant to Fire.

● Freezing

● Suffer worse effects than Wet (-100% Health Regen, -60% Stamina Regen, etc.) but becomes resistant to Fire.

● Rested

● Receive good effects (+50% Health Regen, +100% Stamina Regen, etc.).

● Many more.

After getting accustomed to all of these, you will find that surviving the harsh landscapes of Valheim is nothing compared to the challenges of battling the ferocious creatures roaming around the map. Master your survival basics first before going deeper into the world.

SKILLS

Valheim adopts a unique skill system that allows you to become both the ultimate survivor and a ruthless killing machine. Almost every action that you make has an Experience limit attached to it, meaning that they can be improved further after leveling up by accumulating Experience Points.

Unlike many other video games of the genre, there is no character level in Valheim. Instead, your actions ARE the skills in question. For example, if you want to run faster while draining less Stamina, you just have to RUN AROUND the map to increase its skill level.

There are many skills that you can be proficient at in the game, with some of them being:

● Combat

● Axes

● [Per level] Increased damage and knockback, less Stamina usage

● Blocking

● [Per level] Increased block armor

● Fists

● [Per level] Increased damage and knockback, less Stamina usage

● Etc.

● Non-combat

● Riding

● [Per level] Increased sprint speed, less Stamina usage

● Jump

● [Per level] Increased jump force and height

● Sneak

● [Per level] Decreased enemy detection, less Stamina usage

● Many others

With this system in place, you will have no limitations on how powerful your character can become. This is an amazing gameplay concept that you will surely enjoy too but be warned that more menacing foes await you as you travel to new locations on the global map. 

CRAFTING

A large portion of the game will be about crafting your tools, armor, weapons, and furniture, all of which are vital to your survival as well. As you start the game with absolutely nothing at all, you need to gather natural resources and work your way to better equipment by crafting them using those collected materials.

Primitive items such as the Hammer, Club, and Torch will only require crude materials to be crafted. However, for more sophisticated objects such as the Flint Spear, Leather Helmet, or housing furniture, a Workbench is required, besides other advanced materials as well.

Your equipment can also be upgraded, so you will have ample choices to make as you adapt to your new home during the early stages of the game. This is notwithstanding the unlimited freedom that you have to build your own house too, capable of transforming it into a fortress if you are dedicated enough to do so!

BIOMES

There are multiple different species of creatures that inhabit Valheim. Although only a small fraction is neutral to you, most will not hesitate to attack you on sight, forcing you to become proficient in combat before exploring new places and ruins.

As a general rule of thumb, almost all of these critters follow their specific environmental elements and nature according to their local habitat – or Biomes, as they are called in-game. For instance, terrifying Serpents dwell underneath the open seas, justifying their immunity to Fire damage. Nevertheless, they are indefinitely Wet, prompting a direct weakness to Frost damage as a result.

Although identifying each creature’s weaknesses requires experimentation and experience, understanding their local Biomes can provide hints as to what you should prepare yourself with. Here are all the Biomes that are spread around the in-game world:

● Meadows

● The starting location, you will always be dropped at the relatively peaceful Meadows for you to slowly prepare yourself from scratch.

● Black Forest

● The Black Forest is home to nasty beasts that lurk within the shadows, some making their lairs inside caves and abandoned structures.

● Swamp

● The murky waters and hazy atmosphere of the Swamp give hints of the foreboding dangers that lie waiting for you behind its chilling silence.

● Mountain

● Cold temperatures welcome you at the highest peaks of the Mountain, warning you off if you are unprepared to tread the path ahead, but is a sanctuary for exquisite materials and ore.

● Plains 

● The Plains’ open fields and beautiful weather are just a façade when it comes to the inhabitants of the land, big in size while making colonies of their own here.

● Ocean

● The tranquil serenity of the Ocean hides gigantic horrors within, but you will need to cross it if you seek to expand your horizons eventually.

● Mistlands (TBA)

● Thick fog envelopes the Mistlands, and you will only find dark, nefarious entities hampering your journeys here.

● Deep North (TBA)

● The cold-zero temperatures of the Deep North are even more lethal than the Mountains, so expect creatures with the thickest of hides to live around this desolate landscape.

● Ashlands (TBA)

● Hot, volcanic islands are scattered around the Ashlands, but its blistering climate might just be viable for the creation of delicate gems and rocks that can be used for premium-grade equipment.

If you’re dying to see how you would fare in Valheim, make sure to get the game right now! Have something else to add? Feel free to comment below to welcome others in on the fun too!