Depends on if you want to wait for the next update or just want to mess around and have fun.

I just jumped back in for something to do while my fiance plays Elden Ring and am just having fun working my new world slowly back up to where my original one was. I'm just going to be annoyed when the update drops and all the mods break again but I also may have gone back to an RPG or something else by the time that happens.

Originally posted by Kunyomi:

So I haven't played since before the Hearth and Home update and read it's best to start a new world to experience the new update fully.
Will there be another such update soon, such that I'd have to once again start a new world to have access to all new stuff?

There was not a single meaningful update since it appear for the first time so you are not missing anything. Everything is still the same, in one word, unfinished, not even half baked.

Originally posted by Kunyomi:

So I haven't played since before the Hearth and Home update and read it's best to start a new world to experience the new update fully.
Will there be another such update soon, such that I'd have to once again start a new world to have access to all new stuff?

Id honestly wait for at least this mountain/cave update.

It should be coming out really soon, as it is already in a public test branch on steam.

This upcoming update could break old game saves that people have and I think the new extra content and tweaks to gameplay mixed with Hearth & Home will be enough to make the game feel fresh again.

Originally posted by Kampfar:

There was not a single meaningful update since it appear for the first time so you are not missing anything. Everything is still the same, in one word, unfinished, not even half baked.

For you. Speak only for yourself.

Originally posted by electricdawn:

Originally posted by Kampfar:

There was not a single meaningful update since it appear for the first time so you are not missing anything. Everything is still the same, in one word, unfinished, not even half baked.

For you. Speak only for yourself.

I speak in general therms.
When there is a meaningful gamer content then the game should be played to it's fullest.
If you play it just to take selfies and admire a random generated world with 0 surprises (no replay value) then go ahead, have fun wasting time.

Hearth and Home adds a lot, if you enjoyed it before, you will *definitely* enjoy the experience from a full play-through. I'm on my 2nd H&H playthrough even though there's another big update on the test realm, so I would guess that's coming soonish, but I can't say for sure. Maybe like a month?

Funny you should ask. I just had the same question myself and gave it a try. I started on a new world but with my old character. 30 more hours later and I can say yes, it's worth it. Not a ton of new features, but some new things to have some freshness added. Looks like I'm after tar now...

Originally posted by Krith:

Funny you should ask. I just had the same question myself and gave it a try. I started on a new world but with my old character. 30 more hours later and I can say yes, it's worth it. Not a ton of new features, but some new things to have some freshness added. Looks like I'm after tar now...

There are a lot of changes to progression you may not have noticed with an old character.

I think you really shortchanged yourself there.

Worth mentioning you can use mods to upgrade existing world files. My friends and I have a deep server and didn't want to reset all our longterm builds to have the tar available. So we used UPGRADE WORLD (available free on nexusmods.com) to have it add tar pits where they should be without affecting anything else. We'll be doing the same for any new content in future.

Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

Originally posted by Krith:

Funny you should ask. I just had the same question myself and gave it a try. I started on a new world but with my old character. 30 more hours later and I can say yes, it's worth it. Not a ton of new features, but some new things to have some freshness added. Looks like I'm after tar now...

There are a lot of changes to progression you may not have noticed with an old character.

I think you really shortchanged yourself there.

I mostly agree - a new playthrough should be with a new character because Trolls etc should always scare the hell out of you the first time you meet one. Though I understand why some people want a New Game Plus-like experience.

You can also consider messing about in the test branch until the new update comes out.

Right-click Valheim in your Steam library, and then choose ‘Properties’
In the ‘Betas’ tab, write in the code “yesimadebackups”
The Public Test branch should now be available in the drop-down menu

There is a sub section for the test branch for more info.

Originally posted by SomethingCoolBro:

Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

There are a lot of changes to progression you may not have noticed with an old character.

I think you really shortchanged yourself there.

I mostly agree - a new playthrough should be with a new character because Trolls etc should always scare the hell out of you the first time you meet one. Though I understand why some people want a New Game Plus-like experience.

Even moreso than having that experience, there are just lots of new things added that you'd only see earlier in the progression. New types of foods, upgrades, enemies, equipment, etc. Late game hasn't changed much, basically tar as Krith said.

If you time it right, the mountain update will hit by the time you're ready for mountains on a fresh start. That's also an update that isn't gonna do much for someone already in the Plains.

There were not only huge changes in food effects, but new food added and mid tier food got moved behind some progression. Even changes to comfort items to replace lower level ones when new ones were added.

Add to that all the stamina changes and you really can not appreciate most of what was done in H&H if you didn't progress a character after it dropped.

There is a new update in test right now. Just stay away (500m past the fog) from the mountains until it goes live. (Which might be difficult unless you look at the map website and plan accordingly.) Or yeah go jump on the test server now, but remember why it's called "Test."