Am I not getting the point? I mean I see you're only learning how the mechanics work, but - you built the bridge with a gap so nothing would be able to get in. So where's the problem with the gates you mentioned? Anyways, again: Yes, terraforming and maybe block line of sight etc. I'm not going to spoiler now but you can never have a 100% attack-safe base if it's not a small island in the middle of the ocean. You'll most likely always need to do a bit of repair-work.
And with a bigger base/building, you cannot have 100% protection from archers unless it's an island like mentioned above. But an island will only do it's purpose if there's no other land around where something might spawn.
Last thing that might work would be to plaster the whole area around the base with base-items like the WB etc. but ... yeah, sounds silly and actually probably is. You would need to cover more than the actual shown radius on the minimap. Which is quite large actually.

To give you an idea ... my current base, have not killed the second boss yet but I 90% know what I'll have to deal with - also it can be upgraded later to stone etc.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2960968517
This is not that well-protected, I could build a small wall on the outer edges of the trench so that things would be kept busy and if they chose to attack directly, standing down there, probably would hit those before hitting the actual base-walls.
Ideally you would want to have the ground of your base a bit higher than everything outside to avoid archers doing harm. But from what you've told so far, you already did that.
But how exactly will the portal-entrance help you with archers? Because they were standing on the bridge and thus shooting directly at you main building? If you need further advice, maybe some screenshot would help.

Originally posted by iamoffline1:

Am I not getting the point? I mean I see you're only learning how the mechanics work, but - you built the bridge with a gap so nothing would be able to get in. So where's the problem with the gates you mentioned? Anyways, again: Yes, terraforming and maybe block line of sight etc. I'm not going to spoiler now but you can never have a 100% attack-safe base if it's not a small island in the middle of the ocean. You'll most likely always need to do a bit of repair-work.
And with a bigger base/building, you cannot have 100% protection from archers unless it's an island like mentioned above. But an island will only do it's purpose if there's no other land around where something might spawn.
Last thing that might work would be to plaster the whole area around the base with base-items like the WB etc. but ... yeah, sounds silly and actually probably is. You would need to cover more than the actual shown radius on the minimap. Which is quite large actually.

I admit it's a bit of a moving target. I built a bridge that trolls would easily smash, and that worked very well and kept them away from my mansion. The idea of putting a gap in the bridge only came up in this thread and while I considered it, I also thought.... hmmm..... how can I jump when I'm lugging a cart full of rocks or timber ? Doesn't seem likely.

I like the visual appeal of the dual gates, but the draurs last night proved very capable of chipping away at it with bows, even at a distance. So........... it looks kinda redundant now. At the other edge of the moat they can snipe at ME and my bees, but otherwise the damage is minimal. Also I have enough trees to dodge and hide behind that we can have a great old bow and arrow shootout. It's fun.

I'm extending my base further and further out but it'll never be an 'island' per se. But then again....... who knows ? In the meantime, the concept of the portal has really grabbed my imagination so I'm gonna run with it.

You mentioned workbenches to prevent raids.... one youtuber did the math and you need to have a network of benches extending out 160 meters from your base. Insane much ????? And greylings seem to be particularly attracted to workbenches so I think they'd have to be individually buried and protected. Kinda crazy !!

don't defeat bosses on a world for peaceful building, import over the tools/ingredients from a world where you have then build with all materials and structures.

Make your own island in a bay... never worry about raids again. If you think trolls and draugers are bad.. you have a rude awakening ahead of you.. I get tired of the threat of my hard work being destroyed.. on an island I don't have to worry.

Originally posted by DarthTanyon:

Make your own island in a bay... never worry about raids again. If you think trolls and draugers are bad.. you have a rude awakening ahead of you.. I get tired of the threat of my hard work being destroyed.. on an island I don't have to worry.

I'm almost an island now - I built on the shore and put a deeep moat in on 3 sides. As I add to my base I bring in truckloads of rock and extend outwards away from land. I assume you're alluding to the airborn menaces that start to appear once I deal with Bonemass ??? Not sure what I can do about them. Beef up my roof structure for sure.

I kinda like the idea of putting a gap in my bridge, but then again those bloody draugr archers just take long range potshots at the gate(and me) making it somewhat redundant. No..... the more I think about it the more a portal seems the way to go. I'm making it so it takes a jump or two to actually get to it - I'm constructing it atop a giant rock which the game kindly provided me, perched atop 3 others. I think it's supposed to be a grave or something (obvviously the devs were inspired by Stonehenge). I'm burying a workbench underneath, slapping a floor over that and then fencing around it with the pointy sticks so the peckers can never ever get at it.

Honestly, I freaking LOVE this. The games' sadistic mechanics are forcing me to do more of something I enjoy anyway - building neat stuff. I'm envisioning guard towers for the eventual air assaults

I don't mind raids, it's just that the game always insists on sending them as I'm busy doing something else. Would prefer more difficult raids but them triggering after a visible timer of e.g. 5 minutes ticking down to give some time to prepare and make it a more meaningful experience than "rush from my current random location to wherever happens to be defensible nearby".

Also, more flying creatures and creatures that can hop far plz. ;)

Originally posted by Tom:

Simple answer. No bridge just jump across. Or use a portal to get across, if the enemies break it its easy enough to fix.

I'm leaning heavily in this direction. Just nearby I have one of those freaky stone grave structures. I'm thinking of putting a portal structure on top of it, just as I do with the crypts in the swamp biome. To get metal in and out, well fuggit, I'll use the other realm and a chest exploit.

Your base will always be under attacks, no matter where you are located. Bosses of your current biome will send their armies at you until you defeat them and unlock raids from the next boss.
Some raids will be deactivated when you defeat bosses. For example you probably already noticed that you don't have Eikthyrs and Elders armies anymore (Eikthyr rallies the creatures of the forest and The forest is moving). However, some special raids (The ground is shaking) will remain forever. Even when you reach the end and defeat all the bosses, you will still have troll events.

Originally posted by Veseljko:

Even when you reach the end and defeat all the bosses, you will still have troll events.

Honestly, that's kind of nice. The blob raid gives ooze for gas bombs and iron on the side, and the skeleton raid gives bones for crossbow bolts. It ain't bad because those are on the easier side.

I really do want to make bats extinct though.

Events[valheim.fandom.com] are an ever evolving part of this game and you can see from other posts the frustration level registered by players as they see their artistic creations become piles of rubble or their newly hatched livestock become fodder for flying (or jumping) attackers. Imagine what you will do differently the next time you start Valheim and soon all these attacks will simply be ambient noise to your game experience.

The game knows that you killed the Elder. Raids level up each time you kill a boss.

The way to keep them out is not by using a stronger gate. It's by taking advantage of the fact that your enemies can't jump. That means you have to jump, even if it's a small hop, to get in and out of your base. That means using a bridge with a small gap, or stairs or ladders that don't quite reach the ground. Or the balance beam.

I use multiple gates and layers of walls and spikes at my main entrance and at my bridge. Then build walkways above to rain down death on anything hitting the first layer. I also have covered fires within range of the area so that raids during storms are less painful because at least the cold debuff is removed.

That way if I ever start using the cart in earnest I have a way to get it in the base.

I've had trolls attack the gates a couple of times and they can cause some serious damage so I prioritize those raids quickly. Since they are coming at one location its pretty easy - especially if you use copper arrows.

The first post is equally effective though. Its just a little more boring to me and I wanted to use the games fortifications to see how effective they are.

Simple answer. No bridge just jump across. Or use a portal to get across, if the enemies break it its easy enough to fix.

Place a staircase backwards, with nothing on the "top" side. The enemies will walk up to it... and stop.

It's a "floor" piece, so they don't attack it (unless you're close enough they think they can hit you and it ends up a victim of "wrong place, wrong time").
It's an elevation changer, so they can't jump over it.

It totally stumps the AI.