Originally posted by umop-apisdn:

Originally posted by Dimmyzor:

if you are a hardcore gamer and they are casuals, it will annoy you, but you will have to adjust. You may end up carrying them in fights, dodging and moving around like a pro while they struggle with 1 mob and you have to handle 5-6 + an elite or two, buuuut, farm-wise, it's much more efficient.

This is known as "separation of concerns", or "delegating duties".

You send the fighter off to be the meat shield explore and expand influence, while the miner mines and the basekeeper builds, cooks, and keeps the hearth lit. Thus, progress is maintained during the development cycle, followed by all the players coming together for a boss fight, after which the cycle repeats in a new biome.

I read of this delegation of duties and wonder if that is actually playing Valheim, or knowing Valheim as well as being solo and having to be aware every moment of your surroundings, your safety, your health, stam. That feeling that what you do matters.

The few times I played co-op it seemed to dumb the game down a great deal. It was fun but superficial. There was so little feeling of danger, just kind of yukking it up with friends. Time passed, lots was done but it was all so forgettable. The game was secondary, or maybe even tertiary. Curious now that I think about it.

My guess is if you crave the company of others in real life, feel lonely when alone, are uncertain of your abilities, then co-op will be way more fun. If you tend to be independent, don't mind your own company, can think on your feet, solve problems in the heat of the moment then solo will be if not just fine, preferable. AmIright?

If you are an introvert its better as a single player game. If you are an extrovert its better as s multiplayer game.

To be fair, it's also completely legit to wander around as a pack of murderhobos, bring the spoils back to base and craft the best gear you can, then do it again... but that's pretty much all multiplayer games. Less a "get serious about beating the game" and more "concentrating on having fun with your buds" type of deal... which I thought was the point of playing together in the first place.

Have you seen Neebs Gaming? It's a riot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9WZiKwUEBk&list=PL1Uou2DWH7IH70yYoED5CJtsB3UpAqYQk

Personally I enjoy multiplayer (with people I already know) much more enjoyable than solo, although it's certainly playable solo.

Originally posted by Dimmyzor:

if you are a hardcore gamer and they are casuals, it will annoy you, but you will have to adjust. You may end up carrying them in fights, dodging and moving around like a pro while they struggle with 1 mob and you have to handle 5-6 + an elite or two, buuuut, farm-wise, it's much more efficient.

This is known as "separation of concerns", or "delegating duties".

You send the fighter off to be the meat shield explore and expand influence, while the miner mines and the basekeeper builds, cooks, and keeps the hearth lit. Thus, progress is maintained during the development cycle, followed by all the players coming together for a boss fight, after which the cycle repeats in a new biome.

Certain monsters are somewhat easier to deal with in multiplayer (serpents spring to mind), but nothing game-breaking; all in all, this game is enjoyable both solo and multiplayer.

IMO it's better single player, but then I don't like people. AFAIK there's little gameplay reason to multiplayer.

Be aware that there's no official servers, you either client-host or run your own dedicated server - there's also no anti-cheat, for anti-cheat you need mods even if all you want to do is ban all other mods. In short multiplayer in Valheim is designed for friend groups, not public servers.

Edit: serpents are slightly awkward single player, what I do is nearly finish them off then jump in the water and punch them so that their sinking drops instead land on me and get auto picked.

Originally posted by FissionChips:

In short multiplayer in Valheim is designed for friend groups, not public servers.

A very good point; it's better with people you trust not to grief.
The "Greater Internet F-Wad Theory" excludes randos in multiplayer by default, as do the default settings when creating a Valheim server from the in-game menu.

See this Penny Arcade webcomic from 2004[www.penny-arcade.com] (NSFW, language)

Originally posted by FissionChips:

Edit: serpents are slightly awkward single player, what I do is nearly finish them off then jump in the water and punch them so that their sinking drops instead land on me and get auto picked.

What I do is similar, but I jump on their heads - if you land it right you can stand there - and throw a spear straight down for the last hit. You fall into the water fast enough to land on and pick up the scales and trophy before they sink.

Only played SP and the game offers enough flexibility so that even someone with little to no combat skills (i.e. me) can still defeat enemies by going through what is sometimes referred to as "the grind" of upgrading nutrition and equipment. Again, no authority on MP but I understand that enemy hit points are increased in coop mode to give some balance.

Single player without mods feels very grindy and painful, but it’s doable.

Originally posted by Apple:

is this game just as good on single player . or better with people

Preferably with one or two others max. Although, if you are a hardcore gamer and they are casuals, it will annoy you, but you will have to adjust. You may end up carrying them in fights, dodging and moving around like a pro while they struggle with 1 mob and you have to handle 5-6 + an elite or two, buuuut, farm-wise, it's much more efficient.
Well, if you are at about the same level as your mates, then yeah definitely 2-3 people.
Edit: Plus the base-building is more fun too

I mainly play solo, though occasionally with a friend or two. Main difference being is that the labour is more intensive when playing solo as of course there's only you. With friends you can divide it, one builds, the other explores, and the other mines etc. No set roles but you get the idea. Combat generally is easier too, hp and enemy damage is buffed slightly to counterbalance there being more of you, but it's negligible most of the time. There's also more risk regarding playing solo too, if you die and lose your gear, there's much more effort needed to retrieve compared to doing it with friends. For example, one ally can draw aggro of the enemies away from the others, whilst the others retrieve their gear and then finish off any enemies. Basically meaning you have to be more prepared. Things like old armour and weapons, don't get rid of them. You never know what's going to happen.

And most of all, you have to employ a jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none playstyle regarding weapons. Of course it's not a must, but due to enemies have different resistance and damage types, it's more effective to have a variety of weapons, which with friends you can split the damage types, and due each using a specific weapon type more, their skill level becomes more proficient.

Solo is fine. Co-op is a pain in that if you host, as example, and get off for night everyone else is booted unless you leave host rig on. Even if you play with friends you will probably want to have a solo world as when you kill bosses in a world things happen on that server so if folks are too far apart skill-wise it becomes problematic. Try solo. You might well like it with and/or without friends.

Single player makes the game TOO lonely, no game ever felt this way. they should add NPCS even for decoration of your bases, simple thing to add

250 hours solo so far and I just got the game in December

Played a lot Solo and Coop;
- you can do everything solo, its not that hard if you learn the basic movements
- for a "survival game" its not hard, there is no thurst/bleeding/sickness/need for sleep etc.
- the resource gathering happens faster if you play with more people
- exploring/fighting in a group can make things even too easy if you play with a lot of skill
(depends on the group)
-> my advise would be an relaxing/enjoying playstyle solo or coop, just dont rush things since valheim is no rushing game in my opinion

There is nothing that you can do in co-op that can't also be done in solo. Other than some adjustments to enemy health and damage, having more players adds some logistical benefits that will naturally move your progress along at a faster pace than would be possible with only one pair of hands.

For example a solo player would need to be more mindful of how they manage their portals, as their is nobody else to set up the other end of a link for them. And of course you can only move as many carts/boats along at a time as you have players.

Talking in practical terms, despite having more health and dealing more damage enemies are arguably easier to defeat in co-op, as only one player really needs to dodge/block/parry while everyone else is able to commit the majority of their stamina to scoring free hits. If I recall correctly enemies get 4% more damage and 40% more health per additional player, which is more than compensated for by the frequency that co-op players will be able to force enemies to stagger and subsequently take advantage of the bonus stagger damage.

Other than the differences that having a social element might bring to the table, the changes end there. You don't have to worry about any enemies that are ridiculous to take on alone, nor worry about locking yourself into a specialisation that prevents you from enjoying everything. One player can do it all.

Perfectly fine for solo play. You will have to do everything yourself - hunting, gathering, mining, exploring and fighting etc - but it also comes with an advantage that you can do that at your own pace whenever you want. In co-op you'll get distracted by other activities, where you would not be able to focus on exploration or building, and you will have to cater for other's free time schedule. In solo you have a complete freedom of action.

Originally posted by Neyu:

Idk for the whole game experience because you still have to kill the bosses and Idk if it's possible solo (never tried)

However:
if you start with someone, do it with someone who just bought the game like you. Or someone who roughly has the same progress than you do it's more fun this way (imo)

I've killed all the bosses solo- several times before H&H and once afterwards.

Perfectly fine for solo play. You will have to do everything yourself - hunting, gathering, mining, exploring and fighting etc - but it also comes with an advantage that you can do that at your own pace whenever you want. In co-op you'll get distracted by other activities, where you would not be able to focus on exploration or building, and you will have to cater for other's free time schedule. In solo you have a complete freedom of action.

I've never tried multiplayer and i've clocked over 800 hours. I mostly explore and hoard but i'm slowly starting to learn to build things.

I have honestly been having a blast single player. One upside for me is this: I don't have to play with someone else who has unlocked stuff ahead of me, or play in a world that has already been looted/explored...

Idk for the whole game experience because you still have to kill the bosses and Idk if it's possible solo (never tried)

However:
if you start with someone, do it with someone who just bought the game like you. Or someone who roughly has the same progress than you do it's more fun this way (imo)

I have played the game solo before. I found it very fun and relaxing.

Absolutely you can complete the whole game as solo, every boss can be easily defeated by one person.

Yeah, you can play solo equally as fun. Multiplayer does add a fun element to it, seeing that you are playing with friends....but it also makes it more challenging. For each player you are playing with, the difficulty of enemies multiplies by a small factor...the enemy has more health, hits harder, mobs of more enemies in an area can spawn, the "ground shakes" and other "base attack events" are harder with more players...so for learning the ropes as it were, solo i think is actually recommended personally.

350+ hours solo only.
just me and the sea.....

Before the Hearth & Home Update. I have beat 4 full maps of random seeds. I have over 2,000 hours played. I have played multiplayer but not as much as I have played in single player.
 
*Edit fixed spelling & sentence mistakes.

you can definetly play solo but game is time consuming. just don't rush, take it as a long journey and you're good to go. you need a lot of grind and preparation to progress. if you rush it you'll get bored quickly.

Have you built and equipped a hammer yet? After that build a small little cover for a crafting table. Crafting table and hammer are key to starting up

Need to craft a hammer, equip it, and then right click to open the build menu,

Place a workbench, and items can only be built in the radius of the workbench (place as many as you need)

I suggest building near the ocean, so you can get into boat travel easier, later on.