unasked additions...
1) heavy armor is better armor (protection from normal enemy attacks). Light armors have bonuses. A couple of heavy pieces also have a bonus, but its unusual, I can only think of one and its a repeat of most cloaks. I could be forgetting something. I find a mix of heavy and light most useful late game, specifically an anti- pierce piece is really good.

3) yes, raise walls are one of the best defenses in the game. another is the reverse, digging a moat. Defenses that do damage, almost all enemy are aware of these and avoid them, making them more effective than the actual damage done. Spiked walls may be an exception, or something is buggy about how they detect these, or they are both attracting and repelling so they get confused, I really don't know, but those are not quite as good as other damaging defenses.

4) you should check it out. It could be anything from normal boat noise (boats are incredibly noisy in game) to enemy slapping each other (night spawn enemy include undead who fight all other enemy and cross biome monsters that also hit each other somewhat) to something gnawing on something you built. Best to satisfy yourself whether its anything important.

Boats do make a stupid amount of noise while you're trying to sleep. Time is sped up while you sleep, so it's probably the sound of the boat crashing on the waves really fast. Luckily it doesn't normally take damage from that by itself, but boats can take damage from hitting rocks or the ground during storms. (A lot of people, me included, break down the boat in shallow water when it's not in use to make sure they get all the materials back. If the nails sink too far in the water you won't get them back.)

1. No. *HINT* You'll will how ever introduce yourself to light armor with unique passives that are quite strong.

2. Parrying is such a huge thing when it comes to melee DPS. Perfect it and you'll be come unstoppable.

3. Earthen Walls and Moats are indestructible and considered "meta" depending on the play style. However, I find this stuff useless once you get to end game and have perfected the combat in this game. Plus I don't like how they look but that's just me. Also Terr-forming plays a big role in this game as a whole. *HINT* It can make boss fights easier, traversing biomes that will be frequently revisited more fluid, ect.. . SO DONT UNDER ESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE HOE. Slay. Period.

1. Armor doesn´t affect sneaking
2. no use round shields, parry is great
3. mobs can´t damage raised ground walls
4. most likely it´s the boat, they seem to fall onto the water sometimes. I think this will soon be fixed again.

1. No.
   
2. No.
   
3. Get stuck.
   
4. Shrug.

I see, ty for the responses. :)

To elaborate a bit, the raised walls is a really good Raid defense technique as they are invulnerable yet fairly easy for you to jump over once you leveled up that skill a bit.

A base on the water or even a bit into the lake (like a peninsula) is a solid choice as raid monsters cant generally spawn in the water.

You can also parry with just weapons. Some 2 handers have decent parry stats that work decently well for general use, as long as you aren't parrying trolls/abominations and other large critters near your "level".

The boat occasionally takes chip damage from the waves causing it to create tiny crashes into your dock or the ground or whatever. It is negligable for the most part but likely your sound.

1. Heavy armour reduces your movement speed. There is a light armour which increases your sneak skill.
   
2. No. I'm 99% certain the item description tells you that before you craft it. Paying attention to stuff like that is wise.
   
3. So far no enemy in Valheim is capable of terraforming ground in any way, only the vikings. Some enemies have AoE effects though, which will easily reach through dirt, walls, or anything else.
   
4. Waves? Would you hear it also without the boat, have you tried sleeping there that way?

I personally like to build near water.. think of it as one less directions that enemies can come from.

this is great, so the land beneath my base does not have to be flat initially? I tried to find a spot on a hill near some raspberry bushes.

Is there a teleport back to this base?

The land doesn't need to be flat, but it does help with base stability. The short and simple explanation is: the more parts you are from the ground, the closer your base is to falling apart. Pay attention to the color of parts when mousing over them with the building hammer. Blue means it's grounded. Then it goes from green to red as it becomes less stable. You'll find more stable building materials as you progress.

Yes, later on you can unlock teleporters, but they don't allow some materials like metal ores and other specific items through.

You don't have to build on the floor just use a wooden foundation I did that for the first house I ever built in the game. Later when you have stone make a stone foundation and you can turn it into a basement.

When you get core wood you can use half walls and snap to the half wall to get beams to stick into the ground, this is good for building on water.

Originally posted by Ulthar:

this is great, so the land beneath my base does not have to be flat initially? I tried to find a spot on a hill near some raspberry bushes.

Is there a teleport back to this base?

Later you can make Portals, but will need Fine wood, Dwarf Eyes, Surfin Cores. The cores are in burial chambers in Dark Woods and Fine wood is mainly gotten with Bronze Axes that you will need a Pick to mine copper/tin for from the first boss Anklers

You will find many abandoned buildings, feel free to repair them and use as outposts but I'd recommend you build your own place as a main base.

Branches are free wood just break saplings instead you can punch them.

Yes you do want to build your base near water, boats will become your primary form of transport and will likely be where your refinery is unless you intend on building multiple bases on other islands.

You are already dead so you will not starve, need sleep or to drink water, doing anything like this will just give a temporary boost in stats but it isn't required to survive.

The game has ruins all over the place. Huts, villages, towers, crypts, etc. Each biome has it's own kinds though, and meadow (where you start) mostly just has the little houses and villages. Those are likely what you are finding.

Branches are all over the ground for you to pick up but you do need to interact and actually pick them up. If you cant seem to find any of those you can also punch the smaller saplings or bushes down for some wood as well. once you have enough to make an axe, you can go for actual trees (though some trees might still be too hard for you).

You can, and many like to have at least a few places near water because sailing is a big part of this game so it can be a great idea to have a decent dock to repair your ships at and protect them when not in use. You wont have to immediately worry about it though and it is worth mentioning that coastal builds can have issues with tidal waves (though it doesnt actually hurt much, it can temporarily extinguish your fire, in which case you cant rest, cook, or use your bed while the fire is out).

Dead vikings do not require water, only mead! Though in all seriousness that is actually true. You dont need to hydrate in this game, but you will also find that later on in progression when you can make meads, meads are also sort of like your potions in this game, having special effects like resistances to certain hazards or buffs for the player.

You'll find abandoned structures around the world. Pro tip: In the Meadows, you can occasionally find beehives in them as well. Craft a bow and shoot them down, or use a spear and throw it (mouse 3) to break the hive and obtain a queen bee, which is used to make your own beehives to make honey.

After you find your first few branches you can use that to make an axe. Then you can just chop down trees to get the wood you need for everything else.

Building near water is ideal. Eventually you'll need to make a boat and head out into the ocean to search for other islands. There are also Neck along the shore that you can hunt for their tails as a source of food, and flint used to make your first upgraded weapons and tools.

There is no hunger or thirst in this game, but food plays an important role. Food increases your health and stamina temporarily, which helps you in various ways. Meats tend to provide larger health bonuses, while fruits/veggies provide larger stamina bonuses.

thank you, and with my small house - can i mow the grass inside of it so that the floor is not so ugly?

I made a very modest house, with a thatch roof, but not sure if it is a shelter or not - will it auto decay while I am logged out?

Yes, you can use a hoe to get rid of grass by using the flatten or pathen options. Right-click while holding the hoe to choose what you want it to do. Flatten tries to raise/lower the ground at the level you're standing on. It can only change the height so much before it may need additional help, like using the raise ground option, or a pickaxe to lower it more.

Later on, once you get a cultivator, you can use that to restore any grass that you have altered if you want.

In general don't go nuts with the hoe until you get the pickaxe, it will level the ground to the level of the dirt below your feet up to 2 tiles, if it can't be raised higher you need to raise the ground using stone, if it's too high you need to lower it with the pickaxe. Save ambitious builds until after the first boss.

Also, you won't get all the materials back from abandoned buildings if you destroy pieces of it such as the floor to remove grass but you will always get back the materials if a player built it.