Originally posted by Rhapsody:

If you want to train fists, the best way is to make the Fenris set and flesh rippers with it. You could also punch some boars and whatnot in early game, but that's not really productive, just funny. The Fenris stuff is available from mountains onwards, but are almost viable all the way through mistlands. The speed bonus also makes it great for running around in all sorts of previous biomes regardless of what your objectives are, allowing you to benefit from the skill increase to actually deal damage with the ripper-fists.

I don't know if you remember, Rhapsody but I still haven't gotten a cultist trophy drop yet. 13 Frost Caves AND COUNTING... WHHHHYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Barefist a troll with a shield in offhand for block/parry is what I did. Running lox against a rock or up a hill they can't ascend still works for levelling riding skill. When one casts in fishing, casting to the max 25-28 then reeling in is what levels fishing skill, regardless if one catches a fish or not.

Originally posted by qwerm:

Originally posted by Hobo Misanthropus:

You can train any weapon skill in PVP, even if you don't have friendly fire on.

One caveat to this; I understand that blocking skill will only level if friendly fire is on.

Yeah, cause you can only block if the attack is going to damage.

Same with blood magic skill too. The barrier needs to be taking damage to skill it up, though blood magic is weird, it seems to level up for both users. I had like 12 blood magic skill before even casting my first spell.

Originally posted by Hobo Misanthropus:

You can train any weapon skill in PVP, even if you don't have friendly fire on.

One caveat to this; I understand that blocking skill will only level if friendly fire is on.

This has been patched a long time ago, if i remember right even before H&H update.

If you want to train fists, the best way is to make the Fenris set and flesh rippers with it. You could also punch some boars and whatnot in early game, but that's not really productive, just funny. The Fenris stuff is available from mountains onwards, but are almost viable all the way through mistlands. The speed bonus also makes it great for running around in all sorts of previous biomes regardless of what your objectives are, allowing you to benefit from the skill increase to actually deal damage with the ripper-fists.

So far my most reliable training dummies have been skeleton spawners in crypts. They're a bit hardier, don't deal too much damage, they come to you or stand still and the narrow corridors help with control.

Originally posted by RequiemsRose:

You can still train fists on Hugin if you just ignore the talking to tutorial bird part

That's funny, I wonder who figured that out first. Getting 100 fist before you even beat Eikthyr is pretty funny.

You can train any weapon skill in PVP, even if you don't have friendly fire on.

Nope make sure you play the game there way not you re's ;)

Originally posted by Kilgore:

Nope make sure you play the game there way not you re's ;)

Punching inanimate objects 'was' playing the game their way. Their way changed and I'm catching up to that.

Originally posted by Kilgore:

Nope make sure you play the game there way not you re's ;)

Ultimately every game has to be played according to rules or framework given by whomever invented the game or its rules. Doesn't make a difference if it's chess, hide and seek or Valheim. Rules can be changed, but at some point it stops being what it was made for, and if you take too many rules and guidelines out of a game, it stops being a game entirely.

The concept also applies to other works of art. The artists decide what is being communicated, even if the audience can interpret or immerse themselves in the work in very different ways.

But back to punching. It's pretty easy to see why they changed it, but I did appreciate the novelty of early training by punching log beam on my yard or something, not actual buildings. Wouldn't mind if the restriction kicked in at skill level 10 or something instead of from zero to max.

You can still train fists on Hugin if you just ignore the talking to tutorial bird part, and there's a few structures he just conveniently reappears on inside your base after the first time you built them so even though he vanishes with each hit he also just comes back again in the same spot right after, again, as long as you dont actually talk to him.

greylings are also an option. They are everywhere anyway so they might as well be good for something.

delay it, get the fist weapons and level with those on some kind of spawner.

Thanks everyone. There are tons of ways to train your fists, I just wanted to make sure I understood the change instead of continuing to operate on old information. I haven't played Valheim since about 6 months prior to Hearth and Home so much as changed since then.

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

Wouldn't mind if the restriction kicked in at skill level 10 or something instead of from zero to max.

Yeah, that'd be nice. Crafting something like a training dummy that only provides XP until skill level 5 or 10 or some such would be keen. It would be great if you could unlock better dummies that can allow you to train to a higher level as well, maybe +5 per dummy rank or some such.

My favorite training partners are Greydwarf Shamans. I build a little training room with a fire, push the shaman up against the wall and train fists / parrying. They're great because they don't try to run around like other enemies, their attack animations are fairly quick, they self-heal, and their damage is easily mitigated by armor. Pro-tip: Shamans don't use poison if you stay within melee range.