Perhaps consider Multi-Character Play?

Perhaps consider Multi-Character Play?

The biggest tip I could give you is to take it slow, this is not a game to speed through.

Love that none of the advice is combat advice (other than cheesing wth glitches).

I'm in Black Forest now with fully upgraded wood shield leather armor all weapons etc. And ofc optimal food buffs for the tier.

It's the combat giving me issues. Are you really just supposed to run around like a chicken with your head cut off fighting trolls across an entire forest?

I think I'm just not exploring big enough. Every black forest section I touch has a troll in it, but maybe I can circle around the continent.

I think dodging is another thing I'm not yet using to full potential. I noticed it uses very little stamina so maybe you are supposed to roll around the feet of trolls stabbing them.

Ah, just remembered I don't have the stamina buff from boss yet that'll definitely help with extended ambushes.

It takes a troll a long time to recover from a swing. If you don't have a shield that can stagger them when they attack you can dodge and then fire an arrow, dodge fire an arrow, repeat until troll dies. Pick up coins and troll hide to work on the troll armor set. Trolls are weak to piercing damage so flint arrows on trolls works well.

Fight in retrograde. Back off at walking speed. When the troll swings dodge and fire an arrow. Use the terrain to your advantage, dodge around large rocks particularly the standing stone types, and use them as partial cover.

When graydwarves swarm use fire (torch/flaming arrows) they are weak to fire and run from fire and camp fires. Fight them in retrograde too. Get a shield. When they attack block and stagger them and swing once, repeat and eventually you will have chewed through the swarm.

Keep killing the trolls. They all spawn near points of interest (stone towers, copper deposits etc.) Where ever you find a troll there is something worth investigating especially early game. Once you've killed a troll it takes anywhere from 3 game days to one game week before they respawn in that location.

Don't forget to use sneak. Sneak into bow range and make your first shot a surprise attack. The troll will suffer quite a bit more damage with that first shot. Avoid the 2 star trolls when ever possible. They are hard to take on even with good gear.

Take your time and build up your gear. Approach each new area with caution and only enter when fully prepared. That's truly the key. Also, if you aren't already, make sure you parry with your block (right click). When I first stated playing, I rarely ever used block and that's a big mistake.

If it's still overwhelming, try adding some mods. Something like "EpicLoot" can make the SP experience far easier as it has some overpowered drops (it also adds SP quests when you meet a trader). "EpicValheim" is another great mod that allows you a ton of control over the game including difficulty and drop rates, so long as you are willing to make changes in a text file. Using Thunderstore mod-loader, you can mod Valheim without impacting the base game installation in any way. Easy-peasy.

Playing by yourself is one heck of a challenge, but we love a challenge, do we not? The hardest part about the Blackforest is trying to find the surtling cores that makes the kiln and smelter. Run around and try to find a burial chamber, and then mark it. You can run from trolls because they are slow. You can run from everything in the Blackforest. Once you find one of these burial chambers, your next step is going to be the hardest—trying to get the cores out of the dungeon. You're going to need 5 of them to start forging bronze. Bring the best food, armor, shield, and club with you. It's tricky but also bring a campfire, because you can place campfires in the right spots and use them as a defensive weapon. The best way to get good at Valheim is practice, and you will probably die a lot until you learn and study how the enemy moves and attacks.
After you get the cores and smelt a little bronze, I highly recommend forgetting about armor for a second and build the bronze axe and a boat. The bronze axe should always be the first tool you make, because now you can chop every tree in Valheim. The birch trees will allow you to make furniture, and more importantly, the Finewood bow. With this bow upgrade, some fire arrows, and your house looking more comfortable, you should have no problem taking on trolls.

Starting on the nearest Black Forest edge, I look for nearby ores and burial chambers to mark.

When mining, I drop a couple campfires to protect my back ... As I collect more unwanted rock with the copper, I drop more campfires around me. When inventory weight limit is reached, I trigger Eikthyr power and beeline it to back to base.

The fires deter the greydwarfs from swarming ... I can handle them one at a time.

If a troll shows up, I have to decide if I'm up for a fight now or later.

On my current seed, I have almost 3 stacks *each* of copper and tin waiting to be smelt ... But stuck at only 3 cores found!!!

Preparation is key, and strategy is another. Don't rush into the Black Forest; take your time in the Meadows by getting proper (leather) armour, weapons, and food.

Trolls can be very easy if you use a bow, as you will be able to stay at a distance.
Skeletons are weak to blunt, so a club (or even a torch) is the best against them. Stagbreaker works, too, but is slow.
Never let the greydwarfs swarm you. Running around is necessary early on, so that they cannot surround you. If you have a torch in either hand, regular dwarves will only use their rock throwing attack.
You can also use the environment (e.g. rocks and structures) to your advantage. Enemies cannot climb well, but you can. Trolls can destroy the stone towers, but they cannot destroy dungeon entrances.

Proper food is essential to keep your stamina up and health high enough to survive a hit.

I've played single-player way more than multiplayer, and find it more enjoyable in some aspects. Certainly more challenging, but not unreasonably hard.

Find stone tower. Mark it on the map. When troll attacks you , just run around that tower and shoot with the bow.
Torch is great to fight greydwarfs early on.
Stagbreaker is great in dungeons. Use it before opening any door.
Try to shoot skeleton with bow and use club in close combat. When skelly attacks you just move back and try to hit it with club again.

Originally posted by Thomas:

Find stone tower. Mark it on the map. When troll attacks you , just run around that tower and shoot with the bow.
Torch is great to fight greydwarfs early on.
Stagbreaker is great in dungeons. Use it before opening any door.
Try to shoot skeleton with bow and use club in close combat. When skelly attacks you just move back and try to hit it with club again.

a similar trick I've used on many an ocasion is to duck into a crypt entrance, one of hte ones that is a stone "hall way" on the surface rather than the hill or pit style entrances, and just beat on the troll from there. plink it with arrows or use my Atgrier which has reach to kill it. The Troll can't damage the structure and thus can not get to you. I keep suitable crypt entrances marked on my map so I know where to go during a Troll encounter. If there isn't a crypt handy you can just kite the Troll around trees. Run in short bursts so your stamina can recharge, shoot some arrows, sprint away again and repeat until it's dead.

You can use devcommands, and run through different biomes in god mode trying different weapons on different mobs.

Originally posted by Yakumo_2020:

Originally posted by Thomas:

Find stone tower. Mark it on the map. When troll attacks you , just run around that tower and shoot with the bow.
Torch is great to fight greydwarfs early on.
Stagbreaker is great in dungeons. Use it before opening any door.
Try to shoot skeleton with bow and use club in close combat. When skelly attacks you just move back and try to hit it with club again.

a similar trick I've used on many an ocasion is to duck into a crypt entrance, one of hte ones that is a stone "hall way" on the surface rather than the hill or pit style entrances, and just beat on the troll from there. plink it with arrows or use my Atgrier which has reach to kill it. The Troll can't damage the structure and thus can not get to you. I keep suitable crypt entrances marked on my map so I know where to go during a Troll encounter. If there isn't a crypt handy you can just kite the Troll around trees. Run in short bursts so your stamina can recharge, shoot some arrows, sprint away again and repeat until it's dead.

Yep.Works too. But running around tower from angry troll just hilarious .

You need to be well prepared to enter the Black Forest. Preparation is key to surviving this game.

Good armor, good weapons, and most important, good food are necessary for one's survival.

This game is not a straight action title, where all you do is slay monsters, they drop better gear, you move on.

No. This game is about the journey, your every day fight for survival. You gather, you mine, you build, you craft, you sow, you reap, you explore.

If that sounds more like a chore to you, then this game might be not geared towards your preferences. Nothing wrong with that. You just need to understand what this game's mostly about.

I only play solo. 2000 game days, same map... yes taking my time, trying to stay behind the devs, not rush in.. So that said. Focus on not dying.. so stay rested, learn which foods provide health and which provide stamina. being wet is a whole big problem. Swamps are always wet. learn to watch the daylight.."you are cold" is end of day seek shelter.. Enjoy the journey

1) don't go out at night
2) only go out when rested
3) only go out when being well-fed
4) generally meat = health and veggies = stamina, try to eat at least one stamina food and at least one health food
5) upgrade gear as high as possible
6) making noise like chopping attracts monsters so check your surroundings often and don't let them stack up
7) big enemies can be cheesed thanks to pathfinding so use arrows
8) dying reduces your skills which makes you weaker, run when you have to, but fight when you can, enemies generally do big damage compared to their health pool, so don't be too scared
9) blocking and parrying is very strong so learn how to do it. It works even with weapons
10) don't let yourself run out of stamina in uneven terrain. Having no stamina while in water or on slopes while surrounded with enemies is a death sentence.

Also yes, the game is very linearly structured. You go to biome x+1 and get the new resource, make gear tier x+1 and gather a lot of the same resources to upgrade it. Beat boss to unlock next biome. Rinse and repeat.
Resource collection is gonna take a lot of time so you'll spend most of your time getting or transporting these resources (or stuck paddling on a boat cause wind Jesus hates you). Biomes also drop hugely in difficulty once you got your first haul back cause weapons of tier x+1 at level 0 always give more damage than weapons of tier x at max level. That means even after a single trip you're already way stronger than before. This makes it important to go in, get your resources and then get out ASAP.

If you don't like this cycle or love building stuff, it's probably not for you.