Originally posted by avatar.zero:

I find that terraforming is one of the most difficult player-skills to develop in Valheim.

If you're just leveling (and not raising or pickaxing), then keep in mind that the tool is trying to bring the ground within its radius to be roughly even to the ground under your feet* but will not alter ground levels more than a little under a meter up or down (or, more specifically, it will alter the ground up to a meter from where it was without using Level Ground and then give up, no matter how many times you click). It could be that the ground you're trying to work is higher/lower than that limit (remember,relative to the ground under your feet), in which case you'll need to either use Raise Ground with the hoe (if it's too low) or a pickaxe (if it's too high) to bring it roughly even to what you want and then use Level Ground with the hoe to flatten and fine tune it.

Also...

1) Level Ground will not reliably produce a perfectly flat ground with just one use - you'll need to click the same spot a few times to get it just right.

2) The hoe doesn't just affect the ground in its radius. The game world exists on a meter-precise grid. Blocks of ground within the effect zone will be altered directly, while immediately surrounding blocks will be altered indirectly as a buffer zone.


* If you want to do things relative to where your cursor is pointing instead of where your feet are, then hold down the left shift key (kb+m) or left trigger (? or left bumper - one of those, haven't played in a while)(controller).

I use the pickaxe also elevate the ground, just the hoe doesn't help me so much

I find that terraforming is one of the most difficult player-skills to develop in Valheim.

If you're just leveling (and not raising or pickaxing), then keep in mind that the tool is trying to bring the ground within its radius to be roughly even to the ground under your feet* but will not alter ground levels more than a little under a meter up or down (or, more specifically, it will alter the ground up to a meter from where it was without using Level Ground and then give up, no matter how many times you click). It could be that the ground you're trying to work is higher/lower than that limit (remember,relative to the ground under your feet), in which case you'll need to either use Raise Ground with the hoe (if it's too low) or a pickaxe (if it's too high) to bring it roughly even to what you want and then use Level Ground with the hoe to flatten and fine tune it.

Also...

1) Level Ground will not reliably produce a perfectly flat ground with just one use - you'll need to click the same spot a few times to get it just right.

2) The hoe doesn't just affect the ground in its radius. The game world exists on a meter-precise grid. Blocks of ground within the effect zone will be altered directly, while immediately surrounding blocks will be altered indirectly as a buffer zone.


* If you want to do things relative to where your cursor is pointing instead of where your feet are, then hold down the left shift key (kb+m) or left trigger (? or left bumper - one of those, haven't played in a while)(controller).

Originally posted by StickyPawz:

There's an upper and lower limit to ground manipulation.

I believe 8 units up/down from original start.

This is the deal. If you are wanting a huge but level area for a major base find a VERY short low low hill. Shave the top off the hill and raise the ground around the low part of the hill to get a nice even flat spot to build a huge base on. When you get to the outside and have reached the 8 meter cap for raising ground that's the limit of your nice flat base.

Go out another 4 meters from that maximum spot and raise an earthen berm 8 meters high all the way around your base. That will give you a raised base, surrounded by a dry moat, surrounded by an earthen berm. If you leave enough space in the earthen berm for a cart to pass through you can dibble out enough of the edge of your raised base platform to put in a side by side set of stone or wooden steps. The only place a ground based raid will be able to get into your base will be at that point so when one starts you can head right there. A lot of the time the monsters will break the stairs and then they won't be able to get into your main area. They will be stuck in the dry moat. Once you have killed them all and the raid ends you can rebuild the stairs.

You may need to 'raise' it...you'll need to plop down a workbench to allow you to do that with the hoe. Edit, also some ston e in your inventory...2 per iirc.

If that's not the issue, need more info.

There's an upper and lower limit to ground manipulation.

I believe 8 units up/down from original start.

Also, that ^ lol

For some reason many if not most guides and tutorials emphasize leveling in conjunction with base building. They're generally full of crap... unless of course you are not playing in survival mode - in which case use creative mode and mods - play Viking architect to your heart's content.

In the Valheim survival reality.. you really don't need to level all that much. Learn to use struts for foundation supports and just raise/level specific small areas for particular needs - like for campfire/hearth or kiln/smelter - things that require being on the ground (or on stone or certain trees as an alternative).

If you really must have a level area for some reason - like perhaps you don't like farming on a hillside, there are naturally occurring reasonably sized already mostly flat areas to be found in Meadows.. the stone circle (aka alternate unused spawn sites).

Originally posted by StickyPawz:

There's an upper and lower limit to ground manipulation.

I believe 8 units up/down from original start.

^This. It can only go so far in either direction before needing additional help. If you need it to lower, grab your pick and start digging, then flatten again. If you need to raise it higher, then raise the ground with a hoe, then flatten again.