Originally posted by Grand Forks:

Not sure how far you got in 80 hours but can I assume its not very far... That said lets help out with some of the problems...

Well, I have mapped the main island, I have exploded 2 of the nearby islands. I am now into my first crypt in the swamp.

I entered the mountain but did not have frost resist potions at the time so quickly got out to warm up.

1) Explore your island all the way around the out side by the water... Most times you will find the merchant on the main island you spawn on in the largest dark forest on the island... This is not always the truth he can be on a neighboring island as well. Using a boat you can miss him so sailing is really not the best choice.

Hum... a youtube video I watched said the exact opposite: Merchant never spawns on the center of the map (aka the starting island) and finding him is easiest by boat... now I don't know that to think. Well for starters he is not on the main island for sure, I have gonne through the black forest many time and did not see him.

2) combat, as your skills improve so will your swinging and knowing when to strike down the blue eye devils that come forth. best play is to use a shield early on and grow with it. Blocking later in the game is ... well pretty important! as the blue eye devil starts his swing throw a block it stumbles him back and run up and hit one time. repeat block... Remember your not Rambo or some god that was dropped. practice makes perfect and perfect is needed later. Don't forget to upgrade your equipment and eat hardy.

Ya, using a bronze buckler now. Did not for a long time but started after I fought my first draugh (sp?) in the swamp. Skill is like 20 now so a lot to improve but it still blocks all of the damage on the non-troll mobs. I don't dare take a hit from a troll yet ;)

2a) weapons and armor, early game you mostly want to stay light in the dark forest and woodlands, Heavy armor for mountains and plains, where your not willing to run very fast. Mace is great for early game to mid game, swords or mace's are good for late game. Heavy shields are good for bosses or mobs that hit very hard. Cross train in bows is a must, snipping can kill/weaken most of the enemy before the gaggle gets to you and the clean up with hand to hand. Skill's Skill's Skill's build them up early and try not to die.

AH! I have been using the bronze axe so far. On an earlier game I was using the thrusting weapon that I cannot remember the name of (says it's a true warrior's weapon in the description) but since you can't use a shield with it, I switched to axe and buckler. So you are saying mace is the best weapon?

4) Hints and tricks, use a portal during exploring and mining operations. Return back with the non metal through the portal and sail or cart the heavy stuff back... Portal's when acquired should be the second item placed on the ground when exploring over the waters; when you seem to be a bit far from your main camp.

Yes, that is what I do. I sail to explore and when night falls I land, build a workbench and portal and go home to sleep. Then return destroy the portal and workbench and resume sailing. Do the same for on foot exploration.

build a small camp when you mine, Craft a house, bed, benches and palisades all the way around your pit for copper, ladder on top of the crypts for iron. Double block wall with pit falls for plains. Mark places on the map..

Will have to give this a try. I usually just build a campfire and portal as well as a chest. Not sure all that building time would be useful in the black forest. For the swamp I can see the benefit somewhat. Plains, haven't really explored them but if all mobs are deadly, ya that would make a lot of sense.

exploring look for a new home, most of the time you will build about 4-7 homes in different bio-domes. No one said you can have a portal to each one. Homes can be small with the minor items to repair or eat or keep warm. Always keep a portal a your main base with "" name... Dropping a portal when getting chased is hard to name. Remember to drop a bench first.

I have a few portals up but don't really build a base for each one. Just the workbench, portal and a chest. If I want to sleep I just portal to the main base and come back the next morning.

Mark your death on the map, just in case you die again somewhere closer to your home you can have a position to get to on the map.

OH! Good advice, never thought about the possibility of dying on the way back to the corpse. That is definitely something I will do from now on.

Originally posted by Falaris:

To play with friends I just use the steam invite, but that doesn't work for 'standalone' servers, which I guess is what you are looking to make. (I didn't know that was even a thing in Valheim)

As for campfires, they so far behave very realistically - they can be killed by smoke, if the ventilation isn't good enough. That sounds like what is happening to you - light the fire, create smoke, after a short while it's killed by the smoke. I recommend not covering it with a 'hooded' roof or a 26' one, but a 45' one.

Thanks I will try that.

Originally posted by scootytheclown:

The only thing I can help with is the fire issue. The peaked-roof over the fire needs to be two wall heights up or the smoke smothers it and damages you if you're close enough. If using a peaked-roof chimney then the top (second) section needs to be open on two sides ... or use four half-posts for the roof if using a half-wall. Otherwise I am coming in on 80 hours myself also, and been having a blast with the game. Have noticed the same things too, but the whole game is just so fantastic.

No my fires are outdoor, looks like my roof over them is just too low. Will correct that on the next session.

Overall the game if good. I think it would be a lot better with friends to cut down on the resource gathering grind.

Originally posted by Trentnet:

1.combat

2.grind
You also unlock a cart for over land hauling which makes collecting resources on your island faster as well as your access to faster ships with cargo space to sea travel is faster.

I have built a cart and used it once. When loaded with ore it's almost impossible to move it and it gets stuck everywhere... so I stopped using it.
I have the second ship now, the one with 4 cargo space. I am in the process of loading it up with copper and tin. If it works well I will have to bring it close to the swam to load it up with iron. From what I have seen on youtube, I am very far off from having the next ship up from that. I need to go in the mountain biome and that looks really dangerous. I have the frost resist potions new but have not dared go to the mountains yet. Hoping to craft the iron armor set first if I can.

Originally posted by Trentnet:

3. servers
I think you made one mistake here, Valheim is a co-op game and not multiplayer, as such it has the connection interface for a co-op game. I have hosted lan co-op, internet co-op and rented a server for the game and connecting was always really easy except for the rented server where we had to figure out the ip address.
For lan or internet co-op, just start the game and select "start server" after character selection, add a password if you like and then you can invite the people through steam friends list or pm/dm the people your ip and they can connect. hope this helps :)

Well multiplayer includes both Coop and PVP. I understand this is a coop game, although I am sure you could do a pvp server too if you wanted. I will try that with Steam, thanks!

Originally posted by Candygram for Mongo:

The plains are nasty.

As for metal, I admit I resorted to light cheating. :) I started a new world and logged into it with my character with his metal and left it there. Logged back into my original world, teleported home, then went to the new world to retrieve my metal. For copper it's not really that needed but for iron, transporting metal seemed more problematic.
For the trader, I found a website that will show his spawn points when you input the world seed. I hated wandering for hours looking for him.

Birch seeds just don't exist. To get fine wood if you've cleaned out the area, you can just create and go to a new world to get more. Personally I just use a boat to find more in my original world.

I might cheat if it pisses me off too much ... so far I have been able to manage LOL

I know birch seeds don't exist, that is my point, that is really dumb. Same thing with Raspberries and blueberries, why can't you plant any in your garden. Inconsistencies like this are a big letdown on a good game. I see no reason you can plant carrots and beech and pine but not fruits and birch.

Originally posted by Silverholic:

Originally posted by scootytheclown:

The only thing I can help with is the fire issue. The peaked-roof over the fire needs to be two wall heights up or the smoke smothers it and damages you if you're close enough. If using a peaked-roof chimney then the top (second) section needs to be open on two sides ... or use four half-posts for the roof if using a half-wall. Otherwise I am coming in on 80 hours myself also, and been having a blast with the game. Have noticed the same things too, but the whole game is just so fantastic.

No my fires are outdoor, looks like my roof over them is just too low. Will correct that on the next session.

Overall the game if good. I think it would be a lot better with friends to cut down on the resource gathering grind.

If the higher roof doesn't fix it, this can also happen during storms if the ground level of the fire isn't high enough above sea level. Meaning when a storm hits and the tide goes crazy, if you're near a coast, sometimes the underground "waves" can put out your fire.

Originally posted by Silverholic:

I know birch seeds don't exist, that is my point, that is really dumb. Same thing with Raspberries and blueberries, why can't you plant any in your garden. Inconsistencies like this are a big letdown on a good game. I see no reason you can plant carrots and beech and pine but not fruits and birch.

I know a lot of players here are resistant about mods, I know I was for the first few hundred hours lol. But there is a mod to address every concern you have, so if it's either "play the way the developers intended" but get pissed off or change the stuff you don't like, I don't see why anyone would choose being pissed off.

There's definitely a mod that allows you to plant whatever types of bushes or trees you want. You can install a mod for increased ore yields, or you can also just enable teleporting with ores. There's a mod that fixes the fighting on slopes, and a mod for easier archery (although I disagree with you, I hit pretty nice shots on moving distant targets all the time, because I've put in the time practicing).

Long story short, everything you dislike about the game is fixable. Except maybe the "powerful mobs" part, but that's very intentional and a cornerstone of the game design. You're supposed to get your ass kicked in every new biome you find. They did that on purpose, I assure you they have thought about it.

Not sure how far you got in 80 hours but can I assume its not very far... That said lets help out with some of the problems...

1) Explore your island all the way around the out side by the water... Most times you will find the merchant on the main island you spawn on in the largest dark forest on the island... This is not always the truth he can be on a neighboring island as well. Using a boat you can miss him so sailing is really not the best choice.

2) combat, as your skills improve so will your swinging and knowing when to strike down the blue eye devils that come forth. best play is to use a shield early on and grow with it. Blocking later in the game is ... well pretty important! as the blue eye devil starts his swing throw a block it stumbles him back and run up and hit one time. repeat block... Remember your not Rambo or some god that was dropped. practice makes perfect and perfect is needed later. Don't forget to upgrade your equipment and eat hardy.

2a) weapons and armor, early game you mostly want to stay light in the dark forest and woodlands, Heavy armor for mountains and plains, where your not willing to run very fast. Mace is great for early game to mid game, swords or mace's are good for late game. Heavy shields are good for bosses or mobs that hit very hard. Cross train in bows is a must, snipping can kill/weaken most of the enemy before the gaggle gets to you and the clean up with hand to hand. Skill's Skill's Skill's build them up early and try not to die.

3) grindy... well like most games you have to start somewhere, It can get tired some chopping the forest down or mining like a gopher for a few ore's, Carts help haul large loads, however your not a musk ox and it can get a bit too heavy for one person, the weight of the cart is on the right side of the inventory slots. As you set sights on the #1 above exploration you'll find you only need a few spots to harvest tree's or grab the min's or max depending how large your peasant home will be, you'll find that portals will help a bunch, but a good ship for those long relaxing journeys or that cart and a battle ax for the mule you became.

4) Hints and tricks, use a portal during exploring and mining operations. Return back with the non metal through the portal and sail or cart the heavy stuff back... Portal's when acquired should be the second item placed on the ground when exploring over the waters; when you seem to be a bit far from your main camp.

build a small camp when you mine, Craft a house, bed, benches and palisades all the way around your pit for copper, ladder on top of the crypts for iron. Double block wall with pit falls for plains. Mark places on the map..

exploring look for a new home, most of the time you will build about 4-7 homes in different bio-domes. No one said you can have a portal to each one. Homes can be small with the minor items to repair or eat or keep warm. Always keep a portal a your main base with "" name... Dropping a portal when getting chased is hard to name. Remember to drop a bench first.

you are going to die, try not to die often you loose some of your skills every death. Use the death run perk to get your gear, IE portal when you hit land near the boat: IE small base camp with portal. Keep some food and use the extra minute to get your comfort level bonus. Don't be running like your out of control, grabbing your gear and then find your over weight will equal another death.

Mark your death on the map, just in case you die again somewhere closer to your home you can have a position to get to on the map.



Good luck Play well

Originally posted by Danson:

Originally posted by Silverholic:

I know birch seeds don't exist, that is my point, that is really dumb. Same thing with Raspberries and blueberries, why can't you plant any in your garden. Inconsistencies like this are a big letdown on a good game. I see no reason you can plant carrots and beech and pine but not fruits and birch.

I know a lot of players here are resistant about mods, I know I was for the first few hundred hours lol. But there is a mod to address every concern you have, so if it's either "play the way the developers intended" but get pissed off or change the stuff you don't like, I don't see why anyone would choose being pissed off.

There's definitely a mod that allows you to plant whatever types of bushes or trees you want. You can install a mod for increased ore yields, or you can also just enable teleporting with ores. There's a mod that fixes the fighting on slopes, and a mod for easier archery (although I disagree with you, I hit pretty nice shots on moving distant targets all the time, because I've put in the time practicing).

Long story short, everything you dislike about the game is fixable. Except maybe the "powerful mobs" part, but that's very intentional and a cornerstone of the game design. You're supposed to get your ass kicked in every new biome you find. They did that on purpose, I assure you they have thought about it.

Thanks, I will have to look into mods. I am guessing it's not as easy as installing on on Skyrim directly from Steam ;)

Originally posted by Silverholic:

Thanks, I will have to look into mods. I am guessing it's not as easy as installing on on Skyrim directly from Steam ;)

Not as easy but still pretty easy. Just a matter of dropping files into the right folders. There are probably plenty of YouTube videos and such though.

1.combat

For running away enemies, they will stop and return to attack, if you follow them you get hit from the enemies not running away, think of it as a tactic to draw you in and don't follow or swing just let them run and return.
With the bow, use leading aim, this works most of the time, aim a short distance ahead of the direction the mob is running.
The same height enemies issue, is that there are animations and this changes the placement of the hitboxes. Using parry and dodge / roll is your best bet here, once staggered they are easier to hit. Also incase you haven't found the recipe yet there is an AOE hammer you can craft early on that will help with the running away enemies and the same height enemies :)

With the enemies strength problem, the game tries to give hints from the very start without too much hand holding and for first time players it might be abit confusing but at the spawn the stones tell players which bosses they should kill and in which order but it can be abit confussing. The order is meadows, black forest, swamp, snow mountains, plains. Make sure to check this order again after major patches as more biomes and bosses are supposed to be added.

2.grind
The "grind" in this game is pretty balanced and alot better than in many other games. As you move past the meadows, you tool strength is better allowing you to collect wood faster, once you have enough ore, making a metal pickaxe makes collecting ores faster. You also unlock a cart for over land hauling which makes collecting resources on your island faster as well as your access to faster ships with cargo space to sea travel is faster. As you progress through each biome these upgrades unlocked for each level making everything faster.
However it is good to remember the game wants you to have adventures, it wants each outing to have the chance to lead to a fun experience, being chased by 2 trolls while pulling a cart, fighting a sea serpent while carrying a haul of ore in a storm or just finding a beautiful view at sunset after finding 5 copper deposits really close to each other.
The destination of a new set of armor and a new shiny sword but the game tries to make sure your journey, from leaving your base to collecting the ore and wood to returning home is filled with adventure and fun and in a monster filled game that fun is alot of battles and close calls and if you die, then hopefully a learning experience of what could i do differently next time.

3. servers
I think you made one mistake here, Valheim is a co-op game and not multiplayer, as such it has the connection interface for a co-op game. I have hosted lan co-op, internet co-op and rented a server for the game and connecting was always really easy except for the rented server where we had to figure out the ip address.
For lan or internet co-op, just start the game and select "start server" after character selection, add a password if you like and then you can invite the people through steam friends list or pm/dm the people your ip and they can connect. hope this helps :)

4 wierd glitches
For the campfires, if you build a half-wall / full wall around them they will stop going out every few seconds, think of it as a windbreak. Also pay close attention to the ground because sometimes the uneven ground will still cause a gap and you will still get the fire going out.
As for the trees needing to be on the same level to chop, here you are right is can be frustrating. I have found that leaving stumps and letting logs roll down to them is the easiest way and the safest, the trees in this game are as dangerous as the mobs and i have been killed by falling trees more times than i am comfortable admitting =D

Hope this helps and hope you continue to have an awesome time ingame.

The plains are nasty.

As for metal, I admit I resorted to light cheating. :) I started a new world and logged into it with my character with his metal and left it there. Logged back into my original world, teleported home, then went to the new world to retrieve my metal. For copper it's not really that needed but for iron, transporting metal seemed more problematic.
For the trader, I found a website that will show his spawn points when you input the world seed. I hated wandering for hours looking for him.

Birch seeds just don't exist. To get fine wood if you've cleaned out the area, you can just create and go to a new world to get more. Personally I just use a boat to find more in my original world.

Oak trees also drop 'fine wood' Generally more from them than from the birch. It is a limited resource though.

To play with friends I just use the steam invite, but that doesn't work for 'standalone' servers, which I guess is what you are looking to make. (I didn't know that was even a thing in Valheim)

As for campfires, they so far behave very realistically - they can be killed by smoke, if the ventilation isn't good enough. That sounds like what is happening to you - light the fire, create smoke, after a short while it's killed by the smoke. I recommend not covering it with a 'hooded' roof or a 26' one, but a 45' one.

The only thing I can help with is the fire issue. The peaked-roof over the fire needs to be two wall heights up or the smoke smothers it and damages you if you're close enough. If using a peaked-roof chimney then the top (second) section needs to be open on two sides ... or use four half-posts for the roof if using a half-wall. Otherwise I am coming in on 80 hours myself also, and been having a blast with the game. Have noticed the same things too, but the whole game is just so fantastic.

1. Personally I have grown rather fond of it. Just think of the greydwarves as being drunk and stumbling all over the place. The neat thing is if you copy their moves they can't seem to hit you either ha ha. Bow skill lets you shoot faster as well so as you get your skill up hitting a moving target gets easier.

2. It would seem the devs want people to not just sit in one area. Getting out for stuff and having to transport things like metal make people move around the map more. I've gone whole games without finding the trader. You don't "need" him at all... but does make life easier. Fine wood trees are in pretty good supply. And the 5th biome trees are mostly fine wood.

4. Bit of an odd dilemma on the weapon swings. Every intersection of the arc is considered a hit. So side swings tend to be limited since you don't want to hit the ground and lose damage to the target. Stumps can almost be better removed with a pickax in some cases.
So if they give a more vertical hitbox on side swing weapons they would probably need to remove considering the ground as a target that changes damage. Personally I have learned to deal with it and try to engage targets where it is favorable, makes me have to be more aware of my situation/surroundings.