@Giant Wasp Face

Your entertaining story is a glorious testament to a no-spoilers play-through. I say that because of all the things you did 'wrong'. However, 'wrong' in this case is from the viewpoint of looking back in time rather than being stupid. It's quite likely you had more fun and thrills than people that spent hours on youtube watching play-throughs and looking up tips and tricks before they spawned in the 1st time. I largely avoided spoilers myself and it allows for the thrill of discovery to last much longer.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2742564216

Originally posted by Giant Wasp Face:

Turns out this lovely new biome is a literal deathtrap. Already there are glowing green zombies on the shorelines trying to snipe me from half a mile away. buffs ran out and I was one shot by a Draughr. Lovely.

. An island absolutely swarming with monsters. Snot zombies, snot zombies with bows,

Ah, Draugr archers. Very nasty little blighters doing their best to imitate .50cals.
Beware the 'squito

Originally posted by william_es:

I ran into a group like that in an MMO. I fell down a well in a dungeon (which turned out to be a thing a lot of new players did). 8 players showed up out of the blue, and helped me reach my body down at the bottom of the dungeon before all my gear despawned.

The entire rest of the time I spent playing that game, I paid it forward by checking that dungeon almost daily. About 2/3rds of the time, there was a player freaking out because they'd... fallen down the same well I did.

Hehe.. I remember that well ;)

Originally posted by magilla666:

there's actually a great group on Discord that specializes in this sort of thing. It's the Body Recovery Squad, and they'll get you safely to your tombstones, grab your gear, and get you back home. On one of my first trips into the Swamp I got killed, and killed again. So I called a friend and we went in to get my stuff, and we both got killed, and killed again. The BRS got us in and out without issue, taking down the **Draugr that was camping my main corpse. They're all volunteers and do it for fun- no payments required or even accepted. Don't hesitate to give them a shout if you need a hand.

I ran into a group like that in an MMO. I fell down a well in a dungeon (which turned out to be a thing a lot of new players did). 8 players showed up out of the blue, and helped me reach my body down at the bottom of the dungeon before all my gear despawned.

The entire rest of the time I spent playing that game, I paid it forward by checking that dungeon almost daily. About 2/3rds of the time, there was a player freaking out because they'd... fallen down the same well I did.

Originally posted by Giant Wasp Face:

Righty then... My apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I took a break from Valheim (totally not a frustration induced strop. Honest.) but inevitably returned to its pixely but surprisingly beautiful world in order to kick some arse and hopefully get my adventure back on track. So, if you'll humour me, it's time for: The Island 2: Draugr Boogaloo (guest-starring The Artist formerly known as Prince).
[snip]
Speaking of which, killing the Elder was a piece of piss compared to that whole ordeal.

Don't apologize; this was great fun to read. And what a nice change from the "it's too hard! change it so I can win!" posts!

This is one of those situations in which I'd call for help. There are reasons the game is advertised as "brutal" and you found one (or more) of them.

Should you get in this situation again (has anyone mentioned the Plains biome to you? Fair warning...) there's actually a great group on Discord that specializes in this sort of thing. It's the Body Recovery Squad, and they'll get you safely to your tombstones, grab your gear, and get you back home. On one of my first trips into the Swamp I got killed, and killed again. So I called a friend and we went in to get my stuff, and we both got killed, and killed again. The BRS got us in and out without issue, taking down the **Draugr that was camping my main corpse. They're all volunteers and do it for fun- no payments required or even accepted. Don't hesitate to give them a shout if you need a hand.

Best. Story. *thumbsup*

Hmm ... things I gleaned from your post, which was an epic tale..!

1) the first speed of a boat is rowing, which ignores wind more or less. You could have rowed against the wind.
2) but, rowing is slow. There is a technique called tacking where you grab the wind the wrong way at the edge of your sail and go a bit, then turn 90 degrees and do the same back the other way, zero summing the wrong direction vectors and faster than rowing move in the right direction. Its annoying, but effective and its how you do it IRL.

3) birch and oak are vastly distinct from beech visually. Oak is gigantic girth and birch is stark almost white. Both would have told you 'too hard' if you whacked them before bronze axe. So yes, observe different looking stuff (like berry bushes look different and not the same, so you grab a few of the new color) and try to harvest anything new looking. If you can't, note it for later. You didn't really have time to look around but the swamp trees look different too, hmm..!

4) someone surely said it by now but the swamp is biome 3 and possibly the hardest jump in difficulty to date. So it can be rough if taken casually.

5) portal unnamed is your buddy. Keep that one at home un-connected to anything. Then slap one down fast works.

getting stuff back ... you may want to just get some help or load your backup or something. Swamp alone is bad enough, but on an island, the darn leeches will swarm the boat and wreck it while you try to avoid all the other crap. There is an old bumper sticker from D&D ... sometimes, the dragon wins...

If you have killed some trolls, a set of troll armor is faster than bronze. A max upgraded club, troll armor is enough to do the job if you have good foods and can find a way to either fight 1-2 at a time or sneak to your body. But, it may be better to just call it a loss and find a safer piece of swamp to try after you lick your wounds a bit.

If you're in the swamp, find a crypt, and simply build a hut on _top_ of it.

Making a crafting bench, and place it on the back side of the crypt (opposite the door that leads inside). Jump on the bench, then you can jump onto the top of the crypt (because the back side slopes down)

Place some floors, walls, roof, etc. Make a little shack on top. You want it completely enclosed, due to the wraiths that fly around the swamp. Place a portal inside. On the front side start putting some stairs down to the doorway. Run around, dismantle the bench, and move it upstairs.

if you're really obsessive, it's actually possible to build walls around the front of the crypt, completely blocking it off from the outside. You can portal in, run down the stairs into the crypt and back up to the shack. When you're cold and tired from mining the crypt, you can go kick back in the shack upstairs, safe and sound.

When I had stacks of iron mined out, I'd start hauling it to a crypt/shack near the water. Best is when you literally have one IN the water or right next to it, and you can build a boat dock right there. I had all the iron from about 6 crypts all moved to one near the water before I even started to haul it back on my ship. I lucked out and found a cluster of crypts literally within sight of each other.

i did this for every single bloody crypt I mined out. I left the portals in place, and gave them unique names (and put that exact text as a tag on the map).

Turned out later on that some of these portals in the swamp happened to be near stuff that was worth farming, like the fire vents that spawn surtlings. I'd portal into the swamp to gather plants, seeds, farm leeches, draugr intestines, etc.

I think I now understand why all these posts complaining about the wind direction in boats exist. Some people really don't know that dropping the sail and paddling at low speed will get you where you want to go. Keeping the sail up will just stop you dead in the water. In fact you're lucky the devs don't make you go backwards because a real boat would.

A tiny island full of spawns does sound difficult. My usual method of starting in the next biome over and stealthily sneaking in, slowly knocking down enemies on the way wouldn't work. Certainly never try this at night. It wasn't night when you were doing this, was it? That could explain why Prince was wandering around without a spawner nearby. Those guys can show up by themselves, but it's rare.

For future reference, the best weapon to keep leeches at bay is a hoe. It's also easier to run away when there's a clear path for doing so. Renovate like you own the place. But only in the daytime.

Righty then... My apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I took a break from Valheim (totally not a frustration induced strop. Honest.) but inevitably returned to its pixely but surprisingly beautiful world in order to kick some arse and hopefully get my adventure back on track. So, if you'll humour me, it's time for: The Island 2: Draugr Boogaloo (guest-starring The Artist formerly known as Prince).

I logged in to find my intrepid Viking as I left him: Stood in his cluttered home wearing nothing but a pair of soggy underpants and a gloomy expression (and probably listening to Linkin Park for extra emo). All my gear was stuck on the Island. All my reserve gear was on the Island. All my reserve reserve gear was, you guessed it, on the Island No weapons, no armour, but thanks to the discovery of fine wood, what I did have was a whole new set of items available for construction, including a proper boat and a decent bow. Huzzah! A plan began to form in my head, but it would necessitate gathering bronze again, for the birch is the haughty aristocracy of the tree world and refuses to be felled by anything as lowly as a stone axe. However, as I rummaged through my stores in search of a spare pickaxe, I happened to open the "junk" chest (you know, that chest full of crap you save on the off-chance it'll turn out to be useful somewhere but usually isn't) and found a crap-load of troll hide I'd forgotten I had. By the way, thanks to the kind folks who pointed out you can actually make armour from this, since by the time I was brave enough to fight trolls I already had bronze gear and totally disregarded it. Turns out my petty but murderous vendetta against those Giga-Smurfs for terrorising my early days in Valheim had inadvertently supplied me with a full set of armour, albeit a pungent and disturbingly moist one. Still, beggers can't be choosers, and after a brief montage of my Viking building stuff and forging new gear (probably to some inspirational 80's music), I now have a cool boat, an upgraded bow with plenty of arrows, and some striking blue armour that smells distinctly like a Troll's arse crack. Still it was time to sail for the newish world... again, and with the wind behind me for the first bloody time since I started playing, my new boat (christened "The Ikea") carved through the waves with joyous ease, and soon I had arrived on the opposite shore, set up a portal and a small base, and set my sights on the festering boil of biome I call The Island.

Now, just to clarify a couple of things: This place is small; small enough to run across in a few seconds if it wasn't for the fallen trees and pools of deep water. In theory It should be simple to jump from a boat, grab your gravemarker and be off in a couple of seconds. But the awful terrain and sheer density of monsters means you panic and get lost incredibly easily as you desperately try to find where your stuff is hidden. And make no mistake, this island is heaving with monsters. I don't know if it's a quirk of the engine or I am just unlucky, but I am not exaggerating when I say that no sooner have you killed a Draugr then another one will spawn from thin air a few meters away and snipe you with a bow. Bear in mind that I've since encountered a proper Swamp biome, and I know about corpse piles spawning Draugr, but there is nothing of the sort on the Island; no villages, no corpse piles, only a solitary empty shack on the north-east side that might account for the skeletons. Nevertheless, slimes and zombies and skelebobs with swarm you the second you set foot there, which is why I have a boat, a bow, and a plan...

I call it "Operation: Drive-By. Simply stay in the boat, paddle past at a distance and 360-no-scope the undead bastards on the shore, hopefully thinning their numbers enough to make a grab for my stuff. Simple, right? Well, it is at first, as I make the first drive by (sail by?) with ease, peppering the Draugr with arrows and speeding away while they angrily flick the V's at me. In keeping with suitably tense moment, the clouds above me gather to bear witness, and the falling rain adds some fitting drama to proceedings, like it always seems to whenever I'm doing something important, in Valehim and IRL (seriously, if I wanted to experience British weather I'd just step outside and get drenched in person). Another pass brings me closer, and as the bow wielding Drauhr fall and their mates come shambling over to avenge them, I realise the first flaw in my plan: The undead in Valheim do not give a good ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about water. They will quite happily charge at you through the waves and hack your boat to pieces from under the bloody sea where you can't get them. The second problem? Leeches. I forgot about the sodding leeches. Perhaps naming the boat Ikea was a poor choice, as the flimsy vessel is getting torn apart by leeches, underwater zombies and whats left of the archers on the shore. There's only one thing for it... Girding my loins, brandishing my bow, I leap from the stricken vessel and land on the shore with a Viking war cry erupting from the very depths of my lungs: "COME AND HAVE A GO IF YA THINK YER ARD ENUFF!"

Soggy, enraged and determined not to die on this bastard island again, I take down the last archers and scramble inland. The melee Draugr are busy twatting my boat to bits and ignore me, and in another stroke of good luck, I spot the two rafts from previous attempts not far away; perfect for a slow but useful getaway. Quick map check, first marker to the south, and I stumble across the water logged terrain, grinding my teeth as the stamina bar recharges agonisingly slowly, since according to Valheim, the Vikings were more allergic to water than the bloody aliens from Signs. But wait, I reach the first marker, and by luck it's the one with all my top tier gear. Success! Some light-speed inventory management ensues, but as I finish up and head for the next marker, I am blindsided by two skeletons and some respawned archers. Smack, twang, and there goes most of my health.

Eff this, I'm out.

Arrows whistling past my ears, I make a break for the boat, only to reach the shore and find nothing but axe-wielding zombies charging at me. The bastards destroyed Ikea! Damn you all! Damn you all to hell! But no time to mourn; the archers are closing in, the axe masters commeth, and I leg it to where I saw the rafts earlier.

Aaaaand they've vanished.

Eaten by leeches? Devoured by a game bug? Who the hell knows. What matters is that the damn things have gone and taken my chance of a quick getaway with them. In short, there are two options: Fight and die pointlessly, or run like a whippet with a bum full of dynamite and try to make the swim to the mainland. Not much of a choice, but I pick the second option and somehow manage to evade the undead as I sprint south, cursing the endless rain and my bad luck, only to find Prince waiting for me on the shoreline.

Well, I can't be 100% sure it is thereanimated king of funk, but this Draugr is a proud and flamboyant shade of purple; a gaudy beacon of immaculately coiffured undead virility, and while the other snot zombies have been busy shambling about waiting for the next thought to turn up, this guy has been hitting the weights, tapping himself some fine Draugr booty and probably writing his next sudio album while he waits for me to show up. But wait he did, like he knew ahead of time that I would be there, like he knew he was cosmically ordained to be my nemesis by some cruel twist of fate, and he his ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ready for me. Dismounting from his motorbike, the Artist formerly known as Prince draws his bow as I sprint past, low on stamina and health, ready to bring the purple pain as I launch my bedraggled Viking into the sea and frantically doggy-paddle towards the mainland. He fires his bow… and misses! Kiss my arse you diminutive zombie ponce! Cool as a cucumber, Prince runs a perfectly manicured finger along his pencil ‘stache before taking aim again… Another miss! There are leeches nipping at my backside, a small army of Draugr chasing me, and a psychotic zombie popstar firing a bow at me, but I’m almost safe. If I can just reach the portal… But Prince has other ideas. He tosses back his hair, adjusts his shoulder pads, and with grim finality, nocks and draws his final arrow, this one tied with a single purple ribbon for luck. Taking careful aim at my bright blue backside, he fires again, the world holds its breath, doves fly, doves cry, and the arrow…

The arrow hits me square in the back.

My Viking dies within spitting distance of land, staining the water crimson as Prince smirks to himself and mounts his purple motorbike, riding away to do whatever zombified popstars do in an afterlife confined to a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ little swamp island in the middle of nowhere, and my quest is at an end. Not the glorious triumph I envisaged, but rather a bittersweet half-victory. It’s only a short swim to retrieve my gear, and while there are grave markers still stranded on that Island carrying some of my reserve equipment, I am content to leave them for now. Thanks to this tricky, frustrating, but ultimately enjoyable slice of emergent gameplay I am now considerably more knowledgeable about and immersed in this wonderful game world than I would have been otherwise. In fact, it’s little adventures like this that remind me why I keep playing videogames, and while you may not have bothered reading this in full (or at all), it’s been a great deal of run writing and reliving the whole experience. Mark my words: I will return to the Island one day and reclaim my lost equipment, perhaps when I’m carrying the Viking equivalent of power armour and a Gatling gun, and wipe every bloody Draugr, bouncing snot ball and skeleton from the face of creation. But until then, I have mead to brew, a world to explore and other challenges to face…

Speaking of which, killing the Elder was a piece of piss compared to that whole ordeal.

i can't tell you how many times i've died thinking "sure it's risky, but..." that and "i'm not up THAT high..."

i'd add to the strategies above by saying:
Don't name your emergency evac portal. have the workbench and portal pre selected before you go to build them so you don't have to hunt for it. if you're going into a tough or unknown situation throw down that portal BEFORE trying to build anything else. in 1000+ hrs i've never had a mob break it before i can reinforce it. and in the many times i've died far from home the only thing i've really regretted is not have a portal closer.
if you can get the portal in a safer biome than the one you died in, try to get it in a close enough spot that you can just run nekked to your stuff. you should be able to out run most stuff, and with good enough food and a rested bonus grab your stuff and get back thru your portal without getting hit.
running nekked doesn't work as well if when you grab your stuff you become encumbered. in that case you've got to go slow and clear the area. troll armor and a good bow are best. i think 1st time in the swamp it's important to take some time to get to know your new snotty zombie friends inside and out!

Hahaha, thank you for the funny narration!
Now you can do three things :
- get some friend with you (I'm voluntering) to recover your stuff
- use consol cheats
- go back to endless mining to get a new decent gear

1. Try to avoid using rafts... they're crap. They're only good for short navigation along coastlines and never for ocean voyages.
2. Try to avoid sailing at night. Nighttime is when extra beasties come out to play and more importantly, sailing in the dark is a great way to wreck your vessel.
Also, you're in the Swamp biome and there's a certain mob that appears at night there that you really do not want to meet. If you see anything with chains swooping down out of the skies behind you... run like hell. You cannot fight the Wraith at your level.
3. So...
If you stay, then the safest place to rest up in the Swamp overnight is inside a Crypt. If you can find one that is undefended and you can open it, then simply build a campfire just inside the foyer. Explore a bit, but do not attempt to open any of the blocked passageways or else you're asking for trouble. Wait for the dawn.
However, to open a crypt, you'll need the Swamp Key you'll get for defeating the Elder, so consider everything above for later after you have progressed ;)
4. If you cannot stay and use a Crypt, then get the hell out of the Swamp and return to Black Forest or Meadows. If you cannot build a karve, then simply swim. Logout at the moment you run out of stamina and begin to drown. Log back in and keep swimming. Rinse and repeat until you make it to a safer biome.
5. Alternatively, world hop... gather everything you need from another world seed and then bring it back to the one you're currently stuck in.
I wish you success ;)

Nice tips, Grapplehoeker!
I have always two worlds progressing more or less at the same rate. So when one of my vikings defuncts, the other can hop in and save the day.

Sounds like there is a meadows with a draugr village nearby so try to park your ship there or if possible on some rock in the water further out. Build a quick shelter to put your portal down there so you won't have to sail there again. Whenever I'm looking for a swamp biome, I'll always prefer to built my first portal outside of it (meadows/BF) and stay the hell away from there with your boat as the thingies in the water will just snack it it you get too close...
Other than that: Always use best food/armor etc. that is available at this point but you already know that. Once you feel comfortable enough, I'd suggest building a small base (I only set up a workbench and a portal there to tp to my actual main base - but ofc guarded by stake walls for example) on top of a crypt or those giant swamp trees. They are special; if you investigate a bit on that, you'll find building a tree house on one of those is pretty neat.
But as other already said: No walks at night, not even on top of those trees, except you have a roof and solid walls everywhere.
While wandering through the swamps, keep an eye on your surroundings, you may be able to see enemies before they approach you. Try to take them on one by one if possible.
And just to make sure: Sailing at night in certain biomes isn't a good idea either ;)
Always try to repair your boat (don't use a raft) as soon as you can when it gets damaged, just to be on the safe side.

@Giant Wasp Face

Your entertaining story is a glorious testament to a no-spoilers play-through. I say that because of all the things you did 'wrong'. However, 'wrong' in this case is from the viewpoint of looking back in time rather than being stupid. It's quite likely you had more fun and thrills than people that spent hours on youtube watching play-throughs and looking up tips and tricks before they spawned in the 1st time. I largely avoided spoilers myself and it allows for the thrill of discovery to last much longer.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2742564216