You rushed the game and went badly equipped into areas you are not supposed to go to at that stage. What did you expect? I mean you absolutely can do swamp in troll armor if you know what you are doing but plains no way.

Also judging from what you wrote I assume you also only had basic food items from foraging and not the best cooked food for the given area.

Many people underestimate how important food in this game is and people who tend to rush in order to prove how awesome they are often don´t want to spent time on farming turnips ect. Btw you find turnip seeds in the swamp in case you want to give it another try.

Originally posted by Fenris:

had fun grinding up my gear. had lvl 3 -4 troll hide, and some bronze. long story short i was searching for iron in a swamp biome only for it to not have any. i leave and explore the plains. 5-6 deaths later and god knows how many levels, i am no closer to retrieving my lost gear that I spent 15+ hours grinding to get. I have lost all notable gear trying to retrieve old gear, and on my final voyage the mosquitoes put the japanese ww2 kamikaze pilots to shame. They chased me down and exploded my boat with 1 hit. I have never seen such ferocious mosquitoes.

yeah, going to nope out of this one. Money AND TIME are spent playing a game and what you've described is why I'll never commit either to this.

Originally posted by Travis the Moonstar:

Originally posted by Fenris:

had fun grinding up my gear. had lvl 3 -4 troll hide, and some bronze. long story short i was searching for iron in a swamp biome only for it to not have any. i leave and explore the plains. 5-6 deaths later and god knows how many levels, i am no closer to retrieving my lost gear that I spent 15+ hours grinding to get. I have lost all notable gear trying to retrieve old gear, and on my final voyage the mosquitoes put the japanese ww2 kamikaze pilots to shame. They chased me down and exploded my boat with 1 hit. I have never seen such ferocious mosquitoes.

yeah, going to nope out of this one. Money AND TIME are spent playing a game and what you've described is why I'll never commit either to this.

Yes, I remember every single game I've played, I've completed 100% in a yottasecond.

Plains are bad, going to the swamp not prepared is bad, you did not know this you learned and you quit because of it, it happens

I don't know if the OP is after any kind of help or advice considering the use of terms "work" and "grind". These are good tells that maybe it's not the best game for the OP (and this is not some sort of tame "git gud", not all games are for everyone).

That being said, the main mistake was not understanding the gameplay, especially when it comes to "biomes". While you're free to roam anywhere you want, Valheim biomes are roughly "levels" in a more traditional game. This is hinted by the raven the first time you enter the Black Forest. It is usually a really bad idea to explore a biome prior to "conquering" the previous one. By skipping from Black Forest to Plain you essentially skipped 2 biomes. "Conquering" in this context doesn't mean defeating the boss, but reaching a level of skills/equipment/food that makes the biome essentially "safe-ish".

Now the crux of the issue really is that you don't seem to be having fun with the game. It shouldn't be work or a grind. Yes some players get into speed runs and more power to them, but I really don't think that's how the game was designed. You're supposed to alternate base building, resource gathering, farming, exploration, etc to make sure you're not "grinding".

The giveaway is the way op talks about "grind" and losing hours of "work."

If a person just decides that some part of a game is "work," and that there is too much of it, then they will hate the game, but it's entirely on the way they choose to frame it.

No offense intended, but you are a victim of your own decisions not some malicious mechanic in the game.

If it is your first time playing the game and you are playing blind (no wiki or YT videos, etc.) then stumbling into the Plains before your ready happens. Lesson learned.

But going back again and again to only to meet the same fate...

I will just say some of the best games I have had so far have been the ones I met some terrible fate in and then rebuilt, regeared and revenged.

And I am of the same mind as @PoloniusUlf as any game that has a loop I don't find entertaining then I don't 'grind' or 'work', I just don't play it.

Deathsquito have really low hit points and are easy to kill if you simply dodge their attack. If you stand still you will die as you no doubt know.

Failing that, you should have some deer antlers left from the 1st boss, make another pick, in 30 mins you will have enough bronze to craft most of your old gear. Then go back to trying to find a swamp with crypts and forget about your stuff in the plains.

Originally posted by Luca Fox:

The mosquitos are about to have me at my limit as well. I'm in fully upgraded wolf gear and they're more deadly to me than literally anything else in the entire game. The combat is great when an enemy is on the same plane as you, but put it 2 centimeters above that and they become impossible to hit. It's not at all fun being screwed over and losing your body in the middle of the plains because the combat is so poorly designed. I don't know what's so complicated about making the area the weapons deal damage just a little bit wider so they actually connect with things slightly above and below you, but I guess it doesn't really matter once they have your money.

This makes me so glad I play in first person VR. You can literally swing your weapon any way you like.

Play with Valheim Plus mod and adjust all the things you hate.

There is really no shame in using cheat commands to get your stuff back if you just can not seem to get things to go your way. You can either fly with godmode over to your body or just spawn in some fresh gear to match what you had! I suggest taking a break from the game for a bit if it's frustrating you though. But if it's really put a bad taste in your mouth and you feel like you're done, I guess it can't be helped.

If you do soldier on, my advice would be to avoid the mountains and plains until you settle into the iron or silver ages, respectively. Troll hide and Bronze gear is a huge step up from Leather stuff, but the way weapon and armor tiers are set up in this game, it discourages new players from exploring biomes ahead of the curve.

And yes, we all feel your pain when it comes to Deathsquitos.

The mosquitos are about to have me at my limit as well. I'm in fully upgraded wolf gear and they're more deadly to me than literally anything else in the entire game. The combat is great when an enemy is on the same plane as you, but put it 2 centimeters above that and they become impossible to hit. It's not at all fun being screwed over and losing your body in the middle of the plains because the combat is so poorly designed. I don't know what's so complicated about making the area the weapons deal damage just a little bit wider so they actually connect with things slightly above and below you, but I guess it doesn't really matter once they have your money.

Stay out of - and well away from - the Plains until you're actually ready for the Plains is the best bit of advice I can give anyone playing this game. Otherwise you WILL get your butt handed to you. Discovered that on my very first play-through and I still get panicky when I accidentally sail too close or wander too far from home in early game stages.

Some weapons work better than others depending on which mob you're fighting. Mozzies are dead-easy to kill even when you've got lower gear as they're extremely squishy, but you have to be aware of them and you have to be fast. It's just that intial charge that'll get you. The trick to them is block and immediately swing. If you're using a slow weapon such as an axe or hammer, you'll have trouble. A silver sword works wonders on them. As for not being able to hit them easily if they're above or below you... well, that makes sense to me.

I recently made it past Moder deathless, with my eye on Yag and my first ever deathless play through.

Steam inexplicably enabled cloud save and because I use the same name over and over, my deathless character, in fully upgraded padded leather had been replaced with some red headed viking from months ago, that was barely in troll hide. My pristine play through was gone forever. As disappointed as I was, I was eager to start over (from scratch) and give this game another go. Confirmation that I enjoy the progression in this game as much as the completion. Sure I was upset for a bit. But I'm already on day 27 on my new character in lvl 2 troll hide with my eyes on the prize.

The notion that you've quit because of losing "15 plus hours worth of troll gear" that you've grinded for tells me that maybe this game (and games like it) isn't for you.

I suspect you're long gone and you've not managed to read any of these replies but on the off chance you do come back and read some of these comments here are some tips:

1) Never go into the swamp without poison resist potion active. Keeping a poison resist potion up and running will basically negate the leech/blob/oozer threat.
2) Have health potions made and ready
3) Stealth as much as you can (take advantage of your troll hide set bonus).
4) Avoid the swamp (and any biome) at night until you're properly geared.
5) Avoid the draugr spawners (green glowing piles) and destroy them at range if possible.
6) Have your swamp key at the ready, and use an upgraded Stagbreaker when inside sunken crypts to destroy threats that lie beyond the muddy scrap piles. You can clear most rooms without even putting yourself at risk by utilizing the Stagbreaker's AOE.
You can actually use sunken crypts as "panic rooms" to regain health and stamina in a pinch.
7) Travel with 10 wood (for a bench) and materials for a portal. Hop onto your first sunke crypt and drop the bench on top as well as the portal on top of the crypt for quick access to your base for repairs, rested bonus, supplies and quick access in case the worst happens (death).