Originally posted by Nascarman:

Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

So I guess logically by game design the devs want you to explore the Plains before you enter the frost caves.

Not a problem... just trying to sort it all out.

One of the devs said the enemies in a frost cave were balanced around good iron gear (aka the gear you’d have right after killing bonemass) which means they clearly don’t expect you to have fire resist potions.

Well it got pretty swarmy in there ... not like they were the first cultists I ran into. I was in max wolf with max equipment, even silver sword messing around with.

Maybe it was just bad RNG for that one cave?

Hey I don't mind the risk factor and it really is hard to judge what the devs call balance considering the first day of H&H... Not saying this was anywhere near that level of difficulty mind you.

As said if I had played more cautiously I could have managed... backed off after the first set of cultists and just managed the adds for a while.. or try to pull them for a bow or doorway whacking. Not saying it was impossible ... just looking for the most logical "safest" way.

I like no death runs. This made me start over, just sorting it all out.

Originally posted by electricdawn:

You don't need fire resist anything. You just go in there in iron gear, and - now watch this, kids - one of the cultists appear, you just STEP ASIDE.

That's right. One step to the right or left will save you. The cultist clearly signals their intention to blast fire your way and you just step out of the fire blast and whack at them for their insolence. They will stand still for several seconds doing nothing but blasting fire at the spot you where before, and you have all the time in Valheim to kill them.

Now now no need to get snooty here.

It isn't like those places are wide open... in fact most of the cultist encounters were in fairly tight corridors .. so cool.. thanks for the advice...

My apologies, didn't want to aggravate you. But it really is that simple. Maybe you just did get a really bad RNG. I died once in these cave, because I didn't know the trick.

Now I know it, no problem. When I see a cultist and the telltales of them starting to cast, I step aside. Simple as that. And no longer a problem. And I really did that in regular iron gear.

Edit: I now remember that you are playing in super hard iron man mode. That is of course tough luck, but your own decision. I just do naked corpse runs. :P

Cultist have 2 attacks : flamethrower ( easy to evade ) and fire fist attack , this one hits hard and fast but have to be meele to hit you
Best weapon in caves its the iron sledge , can takr care fast of swarmy ulvs and cultist but take 2 more hits to kill him

Server I finished Yagluth (rip lox dropfarm and sky base vs 5 summonings) on went in Frost Caves with Troll Hide and barely any access to Frost Resistance potions at that point. Dealing with the enemies you just have to play smart and slow making use of ranged attacks for aggroing or dealing heavy sneak attack damage and use the terrain to your advantage. Stagbreaker is really good in getting rid of pesky bats which can be dangerous if you die and have to get your body back in which case bats can then be kinda scary lol. Also use wood arrows or flint arrows at that point.

Early Fenris armor is nice for the movement speed, decent armor and the frost resistance - which at that point in making the first item for said resistance you should have frost resistance potions for easier traversal in the mountains rather then just lucking out.

Braziers are good for getting comfort level 2 and breaking doors can get Iron bars for early stonecutter + forge improvement since you just need 2. Access to a bit more comfort increases with jute and perhaps braziers as well can also be nice.

Late game I'd rely on 2 root armor pieces and 1 fenris armor for the pierce, poison and frost resistance - you can use the lox/wolf cape or potions but at that point I was using linen. Pierce resistance from root armor is super useful in plains vs spear chuckers and sneaky deathsquitos.

Also be sure to run around mountains with a workbench / portal that you can easily set up in the entrance of said caves - usually won't get destroyed.

So I guess logically by game design the devs want you to explore the Plains before you enter the frost caves.

Not a problem... just trying to sort it all out.

In this game, "ice caves" are useless, they do not give anything to the player, I personally went there a couple of times, gave up this stupid activity and stopped being interested in them, passing by. Obviously, the invention of caves in the form in which they are, is caused only by the extremely poor imagination of the creators of this game, who "drew" them simulated "violent activity in their work" in fact, without giving anything new to this game. Refractory medicine is made from cloudberries and barley from the plains, or in another way, without visiting the plains and looting at least one village of people from the plains where barley grows, you will not make a refractory medicine........however, I do not remember that I personally needed it in caves, on extremely improved with silver armor and weapons, all these caves are extremely easy to pass through .....well, the resources I extracted there for new armor are absolutely useless, due to the fact that silver armor and weapons are at least as better and more effective than them.

Originally posted by albrexow:

In this game, "ice caves" are useless, they do not give anything to the player, I personally went there a couple of times, gave up this stupid activity and stopped being interested in them, passing by. Obviously, the invention of caves in the form in which they are, is caused only by the extremely poor imagination of the creators of this game, who "drew" them simulated "violent activity in their work" in fact, without giving anything new to this game. Refractory medicine is made from cloudberries and barley from the plains, or in another way, without visiting the plains and looting at least one village of people from the plains where barley grows, you will not make a refractory medicine........however, I do not remember that I personally needed it in caves, on extremely improved with silver armor and weapons, all these caves are extremely easy to pass through .....well, the resources I extracted there for new armor are absolutely useless, due to the fact that silver armor and weapons are at least as better and more effective than them.

I waited until I had max level wolf to enter being a cautious type. I did start a new game with a new character due to death but I checked out the cook pot to see if I was missing something.

I disagree though. Think the design of the frost caves felt a lot more like Oblivion style with the added rooms and hidden passages <not just the ice wall ones> that really gave them unique encounter areas and a lot of flavor.

One of my favorite spots was going up a spiral stair and being met by two doggo things on the narrow steps where they had the height advantage .. stuff like that really keeps you on your toes.

I tend to play fairly aggressively, fools rush in kind of thing, but I do prepare very well knowing that. I probably could have backed off when the multiple cultists were flaming me... I did kill them... but that DOT ha ha. Die and learn is pretty much the name of the game here ha ha.

But really if I need to raid plains villages and have a plains farm before going in to feel properly prepared it really does not seem worth it except for enjoying the ambiance.

And that will wear out quick if I have no real reason to be there. I do like the crystal source and wouldn't mind checking out the claws..... I suppose that works out. High risk to get that stuff earlier?! Trophy collection in the long run.

Originally posted by albrexow:

In this game, "ice caves" are useless, they do not give anything to the player, I personally went there a couple of times, gave up this stupid activity and stopped being interested in them, passing by. Obviously, the invention of caves in the form in which they are, is caused only by the extremely poor imagination of the creators of this game, who "drew" them simulated "violent activity in their work" in fact, without giving anything new to this game. Refractory medicine is made from cloudberries and barley from the plains, or in another way, without visiting the plains and looting at least one village of people from the plains where barley grows, you will not make a refractory medicine........however, I do not remember that I personally needed it in caves, on extremely improved with silver armor and weapons, all these caves are extremely easy to pass through .....well, the resources I extracted there for new armor are absolutely useless, due to the fact that silver armor and weapons are at least as better and more effective than them.

Fenris set its for archers/scouts
That speed with runing lvl at 100 its very noticeable , not for tanking ( well with a padded and 2 fenris parts you get good defense even for plains ) , 6-9% speed bonus its great , useless its for you and just for you


On toppic
Use root armor in a place where big mobs use heavy fire damage , its not so smart ( -50% fire resist ), use iron or wolf set there and will be piece a cake
Its not a thing about fire resist wine ,high defense reduce a lot that dps from fire , a 2* fuling torchman really hits hard if you dont have that wine and padded armor , same with yagluth. Cultist in caves dont make that much but you need good defense in a closed place ...

It seems like like the poison DOT fire is reduced by armor so the highest armor rating you can get while not being vulnerable in root armor will solve it.
However I would wait until you hit the plains to do these. They are full of great loot, but RNG will burn you in some of them; there can be over 5 guys in a pile in some of the caves and having access to grain means not only fire resist but higher tier foods and armor and weapons as well.

Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

So I guess logically by game design the devs want you to explore the Plains before you enter the frost caves.

Not a problem... just trying to sort it all out.

One of the devs said the enemies in a frost cave were balanced around good iron gear (aka the gear you’d have right after killing bonemass) which means they clearly don’t expect you to have fire resist potions.

You don't need fire resist anything. You just go in there in iron gear, and - now watch this, kids - one of the cultists appear, you just STEP ASIDE.

That's right. One step to the right or left will save you. The cultist clearly signals their intention to blast fire your way and you just step out of the fire blast and whack at them for their insolence. They will stand still for several seconds doing nothing but blasting fire at the spot you where before, and you have all the time in Valheim to kill them.